The present invention provides a composition comprising a solvated aromatic amine and a liquid carrier, wherein said solvated aromatic amine is the reaction product of an aromatic amine and at least one of any anhydride, an isocyanate or an acid in the liquid carrier. The present invention also provides a method of preparing a composition comprising a solvated aromatic amine and a liquid carrier, said method comprising the steps of providing a reaction mixture comprising: a) an aromatic amine; b) at least one of an anhydride, an isocyanate or an acid; and c) a liquid carrier; and heating the reaction mixture at an elevated temperature to provide the solvated aromatic amine in the liquid carriers. The present invention further provides the use of the compositions for the preparation of the curable compounds and for gasoline resistant coatings.

Aromatic amines are commonly used in the preparation of hardeners for thermosetting resins such as polyurethanes and epoxy resins. Aromatic amines are solid at room temperature and generally not available in a liquid form at room temperature, thus making the processing of these materials in the preparation of polyurethanes and epoxy resins difficult. The use of aromatic amines typically requires a melt-into-resin technique, where the resin is preheated and the melted amine added to it. While this technique is industrially acceptable, the industry must contend with poor working lives of the resin-hardener mixture. In addition, such use of aromatic amines has many drawbacks including exposure to amine dust, heating requirements, and air entrapment.
Presently there are no commercially available products which are true solutions of aromatic amines but rather dispersions of finely powdered aromatic amine in very polar solvents or non reactive solvents having plasticizing or other deleterious effects. Dispersion products employing very polar solvents are difficult to handle as they tend to have very high vapour pressures and therefore susceptible to evaporation at ambient temperatures. Dispersion products employing non reactive solvents may adversely affect the properties of the resulting polyurethane or epoxy resins. When these dispersion products are used for the preparation of epoxy resins, the resulting materials are typically brittle and may have other undesirable properties. These dispersion products are also not suitable for the preparation of polyurethanes as they cure too fast with urethanes.

Compositions comprising solvated aromatic amines and methods for the preparation thereof


A recombinant or isolated integrin heterodimer comprising a novel subunit α11 in association with a subunit β is described. The integrin or the subunit α11 can be used as marker or target of all types of cells. The integrin or subunit α11 thereof can be used as marker or target in different physiological or therapeutic methods. They can also be used as active ingredients in pharmaceutical compositions and vaccines.

Integrins are heterodimers composed of non-covalently associated α- and β-chains which connect cells to the extracellular matrix or to other cells (1). In addition to acting as mechanical links between the cytoskeleton and extracellular ligands, integrins are signal transducing receptors which influence processes such as cell proliferation, cell migration and cell differentiation (2-4). Integrins can be grouped into subfamilies based on shared β-chains, shared ligand binding properties, or shared structural features of the α-chains. Currently 17 α-chains and 8 β-chains have been identified (5). Of the subfamilies with shared β-chains, the Pβ1 subfamily has the most members. To date, 11 integrin α-chains associated with the β1-chain have been identified and characterized, α1-α10 and αv (5).
Several integrins bind the sequence RGD in their respective ligands (1). Of those integrins identified so far, α4-, α5-, α8-, αIIb- and αv-chains form heterodimers that mediate RGD-dependent interactions. The ligands containing RGD are generally found in the interstitial type of extracellular matrix. Major non-RGD dependent ligands include various collagen and laminin isoforms. Although both collagens and laminins contain the RGD sequence in their primary sequences, these RGD sequences are cryptic (6-9) and normally not accessible to cells in the native proteins, but they may be exposed during growth and reorganization events of the extracellular matrix.
Another subdivision of integrins can be made based on structural similarities of the α-chains. A number of integrins contain an extracellular I-domain (10, 11) which is homologous to collagen binding A-domains present in von Willebrand factor (12). The I-domain constitutes an inserted domain of approximately 200 amino acids which is present in 8 known integrins (α1, α2, α10, αL, αM, αX, αD and αE) (5, 10). Structural analysis of integrin I-domains crystallized in the presence of Mg2+ have revealed the presence of a characteristic "MIDAS" (metal ion dependent adhesion site) motif, shown to be critical for ligand binding (13). Integrin α-chains containing the I-domain are not cleaved into heavy and light chains, although the rat α1 chain possesses a proteolytic cleavage site near the membrane spanning region (14, 15). For I-domain integrins the principal ligand binding sites are found within the I-domain (10). Known ligands for I-domains found within the β1 integrin subfamily include laminins and collagens (α1β1 and α2β1 integrins) (16-19), and Echovirus (α2β1 integrin) (20).
Structure comparisons have suggested that integrins fold into a so-called 7-bladed β-propeller structure which forms one globular domain with the ligand binding region on the upper surface (21). The I-domain is inserted between blade 2 and 3 in this propeller and divalent cation binding sites are located on the lower surface in blades 4-7 (22, 23). Studies of β2 integrins have revealed that proper folding of the β2-chain is dependent on the presence of the αL-chain but that the I-domain folds independently of other structural elements in the α- and β-chains (24). In integrin α-chains, a less conserved stalk region separates the predicted β-propeller from the short transmembrane region. This stalk region is possibly involved in transducing conformational changes between the extracellular and intracellular regions, as well as mediating protein-protein interactions. Although integrins take part in cell signalling events, the cytoplasmic tail is short and lacks enzymatic activity. The sequence GFFKR is conserved in a majority of integrin α-subunits cytoplasmic tails and has been shown to be important for calreticulin binding (25).
Cellular interactions with the extracellular matrix during muscle formation and in muscular dystrophy have received increased interest during the past years. In the early 1960's a mutant was described in Drosophila which was characterized by the detachment of muscles from their attachment points at the time of the first embryonic muscle contraction, causing the embryos to assume a spheroid shape (26). The mapping of the molecular defect in the lethal myospheroid mutant in 1988 to an integrin β-chain (27), was the first evidence for a role of integrins in maintaining muscle integrity. More recently, refined analysis of Drosophila mutants have indicated distinct roles for integrins in muscle endpoint attachments and sarcomere structure (28). The Drosophila integrins are all cleaved α-chains and share many features with vertebrate integrins such as the ability to cluster into focal contacts (29).
The finding that inactivation of the α7 integrin gene in mouse (30), as well as mutations in the human ITGA7 gene (31), both cause muscular dystrophy affecting mainly muscle attachment points, indicates a striking conservation of integrin function during evolution. Of the 11 members of the β1 subfamily, α7 exists as a major integrin α-chain (32, 33) associated with the β1D integrin chain in the adult skeletal muscle sarcolemma (34). Intriguingly, mutations in the basement membrane protein laminin α2-chain (35-37) cause a more severe disease than that observed for the laminin receptor integrin α7β1 (30). This indicates that other receptors for laminins exist in muscle.
A novel integrin has recently been identified on cultured human fetal muscle cells (38). The present invention is related to, inter alia, the cloning and characterization of this novel I-domain containing, β1-associated integrin chain, which is expressed in muscle tissues.

Integrin heterodimer and an alpha subunit thereof


The present invention is directed to a boarding platform for a boat that includes all of the stability of a permanent swim platform as well as the capability of being adjusted and adapted so that it can be set up at virtually any location on the boat. The boarding platform requires no additional hardware and affords the convenience of easy set up, removal, and storage.

Boarding and disembarking a boat from the water or while beached on a shoreline has often proved difficult. The ability to move on and off the boat easily during an outing is an essential aspect for swimming or ferrying passengers back and forth to shore. A sturdy platform to gain access up the side of the boat can make or break the boating experience. Its importance can be gauged by the many efforts to provide a ladder or platform for this purpose.
Current schemes use essentially two mechanisms for boarding and disembarking a boat. One mechanism uses a temporary boarding ladder. Another mechanism uses a permanently mounted swim platform and ladder.
Temporary boarding ladders can be split into two types; rope style and solid frame hook style. Rope style ladders are easy to store and require no mounting hardware but require the talents of a gymnast to ascend successfully. They have no center or bottom stability and swing easily on a curved hull, making them all but impossible for those with limited physical ability to ascend. They also have narrow ladder rungs which make them treacherous to mount from a bobbing dingy or shore boat.
Hook style ladders provide a solid frame but still have the narrow rung affliction. In addition, the hook style top can only be mounted over the gunnel or sides of the boat. Mounting a hook style ladder over the gunnel or the side of the boat drastically limits the locations where a hook style ladder can be used. Some ladder styles afford permanent mounting brackets, limiting location further.
Permanently mounted swim platforms provide greatly improved stability and usefulness, but as implied, are permanently located in one spot (usually the transom) and are unable to be easily relocated or adjusted thus limiting locations from which to board the boat. Side mounting is typically not available because it would get in the way during docking.


