A closed-loop controlled system solenoid actuated EGR valve includes an engine mount for attachment to a vehicle engine, a valve housing to which the engine mount is attached, a motor housing positioned above the valve housing, and a sensor housing. The valve housing includes a valve inlet adapted to receive engine exhaust gas and a valve outlet which communicates the engine exhaust gas from the valve inlet to an engine intake system. The motor housing has a bobbin, an armature, and a valve stem disposed in a bore formed therein. The valve stem is in communication with a plunger extending from the sensor housing to monitor the position of the valve stem with respect to the valve seat. A guide bearing is positioned in the housing to guide the armature while a valve stem bearing is positioned in the valve housing to contact and position the valve stem with respect to the valve seat while a valve opening is being closed.

Exhaust gas recirculation ("EGR") valves form an integral part of the exhaust gas emissions control in typical internal combustion engines. EGR valves are utilized to recirculate a predetermined amount of exhaust gas back to the intake system of the engine. The amount of exhaust gas permitted to flow back to the intake system is usually controlled in an open-looped fashion by controlling the flow area of the valve, i.e., the amount of exhaust gas that is permitted to flow through the valve. Such open-loop control makes it difficult to accurately control the exhaust gas flow through the valve over the valve's useful life. This is because the valve has various components that can wear or because vacuum signals which are communicated to such valves will vary or fluctuate over time resulting in the potential contamination of various valve components which could affect the operation of the valve.
Many EGR valves utilize a moveable diaphragm to open and close the valves. However, these valves can lack precision because of the loss of vacuum due to external leakpaths. To overcome the lack of consistently available vacuum to control a movable diaphragm, electrically actuated solenoids have been used to replace the vacuum actuated diaphragm. Moreover, typical vacuum actuated valves can also have problems with accuracy due to their inability to quickly respond based on changes in engine operating conditions. Further, current EGR valves typically have an inwardly opening valve closure element that is moved into its valve housing relative to a cooperating valve seat in order to open the valve. Over the useful life of these valves, carbon can accumulate on the valve closure element and upon its valve seat, thereby preventing the valve from completely closing. The valve closure elements are also positioned within the housing or body of these EGR valves and because it is virtually impossible to clean the valve closure element and the valve seat, contamination thereby necessitates replacement of these integral pollution system components.
Additionally, exhaust gas recirculation valves that require a high force to open the valve, operate through pressure balancing, whether through a diaphragm or other balancing members. Alternatively, too low a force can open the valve allowing exhaust gas to flow through the valve opening when such exhaust gas is not needed. By allowing exhaust gas to act as part of the pressure balance, it necessarily contacts the internal moving parts of the valve causing contaminants to accumulate thereon which can interfere with the proper operation of the valve, as discussed above.

Electromechanically actuated solenoid exhaust gas recirculation valve


A dissector/retractor device comprising a balloon having a deflated state and an inflated state is described for performing minimally invasive surgical procedures by creating a tunnel alongside a target tissue in the body. The balloon in its inflated state forms an open space extending transversely through the balloon. The balloon is carried by an insertion assembly. The balloon may be an elongate torus shape with an elongate open area in its interior. The insertion assembly includes a blunt dissection device and a handle. In use, the dissector retractor is inserted through a small incision and bluntly tunneled through body tissue to a desired location. The balloon is inflated to create a space in the body tissue and may also dissect tissue as necessary away from the tissue to be treated. The balloon is left in place inflated to retract the space. Another incision may be made to provide more direct access to the target tissue than the original incision. The target tissue may then be diagnosed and/or treated through the direct access incision, through the overlying tissue and through the open space in the balloon.

Surgical endoscopy is a surgical technique of using small diameter tools such as graspers, forceps, retractors, dissectors and clamps specially designed to be inserted through small openings in the body to perform operations within the body. The surgeon performing the surgery often cannot see the operation directly, and must watch the procedure on a video monitor fed by an endoscopic camera or through an endoscope. Endoscopic surgery may be preferable to open surgery because open surgery requires large incisions, essentially opening the body cavity completely in order to perform surgery deep within the body. The terms "laparoscopic surgery," and "arthroscopic surgery," are often considered to be types of endoscopic surgery, but are commonly used synonymously to refer to endoscopic surgery and minimally invasive surgery.
The surgeon performing such a surgery makes one, or a few, small incisions and inserts specially designed tools having small profiles through the incision and advances the tools to the desired location in the body. Long tools may be used to access over substantial distances from the incision deep into the body. Viewing the tools and the anatomy through an endoscope or on a video display from the endoscope, the surgeon can perform a wide variety of activities, including dissecting, retracting, cutting and suturing, necessary for a wide variety of surgical procedures.
In certain types of surgery dealing with elongate structures, for example blood vessels and long bones, it is desirable to dissect and/or retract tissue away from the elongate structure along at least a portion of their length. This may be accomplished in order to facilitate introduction of a tool or implant (temporary or permanent) alongside the structure, or to harvest at least a portion of the structure, such as a length of a vessel. In some instances, it may also be desirable to provide retraction of the tissue away from the elongate structure in the dissected region to create a working and/or a visualization space. In addition it is advantageous that the retraction be accomplished in a manner which minimizes blockage of surgical access to the dissected region thereby providing ample working and/or visualization space.
Many endoscopic surgical procedures may usefully employ such methods of dissecting and/or retracting tissue away from elongate structures. For example, in a blood vessel harvest, tissue is dissected away from the vessel and is then retracted to provide working and visualization space for ligating side branches and for completely separating the vessel from the surrounding tissue. Further, in the emergency treatment of long bone trauma, such as a fracture, it is often necessary to dissect along the bone to create space for plating. In both of these instances it is desirable to minimize the incision length, thereby accelerating the recovery process and its associated pain and reducing risk of infection. There are many inherent difficulties encountered in treating elongate structures using endoscopic techniques. For example, typically these procedures are performed through a single incision overlying one end of the region of the body to be treated. Hence, long tools must be used to reach from the incision site to the far end of the elongate structure being treated. In many situations, these long tools must navigate tortuous paths to reach the desired location in the body. These situations present several drawbacks in current methods. Firstly, it is difficult to advance long tools and to precisely position the distal end of the tools due to the extensive length of the tools and inherent visual uncertainty. Moreover, even after they are positioned, long tools are generally harder to maneuver and to operate than similar instruments having shorter lengths. Also, the long, narrow path to the desired location severely limits the maneuverability of the distal end of the instrument. This creates even greater difficulties and is especially undesirable where the orientation of the instrument is critical.
Many types of expanding devices which can be used to dissect and/or retract tissue for use in endoscopic procedures have been disclosed. A feature common to each of these devices is a small initial (or contracted or unexpanded) profile such that it can be inserted through a small incision. Once inserted, the device can be expanded to exert force on surrounding tissue to perform dissection and/or retraction. Further, the device must be capable of being contracted after use so that it can be removed through the same small incision. The designs of known devices varies greatly. For instance, devices have been disclosed which utilize mechanical means such as expanding arms, or inflatable apparatus which expands by pressurizing with fluid, or a combination of mechanical and inflatable mechanisms. For example, in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,667,520 and 5,772,680 and U.S. application Ser. No. 08/927,371, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, various apparatus comprising mechanical, inflatable and combination mechanical/inflatable devices are disclosed which can be utilized to dissect and/or retract tissue. Depending on the nature of the application and surgical exposure desired, the apparatus are disclosed as having one or more expanding portions typically disposed on an insertion tool such as a blunt dissector or tunneling assembly, scope, rod, tube or other suitable structure. In many instances, an inflatable device provides superior performance because: (1) it can be contracted into a very small profile; (2) it is easily and variably expandable; (3) it can be readily formed into many different shapes specially designed for the particular procedure; (4) it can be made of transparent material to allow visualization through it; (5) the expansion force can be specifically and accurately directed to the desired tissue; and (6) the amount of force applied to the tissues can be precisely controlled.
In endoscopic procedures, an alternative to accessing the remote portions of a desired region of the body from the initial incision is to access the site from directly above the location. First, the region of interest in the body is dissected and/or retracted through an initial incision using the endoscopic techniques described above. Then, the surgeon locates the surface of the body directly above the site from the exterior of the body, such as by using the endoscope light which is often visible through the surrounding tissue. Finally, a small incision or puncture is made from directly above the site to the required depth. This method has the advantages that the surgeon is closer to the region of the body to be treated and relatively shorter instruments can be used. Furthermore, the shorter distance to the site of the procedure improves maneuverability and eases the use of the instruments. This method provides significant advantages with only a small increase in the total length of incisions.
The method of using additional incisions directly above the previously retracted region of an endoscopic surgery, however, requires that the retractors used provide direct access to the desired site from above. Although some of the inflatable retractors/dissectors described above are suitable for retracting elongate regions and can be inserted through small incisions and provide excellent dissection and retraction, they do not provide access through the overlying tissue and around or through the retractor. Instead, these prior elongate inflatable retractors/dissectors are configured to facilitate access along the path from the initial incision and therefore have solid surfaces which block direct access to the region from positions opposite the device. Although some of the previously disclosed inflatable devices described above are suitable for retracting elongate regions, none of the devices leaves adequate surgical access to the anatomy through and around the device.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an apparatus and corresponding method of using the apparatus which is suitable for dissecting and/or retracting elongate regions while also providing sufficient access to the region through overlying tissue and around or through the apparatus. Further, the apparatus should preferably be inflatable and adapted for use in endoscopic surgery.

