For improving the drawback of brightness decay of a display due to aging, a memory can be used to store the usage time of each pixel of the display, then based upon the usage time the brightness decay of each pixel of the display can be compensated and accordingly the value for the compensation can be stored in a volatile memory and a non-volatile memory. However, the usage of the non-volatile memory is limited. Hence, the present invention discloses a new approach for storing the data so as to decrease write-in sequence per unit area for the non-volatile memory rather than increasing its storing capacity proportionally.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for extending duration of a display apparatus having brightness compensation and an apparatus realizing the same, more particularly to, a method for extending duration of a display apparatus having brightness compensation and an apparatus realizing the same by properly dividing a non-volatile memory of the apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
For conventional display devices, such as FED, after being used for a while, the display will be getting darken in view of their brightness (also known as luminance) due to aging, and, since each pixel of the devices corresponds to a different period of brightness for difference colors, the aging level will differ. Hence, in order to maintain the brightness and the even color, the brightness of each pixel needs to be compensated individually.
Refer to FIG. 1A, which provides a display system 10, comprising a brightness compensation apparatus 101 which cooperates with a driver integrated circuit 102 so as to drive a display means 103, said compensation apparatus 101 further comprises: a volatile memory 104, for storing a brightness accumulation for each pixel in view of different color on the display means 103; a non-volatile memory 105, for preventing the brightness accumulating from missing from the system 10 during its shutting down period; and a calculating means 106, for accumulating the brightness of each pixel; wherein, as illustrated in FIG. 1B, a write-in area of the non-volatile memory 105 is evenly divided into n equivalent areas, such as area 0 to area n−1.
The usage record for brightness accumulation usage will be first stored by the faster volatile memory 104, then being sequentially forwarded to the driver IC 102. Since once if the system shutting down, these usage record will turn disappeared, so periodically, the record must be also stored in the non-volatile memory 105 so as the record can be refreshed in volatile memory 104 while the system regains operating.
FIG. 1C further illustrates the algorithm disclosed in the prior art. Supposed the needed accumulated brightness data is bit 0a˜bit 3a, and the data prior to accumulation is 31-bit data such as bit 0b˜bit 30b, then the data after accumulation is 31-bit data such as bit 0c˜bit 30c, and for the 31-bit data after accumulation, conventionally, only part of the maximum effect bits such as bit 15c˜bit 30c are stored in the non-volatile memory 105 so as to prevent data of said bit 0b˜bit 30b for the aforesaid volatile memory 104 from disappearance, which is illustrated in FIG. 1D.
However, in view of the non-volatile memory 105, the write-in sequence per unit capacity is limited, as a result, the conventional approach is using a higher capacity of the memory 105 to trade more write-in sequence, for example, if an eight time of write sequence is desired, then eight equivalent-sized flash memories each being divided into n equivalent areas are used to serve the write-in process in turn, as illustrated in FIG. 1B. Correspondingly, the higher-capacity flash memory will increase the system cost. Accordingly, in view of the above drawbacks, it is an imperative that an apparatus and method are designed so as to use the minimum capacity but achieve the same write-in sequence and meanwhile optimize the flash memory usage or duration as the foregoing.

Method for extending duration of a display apparatus having brightness compensation and apparatus realizing the same


A measuring tool and device designed to allow for the quick determination for the location and marking of a rough in opening in the installation of HVAC components. The device is generally comprised of planar body having a specific dimension and including at least one aperture placed within a perimeter of the planar body corresponding to the size of a desired HVAC opening. Accordingly, the device can be generally utilized by a user to quickly mark the rough in opening by placing the device on a floor surface aligned with a soleplate and framing studs and floor joists.

In the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) industry, it is known that during construction, and most particularly in new construction, several markings are necessary to enable the proper position and location of the various ducts and vents within the installation of HVAC systems. A given HVAC system is generally installed with rough-in openings for the various registers and vents. Typically, these openings are of a standard size rectangular. The most common sizes are: 4″×12″, 2¼″×12″, and 4″×10″, although other sizes may be utilized.
Traditionally, these measurements are made and marked individually through the use of a tape measure, framing square, construction square, carpenters square, speed square or other similar measuring or marking device. Accordingly, a user will generally position the measuring device against a soleplate of a rough wall frame and mark the dimensions of an opening for the placement of the HVAC component. Typically, the user will measure out a distance of 4″ perpendicular to soleplate for the positioning of a first edge of an opening to be marked and cut. This process is generally repeated to measure and mark the remaining edge locations representing the width and length of the desired opening.
Given the large amount of vents and runs in an HVAC system for a given structure, this can be tedious and time consuming process. Therefore, there exists a need for a device to improve and streamline the measuring process for the location of the rough openings within the HVAC installation process. Preferably this device is durable and adapted to accommodate multiple sized HVAC rough-in opening sizes.


A dual-directionally operated dynamo set includes a housing, an actuating mechanism slidably mounted in the housing in a reciprocal manner, a dual-motion structure mounted in the housing and driven by the actuating mechanism, and a dynamo device mounted in the housing and driven by the dual-motion structure. Thus, the generator of the dynamo device may be operated successively to generate the electric power along dual directions in a reciprocal manner without stopping, thereby enhancing the generation efficiency of the electric power.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dual-directionally operated dynamo set that may be used by the user""s hand and foot, and more particularly to a dual-directionally operated dynamo set that may generate the electric power in dual directions (clockwise or counterclockwise) in a reciprocally manner without stopping, thereby enhancing the generation efficiency of the electric power.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional dynamo device may be used to generate the electric power. However, the conventional dynamo device may be used to generate the electric power only when it is operated, and the electric power produced by the conventional dynamo device cannot be stored. In addition, the conventional dynamo device may generate the electric power when it is pressed, and will idle (and cannot generate the electric power) when it is restored to its original state, so that the conventional dynamo device can be operated in a single direction only, thereby limiting the versatility of the conventional dynamo device.
The closest prior art references of which the applicant is aware are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,082 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,682.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the disadvantage of the conventional dynamo device.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a dual-directionally operated dynamo set that may generate the electric power in dual directions (clockwise or counterclockwise) in a reciprocally manner.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a dual-directionally operated dynamo set, wherein the driven gear of the dynamo device may be successively rotated at the same direction, so that the generator of the dynamo device may be operated successively to generate the electric power without stopping.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a dual-directionally operated dynamo set, wherein the generator of the dynamo device may be operated successively to generate the electric power without stopping, thereby enhancing the generation efficiency of the electric power.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a dual-directionally operated dynamo set, wherein the electric power may be stored in the capacitor, and may be output from the output terminal for use of different appliances, thereby enhancing the versatility of the dual-directionally operated dynamo set of the present invention.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a dual-directionally operated dynamo set, comprising a housing, an actuating mechanism slidably mounted in the housing in a reciprocal manner, a dual-motion structure mounted in the housing and driven by the actuating mechanism, and a dynamo device mounted in the housing and driven by the dual-motion structure, wherein:
the dual-motion structure includes a positioning plate mounted in the housing, the positioning plate is formed with formed with an oblique first slide slot and an oblique second slide slot;
the dual-motion structure further includes a drive gear rotatably mounted between the positioning plate and a bottom of the housing and driven by the actuating mechanism;
the dual-motion structure further includes a first driving gear and a second drive gear each rotatably mounted between the positioning plate and the bottom of the housing and each meshing with the drive gear, the first driving gear may slide in the first slide slot of the positioning plate and may be rotated and moved by the drive gear to operate the dynamo device, the second drive gear may slide in the second slide slot of the positioning plate;
the dual-motion structure further includes a torsion spring mounted on the drive gear and having a first end urged on the first driving gear and a second end urged on the second drive gear; and
the dual-motion structure further includes an idler rotatably mounted between the positioning plate and the bottom of the housing, so that the second drive gear may be rotated and moved by the drive gear to mesh with the idler to operate the dynamo device.


A writing instrument holder comprises a substantially funnel-shaped body configured to hold concurrently one writing instrument internally and another writing instrument externally. The writing instruments are frictionally held in a substantially conical fashion. A retractable fastener is coupled to one end of the substantially funnel-shaped body.

Many people use writing, marking or pointing instruments (hereinafter referred to generally as "instruments") in their trade, hobby or leisure time. These instruments may be in the shape of a carpenter's pencil, felt tip marker, regular pencil, golf pencil, "clicker" or stick pen, stylus or a pointer. In many situations the user of a writing instrument is moving from place to place as he/she performs his/her tasks. One of the more frustrating and time wasting aspects of these tasks is when the user incidentally drops or misplaces his/her writing instrument. The need exists for a device that can securely hold a writing instrument without sacrificing accessibility of the instrument.