The present invention relates to an isolated bacterium from the genus Pseudoalteromonas for its use as a probiotic, the use of said strain as a preservative, cyclolipopeptides which may be obtained from this bacterium, a composition comprising at least such a cyclolipopeptide, as well as to their uses.

Aquaculture gathers all the animal or plant production activities in an aquatic medium. Aquaculture is practiced by the sea, in rivers or ponds. Certain systems of artificial reefs or attractor or concentration devices which may be assimilated to aquaculture, from the moment that there exists a direct offer of food or support (indirectly produced from a rise of water loaded with minerals for example). It also relates to the productions of fish (fish farming), of shell fish (shell fish farming), of crustaceans (astaciculture and shrimp farming), abalones (aquiculture), oysters (oyster farming) or further algae (algaculture).
Aquaculture is one of the responses brought to overfishing and to the increasing needs of fish. In 2008, it provided the world with 76.4% of fresh water fish, 68.2% of diadromous fish, 64.1% of molluscs, 46.4% of crustaceans and 2.6% of seawater fish consumed by humans.
It is sometimes used for other motives than food consumption, for example in Europe via many «fish farming stations» built from 1850 to 1870, or in Japan in order to reintroduce into the environment the shrimps or abalones where these animals have been overexploited or have disappeared for other causes (pollution . . . ).
Nowadays, intensification of the production methods and the weather variations have made the development of aquaculture and of oyster farming particularly vulnerable.
The use of probiotics from healthy wild animals is included in a natural bio-protection strategy for aquaculture species. If probiotics are widely used in farming, their use in aquaculture still remains a novelty.
The development of a biological and efficient strategy for protecting these species therefore appears as an undeniable asset for producers and industrialists of animal feeding.
Moreover, renewal of antimicrobial agents is today a priority of public and veterinary health. Their excessive and unsuitable use has led to the selection of multiresistant strains which cause therapeutic dead ends (25,000 deaths/year in the EEC, WHO 2011).
No new family of anti-Gram-negative antibiotic has been marketed for 30 years. The search for novel compounds having antimicrobial properties is therefore primordial and urgent.
In parallel, there also exists today a substantial need in the field of phytosanitary treatments for identifying alternative products, which are not noxious to the environment, but which remain efficient bactericidal agents.

Use of a bacterium isolated from the genus

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (C.N.R.S.)


A connector includes a first-housing, a second-housing, a shroud, and a stacked-gear. The first-housing defines a guide-slot. The second-housing mates with the first-housing. The second-housing includes a linear-gear-rack extending from a second-outer-surface and engages the guide-slot. The shroud is moveable from an unmated-position to a mated-position. The shroud is longitudinally slideably mounted to and surrounding at least a portion of the first-housing. The shroud also includes a curved-gear-rack having a variable-pitch-radius. The stacked-gear is moveably mounted to the first-housing. The stacked-gear has a round-gear and a cam-gear having the variable-pitch-radius in communication with the round-gear. The round-gear engages the linear-gear-rack within the guide-slot. The cam-gear engages the curved-gear-rack such that the cam-gear moves in response to a movement of the shroud from the unmated-position to the mated-position. Rotation of the round-gear engaged with the linear-gear-rack axially pulls the linear-gear-rack into the guide-slot, thereby pulling the second-housing into the first-housing.

It is known to use mate-assist features on electrical connectors used in automotive applications, especially where a higher number of input/output (I/O) connections per system are required due to increased electrical content on the vehicle. Connectors utilizing an integral lever mechanism typically require pre-positioning of the connector prior to closing the lever assist mechanism. This multi-step mating process is cumbersome for assemblers, as these connection systems are not ergonomically friendly and are also prone to mating damage and/or mis-mating. Additionally, because these systems require tools and/or lever motion during mating, additional application package space is required reducing the total number of terminals possible in the connector.
The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.

Connector assembly with variable axial assist


A fishing lure line connector is provided with an undivided, single width, unitary elongated member shaped to form first and second eyelets at its respective ends and a circinate hoop, the first and second eyelets axially aligned and residing outboard of the circinate hoop. A method of attaching a fishing lure line connector to a fishing lure having a connection feature is also provided, comprising providing a fishing lure line connector having a hoop and first and second axially aligned line apertures connected to and disposed outboard of the hoop, and moving the connection feature between the first and second line apertures to within the hoop.

Great efforts have been devoted to fishing lure design. Various objectives and advantages have been pursued, for example to provide particular lure movement or lure component movement, to advantageously reflect attractive light, to impart sound to the surrounding water, to travel in appealing paths during retrieval, and the like.
Similarly, much attention has been focused upon the engineering of fishing line. Different materials have been developed, as have different sizes, strengths, flexibilities, and colors.
Unfortunately, not enough ingenuity has been trained upon the connection by which such fishing lures are connected to such fishing lines. A typical device for connecting a lure to a fishing line has been a snap or a swivel snap. Both are notorious for coming undone during use, thereby losing lures and losing hooked fish. Moreover, the geometric configurations of snap and swivel snap connectors, such as those aspects that allow such connectors to be removed from lures, either require bulkier structures to provide adequate strength or sacrifice strength if greater lure action is sought by use of more delicate structures. Furthermore, both snaps and swivel snaps are difficult and time consuming to install in lures, particularly in lures that require such connectors to be threaded through two holes. For example, with blade baits and with bladed swim jigs, fishing line is connected to the blade member rather than to another connection feature of the lure. A blade bait contains a blade, weight attached to the blade, and a hook attached to the blade and a bladed swim jig carries a blade upon a weighted hook; with both, the action of the blade is engineered to attract fish. Snaps and swivel snaps are very difficult to attach to blade baits and to bladed swim jigs.
Another, alternative connector has been the split ring. However, the split ring's configuration leaves it even more difficult and time consuming to install than a snap or a swivel snap, especially to a lure in which the connector must be passed through two holes in the blade. Furthermore, with split rings, the lure is retrieved on two overlapped rings, which limits the action of the lure. Additionally, under sufficient load during lure retrieval, one ring of a split ring may slip relative to the other, which may cause inconsistent lure action. Moreover, with round split rings, either the line or the connection feature of the lure can get stuck in the split between the rings, also causing inconsistent lure action, or the lure connection feature can shift back and forth across the terminal ends of the split ring, likewise causing inconsistent lure action.
Traditional fishing lure line connectors are designed to allow removal of the lure from the connector without cutting the fishing line. Such functionality has advantages in some circumstances. However, provision of that functionality requires configurations that must trade between less restraint in lure action and greater strength—enhancing one diminishes the other. Provision of that functionality may, therefore compromise the primary purpose of fishing lures: unfettered lure performance in catching fish. Connector mechanisms that allow release of the lure from the connector weaken the connector, requiring bulkier structural dimensions to counteract such weakness, but bulkier structural dimensions hamper lure performance, such as by constricting lure action. Such mechanisms also provide more opportunity for failure during use. Moreover, modern fishing techniques, particularly those used in competitive fishing, presuppose that the line will be quickly cut when lure replacement is desired, rather than manipulation of a release contrivance to remove the lure, predominant priority being placed on lure performance in catching fish instead of on avoiding cutting the fishing line.
Traditional fishing lure line connectors also have failed to conceive that the connection by which a lure is attached to a fishing line can affect the aerodynamic efficiency of the lure during flight through the air as it cast and thus have also failed to discover that the fishing lure line connector might be configured so as to minimize the aerodynamic drag of the cast lure.
What is needed is a fishing lure line connector that overcomes the foregoing shortcomings. The connector should be relatively easy to install quickly in a lure. It should allow unimpeded movement of the lure as the lure is retrieved through water. The connector's design should be intrinsically strong, allowing minimized dimensions for the connector. And, ideally, the connector should allow for aerodynamically streamlined flight of the lure during casting.