Apparatus and method for dissecting and retracting elongate structures


Various audio encoders and methods of using the same are disclosed. In one aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes an audio encoder and an audio encoder mode selector. The audio encoder mode selector is operable to analyze video data and adjust an encoding mode of the audio encoder based on the analyzed video data.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to audio visual signal processing, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for encoding audio signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
The process of recording a motion picture with sound involves the acquisition of both video images and sound, and in the case of each type of content the acquisition involves the sampling of an otherwise continuous flow of information. For example, the video imagery is frequently sampled at a rate of twenty four frames per second. Audio is typically recorded as an analog signal that is next sampled at some bit or sampling rate to convert the analog voltage signals into digital data. The quality of the analog to digital conversion depends on a number of factors, such as the number of possible voltage levels that are represented digitally. While it might be possible to simply record or otherwise store all of the audio samples, it is typically more efficient to perform some sort of audio encoding of the sampled audio signals prior to storage on some form of media, such as a disk or hard drive.
Many current audio encoders use various techniques for compressing the sampled audio signals before sending the compressed data to a playback or storage device. Examples of these compression techniques include prediction, quantization (both vector and scalar) and Huffman coding. Many audio visual recordings involve significant variations in video and audio content over the duration of the recording. One scene might involve a boisterous action sequence with loud audio content and little dialog and the next scene might involve an intimate conversation between characters with little or no music background, and so on.
Current audio encoders encode audio signals without taking into account what may be valuable video information, such as scene changes, the presence of dialog intensive scenes. As a result, current audio encoders typically determine mode (i.e., prediction on/off), bit-rate allocation and quantization parameters without video signal assistance or side-information. Audio encoder users thus have no means of utilizing video information to improve audio encoder where it is applicable.
Yamaha Corporation markets a front surround system (a sound bar) under models YAS-103 and YAS-93. These models use a feature called "clear voice," which is intended to improve the quality of voice sounds when a user is viewing video content. When clear voice is enabled, the sound bar makes adjustments to analog audio signals just before they are sent to the speakers of the sound bar. This processing differs from audio encoding because it is performed on analog signals that have undergone digital to analog conversion.
The present invention is directed to overcoming or reducing the effects of one or more of the foregoing disadvantages.


A beverage container is filled and sealed by:

Wine is traditionally sold by the bottle, usually in 70 cl bottles. However, it is drunk by the glass, and often sold in bars, cafes and restaurants by the glass in measures of different sizes. The bar, cafe or restaurant owner must supply glasses, dispense the selected wine from a bottle into the glass, collect empties and wash them up for reuse. There are thus significant capital and labour costs inherent in selling wine in the traditional manner by the glass. Usually only a small selection of popular wines will be supplied in this way since, once a bottle is opened, its contents will start to oxidise. Small amounts of wine left at the end of a bottle must generally be thrown away.
Because consumers drink wine by the glass, some would like to purchase it from take-aways, sandwich bars and supermarkets pre-packaged in single glass quantities. Attempts to supply wine in small cans has not proved a success, as wine drinkers are reluctant to drink from a can, so that a disposable glass needs to be supplied as well as the can. Supplying wine pre-packaged in sealed glass-shaped plastics containers is attractive to the organizers of outdoor events, as this removes the need to open bottles or cans to dispense wine and avoids any wastage. All that is required is the provision of waste bins for used plastics glasses. For sealed glass-shaped containers of wine to prove a commercial success, the wine must have an extended shelf-life. With a view to avoiding oxidation, the first attempts to fill and seal wine in plastics glasses filled the wine to the brim to largely eliminate any headspace containing air. This proved unsuccessful, as the wine was inevitably spilled when a user tried to remove the sealed lid. Users are only prepared to buy wine in a glass when they can see a clear headspace above the wine. Attempts have been made to fill the glass in environmentally controlled conditions with an inert atmosphere such as nitrogen, but this has added significantly to filling costs. Examples of this are disclosed in EP 1235501B (Pascal) and in PCT WO9605123 (Johnston). An attempt to overcome this problem has been the adoption of dished lids sealed to the edge of the glass but extending down into the glass itself to reduce any air-filled headspace to a minimum but without the wine being filled to the brim. Such an arrangement is disclosed in GB 2,385,577B (Valentine). However, this use of preformed lids rather than simple, generally flat, flexible film lids both adds to expense and still does not result in a filled product with an extended shelf life that has the clear headspace that customers desire.
The methods disclosed herein-below have arisen from our work seeking to overcome these problems and to provide in an economically efficient manner an aesthetically and commercially attractive filled and sealed beverage container, preferably though not necessarily exclusively, sealed plastics glasses of wine.

Filling and sealing of beverage containers

Abstract: a) dispensing a predetermined amount of beverage, preferably wine, into an open-topped container having a circular rim, preferably a plastics wine glass, to leave a headspace above the beverage in the container;

Abstract: b) temporarily tacking a generally flat flexible film lid sized to fit over the open top to the rim of the container at at least one position around the rim while leaving the remainder of the rim free;

Abstract: c) engaging the tacked lid to cause flexure thereof to create a gap between the lid and the rim on one side;

Abstract: d) dispensing an inert gas, preferably nitrogen, through the gap so created and into the headspace to displace air therefrom; and

Abstract: e) bringing a heat sealer into engagement with the lid to heat seal the lid to the rim about its entire circumference, thereby trapping the inert gas within the headspace.


A cardan joint is provided for transmitting rotation between first and second parts of a toy building set. A first rotating part consists of a shaft having a coupler head at one end in the form of flaps which project radially outwardly with respect to the shaft axis and which form spherical segments of a cardan ball. A second rotating part includes a cavity into which the coupling head of the first part fits. Carrier pins extend radially inwardly into the cavity to mesh between and be displaced along the flaps so that the coupler head with the flap may be tiltable about at least one pin.

The present invention relates to a cardan joint for transmission of rotation between a first and a second rotating part of a toy building set comprising various building elements having different types of coupling means, e.g. ball heads or coupling studs positioned with mutual modular measures.
Cardan joints are widely used within mechanics, where they constitute one of the most important coupling types for transmission of rotation from one rotating part to another. Such cardan joints are so dimensioned as to function optimally in precisely the function for which they are used. Such power transmission may be for cars, machines etc, where the dimensioning has been made in view of the power to be transmitted, the angle between the two rotating shafts and a number of other parameters, such as cost, space and life. Precisely in view of the special demands placed on the strength of the cardan joints, cardan joints will normally never be constructed for use within several areas.
Cardan joints for use in connection with existing toy building sets must meet entirely different demands than the above mentioned kind of cardan joints, as for this use it is not a question of critical mechanical loads, but on the contrary a wish for large flexibility, i.e. the existent need is for such a cardan joint being directly suited for building into various constructions and at the same time being easy to assemble and disassemble.


Inspection device including processor configured to execute process, the process including:                making accept/reject testing on inspection image through first image inspection program in group of image inspection programs including plurality of learning-type image inspection programs of different generations, each of which satisfies predetermined standard of fitness of the image inspection program with respect to learning image; and        replacing the first image inspection program with second image inspection program in the group of image inspection programs which exhibits optimum fitness with respect to the misrecognized inspection image, when operator makes the accept/reject testing on the inspection image that has undergone the accept/reject testing through the first image inspection program and finds the misrecognized inspection image.

In order to automatically perform an accept/reject testing of product appearance inspection in production lines, a method for automatically executing the accept/reject testing by obtaining an image of an inspection target with a camera has been proposed in recent years.
For example, there has been a method for improving inspection precision by selecting a main inspection logic again from a plurality of logics defined through an image processing algorithm (rule), depending on variations in production environments (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2007-327848).
Meanwhile, there has been developed a method for automatically generating an image processing algorithm (machine learning) using images collected in advance and teacher data of the accept/reject testing on those images.
For example, there has been a method for switching a new algorithm by newly generating another image processing algorithm different from the ongoing image processing algorithm based on the images obtained, in the case where an image is input, which cannot be handled with the ongoing image processing algorithm during the operation of a line (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2007-293732).