An improved process is disclosed for preparing flame retardant polyamide molding resins containing melamine cyanurate as a flame retarding agent which results in products with improved mechanical properties and good flame retarding properties. It comprises the addition of a glycol and a phthalate ester to the process wherein a polyamide, melamine or derivatives thereof and cyanuric acid are melt-blended in the presence of water.

The present invention relates to an improvement in the process for preparing flame retardant polyamide molding resins that contain melamine cyanurate as a flame retarding agent which results in products with improved mechanical properties and good flame retarding properties. More particularly, it relates to an improvement which comprises the addition of a glycol and a phthalate ester to the process wherein a polyamide, melamine or derivatives thereof and cyanuric acid are melt-blended in the presence of water.
Polyamide molding resins are used in a wide range of applications because of their excellent mechanical strength. For electrical and other applications, a high level of flame retardancy is required along with excellent mechanical strength. For tie-strap and other related applications an even higher degree of mechanical strength, in particular, a higher degree of tensile elongation, is required.
Melamine and other triazines, and certain salts of said compounds such as melamine cyanurate, are known to function as flame retardants when melt-blended in polyamides at from about 5% by weight to about 20% by weight. It is believed that the manner by which the flame retardancy is brought about is through the thermal decoxposition of the additive (gas phase) which blankets the burn site so as to exclude oxygen.
Melamine cyanurate salt can be added directly to a molten polyamide resin or it can be formed during melt-blending of polyamide resins With
melamine or derivatives thereof and cyanuric acid in the presence of water. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,890.
The advantages of utilizing the latter process are the lower cost of melamine and cyanuric acid as compared to melamine cyanurate salt and the ability to form melamine cyanurate salt in situ having a smaller particle size than the commercially available product thereby increasing its dispersion in the polyamide and advantageously affecting the mechanical and flame retarding properties of the resulting resin.
The disadvantages are that when processing polyamides with higher melt temperatures it becomes very difficult to assure consistent melamine cyanurate salt formation. This result can be attributed to the water being volatilized during extrusion before the salt has a chance to form which necessitates the use of an excess of water or a closed melt-blending system. The excess water is undesirable and the closed system gives rise to other problems.
In addition, the mechanical strength of the resins produced by the latter process is inadequate for certain applications.

Process for preparing flame retardant polyamide molding resins containing melamine cyanurate


A method including forming a hard mask and an etch stop layer over a sacrificial material patterned as a gate electrode, wherein a material for the hard mask and a material for the etch stop layer are selected to have a similar stress property; removing the material for the hard mask and the material for the etch stop layer sufficient to expose the sacrificial material; replacing the sacrificial material with another material. A system including a computing device including a microprocessor, the microprocessor including a plurality of transistor devices, at least one of the plurality of transistor devices including a gate electrode formed on a substrate surface; a discontinuous etch stop layer conformally formed on the substrate surface and adjacent side wall surfaces of the gate electrode; and a dielectric material conformally formed over the etch stop layer.

The use of metal gate technology is viewed as very desirable for complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device technology scaling below the sub 0.1 micron regime. Replacing traditional polycrystalline silicon ("polysilicon") gate electrodes with metal or metal alloy gate electrodes can significantly eliminate undesired voltage drops associated with polysilicon gate electrodes (e.g., polysilicon depletion effect) and improve device drive current performance. Metal and metal alloy gate electrodes can also reduce the parasitic resistance of the gate line and allow longer gate runners in high performance integrated circuit design for applications such as stacked gates, wordlines, buffer drivers, etc.
Conductive materials have different energies measured conventionally by, their Fermi level. As an example, the Fermi level of a material determines its work function. The intrinsic Fermi level of an undoped semiconductor is at the middle of the bandgap between the conduction and valence band edges. In an N-type doped silicon, the Fermi level is closer to the conduction band than to the valence band (e.g., about 4.15 electron-volts). In a P-type doped silicon, the Fermi level is closer to the valence band than the conduction band (e.g., about 5.2 electron-volts).
Metals or their compounds have been identified that have work functions similar to the work functions of a conventional P-type doped semiconductor substrate. Other metals or their compounds have been identified that have work functions similar to a conventional N-type doped semiconductor substrate. Examples of metals that have a work function similar to P-type doped semiconductor material, include but are not limited to, nickel (Ni), ruthenium oxide (RuO), molybdenum nitride (MoN), and tantalum nitride (TaN). Examples of metals that have a work function similar to N-type doped semiconductor material, include but are not limited to, ruthenium (Ru), zirconium (Zr), niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta), molybdenum silicide (MoSi), and tantalum silicide (TaSi).

Etch stop and hard mask film property matching to enable improved replacement metal gate process


A bicycle system with omnidirectional viewing having front-facing, stereoscopic video camera devices relying on computer vision. The front-facing, stereoscopic video camera devices positioned on the bicycle help identify, classify, and recommend a safe trajectory around obstacles in real-time using augmented reality. The bicycle system details safety-related and guidance-related information.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's National Survey of Bicyclists and Pedestrian Attitudes1 estimates millions are injured yearly riding bicycles every year. In 2018, per latest data available as of this filing, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported 857 pedalcyclist fatalities and 47,000 injuries occurred in the United States of America2. In 2018, 79% of pedalcyclist fatalities occurred in urban settings. 40% of fatalities occurred at intersections and along sidewalks, bicycle lanes, median/crossing islands, parking lanes/zones, shoulders/roadsides, driveway access, shared-used paths, and non-traffic areas. Both unreported and reported injury statistics are presumed to follow similar trends. 1 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration National Survey of Bicyclist and Pedestrian Attitudes and Behavior, Volume II: Findings Report2 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Quick Facts 2018 (dot.gov)
Falling, riding error, and collisions with fixed objects make-up more than a third of classified causes for bicyclist injuries. Many bicycle crashes are avoidable, but real-time active safety tools for pedalcyclist are lacking both in spaces shared with automobiles, pedestrians, and other pedalcyclists. Frequently; on shared spaces with automobiles, pedalcyclists rely on motor vehicle operators to use tools like Driver Assistance Systems (DASs) to avoid and mitigate the impact of collisions with bicycles. Few equivalent tools, devices, or systems for bicyclists exist. Existing pedalcyclist features are passive, like helmets and handlebar bells. Other safety measures to prevent crashes are more preparatory and sometimes costly in nature including classroom instruction, both real-world and virtual, including simulated training. Many localities are also investing more strategically in hard infrastructure for the benefit of all travel way users, including pedalcyclists.
In automobiles, DAS have been found to prevent approximately 14% to 30% of crashes depending on roadway facility3. DASs for bicycles have the potential to prevent hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries, particularly as many governments and nongovernmental organizations are committing to Vision Zero, the multinational road traffic safety initiative to eliminate all fatalities and serious injuries. 3 Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Article

Human-powered advanced rider assistance system


A method for fabricating a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor includes the following steps. Firstly, a substrate is provided. A gate structure, a first spacer, a second spacer and a source/drain structure are formed over the substrate. The second spacer includes an inner layer and an outer layer. Then, a thinning process is performed to reduce the thickness of the second spacer, thereby retaining the inner layer of the second spacer. After a stress film is formed on the inner layer of the second spacer and the source/drain structure, an annealing process is performed. Afterwards, the stress film is removed.

Because the length of the gate can not be limitlessly reduced any more and new materials have not been proved to be used in a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), adjusting mobility has become an important role to improve the performance of the integrated circuit. For example, the lattice strain of the channel is widely applied to increase mobility during the process of fabricating the MOSFET. For example, the hole mobility of the silicon with the lattice strain can be 4 times as many as the hole mobility of the silicon without the lattice strain, and the electron mobility with the lattice strain can be 1.8 times as many as the electron mobility of the silicon without the lattice strain.
Consequently, a tensile stress can be applied to an n-channel of an n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (NMOS) by changing the structure of the transistor, or a compressive stress can be applied to a p-channel of a p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (PMOS) by changing the structure of the transistor. Based on these characteristics, a stress memorization technique (SMT) is developed. However, the performance of the semiconductor device fabricating by the current stress memorization technique is still unsatisfied. Therefore, there is a need of providing an improved method for fabricating a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor.

Method for fabricating metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor


A fuel tank system, engine employing such a system, and related method of assembly are disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the fuel tank system includes a fuel tank, a mounting bracket, and at least three fastening devices. The tank includes an outer wall that defines an internal cavity, and first and second channels extending between first and second opposed outer surfaces of the wall through the cavity. The bracket has first and second protrusions, where the first and second protrusions respectively extend into the first and second channels, respectively. First and second ones of the fastening devices are respectively fastened to the first and second protrusions, respectively, so as to prevent movement of the protrusions out of the channels, thereby securing the bracket to the tank. A third of the fastening devices allows the bracket to be secured to another engine component.