A manipulator assembly in an ion implanter comprises a ground electrode, a first suppression electrode located on a first side of the ground electrode facing an ion source device for producing ion beams, a second suppression electrode which is located on a second side of the ground electrode opposite to the first side, connection legs which electrically connect and mechanically support the first and second suppression electrodes; and an insulator which is located between the ground electrode and the second suppression electrode to insulate the ground electrode from the first and second suppression electrodes.

This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2003-100495, filed on Dec. 30, 2003, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ion implanter used for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a manipulator assembly in an ion implanter.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ion implanter is used to dope semiconductor wafers with impurities in the manufacture of a semiconductor device. The ion implanter includes an ion source portion which produces ion beams with which the semiconductor wafer is to be doped, and a manipulator assembly which focuses the ion beams. The ion beams pass through the manipulator assembly, undergo various filtering processes, and are implanted into the semiconductor wafer.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view for illustrating an ion source portion, and a manipulator assembly in an ion implanter, according to the prior art, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the manipulator assembly in the ion implanter of FIG. 1.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the ion implanter includes an ion source portion 100 which produces ion beams IB, and a manipulator assembly 200 which is adjacent to the ion source portion 100, and focuses the ion beams IB.
The ion source portion 100 includes an arc chamber 102 which arc-discharges a supplied source gas to produce the ion beams IB. The ion beams IB are discharged through a first hole 104 which is provided on a side of the arc chamber 102.
The manipulator assembly 200 includes a ground electrode 202. First and second suppression electrodes 204 and 206 are positioned at predetermined distances from the left and right sides of the ground electrode 202, respectively. The first and second suppression electrodes 204 and 206 are electrically interconnected and supported by connection legs 208. The first suppression electrode 204 keeps a distance L1 from the ground electrode 202, and the second suppression electrode 206 keeps a distance L2 from the ground electrode 202. The distance L2 is longer than the distance L1.
Insulators 210 are positioned between the first suppression electrode 204 and the ground electrode 202. A voltage difference between the first and second suppression electrodes 204 and 206 and the ground electrode 202 is kept at about 5 kV during implantation of the ion beams IB. A ground shield 212 is attached to a side of the ground electrode 202 so that the ion beams IB are not adhered onto the ground electrode 202.
The ion beams IB are supplied to a second hole 214 made in the first suppression electrode 204 of the manipulator assembly 200 via the first hole 104 of the arc chamber 102. The ion beams IB are controlled, focused, and discharged via a third hole 216 made in the ground electrode 202 and a fourth hole 218 made in the ground shield 212.
FIG. 3 is a graph for showing variations in a suppression current with respect to the time required for using the ion implanter of FIGS. 1 and 2.
As described above, the manipulator assembly 200 in the ion implanter of FIGS. 1 and 2 insulates the first suppression electrode 204 from the second suppression electrode 206 using the insulators 210. Also, the voltage difference between the first suppression electrode 204 and the ground electrode 202 is kept at about 5 kV. However, as impurities are implanted into a plurality of portions of a semiconductor wafer using the ion implanter, i.e., the ion implanter is used for a long period of time, the ion beams IB are deposited on the insulators 210. This leads to a reduction in a resistance of the insulators 210, which results in increasing the suppression current as marked with ⋄. Thus, the manipulator assembly 200 must be periodically overhauled to overcome this problem.


A method and apparatus for phone card billing wherein phone cards comprising PINs associated with a specific account credited with a predetermined number of units are sold to phone card clients without any prepayment for the value of the phone card units. The phone card client is not required to pay for the phone card units unless and until a corresponding phone card PIN is activated for a first time by an end user, thereby reducing the phone card client's initial financial burden of prepaying for phone card units, and eliminating payment by the phone card client for phone card units that are never used by an end user. When an end user uses a phone card by dialing a special number and entering a PIN, a call processing computer connected to a special exchange verifies the entered PIN prior to connecting the end user's call. The call processing computer periodically and automatically downloads entered PINs to an invoicing computer system which automatically bills appropriate phone card clients for the value of the phone card units when a corresponding phone card PIN accessing these units is activated for the first time.

Various methods and systems for the sale and use of prepaid telephone calls are well known in the telecommunications industry. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,275, incorporated herein by reference, describes the implementation and operation of a telephone system that allows for prepayment of telephone calls, wherein credit information and a special code for a specific account are stored in memory in special exchanges, and wherein the amount of prepaid minutes in that specific account are debited as a call, made using that special code, progresses. Such systems are well known in the telecommunications industry, and a detailed description is not provided herein. Special codes are typically referred to as Personal Identification Numbers, or PINs.
It is to be understood that the special code, or PIN, which enables an end user to access a specific account can be provided in various forms, such as on a label or a phone card. For example, a phone card company sells a plurality of phone cards with distinct PINs on each of the phone cards to a phone card client, or middleman, such as a retailer, a vending machine operator, a promotional advertiser, etc. These phone cards are then typically re-sold at retail, sold as collectibles, or given away as promotional items, by the phone card client to an end user.
Each PIN printed on each individual phone card corresponds to a specific account that is credited with a predetermined number of telephone call units, such as minutes. In other words, in a preferred embodiment, each PIN is linked to a specific number of minutes of "talk time."
An end user purchases or receives a phone card from one of these phone card clients. To place a call, the end user typically calls a special phone number, and then enters the PIN along with the phone number the end user is trying to reach. The number of units remaining in a specific account is debited by the number of units spent by the end user on telephone calls.
However, there is a significant drawback for phone card clients with the way that phone cards are currently being sold. The drawback with the currently available phone cards is that phone card clients that want to sell phone cards through retail channels, or distribute them through promotional giveaways, must prepay the phone card company in advance for all of the phone card units received. The units received represent credits to accounts corresponding to the PINs on the phone cards being sold to the phone card client. When a phone card client purchases a large number of phone card units for re-sale or distribution, the prepayment for these phone cards to the phone card company can reach into the thousands of dollars, and represent a financial burden on the phone card client. This is especially true when the phone card client is interested in distributing phone cards free to end users for promotional purposes.
For example, assume that company A wants to advertise their products or services by placing their company logo and phone number on a phone card, wherein the phone card has a PIN that is linked to a specific account credited with ten minutes of talk time. Company A wishes to distribute these phone cards free of cost to potential customers as part of an advertising campaign. Currently, company A must prepay the phone card company for all of the phone card units being purchased for distribution. In other words, 100 phone cards good for ten minutes each means the phone card client must pay for 1000 minutes up front. Prepayment for these minutes is required even though there is a good chance that a significant number of these phone cards, along with their prepaid units, may never be used by an end user.
Therefore, a better solution is needed to minimize the financial burden on the phone card client providing phone cards to end users, and to ensure that phone card clients are charged for the phone card units received only if the corresponding phone card units are actually used by an end user.

Method and apparatus for phone card billing


Systems for displaying images. The system comprises a digital-to-analog converter, in which a first conversion stage selects first and second voltages of a plurality of reference voltages according to m most significant bits of a k bit input signal; and a second conversion stage converting n least significant bits of the k bit input signal to a voltage between the first and second voltages. In the second conversion stage, according to first and second bits of the least significant bits, a first switching capacitor unit charges a first capacitor during a first period and then the second switching capacitor unit performs a first charge sharing between the first capacitor and a second capacitor, and the first switching capacitor unit charges the first capacitor again and then the second switching capacitor unit performs a second charge sharing between the first capacitor and the second capacitor.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to display panels.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are used in a variety of applications, including calculators, watches, color televisions, computer monitors, and many other electronic devices. Active-matrix LCDs are a well known type of LCDs. In a conventional active matrix LCD, each picture element (or pixel) is addressed using a matrix of thin film transistors (TFTs) and one or more capacitors. The pixels are arranged and wired in an array having a plurality of rows and columns.
To address a particular pixel, the switching TFTs of a specific row are switched "on" (i.e., charged with a voltage), and then data voltage is sent to the corresponding column. Since other intersecting rows are turned off, only the capacitor at the specific pixel receives the data voltage charge. In response to the applied voltage, the liquid crystal cell of the pixel changes its polarization, and thus, the amount of light reflected from or passing through the pixel changes. In liquid crystal cells of a pixel, the magnitude of the applied voltage determines the amount of light reflected from or passing through the pixel.
Further, "System-on-glass" LCDs that allow integration of various LCD driving circuits and functions require no external integrated circuits (ICs), providing low cost, compact and highly reliable displays. The integrated driving circuits of such an LCD comprise a scan driver selecting a row of pixels and a data driver writing display data into each pixel in the selected row. Generally, data drivers require digital-to-analog converters (DACs) to generate analog voltages serving as display data and driving corresponding pixels. However, DACs in data driver require a larger layout area for high resolution applicant.