An electrolyte, and particularly anolyte, may be circulated via an open loop having a pressure regulator, so that the pressure in the plating chamber is maintained at a constant (or substantially constant) value with respect to atmospheric pressure. In these embodiments, a pressure regulator is in fluid communication with the anode chamber.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. The work of the inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Manufacturing of semiconductor devices involves deposition of electrically conductive material on substrates such as semiconductor wafers. The conductive material may be deposited by electroplating onto a seed layer of metal such as copper located in vias or trenches.
Electroplating may also be used for through-silicon vias (TSVs), which are connections that pass completely through a semiconductor wafer. Because TSVs are typically large in size and have high aspect ratios, depositing copper can be challenging. CVD deposition of copper for TSVs typically requires complex and relatively expensive precursors. PVD deposition tends to create voids and has limited step coverage. Electroplating is a preferred method for depositing copper for TSVs. However, electroplating also presents challenges due to the large size and high aspect ratio of TSVs.
TSV technology may be used in 3 dimensional (3D) packages and 3D integrated circuits. For example only, a 3D package may include two or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are stacked vertically. The 3D package tends to occupy less space and have shorter communication distances than a corresponding 2D layout.
Wafer Level Packaging (WLP) is an electrical connection technology that, like TSV, employs large features, typically on the scale of micrometers. Examples of WLP structures include redistribution wiring, bumps, and pillars. Electroplating is poised to deliver the next generation of WLP technology.
Damascene processing may be used to form interconnections for integrated circuits (ICs). In a typical Damascene process, a pattern of trenches and vias is etched in a dielectric layer of a substrate. A thin layer of diffusion-barrier film is then deposited onto the dielectric layer. The diffusion barrier film may include a material such as tantalum (Ta), tantalum nitride (TaN), a TaN/Ta bilayer, or other suitable material. A seed layer of copper is deposited on the diffusion-barrier layer using PVD, CVD or another process. Afterwards, the trenches and vias are filled with copper using electroplating. Finally, the surface of the wafer may be planarized to remove excess copper.
The electroplating system may include an electroplating cell with a cathode and an anode that are immersed in electrolyte. One lead of a power supply is connected to the cathode, which includes the copper seed layer. The other lead of the power supply is connected to the anode.
The composition of electrolyte that is used for deposition of copper may vary, but usually includes sulfuric acid, copper sulfate (e.g. CuSO4), chloride ions, and/or a mixture of organic additives. Electrolytes for deposition of other metals will have their own characteristic compositions. Organic additives, such as accelerators, suppressors and/or levelers, may be used to enhance or suppress rates of plating of copper or other metal.
An electric field generated by the applied voltage electrochemically reduces metal ions at the cathode. As a result, metal is plated on the seed layer. The chemical composition of the plating solution is selected to optimize the rates and uniformity of electroplating.
Processes occurring at the anode and cathode are not always compatible. Therefore, the anode and cathode electrolyte may have the same or different chemical compositions. The anode and cathode may be separated by a membrane into different regions. For example only, insoluble particles may be formed at the anode due to flaking of the anode or precipitation of inorganic salts. The membrane may be used to block the insoluble particles, which reduces interference with the metal deposition and contamination of the wafer. The membrane may also be used to confine organic additives to the cathode portion of the plating cell.
The membrane allows the flow of ions (current) between the anode and cathode regions of the plating cell while blocking movement of larger particles and some non-ionic molecules such as organic additives. As a result, the membrane creates different environments in the cathode and the anode regions of the plating cell.
A pump may be used to pump electrolyte to the anode chamber. Periodically, fresh electrolyte and/or deionized water may be introduced to the anolyte flow, which can introduce a transient pressure differential between the electrolyte in the anode chamber and the electrolyte in the remainder of the electroplating cell. This may cause the membrane to deflect upward, which sometimes entraps air next to the membrane. Specifically, the pressure differential can allow air bubbles to trap between the membrane and the support structure. Among other problems, the trapped air will block current from flowing through the region of the membrane occupied by the air and thereby increase the current through other regions of the membrane to introduce plating non-uniformities and significantly shorten the membrane's life. Further, the separation of cathodic and anodic regions produces an electroosmotic effect in which the protons crossing the membrane from the anode chamber to the cathodic portion of the apparatus "drag" water molecules in the same direction thereby depleting the anolyte volume and increasing the volume in the cathode chamber. This effect is known as electroosmotic drag and is undesired as it creates a pressure gradient between the two chambers that can lead to membrane damage and failure.
One approach to prevent damage would be to provide a pressure sensor in the anode chamber to monitor pressure. The sensed pressure value may be fed back in a closed loop control system to control the pressure of the pump. This approach may unfortunately require more expensive pumps that must be precisely controlled with pressure sensors in each anode chamber, which increases cost.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electrolyte loop with pressure regulation for separated anode chamber of electroplating system


A method for constructing a seawall section includes coupling an end of a substantially-waterproof barrier member to a footing. A concrete form is mounted to the footing such that a top end of the form is higher than an exposed upper surface of the footing. The concrete form defines at least part of a fill volume. Another end of the barrier member is coupled to the concrete form such that the barrier member extends over a side of the concrete form opposite the fill volume. Concrete is then poured into the fill volume and cured to form the seawall section. Prior to the curing, a body of water at the footing may be higher than the upper surface of the footing. However, the barrier member prevents water from entering the fill volume through the concrete form.

A battery wall is a defensive man-made seawall that separates a landmass from a tidal body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, lake, bay, harbor, river, estuary, etc.). The battery wall protects the landmass from flooding, damage, and/or erosion, for example, due to the normal impact of tides and waves and/or occasional storm-related surges. For example, portions of the Charleston peninsula in South Carolina are protected by a "high" battery seawall (built in the 1800s) and a "low" battery seawall (built in the early 1900s) from tidal waters in the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, which converge at the end of the peninsula to form Charleston harbor. The constant exposure of the seawall to the destructive forces of the water as well as other environment factors require the seawall to be periodically repaired or replaced over time. In conventional construction methods to repair or replace a section of an existing seawalls, a temporary cofferdam is formed within the tidal body to shield the construction site from contact with the water. However, the building of a cofferdam adds substantial time and cost to the repair/replacement process.
Embodiments of the disclosed subject matter may address one or more of the above-noted problems and disadvantages, among other things.

Seawall construction using concrete forms


Soybean ubiquitin promoters is from the soybean SUBI-3 polyubiquitin gene and processes for expressing nucleic acids of interest in transgenic plants under the control of the soybean ubiquitin promoter pare described. Higher expression levels of the nucleic acids are achieved when the promoter is included.

In the context of this disclosure one or more of the following terms may be used.
Promoter analysis in plants can provide information on both the strength of the promoter and its regulation in different tissues. Promoter analysis studies have been performed with either stably-transformed tissues or using transient expression analyses. For stable transformation, the time required for generation of a transgenic plant can be as short as six weeks (An et al. 1986), but can often extend beyond five months when transformation and plant recovery is slow (Santarém and Finer 1999). Production of stably-transformed plants is necessary for a detailed examination of promoter expression; however, quantification of promoter strength and comparative analyses in stably transformed plants can still be difficult due to variation in transgene expression among transgenic clones (Finnegan and McElroy 1994).
Rapid, quantifiable, and reproducible promoter analyses are simplified using transient expression, where gene expression can be observed in as little as 1.5 hours post introduction (Ponappa et al. 1999) and gene expression will not be influenced by copy number or site of integration. Transient expression analysis can be performed via direct DNA introduction into protoplasts using electroporation (Christensen et al. 1992) or PEG (Hartmann et al. 1998), or particle bombardment-mediated transformation into intact plant tissues (Rolfe and Tobin 1991). Agroinfiltration of tobacco (Bendahmane et al. 1999; Vaucheret, 1994) is also commonly used for rapid analysis of transgene effects. Reporter genes such as luciferase (Ow et al, 1986), β-glucuronidase (Samac et al. 2004; Vain et al. 1996) and chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (Kang et al. 2003) are most commonly utilized for quantification of promoter activity. Unfortunately, visualization of luciferase and β-glucuronidase activity requires the addition of an artificial substrate and quantification of promoter activity using all of these reporter genes and requires the extraction of protein from the sample, destroying the sample and eliminating the ability to follow gene expression in the same piece of tissue over time.
The green fluorescent protein (gfp) gene offers tremendous opportunities for promoter analysis in plants since its expression can be followed in the same piece of tissue over extended periods of time (Piston et al. 1999). Although GFP expression has been used in studies to characterize promoter activity (Abebe et al. 2006), reports on the quantification of GFP expression using image analysis (Nagatani et al. 1997), spectofluorometry (Richards et al. 2003) or fluorescence spectroscopy (Stewart et al. 2005) are minimal.
Standard methods are needed for the evaluation of promoter strength based on GFP detection. Recently, an automated robotics system was developed for monitoring GFP expression over time in multiple pieces of tissue (Buenrostro-Nava et al. 2005). The robotics system consisted of a 2-dimensional robotics platform, a cooled CCD camera, and a dissecting fluorescence microscope, all under computer control. Although the monitoring system was initially used for automated image collection of GFP expression in stably-transformed somatic embryos (Buenrostro-Nava et al. 2006) and Agrobacterium (Buenrostro-Nava et al. 2003), it also has utility for rapid quantification of promoter strength using transient expression analyses.
Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.), a valuable agronomic crop world-wide, has the highest transgenic acreage of any crop. As efforts move forward to produce new and improved transgenic soybean, the need for different types of native soybean promoters will continue to increase. Some soybean promoters have already been identified but these promoters direct expression in a tissue-specific (Chen et al. 1986) or inducible manner (Czarnecka et al. 1989; Liu et al. 1994). A strong, constitutive, native soybean promoter, which could replace the constitutive Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S (CaMV35S) was sought. Of the strong constitutive plant promoters that have been used extensively for directing transgene expression, the polyubiquitin promoters have received the most widespread attention (Christensen and Quail 1996). A common feature of polyubiquitin promoters is the presence of a leading intron, which is considered part of the promoter, and can influence transgene expression (Christensen and Quail 1996). Removal of the intron from the promoter region either reduces the strength of the promoter (Plesse et al. 2001) or results in complete loss of promoter activity (Wang and Oard 2003).
In addition to a strong constitutive promoter, a developmentally regulated promoter would be useful for comparative studies. Although soybean promoters active during late stages of seed development are available (Chen et al. 1986), EST data from induced soybean somatic embryos (Thibaud-Nissen et al. 2003) now permits the identification of useful early embryo-specific promoters.

