A two-way radio accessory quick connect and extension cord for attaching to a speaker/microphone in a face mask of a fire fighter or a hand held speaker/microphone held by the fire fighter. The accessory quick connect allows for rapid connection of one end of the extension cord to the top of the accessory quick connect. The accessory quick connect also provides for allowing any water to drain off the top of the two-way radio to prevent electrical shorting out of the radio. The accessory quick connect includes an adapter housing having electrical pin connectors with a circuit board therein for connecting the electronics of the adapter housing to the electronics of the two-way radio. Extending upwardly from the adapter housing is an adapter male plug. The male plug is connected to the circuit board electronics in the adapter housing. The adapter male plug is dimensioned for receipt inside a first female plug attached to one end of the extension cord. The extension cord includes a fire retardant cover. A second female plug is attached to an opposite end of the extension cord. The second female plug is adapted for releasably engaging a face mask male plug extending outwardly from the fire fighter's face mask. The face mask male plug is attached to the speaker/microphone in the face mask.

(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to two-way radio accessories and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a two-way radio accessory quick connect and extension cord for attaching to a speaker/microphone in a face mask of a fire fighter or a hand held speaker/microphone held by the fire fighter. The invention may also be used by policemen and other service providers using two-way radios.
(b) Discussion of Prior Art
Heretofore, fire fighters using two-way radios have had an ongoing problem wherein a remote speaker/microphone included an extension cord that was permanently attached to the radio. Therefore, there was no way to release the extension cord from the radio so that the radio could be passed on to another fire fighter during a 24 hour shift change. Also, some prior art radios included a female connection in the top of the radio which collected water when fighting a fire and the radio shorted out. Further, the female connection in the radio was difficult to find and connect to a male plug at one end of an extension cord when the fire fighter was rushing to the scene of a fire.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,309 to Ford, a wire interface system for a simplex radio is disclosed. The wire interface system includes a disconnect plug for hooking up an earpiece and other accessories to the simplex radio. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,421 to McCormick et al., a sports helmet with retrofit kit is described. The retrofit kit includes speakers in the helmet with wiring and a disconnect plug to an audio device. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,329,029 to Timmons, early telephone apparatus is disclosed for attaching to a head band. The apparatus includes a circuit coupling device for connecting to a telephone line.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,190,974 to Vasicek and 3,586,977 to Lustig, two different types of head mounted communication systems are described. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,404,577 to Zuckerman and 4,885,796 to Loftus et al., fire fighter type helmets with communication systems are disclosed.
None of the above mentioned prior art prior art patents illustrate or described the unique features, structure and advantages of the subject fire fighter two-way radio accessory quick connect and extension cord for a speaker/microphone.

Two-way radio accessory quick connect and extension cord


A method and system of synergizing hardware, firmware, software, and useful feature(s) into a trusted, secure, and verifiable operating environment (TSVOE) that is critical for businesses and consumers that rely on information technology products and/or services. Such products provide various capabilities such as protecting the corporate infrastructure from attack, protecting the client from attack, designing a customizable operating schema, advanced validation of client authentication, establishing a clean environment within a dirty environment, etcetera. Moreover, by ensuring that operating environment security is achieved, a product can provide guarantees that modern state-of-the-art systems cannot. Finally, diversification of hardware, software, firmware, and features creates robust products.