A system and method for diagnosing mental or emotional disorders is disclosed. An affective BCI component is incorporated into a closed loop, symptom—responsive psychiatric DBS system. A series of input data related to a brain of the patient is acquired while the patient performs a battery of behavioral tasks. From the patient's performance on the task battery, the system identifies what is abnormal for that individual patient in terms of functional domains. Patient-specific behavioral measurements are then linked to patterns of activation and de-activation across different brain regions, identifying specific structures that are the source of the patient's individual impairment.

This invention relates to systems and methods for cross-diagnostic identification and treatment of neurological features underpinning mental and emotional disorders. More particularly, this invention relates to a multi-modal imaging technique utilized while administering a transdiagnostic assessment battery to a patient to identify one or more brain regions associated with an emotional or mental disorder. The specific brain region may then be targeted for treatment with brain stimulation techniques.
Mental illnesses, for example, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and addiction, impair war fighters and civilians, and are a leading cause of disability and lost productivity. These illnesses can be conceptualized as brain disorders of malfunctioning neural circuits. Often, psychiatric treatments fail to cure a substantial fraction of patients, who are then declared resistant to approved therapeutic interventions. At the core of the problem is the focus on historical diagnostic categories. The National Institute of Mental Health's (NIMH) Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project aims to develop neuroscience-based classification schemes for diagnosis and treatment of neural circuitry dysfunction. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) diagnoses are not neurobiologic entities, but are a historical checklist-based approach of clustering symptoms used to define hypothetical constructs or syndromes. Those syndromes may not align with underlying neurobiological dysfunction in neural circuitry and corresponding behavioral (functional) domains.
Thus, attempts have been made using responsive brain stimulation systems to treat mental and emotional disorders previously treated by psychiatrists. Responsive brain stimulation is stimulation applied to the brain that responds directly to a patient's electrical brain activity or clinical features. One realization of a responsive brain stimulation system is implantable, with electrodes placed inside a patient's brain. There are a number of sites in the brain where stimulation may be applied in attempts to change a patient's emotional experiences. However, these responsive brain stimulation systems often have no proven biomarker. A biomarker may be a measurable indicator or signal from the brain or body representative of the symptoms of the illness being treated that indicates whether the symptoms have gotten better or worse. Without something reliable to sense, it is difficult for the responsive stimulator to respond accurately.
Other attempts to treat mental and emotional disorders have moved away from trying to find biomarkers for specific mental disorders, and instead have tried to find biomarkers for emotions utilizing an affective brain-computer interface (aBCI). An aBCI in combination with a brain scanner or electroencephalography (EEG) system, for example, can look at signals in real-time and determine whether the subject is having a positive-valence (e.g., happy, pleasant, etc.) or a negative-valence (e.g., angry, afraid, unpleasant, etc.) emotion. In more advanced systems, the specific emotion (e.g., anger, fear, disgust, pleasure, etc.) can be classified.
However, an aBCI alone may not be a useful clinical tool, as it cannot determine whether the emotion is a healthy emotion (e.g., anger that was justifiably provoked, fear because the patient is in a dangerous situation, etc.) from an unhealthy emotion (e.g., violent anger in response to a mild insult, fear of an ordinarily safe situation such as driving on a freeway, etc.). Therefore, there it is difficult for a controller to decide whether the emotion should be corrected or altered by stimulating the brain.
Thus, there is a clinical need for responsive neurostimulators, which sense a patient's brain activity and deliver targeted electrical stimulation to suppress unwanted symptoms. This is particularly true in psychiatric illness, where symptoms can fluctuate throughout the day. Affective BCIs, which decode emotional experience from neural activity, are a candidate control signal for responsive stimulators targeting the limbic circuit. Present affective decoders, however, cannot yet distinguish pathologic from healthy emotional extremes. Indiscriminate stimulus delivery would reduce quality of life and may be actively harmful.
The need for affective BCI monitoring and decoding is clearest in deep brain stimulation (DBS). Psychiatric DBS has been used at multiple targets, with preliminary success in treating depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), for example. Progress in psychiatric DBS, however, has been limited by its inherent open-loop nature. Present open-loop DBS systems deliver energy continuously at a pre-programmed frequency and amplitude, with parameter adjustments only during infrequent clinician visits. This has led to more rapid depletion of device batteries which requires battery replacement surgeries and introduces the patient to associated pain and/or infection. The continuous delivery of energy also leads to an increased side-effect burden. Side effects in particular derive from present devices' inability to match stimulation to a patient's current affective state, brain activity, and therapeutic need. Atop this, many disorders have symptoms that rapidly flare and remit, on a timescale of minutes to hours. This is particularly common in the anxiety and trauma related clusters. Existing open-loop DBS strategies have been unable to effectively treat such fluctuations, because the fluctuations occur on shorter timescales than the infrequent clinical visits.
However, development of closed-loop emotional DBS systems has been blocked by a lack of accurate or feasible biomarkers. Three major challenges arise when considering existing affective BCIs as the sensing component of closed-loop DBS control. First, many identified neural correlates of affective disorders cannot be continuously monitored in the community. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can provide deep insights into activity across the whole brain, and has been demonstrated for partial affective classification in real time. Similar results have been seen with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), which also measures blood-oxygenation signals. The former, however, requires bulky machines and is not compatible with implanted devices, and the latter has not yet been demonstrated in an online-decoding paradigm. Moreover, although NIRS can be reduced to a wearable/portable device, it requires an externally worn headset. Given the unfortunate persistence of stigma attached to patients with mental disorders, few would wear a visible display of their illness, even if it did control symptoms.
Another challenge with existing affective BCIs is that affective decoding modalities that support continuous recording may not function properly in the presence of psychiatric illness. Electrocorticography (ECOG) is a promising approach, as it can be implanted, and thus hidden, with relatively minimally invasive surgery. ECOG signals offer temporal resolution and may be able to use decoders originally developed for electroencephalography (EEG). Non-invasive EEG has been a successful approach in affective BCI, with some real-time decoding of emotional information. Uncertainty arises because all successful EEG affective decoding has been demonstrated in healthy patients. Patients with mental illness, particularly those with treatment-resistant disorders, by definition do not have normal or healthy neurologic function. Furthermore, recent experiences with EEG in psychiatry suggest that measures that accurately decode healthy controls may not transfer to patients. EEG biomarkers that initially appeared to correlate with psychiatric symptoms and treatment response have often not held up under replication studies. This is at least in part because psychiatric diagnosis focuses on syndromes and symptom clusters, not etiologies. There is a wide consensus that clinical diagnoses generally contain multiple neurologic entities, and that the same clinical phenotype might arise from diametrically opposite changes in the brain. This may present a challenge for clinical translation of existing affective decoders.
Yet another challenge with existing affective BCIs is that even if affective BCIs can function in the presence of clinical symptoms, they may not be able to adequately distinguish pathologic states. Newer affective BCI algorithms may yet be shown to accurately classify emotion even in the presence of abnormal neural circuit activity, but this is only part of the need. Psychiatric disorders are marked by extremes of the same emotions that occur in everyday normal life. The difference is not the degree or type of affect, but its appropriateness to the context. PTSD is one clear example where patients with this disorder over generalize from a fearful event and experience high arousal and vigilance in contexts that are objectively safe. It is likely possible for an affective BCI to detect high arousal in a patient with PTSD in uncontrolled real-world environments. It is less clear whether any algorithm could distinguish pathologic arousal (e.g., a 'flashback' in a grocery store, confrontation with trauma cues, etc.) from healthy variance (e.g., riding a roller coaster, watching an exciting movie, etc.). These emotions would be very difficult to differentiate solely on the basis of experienced affect, and yet the use of brain stimulation to neutralize the latter set of experiences would negatively impact the patient's quality of life.
The above described challenges combine to reveal a final complication. In a fully implanted system, onboard storage and computational resources are limited, and therefore it may not be possible to perform decoding and tracking over long periods of time. Thus, affective decoders are caught in a dilemma of temporal resolution. If the affective decoders are tuned to respond to brief but intense events, the decoders may over-react to natural and healthy emotional variation. If the decoders instead focus only on detecting and compensating for long-term trends, sharp but short exacerbations will go uncorrected, decreasing patients' quality of life and continuing the problems of existing open-loop DBS. In the very long run, these problems may be ameliorated by improvements in battery and processing technology. However, regulatory agencies require extensive review of all new technology components, meaning that a new battery could take a decade to reach clinical use even after being successfully demonstrated for non-implantable applications. Processors might be more easily upgraded, but increased processing power means increased heat, which cannot be readily dissipated inside the body.
Thus, there is a need for systems and methods for responsive decoding and stimulation capable of operating within the limits of current clinical technology. An affective BCI usable as the sensing component of a responsive brain stimulator and capable of inferring emotional state from neural signals to enable a responsive, closed-loop stimulator is desirable. It is also desirable for continuous monitoring capable of indicating that the system is moving into a pathological state so that the controller can adjust parameters of an implanted DBS to counteract that trajectory, as well as reduce the side effects of over-stimulation, alleviate residual symptoms that may relate to under-stimulation, and improve power consumption for a longer battery life.