Highly active soybean promoter from the SUBI-3 polyubiquitin gene and uses thereof

The Ohio State University Research Foundation


A semiconductor device includes a controller configured to control a first memory device to process a request for the first memory device and a second memory device. The controller receives the request for the first memory device, determines a data damage risk of cells connected to a second signal line adjacent to a first signal line of the first memory device corresponding to a requested address by referring to information indicating a data damage risk, and stores data of the cells connected to the second signal line in the second memory device when determining that there is a data damage risk.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a semiconductor device and an operating method thereof, and more particularly, to a semiconductor device capable of preventing data of cells from being damaged by word line disturbance of a semiconductor memory device, and an operating method thereof.
2. Related Art
With the increase in the integration degree of a semiconductor memory device, a coupling effect between word lines has increased. Accordingly, when the number of operations for a word line to toggle between an activated state and a deactivated state increases, the data of cells connected to an adjacent word line may be damaged due to a coupling effect between word lines.
For example, in the case of DRAM, electromagnetic waves generated while a word line toggles introduces electrons to the capacitors of cells connected to an adjacent word line or discharges electrons from the capacitors, thereby damaging data.
Such a word line disturbance issue cannot be solved through the conventional technology. For example, in the case of DRAM, data within the cells may be damaged by word line disturbance even before a refresh period. Therefore, the word line disturbance issue cannot be solved through a refresh operation.

Semiconductor device and operating method thereof


The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a high strength and high toughness steel material which is mainly used at an extremely low temperature and used in various parts of ships for LNG transport and LNG fuel vehicles.

There has been an increased interest in energy sources such as LNG, due to exhaustion of conventional energy sources such as petroleum, and the like. As the consumption of fuels such as natural gas, transferred in a cryogenic liquid state at −100° C. or lower, has increased, demand for manufacturing devices for storing and transferring such fuels and materials of such devices have been increased.
In the case of general carbon steel, toughness of the material may rapidly degrade in the cryogenic state, such that the problem of fracture of the material may occur even by small external impact. To address the problem, materials having excellent impact toughness even in a low temperature have been used. Representative materials may be an aluminum alloy, austenitic stainless steel, 35% invar steel, 9% Ni steel, and the like.
However, there may be the problem in which prices of such materials are high as a content of nickel is high. Thus, it has been necessary to develop a steel material having a low manufacturing price and excellent low temperature toughness.
There may be limitation in use of a general carbon steel product because, when a use temperature decreases, yield strength may rapidly increase, such that toughness may greatly degrade. Also, stainless steel, a representative material having excellent toughness, has low yield strength, and thus, it may not be suitable to use stainless steel as a structural member.
Meanwhile, the method for making a material having high low temperature toughness is to allow the material to have a stable austenite structure at a low temperature. In the case of a ferrite structure, a ductility-brittleness transition phenomenon may appear at a low temperature, such that toughness may rapidly decrease in a low temperature brittleness region, whereas an austenite structure does not have a ductile-brittle transition phenomenon even in an extremely low temperature and has high low temperature toughness. That is because, unlike ferrite, as austenite has low yield strength at a low temperature, plastic deformation may easily occur such that impacts caused by external deformation may be absorbed.
A representative element which may increase austenite stability in a low temperature is nickel, but a price of nickel maybe expensive, which is a disadvantage.

High manganese steel having superior low-temperature toughness and yield strength and manufacturing method thereof


A valve assembly has a valve body having an inlet passageway and an outlet passageway. A flow orifice is disposed within valve body and provides flow communication between the inlet passageway and outlet passageway. A valve seat cooperates with the flow orifice and a variable port valve plug to open and close the valve. The valve plug has a plug body with a conically-shaped smooth tapered wall, a proximal end, and a domed distal end surface that smoothly transitions into the tapered wall. The valve plug is movable between an open position out of contact with the valve seat and a closed position borne against the valve seat. A maximum open position of the valve plug relative to the valve seat can be selectively changed to vary flow characteristics through the valve assembly.

The present invention relates generally to valves, and more particularly to a variable port valve plug that can effectively vary the port size of a valve.
Valves are used in a wide range of process control system applications to control various parameters of a media being processed such as a fluid. A wide variety of valve types are known and can include, for example, dump valves, control valves, throttling valves, and the like. Similarly, process and control systems are utilized for handling a myriad of different media.
A typical valve has a media inlet coupled through a flow control or orifice region to a media outlet. A closure device of some kind is typically provided in the flow control region with a portion that is movable to control flow of a media from the valve inlet to the valve outlet. The movable portion is often a valve plug that can be moved to bear against a corresponding fixed seating surface of the closure device to selectively shut off flow of a media through the valve. During operation, it is typical for a control system to operate the valve so that the valve plug is moved toward and away from the valve seat ring between fixed closed and open positions, respectively, in order to control flow through the orifice region and, thus, through the valve.
One type of valve is a sliding stem valve that has a valve plug on the end of an elongate stem that slides along its longitudinal axis toward and away from the valve seat. A combination of the valve plug, valve seat, and valve stem defines what is known as a trim set for a given valve. A valve with a given flow orifice size and geometry has a maximum flow capacity or flow rate. This flow rate can be related to what is termed xe2x80x9cflow coefficientxe2x80x9d (Cv) used to predict the flow rate through the valve under a standard set of test conditions. The value Cv is the number of U.S. gallons per minute of 60xc2x0 F. water that will flow through the known valve with a pressure drop of 1 pound per square inch (psi) across the valve.
It is known that a given part of a process control system may require a valve having a particular flow rate or flow capacity. It is further known that other portions of the system may require valves with different flow capacities or flow rates. It is also known that a completely different system may require a valve with a still different flow rate or flow capacity. It is also known that the desired flow rate or flow capacity may change for a given process control system when system parameters change. Thus, valve performance characteristics of the particular system may periodically need to be altered. For all of these circumstances, a variety of valve assemblies and/or valve trim sets must be kept on hand.
In order to achieve changeover from one valve flow rate or capacity to another, one must either remove the entire existing valve and replace it with a completely different valve, or rebuild the existing valve to include a different trim set. For a sliding stem type valve, the valve seat typically defines the flow orifice size, and results in selection of a valve plug size that corresponds to that orifice size. The valve plug typically can only move between the valve closed position and a single, fixed valve open position. Each valve thus can only produce one valve flow rate or capacity. As noted above, in order to change from one flow capacity to another, it is necessary to either change the valve trim set or replace the entire valve assembly.
Significant down time, labor expense, and part cost can occur for a process control system as a result of handling multiple valve assemblies and/or trim sets. This is because it is necessary to manufacture, ship, store, handle, and replace the various trim sets or entire valves when a change in valve characteristics is desired. These disadvantages reduce labor, manufacturing, storage, part handling, and facility efficiency and increase labor cost for a given process control system application where any change in valve flow characteristics is desired or necessary.
In addition, if a conventional valve plug and seat set in a valve were to be used to change the flow capacity of the valve, such as by changing the maximum available travel of the valve plug, flow characteristics through the orifice region would be severely and negatively affected. The characteristics of a conventional trim set are not intended for such applications. Also, if a reduced valve flow capacity using a conventional trim set is attempted by stopping and holding the valve plug closer to the seat in a different valve open position, media flowing through the valve would tend to force the plug toward the valve seat because the plug would be positioned too close to the seat. This would cause bi-stable flow and vibration in the valve assembly.


The present invention provides a method of treating Th2-associated diseases and disorders by modulating the expression or secretion of IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13 using interferon lambda (IFN-λ). For Th2-associated diseases and disorders, cells of a patient having a Th2-associated disease or disorder are treated ex vivo, with IFN-λ and returned to the patient. The present invention also provides a method of ex vivo treatment, in conjunction with co-administration of IFN-λ.