Internal combustion engines include or operate in conjunction with fuel tanks that store gasoline, diesel fuel, biofuels or other fuels prior to their consumption by the engines. A variety of different types of fuel tanks and methods of coupling/integrating those fuel tanks with internal combustion engines are known in the art. At least some conventional internal combustion engines employ plastic fuel tanks. In some such embodiments, the plastic fuel tank includes a boss feature molded into the plastic fuel tank that allows a fastening screw extending from the remainder of the engine (e.g., from the engine crankcase) to thread directly into the fuel tank body, thereby allowing direct fastening of the fuel tank to the remainder of the engine.
Notwithstanding the common usage of this type of design, there are at least two disadvantages with such a design. First, during factory assembly or field service of an engine employing such a configuration, it is possible that an improper screw may be threaded into the fuel tank boss. The fuel tank is then at risk from cracking and leaking if the screw diameter is too large or at risk from puncture and leakage if the screw is too long. Additionally, such a conventional design can risk cracking of the fuel tank due to fatigue experienced over time. In particular, forming the screw boss feature on the fuel tank can create an irregular wall thickness. When exposed to various types of stresses over time, particularly stresses associated with exposure of the fuel tank to fuel chemicals and various environmental effects including variations in the temperature to which the fuel tank is exposed, it is possible that the fuel tank may crack and begin to leak fuel. This situation can be exacerbated by material deformation of the screw.
At least some conventional plastic fuel tanks are manufactured via a blow-molding process. Although blow-molding is a useful process for manufacturing components such as fuel tanks, it is especially difficult to create detailed features such as bosses using this process. Consequently, with respect to blow-molded fuel tanks, other methods have often been used to constrain and mount fuel tanks, such as clamping of external web-sections. While such methods can avoid direct impregnation of the fuel tanks by fastening screws, such methods often involve extra cost burdens, for example, those associated with the use of additional clamping materials and the additional assembly time required to manufacture such fuel tank assemblies.
For at least these reasons, therefore, it would be advantageous if an improved fuel tank system and/or method of assembling fuel tanks to internal combustion engines could be developed. More particularly, it would be advantageous if, in at least some embodiments, the risk that portion(s) of the fuel tank and/or mounting component(s) allowing for the fuel tank to be fastened to the remainder of an internal combustion engine might result in damage to the fuel tank was reduced by comparison with conventional fuel tank systems. Additionally, it would be advantageous if, in at least some embodiments, advantage(s) associated with manufacturing a fuel tank by way of a blow-molding process could be achieved without incurring one or more of the constraints faced when implementing blow-molded fuel tanks in conventional engines.

Fuel tank system and related method of assembly


A method of automatic formulation by a computer of test cases for verifying at least one function of a piece of software in relation to a specification including requirements relating input values and output values of the software, the method including the steps of:                distinguishing combinatorial requirements and sequential requirements;        modeling combinatorial requirements by a truth table and sequential requirements by a finite state machine to obtain a modeled specification;        establishing an operation matrix relating the input values of the software with a probability of them being in succession and a transition time between them;        selecting the successions of input values to be tested by performing a Monte Carlo draw on the operation matrix;        determining a test case including test rows relating each selected succession with the output values expected given the modeled specification;        stopping the determination process when the test case being determined makes it possible to reach a predetermined threshold for at least one of the following criteria: verified percentage of function code, verified percentage of requirements, verification time, and verification cost.

Over the last few years electronics has taken a dominant place in automobile vehicle design. The electronic architectures of automobile vehicles are therefore becoming more and more complex and automobile vehicle manufacturers subcontract the design of the electronic modules to automobile vehicle electronics suppliers. These electronic modules generally include a processor executing software and many of the faults found in these modules are software errors, known as bugs.
The discovery of a bug early on in the software development cycle and the reduction of the number of bugs discovered by the automobile vehicle manufacturer or the vehicle user is a priority objective for automobile vehicle subcontractors.
Until now it has been usual for software test engineers to formulate software test cases manually on the basis of their personal knowledge, with the result that the quality of the test cases depends on each individual software test engineer.

Method of automatically formulating test cases for verifying at least part of a piece of software


A method and system for distributing content from a server computer to a number of client computers is disclosed. A file to be distributed to a requesting client computer is identified. If another client computer of the plurality of client computers can distribute the file to the requesting client computer, the requesting client computer requests the file from the other client computer. If no client computer can distribute the file to the requesting client computer, the requesting client computer requests the first file from the server computer. Then the requesting client computer receives the first file from either the other client computer or the server computer. Each client computer can act both as a client and a server to the other client computers, providing content that would otherwise be provided by the server computer.

This disclosure relates generally to the field of computer software. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, it relates to the distribution of software and data to a large number of computer systems.
Distributing software and data to a large number of endpoints requires customers to provision a number of distribution points. These distribution points are dedicated servers and thus incur costs of maintenance and monitoring. As an organization grows and number of endpoints increase, there is a proportionate increase in the costs associated with these distribution points.

System and method for scheduled and collaborative distribution of software and data to many thousands of clients over a network using dynamic virtual proxies


An ECU executes a program including: steps of detecting an SOC and a temperature TB of a traction battery; when an EV switch is on, a step of calculating a temperature correction coefficient α from TB; when EV switch not on, a step of calculating a temperature correction coefficient α from TB; steps of calculating an EV traveling allowed power value WOUT based on the SOC and the temperature correction coefficients; and a step of transmitting EV traveling allowed power value WOUT to a meter ECU in order to indicate EV traveling allowed power value WOUT on a power meter.

Hybrid vehicles incorporating, as motive power sources for traveling of the vehicle, an engine actuating by energy from combustion of fuel and a motor actuating by electric energy, and being provided with an automatic transmission (including a power split device) between the motive power sources and driving wheels, have been put into practical use. In such a hybrid vehicle, traveling based on selective use of the engine and the motor, e.g., in accordance with a driving state, can reduce fuel consumption or emission while maintaining a prescribed traveling performance. Specifically, the vehicle is provided with a plurality of drive modes being different in the actuation state of the engine and the motor, such as the engine traveling mode in which the vehicle travels employing solely the engine as the motive power source, the motor traveling mode in which the vehicle travels employing solely the motor as the motive power source (hereinafter, the motor traveling mode may also be referred to as the EV mode), the engine+motor traveling mode in which the vehicle travels employing both the engine and the motor as the motive power sources. They can automatically be switched in accordance with predetermined mode switching conditions such as a motive power source map employing drive states such as a vehicle speed (or a rotation speed of the motive power sources) and an accelerator pedal operation amount as parameters.
Meanwhile, in such a hybrid vehicle, indication of only the vehicle speed and engine speed as in a conventional engine-driven vehicle employing solely the engine as the motive power source provides only insufficient information for recognizing the actuation state of the motive power sources or the traveling state. For example, indication of the engine speed during the motor traveling mode (which is normally 0) is not helpful. Thus, the driver's need may not always be fully fulfilled.
Harrier Hybrid New Car Model Guide (issued on Mar. 22, 2005 by TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA) discloses a combination meter of a hybrid vehicle. The combination meter includes a circular power meter, which is similar to an engine speed meter (tachometer) that indicates the total value of engine output and motor output. The indication range of the power meter is −40˜200 kW, wherein the position (range) of a pointer of the meter lower than 0 means energy recovery.
However, the power meter disclosed in the guide merely shows the output and regeneration state as a hybrid system. Therefore, the driver cannot recognize, for example, how far the accelerator pedal can be pressed down when the vehicle is traveling in the EV mode with the engine stopped, before the engine thereby starts actuation (because it is not possible to satisfy the acceleration request by traveling solely by the motor) (the start of actuation of the engine after activation of the system may also be referred to as "startup"), and how far the brake pedal can be pressed down when the vehicle is traveling (in any mode), before the regenerative braking where energy can be recovered is thereby exited (because it is not possible to satisfy the deceleration request solely by the regenerative braking, or because it is not possible to store the generated power in the battery) the mechanical type brake (hereinafter also referred to as a mechanical brake) starts actuation. As a result, there may be a case where the engine actuates and the fuel efficiency is deteriorated, or a case where the mechanical brake actuates and the energy is not recovered, whereby the fuel efficiency is deteriorated.


An electric motor mount has a sheet metal L-shaped base of first and second parts. The base first part has a rectangular aperture established by first and second arms lanced from the sheet metal and bent at about a 30-degree angle. The motor is secured to the proximal ends of these arms to have considerable radial rotational flexibility about the motor axis. The base second part has a circular aperture caused by a disc being punched therefrom. A fan blade is made from the circular disc and driven by the motor, which is mounted so that the fan blade is at this circular aperture.