Method for cross-diagnostic identification and treatment of neurologic features underpinning mental and emotional disorders


The present invention relates to a device, a system, and a method for simulating and saving information of metadata regarding film production. According to the present invention, it can store and manage a variety of information generated from the production location or the pre-production process and share the information by all staffs participating in the production, thereby making it possible to accurately record the information and smoothly communicate between the staffs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device, a system, and a method for simulating and saving information of metadata regarding film production, and more particularly, to a device, a system, and a method for simulating and saving information of metadata regarding film production capable of storing and managing a variety of production information, sharing the information by staffs of the production location, performing an editing work, etc., using the corresponding information at post-production, and performing various simulations based on the information at the time of the production.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, a specific expert (scripter) handwrites a variety of information generated from production location at the time of the production, such that it is difficult to accurately record the information. In other words, many people participating in the production should share information generated from various situations at the time of actually performing the production; however, it is difficult to accurately record the information and share the written contents. Furthermore, at a post-production process such as editing, CG, and color correction, it is difficult to confirm exact information at the time of the production and when the post-production and the production are simultaneously performed, handwriting is very inefficient.
Meanwhile, thousands of filters such as a lighting filter, a camera filter, are used for the production and the final result is significantly different according to the selection of the filter. However, the filter is selected based only on the experience of staffs such as a lighting director, a movie director, which causes differences between desired scenes and filmed scenes.

Device, system and method for simulating and saving information of metadata regarding film production

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


Provided is a semiconductor device in which, in a case where a metallic plate (a conductive member) is bonded by being sintered to a semiconductor chip having an IGBT gate structure, an excess stress is less likely to be generated in a gate wiring section of the semiconductor chip even when pressure is applied in a sinter bonding process, so that a characteristic failure is reduced. The semiconductor device according to the present invention is characterized by: being provided with a semiconductor chip having a gate structure represented by an IGBT; including first gate wiring and second gate wiring formed on the surface of the semiconductor chip; and including an emitter electrode disposed so as to cover the first gate wiring and a sintered layer disposed above the emitter electrode, wherein a multilayer structure formed by including at least the emitter electrode and the sintered layer on the surface of the semiconductor chip continuously exists over a range including an emitter electrode connecting contact and gate wiring regions.

Semiconductor devices have been used in a wide range of fields such as system large scale integration (LSI), power conversion apparatuses, and control devices for hybrid vehicles. As such semiconductor devices, for example, one using "solder" or a "solder alloy" containing lead for electrical junction between an electrode terminal of an electronic component and an electrode terminal of a circuit pattern on a circuit board has been once the mainstream.
Meanwhile, the use of lead is severely restricted from the viewpoint of protecting the global environment, and development to use lead within such a restricted scope or to join an electrode or the like of a semiconductor device with a lead-free material has been advanced. In particular, an effective material as an alternative to "high-temperature solder" has not yet been found. Since it is indispensable to use "hierarchical solder" in mounting of a semiconductor device, there is a demand for the appearance of materials substituting for the "high-temperature solder".
Based on such a background, conventionally, a joining technique of joining electrodes using a composite material of metal particles and an organic compound as a joining material is proposed as a substitute for the "high-temperature solder".
For example, PTL 1 describes a method of performing junction under reducing atmosphere using a joining material containing a reducing agent consisting of cupric oxide (CuO) particles and an organic substance as a joining technique that can provide excellent joining strength with respect to electrodes of nickel (hereinafter referred to as "Ni") or copper (hereinafter referred to as "Cu"). In this method, copper particles of 100 nm or smaller are generated during heating and reduction, and the copper particles are sintered and joined. The same PTL further describes that a material containing sintered silver fine particles is used as a joining material that joins a semiconductor chip and a metal plate.
Further, PTL 2 describes a solving method from the viewpoint of stress buffering for eliminating a connecting portion having a large difference in thermal expansion coefficient using a metal plate having an intermediate thermal expansion coefficient between a wiring member and a semiconductor chip, as a technique of improving the reliability of wiring connection.

Semiconductor device and power conversion apparatus

Hitachi Power Semiconductor Device, Ltd.


The invention relates to a music synthesis system for synthesizing a corresponding digital music output according to commands from a music data file. The music data file comprises a plurality of music data units. Each music data unit records related information of the music. The music synthesis system comprises a wavetable, a memory, a music analyzer, a wavetable preprocessor, and a synthesizer. The wavetable pre-stores the digital sampling data. The memory has a predetermined memory capacity for storing data. The music analyzer receives the music data file, analyzes the music data units of the music data file, and generates a corresponding analysis result. The wavetable preprocessor selects the digital sampling data with relatively greater importance in the wavetable and stores the selected digital sampling data in the memory. The synthesizer selects the digital sampling data from the memory and synthesizes the digital music output.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a music synthesis system. In particular, the present invention relates to a wavetable synthesis system for synthesizing a corresponding digital music output according to commands from a music data file.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional music synthesis system 10. The music synthesis system comprises a sequencer 12, a wavetable 14, a memory 15, and a synthesizer 16. The music synthesis system 10 is used for synthesizing a corresponding digital music output 20 according to commands specified in a music data file 18. The music data file 18 comprises a plurality of music data units (19a, 19b, . . . ). Each music data unit records related information of each music segment of the music.
As shown in FIG. 1, the wavetable 14 is used for pre-storing a plurality of digital sampling data (22a, 22b, . . . ). The memory 15 is used for storing the wavetable 14. The wavetable 14 can originally be stored in the memory 15, or originally be stored in a memory external to the music synthesis system 10 (such as in other memory, optical storage medium, or even network . . . etc.) and then be read into the memory 15. The sequencer 12 is used for receiving the music data file 18 and generating a result 24. The synthesizer 16 is used for selecting the required digital sampling data from the wavetable 14 according to the sequencer's result 24, so as to synthesize the digital music output 20. Each digital sampling data represents the sampling data of a piece of music generated by a specific musical instrument at a predetermined pitch. For example, the digital sampling data 22a represents the sampling data of the music generated by a piano at pitch C, and the digital sampling data 22b represents the sampling data of the music generated by a violin at pitch G.
Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a waveform diagram of the digital sampling data 22a shown in FIG. 1. Each digital sampling data in FIG. 1 represents the sampling data of the music generated by a specific musical instrument at a predetermined pitch, and the sampling data is sampled for a predetermined duration (T) and then stored in the wavetable 14. As shown in FIG. 2, a duration (T) of the sampling data is extracted from the digital sampling data 22a and then stored in the wavetable 14. A looping point 32 is marked to serve as an important basis when requests are made as to the synthesis of different durations of the digital sampling data 22a. In general, the digital sampling data (22a, 22b, . . . ) are stored without performing data compression because the compression of the digital sampling data might cause the looping point 32 to disappear. As shown in FIG. 2, the compression of the digital sampling data 22a is done by selecting a predetermined amount of compression points 34 from the digital sampling data 22a and only storing these compression points 34, so as to reduce the data size. The decompression procedure could be, for example, performing interpolation calculation using the compression points 34 so as to restore the original digital sampling data 22a. However, the mark of the looping point 32 may possibly disappear during the compression and decompression procedures. Therefore, in many documents, even the manual of the MIDI 1.0 does not recommend to compress the digital sampling data (22a, 22b, . . . ).
In conventional music synthesis system 10, the memory 15 for storing the wavetable 14 is usually the flash memory or ROM. The cost for storing the uncompressed wavetable 14 in the memory 15 is usually one of the most significant part in the total cost. For reducing the cost of storing the wavetable 14, it is usually for the prior to store only the sampling data at one or two predetermined pitches of a specific musical instrument. For example, for the sampling data of the music of a piano, the wavetable 14 only stores the digital sampling data 22a representing the piano at pitch C. Therefore, when the music synthesis system 10 shown in FIG. 1 synthesizes the digital music output 20, the synthesizer 16 is required to perform pitch-shifting to the selected digital sampling data, so as to generate the digital sampling data at other pitches which are not stored for the specific musical instrument.
Referring to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram when the synthesizer 16 shown in FIG. 1 performs pitch-shifting. For example, if the digital music output 20 requires piano music at pitch C, D, F, and G, but the wavetable 14 only stores the digital sampling data 22a of the piano at pitch C, the synthesizer 16 will perform pitch-shifting on the digital sampling data 22a, so as to calculate the digital sampling data (22p, 22q, and 22r). Moreover, the music synthesis system 10 performs pitch-shifting in real-time during the process of synthesizing the digital music output 20. For example, if the music data unit 19a and another music data unit 19b both comprise the music of piano at pitch F, the synthesizer 16 will need to perform pitch-shifting once when synthesizing the music data unit 19a according to the commands specified in the music data file 18, and when synthesizing the music data unit 19b, the synthesizer 16 still needs to perform pitch-shifting once more. Therefore, a large number of repeated calculations of pitch-shifting could be a heavy processing load to conventional music synthesis system 10.
According to the above, conventional music synthesis system 10 has the disadvantages of high storing cost and high calculating cost.