Incidence of asthma and asthma-related disorders is increasing globally and in the developed world especially. According to a 2004 survey in the United States, asthma and related disorders resulted in almost 1.8 million emergency room visits, over 450,000 hospital admissions and 5,429 deaths. Asthma is directly responsible for approximately 15% of all pediatric emergencies (Cohn, Ann. Rev. Immunol., 2004; Barnes & Lemanske, New Engl. J. Med., 2001). The economic impact is high, estimated at ˜$16 billion per year. These figures have been rising over the last 20 years. Thus, asthma constitutes a significant and growing medical problem in the United States in terms of morbidity and economic impact.
Triggered by airborne antigens such as pollens, viruses, fungi and bacteria, asthma involves a complex network of cytokines (Walker et al. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol., 1991). Accumulation of Th2 cells in the lung tissue is a key feature of asthma (Robinson et al., New Engl. J. Med., 1992). In the course of asthma, multiple cytokines are released from various cell types (e.g., epithelial cells, lymphocytes, mast cells and granulocytes) in the lung parenchyma. The released cytokines help to initiate and maintain asthma development. In experimental asthma models, airway hyper-reactivity is accompanied by high levels of IL-4 and IL-5. IL-4 appears to be essential for the development of Th2 responses in general (Mowen & Glimcher, Immunol. Rev., 2004), and animals genetically deficient in IL-4 (i.e., IL-4 knock-out mice) cannot be induced to develop allergic airway inflammation (Ray & Cohn, J Clin Invest., 1999).
Other evidence, however, suggests that IL-13, and not IL-4, seems to be a key cytokine to asthma pathogenesis in humans. In humans, asthma-specific T-cells produce IL-13, and IL-13 elevates mast-cell proliferation and induce IgE synthesis (Punnonen et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA., 1993). Sputa obtained from asthma patients are rich in IL-13 (Berry et al., J Allergy Clin Immunol., 2004). IL-13 mRNA and protein are expressed at a high level in the lungs of trigger-exposed human volunteers and asthma patients (Humbert et al., J Allergy Clin Immunol., 1997). Airway hyper-reactivity accompanied by high levels of IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13 can be induced in normal but not IL-13−/− mice (Mattes et al., J. Immunol., 2001) Thus far, experimental therapeutic strategies to target Th2 cytokines which do not address IL-13 have failed (O'Byrne, Chest, 2006). Asthma-sensitized animals can be protected by blocking the cell-surface receptor for IL-13 (Taube et al., J Immunol., 2002). IL-13 appears to be a contributing factor in the increased IL-4 and IL-5 levels. Once initiated, elevated levels of IL-4 and IL-5 are believed to exacerbate the asthmatic response.
An attempt was proposed to use IFN-λ in order to alleviate asthma. To this end, Davies et al. (WO 2007/029041) disclose the use of IFN-λ in virus-induced exacerbation of asthma. An aerosolized dose is recommended to bring IFN-λ in direct contact with the virus-infected airway epithelial cells. This group hypothesized that IFN-λ would eradicate the viral infection, thus alleviating the virus's ability to exacerbate the asthma. Viruses (such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and rhinovirus (RV)) are known to infect airway epithelial cells, and the anti-virus effect of IFN-λ is believed to be maximized by the proposed airway delivery of IFN-λ. The half-life of IFN-λ may hinder the approach, as attempts are made to couple the IFN-λ with polyethylene glycol (PEG) to extend its functional half-life and to present an alternative method of introducing IFN-λ, other than through expression of DNA constructs. However, the airway route does not guarantee IFN-λ to come in contact with cytokine-producing lymphoid cells in lung parenchyma. The presence of an exceedingly thick mucus layer in asthmatic patients further hinders the success of this approach. While Davies et al. proposes a direct anti-virus effect by IFN-λ, the possible role of IFN-λ with Th2 cells in the lung, blood and lymphoid compartments and their secreted products (i.e., IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 cytokines, etc.), has not been addressed.
Intravenous delivery of IFN-λ is undesirable. Once administered, circulating IFN-λ may exert global side-effects on a human body. In addition, Th2 cytokine-producing cells in the lung parenchyma may be shielded from the systemic levels of IFN-λ. It is generally believed that intravenous administration IFN-λ is not ideal to combat asthma.
There is a continuing need to find an effective means to modulate Th2 cells in an attempt to blunt cytokine production. The present inventors surprisingly found that IFN-λ can directly modulate Th2 cells in affecting the cytokine release. Specifically, the present inventors discovered that ex-vivo treatment of peripheral mononuclear cells (including naïve and memory T-cells) blunts the production of IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13. Given that these cytokines contribute to an asthma response, the present inventors propose a method of alleviating asthma by ex-vivo treatment of human blood leukocytes with IFN-λ, followed by its administration into a human. It is believed that administration of IFN-λ-treated blood leukocytes will inhibit the human body from generating asthma-inducing Th2 cytokines, and thus alleviating the symptoms and root-cause of asthma.


A plate-making method for stencil printing in which heat-sensitive stencil plate material for stencil printing consisting of a thermoplastic resin film is melted by heating of a thermal head to perforate an ink permeable openings includes forming recesses on one side of the film. An opposite side to the one side of the film is heated so that the heated portion is melted for communication with the recesses to form ink permeable openings.

Conventionally, a stencil sheet, which is utilized for a stencil plate in stencil printing, generally comprises an ink-permeable supporter and a thermoplastic resin film which is stuck on the supporter with adhesives. The ink-permeable supporter is made of Japanese paper or nonwoven fabric and the like. The thermoplastic resin film is made from polyester and the like. A thickness of the thermoplastic resin film is 1.5 μm to generally a thickness of the supporter being about 30-40 μm. Printing is performed by taking out ink from a stencil plate which is formed by thermally perforating the film. Said thermal perforation is mainly performed by heating of a thermal head, namely, said stencil sheet is inserted between the thermal head and a platen roller, and then is heated by the thermal head.
Respect to stencil printing performed by using such a stencil plate made or engraved by the above mentioned method, from before, various inconveniences or disadvantages of using the stencil plate which is stuck the thermoplastic resin film with adhesives, are mentioned. Meanwhile, various improvement proposals, which constitute a stencil plate only of a thermoplastic resin film without supporters, are proposed. However, none of the proposals has resulted in utilization now, and any proposals must overcome certain technical problems. When the stencil plate particularly is constituted only of a thermoplastic resin film, it is hard to deal with the stencil plate if a thickness of the film is not made to some extent thick. In addition, it is necessary to enlarge an output force of the thermal head in order to carry out thermally perforating at the thick film. That caused various problems and has become the greatest difficulty of utilization.
On the other hand, it is preferable that perforations of the stencil plate made in stencil printing are perforated independently for every dot, and for that, it is desirable to make heater size as small as possible to a dot pitch as shown in the Japanese examined patent publication No.2732532. However, corresponding to a size of the heater becoming small, an influence of a heat diffusion which the heater receives from the circumference electrodes becomes large, thereby, a thermal efficiency of the thermal head falls down and a life of the thermal head becomes short. Furthermore, with respect to a thin film type thermal head, since an exothermic portion is dented compared with a surrounding electrode, the stencil sheet will be supported by high electrode sections around of the dented portion according to the size of the heater becoming small. Therefore, a contact state or an adhesion state between the exothermic portion and the stencil sheet becomes bad, and thermal efficiency falls increasingly.
Moreover, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem about aggravation of the contact state between the exothermic portion and the stencil sheet by the size of the heater becoming small, the thermal head so called a "partial glaze type" which raises only the exothermic portion by glaze is proposed.
However, even if the thermal head is the partial glaze type, since an upheaval of the partial glaze is very smooth, the raising curve also turns into a straight line in approximation. After all, it becomes not impossible to fully solve the problem of the adhesion.

Plate-making method and plate-making apparatus for stencil printing and stencil printing machine


A method for activating bearers in radio access networks includes receiving information regarding channel conditions for a secondary RAT; identifying a first set of radio bearers for a primary RAT and a second set of radio bearers for the secondary RAT based on the received channel conditions; and establishing the first set of radio bearers associated with the primary RAT. The method may also include providing a message to a core network indicating that first set of radio bearers have been established for the primary RAT, the message includes an indication that the second set of radio bearers will be established after the core network has been configured for operation with the first set of radio bearers; reconfiguring a UE for establishing the second set of radio bearers associated with the secondary RAT; and indicating that the reconfiguration of the UE for the second set of radio bearers is complete.

Long Term Evolution (LTE) is an existing mobile telecommunications standard for wireless communication. LTE networks include 4th Generation (4G) wireless networks which are widely deployed throughout the world. LTE increased the capacity and speed from prior generations of wireless networks and simplified the network architecture to a packet-based system. Next Generation wireless networks, such as 5th Generation (5G) networks, have been proposed as the next evolution of wireless networks. Next Generation wireless networks are designed to increase data transfer rates, increase spectral efficiency, improve coverage, improve capacity, and reduce latency.

Bearer activation for multiple radio access technology dual connectivity scenarios


Illustrative examples include a docking system for a foldable electronic device such as a 2-in-1 convertible computer. The docking system may include a housing having an engagement surface to interface with a portion of the foldable electronic device when the foldable electronic device is operably engaged with the docking system. The engagement surface may include a vent opening arranged to direct airflow in between a first portion and a second portion of the plurality of portions, and a separator to maintain separation between the first portion and the second portion when the foldable electronic device is operably engaged with the engagement surface. A blower coupled to the housing may supply airflow through the vent opening.

Laptops provide convenient portable computing, however, when a user attempts to use a laptop in their office, such as in conjunction with an external monitor, mouse and keyboard, the laptop may not cool as efficiently as a desktop computer. This may lead to poorer performance in a laptop than in a desktop.
Increased cooling is especially helpful, for example, when editing photos and videos, playing video games, rendering models, or running other high-demand applications.
Some docking systems use fans to cool a laptop that is docked. Such docking systems are designed to cool the laptop when the laptop is docked and oriented in the fully closed mode. These docking systems provide additional cooling over the fan provided in the laptop alone to improve performance.