In some small fractional horsepower motors, a U-shaped sheet metal base has been used as a motor support with the motor either depending from or supported above the U-shaped base, as in U.S. Pat. No. 2,662,988. U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,206 suggests a motor base which curves around part of the motor and has bent out legs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,217 has a belly band around the motor which carries radial arms for mounting.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,506,226 suggests a complicated motor support bracket bent from flat metal stock into three planes to isolate vibrations in the three planes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,197 has three generally radial arms welded to the motor for a motor support.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,731,193 suggests a fan blade stamped and formed from flat sheet. U.S. Pat. No. 3,201,857 teaches a fan blade and slinger ring made from a single piece of sheet metal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,601 shows a fan blade shaped from flat sheet.
Another motor support was one with a molded plastic base which had a circular aperture surrounding the fan blade on the motor. The motor was supported from the plastic base by three curved arms secured to the motor at equidistantly spaced points along a plane perpendicular to the motor axis at the rear of the motor.


A Feature Interaction Arbitrator (FIA) for identifying the existence of interactions among various telephone call features (e.g., call forwarding busy line and call waiting) and for resolving these interactions. The FIA manages feature interactions in three phases to support a telephone switch as well as a vendor's software development process, the feature administrator of the telephone operating company, feature designer, and for the subscriber (end-user). The first phase is when the feature administrator assigns several features to a subscriber's line. The second phase is when a subscriber activates at least one of the features previously assigned to the subscriber's line. The third phase identifies and resolves feature interactions that occur during run-time operation. During the latter two phases, the FIA is located in the telephone switching system. The FIA provides a database which includes numerical data assigned to classes of feature elements which uniquely define the properties of each feature. When the FIA is invoked, logical and/or arithmetic operations (e.g., AND, exclusive-OR, multiplication, etc.) are variously performed at different stages on the numerical data. As a result, the identification of a feature interaction/conflict and the resolution of the same can be accomplished. Finally, a switching device is driven based on the result.

The present invention relates, in general, to a telephone communication network and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for managing/controlling feature interactions by analyzing the operation of one feature against another existing/executing feature during assignment, activation, and execution phases of a telephone communication network.
Contemporary telephone communication networks can provide well over 100 services or features, such as call forwarding, call waiting, call transfer, ring selection, speed calling, etc., to customers. Moreover, new features are continually being developed by the telephone operating companies in order to meet the needs of their telephone customers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,240 issued to Lin et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,274 issued to Cooper et al., for example, describe apparatus and methods which provide customers with the ability to select, activate/deactivate, and change such features to suit their needs. Now that the customer has the ability to customize their individual telephone system, there is a need greater than ever to manage and control the interaction of telephone features.
Feature interactions are defined as a contradiction or conflict among services when at least two features are provided simultaneously. The following examples illustrate the need to manage and control feature interactions. The telephone call feature of call waiting provides an indication (e.g., an audible tone) to a called party on a busy line that another party is attempting to reach him. This feature also permits the called party to switch between the two parties by flashing the switch hook on his telephone. Now, consider the telephone call feature of call forwarding busy line. This feature, when activated by the called party, forwards the second call to another predetermined telephone exchange. The interaction of these two features is, of course, whether the telephone switch should invoke the call waiting feature and interrupt the called party, or implement the call forwarding busy line feature and forward the second call to the predetermined telephone exchange.
A second example involves the telephone call feature of call forwarding. If a customer programs a first telephone to forward calls to a second telephone and programs the second telephone to forward all calls to the first telephone, then an unpredictable result occurs.
The foregoing examples, although rather simple, do provide a focus as to what the present invention seeks to accomplish, namely, how to manage and control the interaction of at least two features.
The inventors are aware of two approaches for identifying and resolving feature interactions. First, there is known a method of resolving feature interactions by executing predetermined scripts (i.e., program code) or referring to a predetermined decision table. This method is also referred to as a specific interaction-by-interaction method. This method relies on specifying each possible interaction for every possible combination of features and writing software or program code to manage accordingly. This method is disadvantageous, however, because as the number of features increase, the specification quickly becomes complex, that is, the decision logic increases in proportion to the square of the number of features to be served. Moreover, as new features are added to the telephone system, the many possible interactions must be determined (in advance, if even possible) and programmed into the telephone switch.
The second approach is to generalize the decision logic for resolving feature interactions. The goal of this approach is to eliminate the dependencies against the number of features to be served. Conceptually, this approach is better than the first approach because a decision of comparing the level of precedence defined among features is made which is effective for runtime processing.
This latter method, however, is disadvantageous because the data does not consist of any information defining the nature, characteristics, or properties of features, but simply consists of a feature precedence list for subscribers which are defined by the telephone operating company. As a result, feature interactions are resolved only by selecting the highest priority feature which is interested in a trigger point and event. Accordingly, this general method approach cannot provide the capability to check whether two specific features are in conflict


Methods, processes, systems, and apparatuses are disclosed for predicting anti-androgen therapy response in the treatment of androgenetic alopecia based on a fluorometric assay and proteomics.

Hair loss is associated with a variety of psychological and social implications. Prior to starting any treatment it is advantageous to predict the course, severity, and treatment options of the disease. In the field of hair loss, very little scientific diagnostic tests are currently available, and there are few methods to predict treatment response.
Moreover, the hair loss industry is littered with dozens of products that claim to grow, improve, and replace hair. Unfortunately, few treatments have been scientifically demonstrated to work, and the few treatments that have undergone clinical trials often do not work equally for all patients.
Androgenetic alopecia has been successfully treated in men by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration ("FDA") approved medication Finasteride (marketed as Propecia) as well as by off-label anti-androgen drugs. The drugs ultimately influence gene transcription mediated by the Androgen Receptor complex.
Among various individuals, whether male or female, there is a broad variability in the response of different people to various hair loss treatments. This variability is a result of a complex interaction of genetic and physiological factors contributing to variable androgen receptor control of gene transcription, making a one-size-fits-all approach difficult to achieve. It would therefore be advantageous to be able to have an effective diagnostic method where patients could be selected and treated on the basis of direct physiological activity assay, which would identify some people as being likely to benefit from treatment by anti-androgen therapies, while identifying other individuals in which treatment is not likely to be effective.

Systems and methods for predicting response to anti-androgen therapy for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia


A segmented elongate, hollow convection pipe formed with an angled mid portion having a removable closed piercing cap or tip for piercing through the body cavity of stuffed poultry during cooking and preparation to cooking the closed end prevents dressing or stuffing from clogging the pipe when the stuffing is pierced by the tip of the hollow convection pipe. The tip is then removed for convection cooking. Each segment and the piercing cap or tip has a locking connection to enable the convection pipe segments to be securely locked together. The convection pipe is provided in plural individual sections of tubing that are serially joined in end-to-end relation. Overall length of the pipe can be adjusted by connecting greater or fewer numbers of sections of tubing, as required. Overall cooking time of both the poultry and the stuffing is more uniform and reduced as a result of simultaneous cooking from the inside as well as the outside. A method is provided for using the convection pipe to safely, quickly pierce the prestuffed turkey and then uniformly cook a raw, stuffed poultry.