The invention relates to a cutting tool including a basic body and a cutting insert detachably connected to the basic body via an interface, which includes a pair of co-operating connecting surfaces in which engagement means are included, which may be in the form of knobs and seatings. A knob and a co-operating seating have a rotationally symmetrical, conical shape to prevent translation of the cutting insert in the plane of the interface. Another knob ensures that the cutting insert cannot be rotated in relation to the conical knob. Simultaneously, ample bearing surfaces abut against co-operating support surfaces in a connecting surface. In such a way, the cutting insert is fixed in a stable, non-overdetermined position in the basic body. Furthermore, the invention relates to a cutting insert as such.

Within the field of chip removing or cutting machining of blanks of metal, development continues with the purpose of making more effective not only the capacity of the tools to carry out the machining in a fast and accurate way, but also the manufacture of the different parts of the tools in the form of basic bodies (holders) and replaceable cutting inserts. A trend in development is to improve the machining results with respect to the precision and surface finish, requiring that the active cutting edge of the cutting insert obtains an exact, predetermined position in relation to the basic body. Another trend is to reduce the costs for the manufacture of the tools. This has, among other things, led to the cutting inserts being made from cemented carbide, which are most commonly occurring on the market, already in connection with the compression-moulding and sintering having obtained a better and better dimensional accuracy. In order to obtain good precision of the cutting inserts, previously it was necessary to subject the same to expensive grinding operations, but with the improved compression-moulding and sintering technique, it has become possible to use direct-pressed, i.e., unground, cutting inserts in more and more applications. Even so, the tool designer still has to take into account a dimensional variation of the order of ±0.5% of the nominal dimensions of the cutting insert. This means that the active edge of the cutting insert very well may end up in the desired position if the outcome of the insert production is good, but when the insert production is not good (so far that the cutting insert has swollen and become longer, or shrunk and become shorter, than intended), the position of the cutting edge in relation to the basic body may deviate to such a high extent from the desired position that the machining precision will be reduced.
Recently, tools have been developed, the interfaces between the basic body and the cutting insert of which are formed with connecting surfaces, which individually include male-like as well as female-like engagement means, and which engage each other. Originally, these connecting surfaces included so-called serration connecting surfaces, of the type that includes a plurality of parallel, male-like ridges and female-like grooves, the ridges of which in one of the connecting surfaces engage the grooves of the other connecting surface, and vice versa. In a next stage of development, the interfaces were refined by the fact that certain ridges were orientated at right or other angles to other ridges, often in combination with the number of ridges being reduced to a minimum. However, common to previously known interfaces, the male-like engagement means are more or less elongate, straight ridges having inclined flanks, which have the purpose of guaranteeing the positioning of the cutting insert as well as the transfer of force from the cutting insert to the basic body, by the fact that the flanks of the ridges should have good contact along the entire length thereof, at the same time as the ridges must not touch the bottom of the appurtenant grooves.
Within the field of chip removing machining, there is a difference between theory and practice. Thus, in theory, it is fairly simple to construct interfaces that have optimal properties in respect of stably fixing the cutting insert and the active cutting edge thereof in an exact predetermined position in relation to the basic body, and guaranteeing a good abutment of all the various forces that act on the cutting insert during operation. However, in practice, the stability and position of the cutting insert are affected by a number of unforeseeable factors, one of the most difficult to master being the varying outcome of the manufacture of the cutting inserts. As long as the outcome gives a good, nominal dimensional accuracy, the intended and calculated surface or line contact, among other things, is obtained between the flanks of the ridges and grooves along the entire length of the flanks, but as soon as even moderate form defects arise, there is a risk that the contact between the flanks is reduced to point contacts or partial line contact. This may in turn result in the cutting insert, initially as well as during operation, being positioned incorrectly in relation to the basic body (by so-called overdetermination), and that the transfer of force between the cutting insert and the basic body becomes inferior.
By European Patent No. 0300172 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,706, there are previously known cutting tools having cutting inserts, which are detachably connected to the appurtenant basic bodies via interfaces, which include cross section-wise round male members formed in the connecting surface of the basic bodies, which male members engage female-like engagement means in the underside of the cutting insert. However, in these cases, the female-like engagement means are only partly round seatings or seating surfaces, which are open laterally, and which therefore cannot absorb lateral displacement forces in arbitrary radial directions.
Furthermore, European Patent No. 1405686 discloses a cutting tool in the form of a turning tool, the cutting insert of which is detachably connected to a basic body via a tightening screw as well as via a cylindrical locking pin mounted in the basic body, which locking pin engages a cylindrical hole in the cutting insert, and has the capability of counteracting translation of the cutting insert in relation to the basic body. In practice, however, the screw lacks the capability of rotation-securing the cutting insert in a position in which the active cutting edge of the cutting insert reliably can retain an exact space position in relation to the basic body, since the screw, via the male thread thereof, has a certain play in relation to the female thread of the basic body, and may as well be deflected by the cutting forces. Furthermore, the engagement of the locking pin in the cylindrical hole requires extremely fine tolerances to prevent the cutting insert from moving in relation to the locking pin.