Docking systems and methods for electronic devices


An image reading apparatus includes a document reading device, an operation device, and a control device. The document reading device collectively reads a plurality of documents loaded on a document loading surface to generate image data. The control device functions as an individual image cutter, an operation receiver, and a generator. The individual image cutter cuts, from the image data generated by the document reading device, individual images independent for the respective documents. The operation receiver receives, via the operation device, a first instruction indicating a number of documents collected in one image. The generator generates document image data which is corresponding to an image of a size formable on a single recording medium and which has a collection of pieces of individual image data indicating the individual images, in unit of the number indicated by the first instruction.

This disclosure relates to an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus and more specifically to a technology of processing image data of a plurality of documents which have been read at once.
Known is a technology of collecting images of a plurality of documents read at once in an image equivalent to a single sheet of recording paper and printing the plurality of documents on the single sheet of recording paper. For example, known is a technology of using an automatic document feeder (ADF) to collectively print a plurality of documents continuously read on a single sheet of recording paper. Also known is a technology of printing a plurality of web pages on a single sheet of recording paper. Further known is a technology by printing a plurality of pages of sentences on a single sheet of recording paper.

Image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus collecting image data of a plurality of documents


A charging gun includes a housing provided with a receiving cavity, a latching member movably assembled at a periphery of the housing, a circuit module mounted in the receiving cavity, and a waterproof and air-permeable assembly. The circuit module includes a magnetic switch. A mounting recess into which the latching member is mounted is provided at the periphery of the housing, and the latching member is rotatable about a rotation shaft in the mounting recess. The latching member is provided with a magnetic element, a state of the magnetic switch is controlled by a change of a relative distance between the magnetic element and the magnetic switch with rotation of the latching member. A mounting hole communicating with the receiving cavity is provided in a bottom surface of the mounting recess. The waterproof and air-permeable assembly is mounted in the mounting hole to discharge heat in the receiving cavity.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
An existing electric vehicle charging gun generally adopts a microswitch to cooperate with an external circuit to achieve a switch control function. When the charging gun is in a charging state, a large amount of heat will be generated, such that an internal temperature of a gun body rises above 80 degrees, which is detrimental to the service life of the charging gun or directly damages the charging gun if the heat is not dissipated in a timely manner.
The charging gun generally needs to have a waterproof design. If a fully enclosed structure is adopted, the heat will not be discharged. However, the microswitch must use physical mechanical contact pressing to achieve its function when in use, such that the physical contact of the microswitch cannot be achieved at the time of design if a fully enclosed form is adopted.

Charging gun with magnetic element controlling magnetic switch

KUNSHAN HUIHE NEW ENERGY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A spray nozzle assembly includes a nozzle tip and a nozzle tip adapter. The nozzle tip adapter may include a visually perceptible indicia that corresponds uniquely to an offset angle value of the nozzle tip adapter. In one embodiment, the visually perceptible indicia may comprise a unique color for each offset angle among a selectable group of nozzle tip adapters. Another feature is a locator tool that includes an adjustable holder that is fixed in position relative to a spray nozzle tip or orifice during an alignment operation, and repositioned away from the nozzle tip during a spraying operation. The adjustable holder may include a measurement member to determine one or more distances between the nozzle tip or orifice and a location on a workpiece that will be coated or sprayed.

Material application systems are regularly used for applying liquid coating material to an object, part or other work piece or surface. Material application systems typically include a material application device, also referred to as a spray gun or dispenser. A spray nozzle assembly may be mounted at a spray end of the spray gun and includes a nozzle tip having an orifice through which the liquid coating material is discharged, usually under pressure. Due to the wide variety of materials that can be applied, there is also a wide variety of spray nozzle assembly designs. A spray nozzle assembly is used generally to atomize and/or electrostatically charge the liquid coating material and to produce a desired spray pattern. The spray nozzle assembly typically includes the nozzle tip and a nozzle tip holder or adapter. The spray nozzle assembly may include other parts such as seals, for example. The spray nozzle assembly is often mounted on the spray end of the spray gun or dispenser using a retaining nut or other suitable arrangement.
Some work pieces, for example, single open ended cans, need a controlled or directional spray pattern to optimize application of material to the surfaces of interest. A controlled spray pattern is any spray pattern that is produced with a non-uniform distribution of material about the central longitudinal axis of the nozzle tip. Controlled spray patterns are needed in many applications in which it is desired to direct material in a particular manner at the surface being coated. One example of a controlled spray pattern is a directional spray pattern which is simply a spray pattern in which the material exits the nozzle tip in an asymmetrical pattern relative to the central axis of the nozzle tip. An asymmetrical pattern is a spray pattern that has a shape that is heavier on one side or skewed to one side with respect to the central axis of the nozzle tip. A controlled spray pattern may also be used in which the nozzle tip is offset at an angle from the central longitudinal flow axis through the spray gun and particularly nozzle adapter. Controlled and directional spray patterns and the nozzle designs to produce them are well known in the art. Further information as to asymmetric spray patterns and nozzles therefor can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,458,524 issued to Prieto, et al. for SPRAY NOZZLE WITH ALIGNMENT KEY, the entire disclosure of which is fully incorporated herein by reference.

Color coded nozzle adapter and locator tool


An improved speaker voice coil structure, the structure including: a bobbin; a first voice coil, wound around the bobbin and having a first terminal and a second terminal; a second voice coil, wound around the first voice coil and having a third terminal and a fourth terminal; and a third voice coil, wound around the second voice coil and having a fifth terminal and a sixth terminal. The improved voice coil structure thereby provides multiple optional connection terminals—from different layers with different values of impedance—for an input signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voice coil structure for speaker, especially to an improved speaker voice coil structure, wherein the improved voice coil structure has at least three coils.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, speaker is an energy transformer, capable of transforming electrical energy to sound energy. The operation of an electrical speaker is to transmit an audio signal of an amplifier to a speaker, and when the audio signal is applied to the speaker, a current will flow through a voice coil of the speaker, and a motive force to a paper cone will be generated by the reaction of the current to a magnetic field to produce sound.
With technology making progress, electrical speaker, after years of evolving, has become matured and common seen—it can be found in applications like PA (Public Address), home box, notebook computer, or mobile phone—and has maintained almost fixed ways of voice coil winding and input signal connection.
Please refer to FIG. 1a and FIG. 1b, which illustrate respectively a side view and a top view of a prior art voice coil structure. As is illustrated in the figures, a prior art voice coil structure 100 includes a bobbin 110 and a voice coil 120. The voice coil 120, wound around the bobbin 110, has a first terminal 121 and a second terminal 122, and can have two turns or four turns according to requirement. However, the prior art voice coil structure 100 has only one set of input terminals, so only one impedance option is provided.
Please refer to FIG. 2a and FIG. 2b, which illustrate respectively a side view and a top view of another prior art voice coil structure having two voice coils. As is illustrated in the figures, a prior art voice coil structure 200 includes a bobbin 210, a first voice coil 220 and a second voice coil 230. The first voice coil 220, wound around the bobbin 210, has a first terminal 221 and a second terminal 222. The second voice coil 230, wound around the first voice coil 220, has a third terminal 231 and a fourth terminal 232. Both of the first voice coil 220 and the second voice coil 230 can have two turns or four turns according to requirement. However, although the prior art voice coil structure 200 have two sets of input terminals, the wire of the coils can slip off the bobbin due to insufficient accommodation space when the total number of turns exceeds four. Besides, as the impedance provided between the first terminal 221 and the second terminal 222, and the impedance provided between the third terminal 231 and the fourth terminal 232 are both fixed values—can not be adjusted according to requirement, the application flexibility of the prior art voice coil structure 200 is then limited.
Therefore, there is a need to design a novel voice coil structure for speaker to overcome the mentioned disadvantages.

Speaker voice coil structure having at least three coils


An oil cooling system and method are provided for use with respect to a lubricated mechanical system within a bypass configured gas turbine engine. A surface cooler is fluidly linked to the lubricated mechanical system to receive oil from the lubricated mechanical system for cooling and reuse. In an embodiment, the surface cooler is mounted on an existing surface within the bypass airflow path of the bypass configured gas turbine engine to provide effective cooling while avoiding the introduction of additional aerodynamic disturbances in the bypass path. In an embodiment, the surface cooler is mounted on the fan casing or on a fan exit guide vane.