Every year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Estimates that 300,000 people in the United States are hospitalized, and 5,000 people, mostly the very young, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, die from food borne illness. A staggering 76 million people are sickened due to food borne illnesses1. These numbers are conservative because millions of mild cases of food borne illnesses which occur in private homes go unreported. The U. S. Public Health Service cited the four most serious bacteria that cause these illnesses are E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter jejuni2. These bacteria are commonly found in meat, poultry, eggs, and on vegetables.
Food borne illness is also extremely costly; the estimated yearly cost of food borne diseases in this country is $5 to $6 billion in direct medical expenditures and lost productivity, stated in an article in Patients Guide Index3.
In an article dated Nov. 21, 2000 on CNN.com, Michael Doyle, Director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia states, xe2x80x9cMost poultry contain harmful bacteria. Recent statistics show about 60% of chickens are contaminated with camplobacter and 10% with Salmonella. Turkeys tend to be slightly higher. It""s important that we think about fresh poultry containing potentially harmful bacteria.1xe2x80x9d
An estimated 55 percent of food poisoning cases are caused by improper cooking and storage of foods4. In poultry production, poultry handlers who do not wash their hands after going to the bathroom and returning to work can contaminate carcasses with E. coli. The carcass itself may be contaminated with Salmonella from the intestinal tract of the bird. While these small amounts of bacterial contamination may not be a danger in and of themselves, given the right conditions they can lead to serious illness or death.
It is well known that these harmful bacteria can be eliminated from food products by proper cooking regimens. In the case of poultry, cooking the product until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. will kill the bacteria, and the food is considered safe for eating. Unfortunately, the USDA reports that 50% of cooks do not bother with a meat thermometer, which the USDA sees as a critical problem. Cooks who do not use thermometers rely on how the bird looks or use cooking charts on the packaging. These methods can be unreliable because oven temperatures vary so widely. The problem is further compounded by the practice of stuffing poultry prior to cooking it. The combination of poultry and stuffing increases cooking times. Additionally, it is common for home cooks to stuff the turkey using traditional recipes that include ingredients such as clams, oysters, turkey giblets and raw eggs, which carry their own bacteria as well. In an article from the Washington Post, Aug. 14, 1996, the USDA warns cooks not to stuff turkeys5.
Meat thermometers can be used to verify proper internal cooked temperature. However, when poultry is stuffed, the poultry itself reaches the safe temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius) long before the stuffing itself. By the time the stuffing has reached 165 degrees F., the meat of the poultry has been overcooked and is less appetizing. Thus, poultry is often removed from the oven when the meat is done, resulting in improperly cooked stuffing. Other factors which contribute to contamination of food with bacteria include the practices of stuffing the turkey the night before, the use of raw meats and/or raw eggs in the stuffing, and improper sanitation methods such as poor hand washing.
A need exists for a device which will allow uniform cooking of the both the poultry product and the stuffing so that both reach the safe cooking temperature of 165 degrees F. at approximately the same time.
1. xe2x80x9cMake Food Safety A Holiday Tradition,xe2x80x9d CNN Web Site, Nov. 21, 2000.
2. xe2x80x9cFood Safety Myths and Facts,xe2x80x9d Patsy H. MacNeill, NC State University Cooperative Extension Web Site.
3. xe2x80x9cFoodborne Diseases,xe2x80x9d Patient""s Guide Web Site,.
4. xe2x80x9cFood Poisoningxe2x80x9d, UC Davis Wellness Center Web Site.
5. xe2x80x9cStop That Stuffing! The USDA Issues an Early Thanksgiving Health Warning,xe2x80x9d Carole Sugarman, Washington Post, Aug. 14, 1996; page E1.
Consumers are aware of the risks of food borne illness when preparing stuffed poultry, yet continue prepare this food in the traditional way. An innovative convection poultry pipe is described, which when used in cooking stuffed poultry, causes the temperature of the stuffing to exceed the temperature of the turkey breast meat by allowing the heat from the oven to be convected through the center of the stuffing. This allows a rapid heating of the interior of the poultry and provides a safer end food product. Overall cooking time of both the poultry and the stuffing is reduced as a result of cooking the turkey from the inside as well as the outside.
The innovative convection poultry pipe disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,804 B1 issued on Jul. 9, 2002 and in my copending U.S. Divisional patent application Ser. No. 10/190,259 filed Jul. 8, 2002 show an earlier form of convection poultry pipe. The present application relates to a modified hollow convection pipe where the adjoining pipe sections are improved with locking means to lock the pipe sections in unitary secured relation and in addition they have a new and improved convection pipe closure member provided to assist in the insertion of the pipe into the body cavity of a poultry that has been prestuffed with dressing so that the pipe can pass through the dressing without any dressing being lodged in the tubular pipe. After the multi-section convection pipe has been put in place, the cap or piercing end is to be removed so that the hollow convection pipe can form its normal cooking function, as previously described in aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,804 B1.
The convection poultry pipe is provided with several features which allow it to be used on poultry of greatly varying size, from cornish hens to large turkeys. The device is provided in plural individual sections of tubing that are serially fitted and locked together in end to end relation. Overall length of the convection poultry pipe can be selectively adjusted by selecting greater or fewer numbers of sections of tubing to form the device. Since the device is formed of plural individual sections that are secured together in end to end relation using the same type of pin-slot connection at each joint between the sections and the cap. The angled mid portion may be provided as a fixed, or rigid angle, or may be provided as a selectively adjustable angle as shown in my earlier filed U.S. patent application (supra) to accommodate anatomical differences in various poultry products.
A method of cooking stuffed raw poultry is provided which includes piercing placement of a capped convection poultry pipe through the stuffed body cavity of the raw poultry prior to cooking such that the convection pipe is surrounded by and supported within the body cavity by the stuffing, removing the piercing cap and then cooking the stuffed poultry with the heat convection poultry pipe inside.

Method and apparatus for cooking poultry and fowl


A scanner with a compact scan engine having a light source for generating a light beam is provided, optionally with a polygon scan mirror as well. A seat with the compact scan engine attached thereto is utilized, and the scan engine is significantly smaller than the scanner housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to compact scan engines, more particularly, relates to a compact scan engine disposed within a scanner housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Scan engines used for scanning symbols having data identifying characteristics such as barcodes are known. Typically, a scan engine comprises a circuit board that takes up most of the space within a housing. Often, the housing has to be designed to accommodate large circuit boards and other components, even though a designer may wish to design the housing differently. An exemplary such prior art arrangement is shown in FIG. 1, wherein a circuit board 102 is mounted upon a housing 103. Notably, the perimeter 104 of the circuit board is substantially the same size as the housing.
There is a need to have a compact scan engine with limited dimensional restrictions.

Compact scan engine disposed within a scanner housing


A FCC product recovery section operates at greater efficiency by recovering separate riser product streams and reactor product streams and quenching and absorbing lighter, more valuable hydrocarbon products from the reactor product stream in separate quench and absorption vessels. The quench and absorbtion vessels are intergrated with a main fractionator and gas concentration section of a typical FCC product recovery section. Heavy hydrocarbons, clarified oil and/or cycle oil absorb hydrocarbons from the reactor product stream in the quench and absorption vessels and return the absorbed products to the main fractionator while net gasoline product from the reactor product stream enter the primary absorber of the gas concentration section. This arrangement is particularly useful in increasing the product recovery capacity of an existing FCC product separation section.

The fluidized catalytic cracking of hydrocarbons is the main stay process for the production of gasoline and light hydrocarbon products from heavy hydrocarbon charge stocks such as vacuum gas oils or residual feeds. Large hydrocarbon molecules, associated with the heavy hydrocarbon feed, are cracked to break the large hydrocarbon chains thereby producing lighter hydrocarbons. These lighter hydrocarbons are recovered as product and can be used directly or further processed to raise the octane barrel yield relative to the heavy hydrocarbon feed.
The basic equipment or apparatus for the fluidized catalytic cracking of hydrocarbons has been in existence since the early 1940's. The basic components of the FCC process include a reactor, a regenerator and a catalyst stripper. The reactor includes a contact zone where the hydrocarbon feed is contacted with a particulate catalyst and a separation zone where product vapors from the cracking reaction are separated from the catalyst. Further product separation takes place in a catalyst stripper that receives catalyst from the separation zone and removes entrained hydrocarbons from the catalyst by counter-current contact with steam or another stripping medium. The FCC process is carried out by contacting the starting material, whether it be vacuum gas oil, reduced crude, or another source of relatively high boiling hydrocarbons, with a catalyst made up of a finely divided or particulate solid material. The catalyst is transported like a fluid by passing gas or vapor through it at sufficient velocity to produce a desired regime of fluid transport. Contact of the oil with the fluidized material catalyzes the cracking reaction. The cracking reaction deposits coke on the catalyst. Coke is comprised of hydrogen and carbon and can include other materials in trace quantities such as sulfur and metals that enter the process with the starling material. Coke interferes with the catalytic activity of the catalyst by blocking active sites on the catalyst surface where the cracking reactions take place. Spent catalyst, i.e., partially deactivated by the deposition of coke upon the catalyst, exits the reactions zone. Traditionally, catalyst passes from the stripper to a regenerator that removes the coke by oxidation with an oxygen-containing gas. An inventory of catalyst having a reduced coke content, relative to the catalyst in the stripper, hereinafter referred to as regenerated catalyst, is collected for return to the reaction zone. Oxidizing the coke from the catalyst surface releases a large amount of heat, a portion of which escapes the regenerator with gaseous products of coke oxidation generally referred to as flue gas. Some of the heat may also be recovered by heat exchange of a circulating catalyst stream against a cooling fluid such as boiler feed water to generate steam. The balance of the heat leaves the regenerator with the regenerated catalyst. The fluidized catalyst circulates continuously from the reaction zone to the regeneration zone and then again to the reaction zone. The fluidized catalyst, as well as providing a catalytic function, acts as a vehicle for the transfer of heat from zone to zone. Specific details of the various contact zones, regeneration zones, and stripping zones along with arrangements for conveying the catalyst between the various zones are well known to those skilled in the art.
The rate of conversion of the feedstock within the reaction zone is controlled by regulation of the temperature of the catalyst, activity of the catalyst, quantity of the catalyst (i.e., catalyst to oil ratio) and contact time between the catalyst and feedstock. The most common method of regulating the reaction temperature is by regulating the rate of circulation of catalyst from the regeneration zone to the reaction zone which simultaneously produces a variation in the catalyst to oil ratio as the reaction temperatures change. That is, increase in the flow rate of circulating fluid catalyst from the regenerator to the reactor effects an increase in the conversion rate. Since the catalyst temperature in the regeneration zone is usually held at a relatively constant temperature, significantly higher than the reaction zone temperature, any increase in catalyst flux from the relatively hot regeneration zone to the reaction zone raises the reaction zone temperature.
One improvement to FCC units, that has reduced the product loss by thermal cracking, is the use of riser cracking. In riser cracking, regenerated catalyst and starting materials enter a pipe reactor. The expansion of the gases formed by contact with hot catalyst upon the hydrocarbons and other fluidizing mediums, if present, transports the mixture upward. Riser cracking provides good initial catalyst and oil contact and also allows the time of contact between the catalyst and oil to be more closely controlled by eliminating turbulence and backmixing that can vary the catalyst residence time. An average riser cracking zone today will have a catalyst to oil contact time of 1 to 5 seconds. A number of riser designs use a lift gas as a further means of providing a uniform catalyst flow. Lift gas accelerates catalyst in a first section of the riser before introduction of the feed and thereby reduces the turbulence which can vary the contact time between the catalyst and hydrocarbons.
In most reactor arrangements, catalysts and conversion products still enter a large chamber that initially disengages catalyst and hydrocarbons. Cyclone separators use centripetal acceleration to disengage the heavier catalyst particles from the lighter vapors and to perform a final separation of hydrocarbon vapors which exit the reaction zone.
Product recovery facilities recover the hydrocarbon product of the FCC reaction in vapor form. These facilities normally comprise a primary fractionation zone, more commonly referred to as the main column for cooling the hydrocarbon vapor from the reactor and recovering a series of heavy cracked products which usually include bottoms material, cycle oil, and heavy gasoline. Lighter materials from the main column enter a concentration section for further separation into additional product streams.
The advances in FCC technology have enabled FCC unit owners to increase the feed process in a given size unit. These advances include changes to the internals of the FCC unit as well as new catalyst developments and the use of other additives to increase the feed processing capacity of an FCC unit. The ability to increase the feed to the FCC unit can be limited by the size of the product separation facilities associated with the FCC unit which create a bottle-neck for further increases in the processing capacity. In particular, it has been found that the gas concentration section and more particularly the wet gas compressor, which is a main source of energy for the gas concentration section, will limit the total throughput of the FCC unit. The use of lift gas in an FCC unit can compound the difficulties in increasing throughput due to additional recycling of gas through the gas concentration section back to the reaction section.
While the benefits of using lift gas to pre-accelerate and condition regenerated catalyst in a riser type conversion zone are well known, lift gas typically has a low concentration of heavy hydrocarbons, i.e. "wet" gas comprising propane and higher boiling hydrocarbons, are usually avoided. Thus the recycling of lift gas streams, comprising a large quantity of dry gas (i.e., hydrocarbons having a lower boiling point than propane) impose extra burdens on the wet gas compressor of the gas concentration section by taking up capacity in the compressor which could be used for wet or heavy hydrocarbons.