Tool and a cutting insert for chip removing machining


Mobile equipment includes an operation panel disposed in an opening of a case. The operation panel includes electrode layers that constitute a position detector. The operation panel and an internal member inside the case are provided with respective electrode layers that are opposite each other and constitute a press detector. An elastic member that supports the operation panel has a fixed portion secured to the case, a support portion configured to support the operation panel, and an elastic repulsive portion. When the operation panel is pressed, the magnitude of a reaction force against the pressing force can be adjusted to an appropriate level primarily by buckling or bending of the elastic repulsive portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an operation device included in electronic equipment, such as mobile equipment, and operated with the touch of a finger or the like on an operation panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patent documents described below disclose operation devices equipped with an operation panel. In such an operation device, an operation panel includes a position detector, such as a capacitive position detector, capable of detecting a position where a finger or the like touches the front surface of the operation panel. Additionally, a press detector capable of detecting a press of the operation panel is provided between a case and the operation panel. When the position detector detects a position where a finger or the like touches the operation panel and the press detector detects a press of the operation panel, the operation device outputs an operation signal corresponding to information about the position detected by the position detector.
With this operation, it is possible to reliably output an operation signal corresponding to information about a position touched by a finger or the like. At the same time, by pressing the operation panel with a finger or the like, the operator can easily recognize, by the feel, that the operation panel has been operated.
An operation device described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-323457 includes, as a press detector, a switch or a piezoelectric element that detects a press of an operation panel. Since the operation panel is movably attached to a case, a gap is often created between the operation panel and the case. This tends to cause entry of dust through the gap into the case.
In an operation device described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-64725, an operation panel is supported by elastic members in the outer region thereof. When the operation panel is pressed, the elastic members are compressively deformed to allow the operation panel to move in the pressed direction. In an operation device described in International Publication No. 2007/091600, elastic members are pressure-sensitive conductive rubber members. Compression of the pressure-sensitive conductive rubber members causes a change in resistance, so that a press detection output can be obtained.
In the operation devices described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-64725 and International Publication No. 2007/091600, the elastic members are interposed between a case and an inner surface of the operation panel. Since pressing the operation panel causes compressive deformation of the elastic members and produces a large elastic resistance, it is difficult to realize an appropriate feel of pressing operation. A better feel of pressing operation may be realized by lowering the hardness of the elastic members. However, this often degrades the strength of the elastic members and may result in inadequate sealing between the operation panel and the case.
The present invention solves the problems of the related art described above. The present invention provides an operation device in which an operation panel has a good press feel and it is possible to improve sealing between the operation panel and a case.


A method for manufacturing a planar sensor, comprises disposing a film of a material on a substrate, wherein the material is selected from the group consisting of platinum, rhodium, palladium and mixtures and alloys comprising at least one of the foregoing materials; annealing the material; measuring a resistance value of the material; laser trimming the annealed material; heat treating the laser trimmed material; and laser trimming the heat treated material to form the sensor.

Increased demand for improved fuel economy and emissions control has necessitated the development of emission remediation systems capable of reducing harmful exhaust constituents over a wide range of air/fuel mixtures in both fuel-rich and fuel-lean conditions. Stricter emission regulations have lead to the use of chemical elements that cannot be exposed to the high exhaust temperatures exhibited in the past, e.g., greater than 900° C. Exhaust remediation components used in automotive exhaust environment are increasingly susceptible to failure at temperatures exceeding about 700° C. Temperature sensors are frequently being incorporated into exhaust systems such that measures to reduce exhaust temperatures can be initiated to protect these new emission components. Faster light-off time for these temperature sensors (time to activity) is important for emissions control, as high temperature excursions are at the most frequent levels at startup.
Planar temperature sensors are used in a wide variety of applications across many different disciplines. In automotive applications, the resistance values of the planar temperature sensors are generally greater than or equal to about 200 ohms, which is achieved by creating an elongated narrow ribbon of sensing element material having certain resistance characteristics. Where planar temperature sensors are intended to be used in high temperature environments, i.e., environments where temperatures are often above 500° C., they are traditionally manufactured using extremely precisely controlled thin film depositing and etching techniques. In order to ensure that the elongated sensor trace of the planar temperature sensor has a resistance above about 200 ohms, the length, width, and thickness of the sensing electrode are generally tightly controlled. Although such temperature sensors can be produced with thin film and etching method, it is expensive and troublesome with respect to the extremely precise control generally employed with these techniques.
Additionally, it is noted at temperatures greater than or equal to 600° C., the temperature sensing element material may experience grain growth and/or pore coalescence/nucleation, which can cause changes in the circuit resistance. For example, a temperature sensor failure, which may be referred to as a "hard" sensor failure by those of skill in the art, may occur due to the opening of the resistive circuit as a result of voids (pore) growth in the sensing electrodes. Further, a sensor failure, referred to as a "soft" sensor failure by those of skill in the art, may be observed as resistance drift of the sensing electrodes due to the loss of the resistive circuit cross-sectional area.
Temperature sensors used in automotive exhaust environment are increasingly exposed to alkali metal oxides such as K2O and BaO and acidic oxides such as V2O5, WO3, and MoO3. These materials are particularly troubling to temperature sensors, since the materials can easily migrate through temperature sensor protective coatings and significantly change the resistance of the sensing electrode.
Further, temperature sensors used in automotive exhaust environment, including diesel exhaust, are increasingly exposed to steam, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide. Steam, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide are particularly troubling to temperature sensors since these gas phase materials can migrate through temperature sensor protective coatings and cause vaporization of the sensing electrode, scaling, and de-adhesion of sensing electrodes, and failure of the protective coatings.
It is also noted that sensing electrodes are highly permeable to oxygen. Permeability to oxygen at high temperature can accelerate the coalescence of grain boundaries and the sintering of sensing electrodes. Addition of coatings such as high temperature glasses has enhanced barrier properties to the migration of oxygen. Unfortunately, coatings such as glasses do not inhibit oxygen migration enough to stabilize the electrodes for the length of time desired for durability.
Therefore, what is needed in the art are improved methods of stabilizing a temperature sensing element, and temperature sensors that inhibits grain growth and pore coalescence/nucleation in the sensing element material.

Temperature sensor and method of making the same


A versatile door system for an aircraft includes forward and aft door assemblies. The forward door assembly includes a forward hingeable door hingeably coupled to the airframe proximate a forward location of an aircraft opening and a forward slidable door slidably coupled to the forward hingeable door. The aft door assembly includes an aft hingeable door hingeably coupled to the airframe proximate an aft location of the aircraft opening and an aft slidable door slidably coupled to the aft hingeable door. In a closed configuration, the forward hingeable door, the forward slidable door, the aft hingeable door and the aft slidable door are securably disposed within the aircraft opening. In operation, the forward hingeable door, the forward slidable door, the aft hingeable door and the aft slidable door are individually operable to collectively provide access to a selectable width of the aircraft opening.

Conventional, helicopters have a limited top speed due to the problem of retreating blade stall, in which the rotor blade on the retreating side of the rotor disc in forward flight experiences a loss of lift due to the rotorcraft's linear forward flight velocity exceeding the rotor blade's minimum angular velocity for lift production. Attempts have been made to overcome retreating blade stall and to increase the top speed of rotorcraft. For example, various compound helicopter designs have been attempted that utilize lift compounding, propulsion compounding or both to improve top speed. Lift compounding may be achieved by adding wings to the fuselage to partially offload the lift requirement from the main rotor during forward flight. Propulsion compounding may be achieved by adding auxiliary propulsive systems such as propellers or jets to partially or fully offload the forward thrust requirement from the main rotor during forward flight. Utilizing both wings for lift compounding and auxiliary propulsive systems for propulsion compounding may be referred to as fully compounding. It has been found, however, that due to the positioning of the wings and/or the auxiliary propulsive systems on the rotorcraft fuselage as well as the contour of the aircraft afterbody, compound helicopters often have limited space for an aftwardly sliding door, particularly when a wide opening is desired for enabling multi-role capabilities.


The invention provides a bag container and method for making same with an improved removable section for conveying marketing and promotional messages. The section may be separated from the bag container without compromising the container's integral barrier wall, and provides an improved construction capable of use in high speed, high efficiency, automated handling systems. In addition, the invention provides the option of a bag container and a wrap with a highly secure, tamper resistant, removable section made from a one-piece blank, without the need for additional multi-part security systems or other added security systems.