Bypass configured gas turbine engines such as those used on jet aircraft generally comprise an inlet fan for providing air to an engine core as well as to a bypass path around the core. Indeed, in some modern engine concepts, the bypass ratio can be as high as 17:1 and as much as 80% of the total thrust developed by the engine may be a result of the bypass airflow. These types of systems are referred to herein as bypass configured gas turbines. The engine core consists of an air inlet, a single or multi-stage compressor chamber, a combustion chamber aft (downstream) of the compressor chamber, a turbine and an exhaust nozzle. Air entering the inlet flows axially through the compressor chamber and into the combustion chamber where it provides oxygen for fuel ignition. At the same time, a much larger volume of air enters and passes through the annular bypass path around the core.
In a conventional (non-geared) bypass configured gas turbine engine, for a given fan size intended to provide a desired airflow, the tip speed required for the inlet fan fixes the fan rotational speed and thus fixes the low pressure shaft rotational speed. As the bypass ratio increases, i.e., as the ratio of the fan diameter and the core inlet diameter increases, the establishment of a desired fan tip speed can result in an inadequate mechanical speed for components attached to the fan rotor resulting in increased number of compression and turbine stages to deliver desired component characteristics.
However, in a geared bypass configured gas turbine engine (geared turbofan or GTF) engine, a reduction architecture is incorporated between the fan and the low pressure shaft. This allows the low pressure shaft to turn at a higher rotational speed without over speeding the inlet fan. As a result, a GTF engine does not require the use of additional turbine/compressor stages as in a conventional bypass configured gas turbine engine.
However, with the advantages provided by the gearing in a GTF engine, there are also additional challenges that must be overcome. For example, an incremental amount of heat energy is created via friction in the gear reduction architecture, and failure to effectively dissipate this heat energy can shorten the lifetime of gear reduction architecture components. While the bypass airflow may provide a tempting source of cooling air, this flow is very vulnerable to interference, especially as fan pressure ratio is decreased, and any obstructions may adversely affect the efficiency of the engine.
Thus there is a need for a GTF engine gear reduction architecture cooling system and technique that allow the use of bypass air flow for cooling while at the same time avoiding a substantial adverse impact on engine efficiency.

Integrated heat exchangers for low fan pressure ratio geared turbofan


Film coated pharmaceutical preparations, which are prepared by overlaying to the outer surface of pharmaceutical preparations, a coating layer comprising at least one member selected from the group consisting of methyl cellulose, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose phthalate, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose acetate succinate, carboxymethylethyl cellulose and cellulose acetate phthalate, are irradiated with light including ultraviolet rays. Whereby film coated pharmaceutical preparations, the coating layer surface of which are excellent in whiteness, are prepared. Moreover, as a content of a white pigment in corporated into the coating layer of such preparations may be reduced, the stability of such preparations can be enhanced without impairing the strength of the coating layer.

The present invention relates to a method for preparing film coated pharmaceutical preparations composed of a solid drug and a coating layer on the outer surface thereof and a method for improving properties of film coated pharmaceutical preparations likewise comprised of a solid drug and a coating layer on the outer surface thereof, which makes it possible to impart an excellent appearance to the film coated pharmaceutical preparations.
Heretofore, solid drugs such as tablets have been subjected to film coating treatment to form film coated pharmaceutical preparations therefrom. Such a coated film serves to prevent uncomfortable tastes of drugs from giving out therefrom, as well as to protect effective components of the drugs from causing property change and to control the releasing behaviors of the effective components in the digestive system after an administration thereof. In view of enhancing the reliability of drugs and the acceptability of their appearance as medicines, it has been desired to impart a snow white and beautiful finish to such a coating layer. In some cases, coated films are pigmented by incorporating, into the basic materials (basic coating materials) for forming the coating layer, a coloring material during the film coating operations. In such a case, it is desired for the coated film to have a finish of a bright color tone.
However, the basic materials conventionally employed are slightly gray colored or yellow colored ones and thus it has been very difficult to obtain snow white basic coating materials. If a film coated pharmaceutical preparations are prepared utilizing such a basic coating material, the color of the resultant coating layer thereof is not completely white but they are slightly pigmented. On the other hand, if a coloring material is incorporated into the basic coating material, the color of the resultant coating layer of the film coated pharmaceutical preparations is not clear because of the influence of the color of the basic coating material. Therefore, the acceptability of the visual appearance of the drugs is greatly reduced and the commercial value thereof is also lowered due to such coloration.
Furthermore, a white pigment has been incorporated into the basic coating material to improve the whiteness thereof. However, the use of such white pigment leads to the reduction of the strength of the coating layer, which in turn leads to undesirable releasing behavior and possible property change of the effective components.

Method for preparing film coated pharmaceutical preparations and method for improving properties thereof


A vehicle control apparatus includes a condition detection device for detecting output information of at least one of the sensors having a predetermined condition which is improbable in practical use, a read only memory having data stored therein which identifies control specifications of the apparatus, and a data read out device for reading out the identifying data as a control signal for an object to be controlled.

The present invention generally relates to a vehicle control apparatus, and more particularly, relates to a vehicle control apparatus in which when the control apparatus is tested, it can be confirmed whether or not the output signals are produced correctly in accordance with the input signals, and the control specifications for the particular control apparatus can be checked in a short time.
Recently, a variety of vehicle control apparatuses using microcomputers have come to be used. For example, as an example of such a vehicle control apparatus, an engine air-fuel ratio control apparatus comprising blocks of a CPU (central processing unit), a RAM (random access memory), a ROM, an A/D (analogue-to-digital) converter, an I/O (input/output) unit, etc. is disclosed in "Automobile Technology" Vol. 38, No. 2, 1984, page 158.
A variety of control specifications are required for such engine control apparatuses in accordance with the kind of vehicle, the kind of engine capacity, the kind of transmission, and so on, and there has been a demand for various kinds of engine control apparatuses which can satisfy various requirements.
The demand can be satisfied by changing the procedures or control specifications stored in a ROM provided in the engine control apparatus without changing the circuit arrangement of the engine control apparatus. Accordingly, standardization of the engine control apparatus can be effected and low cost can be expected by mass production.
When the thus arranged control apparatus is tested individually or as a unit, it is necessary to test the control apparatus to determine whether or not the control apparatus can function correctly from the outside thereof through terminals of the control apparatus.
For example, in some cases, the test can be made only through a connector to which an outside connector can be connected from the outside of the apparatus, after a control circuit printed on a substrate has been received in a housing and the parts number for identification has been indicated on the housing.
In such cases, in order to determine the control specifications stored in a ROM in the control apparatus, it is necessary to make a judgment on the basis of an externally inspected difference in operation as a difference in control specification. In order to identify the king of control apparatus (i.e., the kind or type of control specifications stored therein) among a variety of control apparatuses in which the respective control specifications are varied from one another in control data, however, there have often been difficulties in execution of the test correctly. For example, the method of test has been complicated, and a prohibitive amount of time has been taken for the test, etc.
In those cases, however, there is a case where ROMs, storing the control specifications, which have been subject to unit test in advance are used in the control apparatuses and the operation of various input/output terminals of the control apparatuses can be tested in a short time regardless of the partial variations in control specifications, and therefore a difficulty results in only distinguishing the partial variations in control specifications.
For example, in a case where the stored control specifications are only in the point that the two kinds of control apparatuses have time data of 10 minutes and 20 minutes respectively, there has been a problem in that it is impossible to distinguish the two control apparatuses unless one of the control apparatuses is caused to operate for at least 10 minutes. Thus, it takes a very long time to execute the test. This difficulty has been a serious problem in mass-production of control apparatuses.


The purpose of the present invention is to provide a propylene-based block copolymer, the deposition thereof on the inner wall of the polymerization vessel having been sufficiently inhibited. The propylene-based block copolymer of the present invention has a flowability evaluation value of 40% or less, the value being calculated with the following equation wherein X (sec) is the number of seconds over which 100 g of the copolymer having ordinary temperature falls from a stainless-steel funnel having an inner diameter of 11.9 mm and Y (sec) is the number of seconds over which 100 g of the copolymer which has been held at 80° C. for 24 hours under a load of 10 kg falls from the funnel having an inner diameter of 11.9 mm.Flowability evaluation value (%)={(Y/X)−1}×100.

Propylene resins are used in various fields such as daily goods, kitchen utensils, packaging films, household electrical appliances, machine parts, electric parts, and automotive parts.
In some applications, propylene block copolymers are used that are obtained by directly polymerizing a propylene polymer, for example, with a rubber component, an amorphous or low-crystallinity ethylene⋅propylene copolymer (EPR), and an amorphous ethylene⋅α-olefin copolymer so as to have improved properties such as higher impact resistance. However, it is known that propylene block copolymers tend to adhere to the inner wall of a polymerizer and that the polymers tend to adhere to each other during storage.
For example, PTL 1 reports a method of increasing the flowability of a propylene block copolymer, for example, by feeding a flow improver in polymerizing a propylene polymer with the rubber component.
PTL 2 discloses a method of introducing a large amount of rubber component by controlling the shape of a solid titanium catalyst component for producing a propylene block polymer.

Propylene-based block copolymer, production method therefor, and solid titanium catalyst ingredient for olefin polymerization


An electroluminescent display includes a display substrate, a plurality of patterned first electrodes formed over the display substrate, one or more layers of light-emitting material formed over the plurality of first electrodes, at least one second electrode formed over the one or more layers of light-emitting material, and a plurality of chiplets. Each chiplet is electrically connected to a first electrode. Each chiplet further includes a light detector and a light emitter separate from the one-or-more layers of light-emitting material connected to the chiplet circuitry. The chiplet circuitry includes a modulating circuit for modulating light emitted by the light emitter and a demodulating circuit for demodulating light detected by the light detector so that light emitted by the light emitter of a first chiplet is received by the light detector of a second chiplet.