Direct dry gas recovery from FCC reactor


The present invention is directed to an automated peptide synthesizer equipped with recovery lines including an acyl component recovery line for recovering unreacted acyl components to allow the reuse of the acyl components, and a solvent recovery line for recovering and distilling a reaction solvent and passing it through a purification column to allow the reuse of the reaction solvent. Both recovery lines are installed on the flow pathway from one or more reaction chambers or columns to a waste liquid reservoir of the automated peptide synthesizer. By recovering expensive acyl components and solvents, running cost in peptide synthesis can be reduced to mitigate economic burden, and the amount of waste leading to environmental destruction can be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates an automated peptide synthesizer, and more particularly to an automated peptide synthesizer having flow pathways for recovering unreacted acyl components and reaction solvents.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Solid-phase peptide synthesis is a technique for synthesizing the desired peptide by repeating a step of deprotection and acyl component introduction in the process of sequential couplings of amino acids on a solid-phase support. This technique is basically one of chemical synthesis, in which a great excess of acyl components is sequentially reacted to permit the synthesis to proceed without confirmation of intermediates. The number of repeats of this synthesis step increases as the number of amino acids of the peptide chain increases, and because the remaining components such as acyl components remaining in the reaction product are potential contaminants for the following repeated synthesis step, they should be washed out with an organic solvent. This washing step requires an enormous amount of organic solvent For example, in the BOC method using methylene chloride, more than about 10 liters of the waste solvent is discharged when 1 g of a peptide consisting of 5 amino acid residues is synthesized.
Acyl components such as protected amino acids and protected peptide fragments are very expensive. Even when a 10-fold amount of the acyl components is used, 90% thereof is wasted since the amount of the acyl components actually involved in the reaction is theoretically equivalent. However, usually a 4-fold amount or more of the acyl components must be used in order to complete the reaction on a solid-phase support. This means that the cost of acyl components cannot be overlooked when a large-scale synthesis is employed, as contrasted with minor economic burden in experimentation or in a small-scale synthesis.
Also, solvents used for peptide synthesis such as dimethylformamide (DMF), methylene chloride, N-methylpyrrolidone and dimethylacetamide are not harmless substances and can cause environmental pollution when wasted, requiring an enormous amount of cost for their recovery and treatment. In particular, DMF, a frequently used solvent, is known to sometimes contain amine compounds as impurities and causes side reactions in the process of synthesis. Therefore, removal of trace amounts of amines and water from the reaction solvent allows synthesis at a high efficiency.


The method for preparing a monoalkylphosphine of high purity comprises reacting phosphine and an alkene in the presence of an anhydrous alkanesulfonic acid as a catalyst in a solvent having a boiling point higher than that of the monoalkylphosphine produced. The resulting monoalkylphosphine is brought into contact with an alkali solution to remove the catalyst, which is a sulfur atom-containing compound, remaining in the solution. The reaction solution from which the remaining catalyst is removed is then brought into contact with alkali metal hydrides or alkaline earth metal hydrides to eliminate any moisture remaining in the reaction solution. The alkali metal hydride is preferably sodium hydride or lithium aluminum hydride, while the alkaline earth metal hydride is preferably calcium hydride. The resulting monoalkylphosphine is isolated through distillation and the compound in a gaseous or liquid state is brought into contact with and passed through a layer of active carbon to remove other impurities present therein.

The present invention relates to a highly pure monoalkylphosphine and a method for preparing the same. The highly pure monoalkylphosphine is useful as a material for use in the epitaxial growth of compound semiconductors.
Recently, compound semiconductors have widely been used in various fields such as light emitting diodes, semiconductor lasers and high electron mobility transistors (HEMT). As a method for preparing a compound semiconductor, there has widely been used an epitaxial crystal-growth technique such as a Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) method. Compound semiconductors prepared by such an epitaxial crystal-growth technique include, for instance, Group III-V compound semiconductors in which phosphine containing a phosphorus atom is often used as a source for phosphorus atom, a Group V element.
Phosphines are highly toxic and suffer from a problem of safety. Recently, there has been proposed the use of monoalkylphosphorous atom-containing compounds as sources of phosphorus atom, one of group V elements, and they have attracted special interest recently as a substitute for phosphine since the use thereof permits the formation of epitaxial growth films having a low carbon content as an impurity and they are less toxic than phosphine.
As methods for preparing monoalkylphosphines, there have been known, for instance, those comprising reducing phosphonium chloride or phosphorous acid (see, for instance, Z. anorg. allg. Chem., 1978, 443, p. 42). However, these methods never permit the preparation of a highly pure monoalkylphosphines since they employ metallic catalysts in the reduction and suffer from a problem of contamination with metal impurities. Moreover, they include a production process requiring a long time period which results in a decrease of the yield of a desired product and makes the practice thereof in an industrial scale unfavorable. In addition, J. Org. Chem., 1959, 24, p. 356 discloses another method for preparing a monoalkylphosphine, which comprises reacting phosphine with an olefin. This method makes the mass production of monoalklphosphines substantially easier. However, this method includes a reaction in an aqueous system since it requires the use of an aqueous solution of an alkanesulfonic acid as a catalyst and accordingly, the method is liable to cause the formation of secondary and tertiary phosphine compounds as by-products whose removal is quite difficult and which inevitably lead to a decrease in the yield of the desired product.
Moreover, if impurities originated from the catalyst used are present in the resulting alkylphosphine, the compound semiconductor formed from a crystal prepared through the epitaxial growth of the phosphine does not exhibit desired electrical and optical properties at all. For this reason, an alkylphosphine for use in the production of a compound semiconductor is in general purified by high precision distillation. However, such high precision distillation in itself has not yet permitted the preparation of any monoalkylphosphine having a purity required for the production of a compound semiconductor.