Disposable, flexible containers are widely used in many different applications for holding a wide variety of products. Such containers include bags of various materials and dimensions formed from a web or blank of a barrier material that may be cut, folded or otherwise formed, as well as sealed using adhesives, heat or a combination of such systems.
Some of the most widely used barrier materials are papers, paper composites or other paper-based materials. Such paper-based materials can be formed, treated, laminated or otherwise converted into effective barrier materials useful for containing and holding both dry and liquid products, and products with both liquid and solid characteristics. For the purposes herein, such paper-based barrier materials will be referred to as "paper" materials, which includes various paper products; laminated paper products; and combinations of paper with polymeric materials (such as polypropylenes, polyesters, acetates and polyethylenes), foils, and other non-paper materials.
The compact size, relatively low cost and variety of potential shapes and sizes of paper bag containers provide a great variety of applications for such containers, and certain designs and constructions have become specialized to suit particular end uses. For example, in the food industry, paper bag containers are particularly useful for holding and transporting a wide variety of food products. In one specific example, paper bags are very useful in the transport and sale of pre-cooked and prepared retail foods, such as take out deli foods, chicken products, sandwiches and the like. In some instances, it is desirable to utilize the printable surface of paper bag containers to provide the bags with decorative printed patterns, marketing messages, food preparation instructions and other indicia which enhances the bag containers' utility to end users. In addition, certain printable polymeric materials (such as polypropylenes, polyesters, acetates and polyethylenes) which also can be folded or formed, and sealed with adhesives, heat or other such processes have found utility as barrier materials for similar bag containers in such applications.
One result of the popularity of such bag containers is an emphasis on unique and innovative bag designs for specific uses or purposes. Another result is an increase in the competitiveness of the bag container market. As a result, a premium is placed on cost efficient bag manufacturing processes and products, customer satisfaction with bag containers' performance, and the flexibility of bag products for multiple, general and specialized uses. Moreover, commercially effective paper bag container designs must demonstrate the potential for innovative applications of aesthetic decorations, graphic design, marketing communication and marketing promotion concepts.
Examples of efforts to provide commercially suitable paper bag containers are shown in Riseman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,756 (the "Riseman patent"), and the other references mentioned in the Riseman patent, (see Col. 1, lines 11-17). Other examples are shown in the published UK Patent Application, GB 2,074,541 (the "'541 UK Application"), and Faltynek, U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,845 (the "Faltynek patent"). Those references disclose paper bag containers with various forms of tear off or otherwise removable sections that may be printed with promotional, advertising, discount coupons or other such important marketing or sales information. References such as the Riseman and Faltynek patents recognize the advantages of a removable section that does not compromise the containers' barrier wall when it is separated from the bag container.
Aspects of prior designs, however, have one or more features that affect their usefulness in certain applications and for certain specialized purposes. For example, bag container products with partially attached sections, flaps or other readily detachable portions that have free or easily detachable edges may present inefficiencies when used with high speed automated handling, sorting, insertion or packaging equipment. Such partially attached or readily separable flaps, at times, have the potential to become wrinkled, folded, torn or otherwise damaged in such applications.
The partially attached or readily separable flaps, at times, have the potential to cause equipment jams or other stoppages or inefficiencies in automated, high speed handling equipment. Attempts to apply adhesives in small, defined areas of a bag to tack down and temporarily hold flap-like removable sections, such as disclosed in the '541 UK Application, have not adequately eliminated such concerns. Such tacked down flap-like sections are susceptible to inadvertent opening, and in certain applications may not ensure sufficient restraint of the flap-like sections for use in high speed, handling and dispensing equipment.
A bag container construction that improves on prior designs with removable sections to reduce or eliminate the potential for such difficulties and inefficiencies, also provides an opportunity to obtain significant cost savings and a broader application of bag container, particularly in automated handling systems. In addition, a bag container that employs a removable section that is secured from inadvertent, unauthorized and accidental disclosure of printed indicia on, behind or under the removable section provides the opportunity to use such bags in new marketing and promotional applications where such bags previously have not been used.
In such marketing and promotional applications, it is often important to ensure that the printed indicia is only revealed at an appropriate time, such as at a retail store, before authorized representatives, or before or at time of purchase of products or services. In other applications, there must be some manner of identifying products that have been subject to tampering before or during the distribution process, i.e., before the products are received by the intended users. Bag containers such as those disclosed in the '541 UK Application with removable sections that are not secured or are only partially secured are unsuitable for such purposes.
Examples of such marketing and promotional uses include certain contests and discount marketing promotion programs, where playing pieces are distributed with a concealed message concerning a prize, a discount or further contest information. In prior efforts, multi-part paper tokens or playing pieces were commonly used for such efforts. The token or playing piece typically included an opaque upper paperboard or paper layer laminated to a lower printed layer carrying the contest or discount message. The upper layer was provided with perforations and was removed from the token along the perforations to reveal the underlying message on the bottom layer at an appropriate time.
In another example, a card section, paper section or other surface was coated with an opaque coating, typically a waxy ink or paint to conceal a message under the coating. The surface of the coating was then rubbed or scratched to remove the coating and to reveal the underlying message. Such coated products, however, have limited application to bag containers and involve additional expenses for the preparation of the surface and coated product. Those systems also tended to have an unattractive appearance and thus would not be accepted for certain applications due to aesthetic and marketing concerns. Such coatings also could be difficult to remove and were susceptible to inadvertent damage which resulted in disqualification of the playing piece. Thus, such multi-layer and coated playing pieces were rendered undesirable for certain marketing applications.
The invention provides an improved bag container construction and method utilizing an improved removable section suitable for use in a variety of applications. This includes use with high speed automated handling equipment and other applications where flaps, partially attached sections, and removable sections with exposed or free edges are undesirable. In addition, the bag container construction and method of the invention is adaptable for use in marketing efforts, promotional efforts or other applications where it is desirable or necessary to provide a hidden, obscured or otherwise fully or partially concealed message or design section with a removable cover or overlying sections. Such applications may include instances it is desirable to provide labels commonly used for promotions with a protective cover. In such applications, that protective cover also may be printed with further promotional or advertising indicia.
The method of the invention is usable with a variety of barrier materials including paper, treated paper, paper composites, paper-foiled laminates, certain polymeric barrier materials, and multi-ply barrier materials of a variety of compositions. The method permits the utilization of multiple printable surfaces to maximize the utility of a removable section without compromising the barrier properties and container properties of the bag construction. Furthermore, opaque ink and coatings can be applied to removable sections "in line" during production of the bag to conceal a marketing or promotional item without a separate step or process.
The invention further provides the option of forming a suitable removable section in a "wrap" or a section of sheet material that can be folded into a container or wrapped around products, including food products. In one aspect, the invention provides a wrap product made of multi-ply wrapping materials of paper, paper laminate, paper composites, certain polymers and other composite materials or other multi-ply wrap materials.

Flexible container with improved printable and removable section


Device comprising a demand valve (1) for delivering breathable gas to a diver and a fluidic connector (2, 5) that can be selectively connected to the demand valve (1), the demand valve (1) comprising a breathable gas supply inlet (3, 13), characterized in that the demand valve (1) and/or the fluidic connector (2, 5) comprise a blocking device (6, 7, 8, 9; 6, 7, 66, 50) for selectively blocking the connector (2, 5) on the demand valve (1) when the connector (2, 5) is fastened to the demand valve (1) via the catching members (103, 12; 213, 5), the blocking device (6, 7, 8, 9; 7, 66, 50) being selectively moveable and/or deformable between a first configuration of blocking relative movement between the demand valve (1) and the connector (2, 5), and a second configuration of unblocking, allowing relative movement between the demand valve (1) and the connector (2, 5).

The demand valve is that part of the regulator that the diver holds in his mouth and which delivers the air to the diver as he inhales.
The casing of the demand valve at least partially contains the mechanism for regulating the pressure of and delivering the gas from the source via a supply hose. This pressure-regulating mechanism allows the gas carried by the hose to reach, selectively, an outlet intended to be connected to the diver's mouth (as a function of the external pressure and/or of the inhalation pressure). The systems providing the connection between a diver's demand valve and a fluidic connector (a hose, a valve seat retainer, etc.) generally comprise a system of the screw-nut type.
In certain known embodiments, the pressure-regulating valve part of the demand valve is housed in an insert arranged in a bore of the demand valve casing. That end of the insert that is situated in the casing also bears the lever of the pressure-regulating mechanism which collaborates with a flexible diaphragm situated on one side of the casing.
According to a first possible arrangement, the pressure-regulating valve seat is also housed in the insert. In such a case, the hose carrying the gas is then screwed directly onto the exterior end of the insert.
According to a second possible arrangement, the pressure-regulating valve seat is housed in a separate seat retainer which is coupled (for example by screw-fastening) to the exterior end of the insert. In such a case, the gas supply hose is then screwed not onto the insert but onto an end of the seat retainer.
Suitably robust screw-fastening and sealing are conventionally ensured by imposing a sufficiently high tightening torque. This tightening does, however, require suitable tightening tools (open-ended spanner, pin wrench, etc.) which are not necessarily available when needed. In addition, it is not easy for the user to identify that he has applied a sufficient tightening torque.
It is an object of the present invention to remedy all or some of the abovementioned disadvantages of the prior art.

Demand valve device for use by diverse and selectively connectable fluidic connector