Flat-panel display devices are widely used in conjunction with computing devices, in portable devices, and for entertainment devices such as televisions. Such displays typically employ a plurality of pixels distributed over a substrate to display images. Each pixel incorporates several, differently colored light-emitting elements commonly referred to as sub-pixels, typically emitting red, green, and blue light, to represent each image element. Pixels and sub-pixels are not distinguished herein; all light-emitting elements are called pixels. A variety of flat-panel display technologies are known, for example plasma displays, liquid crystal displays, and light-emitting diode displays. Active-matrix elements are not necessarily limited to displays and can be distributed over a substrate and employed in other applications requiring spatially distributed control.
Area light-emitting diodes (LEDs) incorporating thin films of light-emitting materials forming light-emitting elements have many advantages in a flat-panel display device and are useful in optical systems. Organic LED color displays that include an array of organic LED light-emitting elements are known. Alternatively, inorganic materials can be employed and can include phosphorescent crystals or quantum dots in a polycrystalline semiconductor matrix. Other thin films of organic or inorganic materials can also be employed to control charge injection, transport, or blocking to the light-emitting-thin-film materials, and are known in the art. The materials are placed upon a substrate between electrodes, with an encapsulating cover layer or plate. Light is emitted from a pixel when current passes through the light-emitting material. The frequency of the emitted light is dependent on the nature of the material used. In such a display, light can be emitted through the substrate (a bottom emitter) or through the encapsulating cover (a top emitter), or both.
LED devices can include a patterned light-emissive layer wherein different materials are employed in the pattern to emit different colors of light when current passes through the materials. Alternatively, one can employ a single emissive layer, for example, a white-light emitter, together with color filters for forming a full-color display. It is also known to employ a white sub-pixel that does not include a color filter, or to employ an un-patterned white emitter with a four-color pixel comprising red, green, and blue color filters and sub-pixels and an unfiltered white sub-pixel to improve the efficiency of the device.
Two different methods for controlling the pixels in a flat-panel display device are generally known: active-matrix control and passive-matrix control. In an active-matrix device, control elements are distributed over the flat-panel substrate. Typically, each sub-pixel is controlled by one control element and each control element includes at least one transistor. For example, in a simple active-matrix organic light-emitting (OLED) display, each control element includes two transistors (a select transistor and a power transistor) and one capacitor for storing a charge specifying the brightness of the sub-pixel. Each light-emitting element typically employs an independent control electrode and a common electrode.
Prior-art active-matrix control elements typically include thin-film semiconductor materials, such as silicon, formed into transistors and capacitors through photolithographic processes. The thin-film silicon can be either amorphous or polycrystalline. Thin-film transistors made from amorphous or polycrystalline silicon are relatively larger and have lower performance than conventional transistors made from crystalline silicon wafers. Moreover, such thin-film devices typically exhibit local or large-area non-uniformity that results in perceptible non-uniformity in a display employing such materials, and the manufacturing processes are expensive.
Matsumura et al discuss crystalline silicon substrates used with LCD displays in US 2006/0055864. Matsumura describes a method for selectively transferring and affixing pixel-control devices made from first semiconductor substrates onto a second planar display substrate. Wiring interconnections within the pixel-control device and connections from busses and control electrodes to the pixel-control device are shown.
Regardless of the control methodology for a flat-panel display device, active-matrix display devices incorporate control elements within the flat panel for controlling the individual pixels. These control elements receive data from a display controller external to the display. The data is communicated via electrical signals transmitted through wires formed on the flat-panel display substrate. Such control signals are limited in bandwidth because of the length of the wires, the wire conductivity, and the arrangement of the wires. For large displays of high resolution, such communication bandwidth restrictions can limit the refresh rate of the display, the resolution, or the accuracy and precision of the display signals.
Optical communication on a circuit board is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,095,620 and 7,120,327. A photonic interconnection system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,546,004. A computer system with optical buss architecture is described in US 2002/0178319. However, these disclosures do not provide improved communication between pixel control elements in a flat-panel display.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,631 describes communication between chips on stacked substrates, e.g., circuit boards plugged into a backplane. US 2009/0289265 describes a similar scheme, only for vertically-stacked dice in a multi-chip system-in-package. These schemes are not applicable to display devices, in which the substrate viewed by the user cannot be obscured by a stacked substrate or other component.
US 2010/0001639 describes an optical touchscreen using an OLED. Light emitted by the OLED reflects off an object pressed against the screen and is detected by an on-panel photosensor. This scheme does not provide communication between active-matrix control elements, and depends on objects external to the display to reflect light.
WO2010046643 describes chiplets including light sensors for detecting the position of the chiplet and OLED with respect to each other. It does not address the need to improve communication between active-matrix control elements.
There is a need, therefore, for an improved method of communicating signals to and between active-matrix elements in a flat-panel display.

Electroluminescent display device with optically communicating chiplets


A method and system to improve backoff counter handling with relation to a clear channel assessment (CCA) process. The method and system improve a wireless medium availability by adjusting the backoff counter such that the processing of a preamble of a frame received during a backoff is taken into account. Received frames that fall between two CCA thresholds may require decoding of information in the preamble to assess whether the wireless medium is available. A portion of the preamble is decoded that identifies information utilized to determine whether the wireless medium may be considered to be busy. However, during this determination that requires the reading of the preamble of a received frame the backoff counter may be held or decremented even though the wireless medium status is unknown. The method and system provide a set of possible adjustments to the backoff counter to account for this uncertainty and the outcome of the CCA.

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 is a set of physical and media access control (MAC) specifications for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) communications between a set of network devices, referred to as stations, and/or access points. These specifications provide the basis for wireless network products using the Wi-Fi brand managed and defined by the Wi-Fi Alliance. The specifications define the use of the 2.400-2.500 GHz as well as the 4.915-5.825 GHz bands. These spectrum bands are commonly referred to as the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Each spectrum is subdivided into channels with a center frequency and bandwidth. The 2.4 GHz band is divided into 14 channels spaced 5 MHz apart, though some countries regulate the availability of these channels. The 5 GHz band is more heavily regulated than the 2.4 GHz band and the spacing of channels varies across the spectrum with a minimum of a 5 MHz spacing dependent on the regulations of the respective country or territory.
Communication, on any given channel of either the 2.4 GHz or the 5 GHz band, between network elements of the WLAN utilizes the clear channel assessment (CCA) protocol. CCA is defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard as part of the Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) and Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP) layer. Clear Channel Assessment is composed of two related functions, carrier sense (CS) and energy detection (ED). The CCA protocol is implemented in the physical layer (PHY) of a network device and determines the current state of use of the wireless medium (WM) (i.e., a 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band), such that a network device (e.g., a station) will access a channel of the WM only when the WM becomes idle.
The conventional CCA rule mechanism defined in IEEE 802.11 defines the primary channel to be busy, if one of the conditions listed in the Table I is met, otherwise the primary channel is considered to be idle. If the primary channel is idle, the PHY will check the secondary channels.
TABLE IOperating Channel WidthConditions20 MHz, 40 MHz,The start of a 20 MHz NON_HT PPDU in the80 MHz, 160 MHzprimary 20 MHz channel as defined inor 80 + 80 MHz184.108.40.206 (CCA requirements)40 MHz, 80 MHz,The start of a 40 MHz non-HT duplicate or160 MHz or 80 +VHT PPDU in the primary 40 MHz channel at80 MHzor above −79 dBm,The start of an HT PPDU under theconditions defined in 220.127.116.11 (CCAsensitivity)80 MHz, 160 MHzThe start of an 80 MHz non-HT duplicate oror 80 + 80 MHzVHT PPDU in the primary 80 MHz channelat or above −76 dBm60 MHz or 80 +The start of a 160 MHz or 80 + 80 MHz non-80 MHzHT duplicate or VHT PPDU at or above −73dBm


Selected surface regions of coulomb vibration damping strips are bonded face-to-face by ultrasonic welding to a surface region of an article that may experience excessive vibration in use. In one embodiment, prior to welding, the intended facing side of the damping strip is treated to form surface regions that are oxidized, roughened, or coating so that the treated regions do not weld to the article surface. In another embodiment of the invention the ultrasonic welding process is controlled so as to produce regions (sometimes randomly interposed regions) of welded and non-welded regions between the damping strip and adjacent article surface. The unbonded regions of the otherwise welded strip lie in closely-spaced, interfacial, frictional contact with the adjacent article surface to damp vibration in the article. Other processes may be used for welding a damping strip to a surface of an article while leaving un-bonded, friction damping regions between regions of the damping strip and the facing surface of the article.

Automotive vehicle body structures, components, and propulsion devices are examples of many articles of manufacture that experience mechanical vibrations in their structure. The vibrations may, for example, occur in a wall or housing or partition structure, or in a shaft, or other structure susceptible to vibrating or passing vibrations. Often such operational or imposed vibrations are of a frequency that, if coupled with the surrounding atmosphere in a manner that makes them audible, can produce distressing noise to a user of the vehicle or other article. Further, vibrations in structures may lead to decreased fatigue life, if the amplitude, frequency, and mode structure are not controlled. Automotive vehicles have many body structures, motors, engine components, power transmission components, brakes, and the like that are designed to serve many functions in addition to operating at an acceptable vibrational or noise level. Still, there remains a need for practices of reducing vibrations and noise output from many such vibratile vehicle parts and other articles of manufacture.
At least in the case of automotive vehicles, such practices are needed both in the design of new vehicle parts for quiet operation and in the modification of existing vehicle parts for reduced broadcasting of noise and minimizing vibrational amplitude.

Coulomb damping features using ultrasonic welding