A boundary correction unit divides an object area into plural meshes, and specifies, of a pixel group positioned on one side, in a direction toward the interior of the object area, of a mesh to which a boundary vertex positioned on the frame of the object area belongs, a pixel at a position where the amount of change in color in the direction is equal to or smaller than a threshold value as a correction pixel for each boundary vertex. The boundary correction unit obtains a curve that connects adjacent correction pixels to each other for each set of adjacent correction pixels, and obtains the area surrounded by the obtained curves as a non-correction area. The boundary correction unit updates the object area by assigning the values of respective pixels on the frame of the non-correction area to those of corresponding pixels positioned on the frame of the object area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resolution-free image representation technique for converting an object in a raster image into gradient meshes by approximating the object by adjusting the positions, gradients, and colors of the meshes so as to reduce color errors between the meshes and the object.
2. Description of the Related Art
A method of approximating the contour of an object by a function such as a Bezier function or a spline function has been conventionally used for resolution-free representation of illustrations and texts. This method is a commonly used high-speed representation method but is poor for complex gradation representations.
A gradient mesh tool in Adobe Illustrator® is generally used to draw an object containing a complex gradation by resolution-free representation. The gradient mesh method can be used to draw a complex object by generating a cubic function by adding colors and gradients to meshes (patent references 1 and 2).
For a resolution-free representation of an object containing a complex gradation, some proposed methods approximate an image by meshes. An example of these methods is a method using triangular patches (patent reference 3) to approximate an image, and a method to reduce approximation errors by dividing Bezier patches into individual small areas (non-patent reference 1). Another proposed method realizes a resolution-free representation using a relatively small number of meshes that is achieved through constructing gradient meshes by solving an optimization problem (patent reference 4 and non-patent reference 2).    [Patent Reference 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-345347    [Patent Reference 2] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-320585    [Patent Reference 3] Japanese Patent Registration No. 03764765    [Patent Reference 4] U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2008/0278479    [Non-patent Reference 1] Brian Price, William Barrett, "Object-based vectorization for interactive image editing", In proceedings of Pacific Graphics 2006, 2006, vol. 22, Nos. 9-11, pp. 661-670.    [Non-patent Reference 2] Jian Sun, Lin Liang, Fang Wen, Heung-Yeung Shum, "Image Vectorization using Optimized Gradient Meshes", In proceedings of SIGGRAPH 2007, 2007, vol. 26, No. 3.
The above-mentioned method of approximating an image using triangular patches poses a problem associated with object boundary representation. When the object boundary has a smooth curve, it is difficult to faithfully approximate this curve by linear meshes, so a large number of meshes must be used to faithfully approximate this curve. High-order meshes need to be used to approximate a complex boundary by a smaller number of meshes.
Since the above-mentioned method of reducing approximation errors by dividing Bezier patches into individual small areas uses high-order meshes, it can faithfully approximate the object boundary. However, this method divides meshes into individual small areas in order to reduce approximation errors, so it requires a relatively large number of meshes and, in turn, requires a relatively large amount of data to approximate a portion where a change in color of the object is complex.
The above-mentioned methods of constructing gradient meshes by solving an optimization problem and calculating an evaluation function for each triangular patch can realize a resolution-free representation by a smaller number of meshes in both the object boundary and a portion where a change in color of the object is complex. However, if a vertex of a gradient mesh is located in a pixel that has an intermediate color between the colors of the object and the background and is generated at the object boundary upon processing such as anti-aliasing, the adverse influence of the intermediate color spreads into the mesh. This poses a problem that meshes cannot be generated with sufficient approximation accuracy.

Image processing using meshes and gradient information


A method being capable of achieving the reduction in contact resistance between each layer when bringing a silicide layer into contact with a polycrystalline-silicon (polysilicon) layer in the manufacture of semiconductor devices. The method comprises the steps of forming a polysilicon layer and a silicide layer thereon over a partial top surface of a semiconductor substrate, forming an insulating layer over said silicide layer and the entire top surface of the substrate, forming a contact window by etching the partial area of the insulating layer over said silicide layer, and forming a polysilicon layer over the entire top surface of the substrate after performing ion-implantation through said contact window, wherein said ion-implantation is performed with N-type high doping into the silicide.

The standard cell of static RAM (Static Random Access Memory) being currently used consists of four transistors and two load resistors, and is constituted as shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, it comprises two pairs each of a MOS transistor and high resistor, (R1,T1) and (R2,T2), which are connected in series between a source supply voltage Vcc and a ground voltage Vss, respectively. Each node point 1,2 between the high resistors and the MOS transistors are respectively connected in cross to each gate 3,4 of the opposite one of MOS transistors T2,T1. Other MOS transistors T3,T4 whose gates are connected to a word line WL are interconnected between said node points 1,2 and bit lines BL and BL, respectively. The transistor gates 3,4 used in the static RAM are conventionally made of silicide or the polycide structure in which a silicide is formed on the polycrystalline silicon layer, and the load resistors R1,R2 are made of the polycrystalline silicon.
The prior method of contacting the silicide gate with the polysilicon resistor is as follows. At first, a gate is formed and an insulating layer is deposited over all the surface of the substrate in which the gate is formed. Then a contact window is formed in the insulating layer and a polysilicon layer is deposited thereon, in sequence. However, the ability to achieve the correct ohmic contact therein greatly depends upon the deposition condition of the polysilicon, wherein the failure in achieving such correct ohmic contact often results in the formation of very high resistance more than dozens of kilo-ohms, even though the polysilicon is deposited on a very clean silicide surface in which the insulating layer is completely etched at the process of forming the contact window. When the contact resistance between the silicide and the polysilicon becomes very high, there arises a problem that said contact resistance limits the current which flows through the load resistors R1,R2 from the source supply voltage Vcc. Therefore, it leads to a failure in compensating for leakage current through the transistors T1 to T4, which often results in data error the memory state.

Method of making semiconductor devices having ohmic contact


A deer attracting apparatus includes a noise generator, a movement generator and a scent generator, all of which are operated sequentially and non-continuously to attract and hold an animal's attention and to draw that animal in a selected direction.

In certain hunting situations, particularly when the hunter is an archer, it is necessary that the hunter remain stationary in a concealed vantage point and that the target comes within range of the vantage point. In the hunting of deer, the unpredictable wanderings of the animal make it unlikely that a deer will by chance approach within about twenty-five yards of the vantage point, namely the maximum effective range of the average bow hunter.
Although teams of hunters and packs of dogs can be used to comb an area of forest and drive any surrounded deer to a waiting hunter, such techniques require considerable effort, planning and expense. Techniques for luring or decoying deer have earlier been proposed, but such techniques have often involved decoy devices of impractacally large size or weight, or have been of limited effectiveness.
Accordingly, the art has included several devices which are designed to attract deer into close proximity of a hunter. Such devices have included decoys as well as attracting features which use scent and/or visual effects.
While somewhat effective, even these devices have remained less than totally effective for several reasons. One such reason is due to the continuous and unchanging nature of the display and the attracting elements of the display. That is, the visual or scent features of the device are continuously sent forth in an unchanging pattern. A deer decoy that merely stands in one place without moving is an example of a continuous and unchanging visual effect. Even decoys that are subject to wind movement move in such constant fashion as to be considered as being unchanging.
Since animals are, by nature, skittish and prone to move about and into and out of hiding, such continuous displays are not natural. Thus, while such displays may momentarily attract attention of an animal, the artificial nature thereof will be sensed by the animal, and the animal will either be frightened off or will quickly lose interest and move on, thus defeating the desired result of the attracting device. The stationary nature of the display may also cause it to be totally overlooked and hence ignored.
A further reason for the less than totally effective results achievable using such known devices is the lack of a complete use of the animal's senses. That is, some presently available devices use visual means alone, or scent alone, or a combination of visual and scent. However, animals use all of their senses, including visual, hearing, scent and some sight to investigate an object. The lack of a means for exiting one or more of these senses may vitiate the effectiveness of an attracting device for the above-discussed reasons.
Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus for attracting game animals, such as deer, which stimulates the main senses used by such animals to detect and investigate an object, in a manner that is not likely to frighten the animal or be ignored or cause the animal to lose interest before it is attracted into range.


The trust reputation of the combination of an installation package and installer, as a pair, and the combination of a file and an installer, as a pair, is used to store the identity of a file in a persistent cache. An entry in the persistent cache indicates the trust worthiness of a file that does not contain malware thereby avoiding a scan of the file for malware. The trust worthiness of a file may be determined from known trust reputations of the installation package, installer, and file from a network of computing resources. By relying on the known trust reputation of the combination of the installation package and installer and the combination of the file and installer, the identity of the file may be stored in persistent cache quickly.

An anti-malware program aims to detect, prevent, and remove malicious code from executing on a computing device and creating unwanted consequences. Malware or malicious code may take the form of a computer virus, computer worm, spyware, adware, a Trojan horse, and so forth. The anti-malware program may scan every file whenever a file is created, opened, and closed. The file may be scanned against a database having hundreds of known malware programs.
An installation package is a set of files that is assembled in a particular format for installation onto a computing device. The installation package may include files, metadata, libraries, etc. When the files from an installation package are installed on a computing device, the anti-malware program typically scans each file in the installation package against the database of known malware programs to determine if any of the files contains a known malware program. The process of scanning each file may consume an enormous amount of time especially if the installation package contains a large number of files or the malware database contains a large number of known malware programs. A long scanning time slows down the installation of the package and degrades the overall system performance.

Trusted installation of a software application


A device for transmitting torque between two rotatable shaft members (2, 3) in a stationary housing (1) contains a number of alternate clutch discs (10, 11) engageable to counteract differential rotational speed between the two shaft members, to which they are connected, a hydraulic clutch piston (12) to engage the clutch discs and a hydraulic pump arrangement (13-22) driven by the speed differential between the two shaft members. An externally controllable pressure-reducing valve (25-27) is provided in the hydraulic connection from the clutch piston to the low pressure side of the pump arrangement, whose high pressure side is connected to the clutch piston.

A device of the kind described above is known through U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,689, where the two shafts are the output shafts of a vehicle differential mechanism. The device may accordingly in this case be called a differential brake. There may, however, be other instances when it is desired to counteract a certain rotational speed differential between two shafts, a typical example being the two shafts to the driven front and the rear axle, respectively, of a four-wheel-drive vehicle.
Whereas the above-mentioned patent publication shows a "speed-sensitive differential mechanism" and the present invention is applied to the more general case with two axially aligned shafts, the same general considerations apply.
Although U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,689 represents the closest known prior art, there are other publications suggesting neighbouring solutions to the problem of decreasing undesired rotational speed differential between two shafts, such as EP-A-0 350 044, U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,968, U.S. Pat. No. 3,488,980 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,228.
Returning to U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,689, the device shown therein has radial pistons driven by a circumferential cam on an actuator or ring-shaped piston. The hydraulic pressure created by the radial pistons is conveyed to the actuator for engaging a clutch and is discharged through a restricted bore (in the actuator).
This is a relatively simple design with advantages. However, its operating characteristics are built into the construction and may not easily be changed, especially not during use.
There is presently an increasing demand for having full control over different parameters or characteristics in a device of this kind. For example, an anti-lock system for vehicle brakes cannot work properly together with an uncontrolled differential brake. Under other working conditions it may be desirable to modify the torque transmission between the two shafts in question.
In other words it may be desirable to limit the torque transmitted between the two shafts for longer or shorter times to a lower level than what is motivated by the rotational speed differential between the shafts.

Device for transmitting torque between two rotatable shafts


Connection switching for Bluetooth headsets is disclosed. A Bluetooth headset includes a Bluetooth transceiver configured to receive a message from a first Bluetooth device over a first Bluetooth connection with the first Bluetooth device. The message includes a command to establish a second Bluetooth connection with a second Bluetooth device. The Bluetooth headset also includes a processor configured to cause the Bluetooth transceiver to (i) release the first Bluetooth connection and then (ii) establish the second Bluetooth connection with the second Bluetooth device responsive to the Bluetooth transceiver receiving the message. Computer-readable media for the Bluetooth devices is also disclosed.

This background section is provided for the purpose of generally describing the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventor(s), 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.
Bluetooth has become an indispensable protocol for connecting devices wirelessly over short distances. Bluetooth has become especially popular for connection wireless headsets to devices such as smartphones, music players, and the like. A headset user may have several such Bluetooth devices. One problem that arises for such a user is changing the device to which the headset is connected.
The current solution is for the user to find and operate the device to which the Bluetooth headset is currently connection to release the connection, and then to operate the device to which a Bluetooth connection is desired. This procedure is cumbersome and inconvenient, especially in cases where the currently-connected device is in another room or cannot be found.

Connection switching for bluetooth headsets


A user can have media files associated with a user account in a shared resource environment, enabling the user to access those files from multiple devices and locations. Instead of uploading each file, a process can scan the files to determine corresponding copies already stored to the shared resource environment, which can be associated with the user account without uploading another copy. In cases where encryption or other protection prevents the content of a file from being verified, a fingerprint of unencrypted records of the file can be generated and compared against an index of fingerprints for previously encountered files. If the fingerprint matches information stored for a media file, and the fingerprint meets at least one validity criterion, a copy of the media file can be associated with the user account even though the user's copy cannot be read, or potentially even played, by a component of the environment.

Users are increasingly turning to electronic media, such as MP3 format music files, downloadable video files, streaming media content, and the like. Since users often utilize multiple electronic devices to access this media, users are turning to the cloud to store their media files. As an example, a user can upload the user's electronic music collection to a remote database offered by a cloud provider, and can then access that music collection using any appropriate electronic device capable of connecting with the remote database and supporting a format of the media. Such an approach has certain deficiencies, however. For example, a user must upload a copy of all the user's media files, which can be quite large and thus can take up a lot of time and bandwidth. Further, certain media providers utilize proprietary formats or information that prevent the files from being supported by other content providers or media systems, such that users are unable to have their entire media catalog stored and accessible from a single location unless the user only purchases from a specific provider.


A cutting tool assembly includes an exchangeable adapter releasably secured to a holder. The adapter is provided with a side plate. In a bottom view of the holder, a portion of a front surface of the holder adjacent a first side surface of the holder forms an internal acute angle α with the first holder side surface and in a bottom view of the adapter, a rear surface of the adapter side plate forms the acute angle α with an inner side surface of the adapter.

Such metal cutting tool assemblies are well known, particularly in connection with parting, grooving and face turning operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,164 discloses a metal cutting tool assembly in which a planar adapter is fixed to a side surface of the holder at a distal end thereof by fixing screws. There is provided a clamping screw having a pressing portion to elastically move a first clamping jaw towards a second clamping jaw. The clamping jaws are formed integrally with the adapter and define between them an insert receiving slot for receiving a cutting insert. A neck portion serves to couple the first clamping jaw with the remainder of the adapter. The adapter is mounted by the fixing screws solely to one side surface of the holder, and screw insertion of the clamping screw into aligned screw receiving bores further clamps the adapter against the holder and exerts a resultant force on the first clamping jaw so as to pivot it about the neck portion of the adapter towards the second clamping jaw, thereby clamping the cutting insert between the clamping jaws.
U.S. Pat. Application No. 20080003068 discloses a head member mounted on a distal portion of a holder, having a first jaw and a second jaw opposing each other to constitute an insert mount seat clamping an insert. The head member is fixed by fixing screws to two receiving faces of the holder extending perpendicular to each other. A clamping screw is disposed in the distal portion of the holder and is inclined with respect to the extending direction of the insert mount seat. The holder is provided with a threaded hole engageable with the clamping screw, the first jaw is provided with a spot facing accommodating a pressing portion of the clamping screw, and a center axis of the spot facing and an axis of threaded hole obliquely intersect each other.


A tubular pipe wrench for removing and replacing pipes in inaccessible locations includes a generally cylindrical head member having an internal passage large enough to pass the pipe to be worked on and having a cross-sectional configuration like a triangle with greatly rounded corners. A jaw member having teeth is loosely fastened in each of the three corners by bolts which pass through slots in the sidewalls of the head member. Concentric with the head member is a sleeve having ports for receiving the bolts and which maintains the relative spacing of the bolts even though they move radially in the slots. When a pipe is inside of the head member, a slight turning of the head member and sleeve in either direction causes the teeth of the jaw members to make contact with the pipe, moving the jaws into a position where they are wedged between the pipe and the flattened cam surfaces on the inside of the head. Further turning of the sleeve and head will turn the pipe. An extension member which is also cylindrical has a castellated interconnection with the head member. A drive member has a similar castellated interconnection with the extension member and flattened surfaces to be turned with a conventional wrench.

This invention relates to wrenches for threading and unthreading pipes and more particularly to a specialized wrench adapted for working on pipes in locations which are difficult to reach.
Almost any homeowner who has attempted to do any plumbing around his house is aware that some installations are located and arranged such that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to attach a conventional pipe wrench to the pipe which it is desired to turn without costly removal of structure or fixtures. If one succeeds in getting access to the pipe, the next obstacle is that there is inadequate room to move the wrench handle and if it can be turned at all, the wrench must be reset after turning the pipe every few degrees. Professional plumbers often find a need to remove and replace pipes which are carried in walls where access is extremely difficult even when access panels or wall panels are removed. A typical example of a problem installation is shown in FIG. 1, discussed below, where pipes supplying bathtubs in adjoining rooms are located in the wall between them. Even when a pipe is accessible, sometimes the pipes are so old and rusted that they collapse when a standard pipe wrench is attached to them and turned at a substantial distance from the joint which it is desired to disassemble. Mother problem installation is often presented by the drain pipe under a sink, which is often badly rusted and difficult to reach.
Thus there is a need for a wrench which can be operated or turned at a location somewhat removed from the particular pipe joint which it is desired to disassemble or assemble and which will apply force adjacent to or near the remotely located joint.