Several concepts within the field and problems associated therewith are introduced and discussed below in no particular order.
There is the notion of a LiveCD. A LiveCD is a bootable compact disc (CD) containing all of the code necessary to boot a regular operating system on a computer or similar device that may not have a hard drive (or other storage hardware) available for permanent storage. LiveCD technology is also used to recover a copy of an operating system that resides on the permanent storage hardware within a computer or similar device but is damaged, corrupted, or otherwise inaccessible through normal operation. Another typical use for LiveCD technology is to initialize a temporary operating system for experimental purposes such as testing it in a trial-mode before buying or installing a final copy of the operating system. Typical configurations of LiveCD and similar LiveMedia and other technologies tend to include as many applications, services, and/or features as possible for convenience to clients. However, the more of these capabilities included natively within the hardware, firmware, and/or software components, the greater the potential for vulnerabilities and other security issues.
There is the concept of virtualization. Virtualization is generally the capability for multiple different operating systems to coexist on the same hardware simultaneously. For example, a computer hardware system can have two instances of a particular vendor's operating system and a separate instance of a different vendor's operating system functioning at the same time. These virtual environments, depending on their configuration, may be aware of each other or can be restricted to only know about their individual instance. However, simply utilizing virtualization technology cannot guarantee the valid operation of the virtual environment. For example, an attacker that executes a malicious code at the virtualization management layer (or lower) can defeat all the security protections afforded by a virtualized environment.
Another concept is that of utilizing Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or similar communications protocol for encrypted web browsing and similar activities. While this protocol and a similar one called Transport Layer Security (TLS) support client authentication, it is industry practice to only validate the server end of the communication channel. This is the traditional operation because distribution of unique authentication key information to one-time-use clients is extremely time consuming, technically difficult, potentially costly, etc. Moreover, client authentication only marginally increases the security of the communication channel, if it improves security at all. The main benefit of SSL and similar technologies is that the client can be relatively certain that the server-end of the communication channel is who they expect it to be and that all communications over the connection are encrypted to protect against eavesdropping. However, an attacker who has software running within the systems at either end of the communication channel can trivially read all information that transits this communication channel before and/or after transmission or reception.
Another concept is that of multi-factor user authentication. Traditionally, multi-factor authentication measures any two or all three of: something you have, something you know, and/or something you are. Something you have could be a piece of hardware such as a credit card. Something you know could be a personal identification number (PIN) or password. Lastly, something you are could be a physical trait like a fingerprint, which would ideally be unique for each client. While this can provide a level of client authentication, it is insufficient insomuch as it relies on an honest, trustworthy individual. A fingerprint can be attained from a doorknob or a drinking glass at a restaurant. A PIN can be recorded via a video capture device. A credit card can be physically stolen. Thus, even if all three factors were imposed to authenticate a client, a single adversary can defeat this security posture by employing the tactics described above.
Another concept is that of a hardened host. A hardened host is a specific system configuration, usually done in software, which reduces the potential attack surface of the host. This can be achieved by removing unneeded applications, turning off unused services, configuring firewall rules, enabling SELinux (on supported Linux-based systems), etc. While there is less potential for weaknesses and vulnerabilities, some services and many applications will remain enabled and activated within the system. These services and applications are still subject to any exploits that were developed against those components, thus exposing even a hardened host to attack.
While this is not an exhaustive list of typical security-related technologies and products, this represents many branches that the industry has taken to address security concerns. There are several flaws that these technologies contain, whether operating individually or bundled together. The following demonstrates a non-exhaustive list of disadvantages that these and related industry products may contain.
The above mentioned and other similar technologies generally trust the human invoking and utilizing the operating environment. While most users may not be malicious, some undoubtedly are. Some examples of these are hackers, scammers, phishers, terrorists, disgruntled employees, unsatisfied customers, etc. Since, for the most part, the owner of a computing system is the client, most service providers are at the will of the client to behave appropriately. It is very difficult, if not impossible, for a service provider to control every client that may try to access the corporate systems and infrastructure. This is specifically true in the case where the client is really an attacker who may only acquire client status as a method of accessing corporate resources.
Another flaw is that these and other similar technologies implicitly and/or explicitly trust most, if not all, of the hardware within the client's operating environment. These hardware components include: network cards, processors, hard drives, keyboards, removable storage devices, the BIOS, etc. While this is not an exhaustive list of the hardware components available within most modern systems, nearly all products (whether security products or regular applications) trust the hardware to act in a good-faith manner. However, hacker, malware, organized crime, and other actors are becoming ever more sophisticated. Hackers have trivially demonstrated the capability of corrupting nearly every hardware, firmware, and software component within modern computers, cell phones, PDAs, and similar devices. For example, at several recent BlackHat conferences, hackers have demonstrated the ability to rewrite the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) of various computer systems. The BIOS is so important that if it were to malfunction the entire system could be unusable without great time and cost to the owner. Moreover, the recovery of the system generally requires returning the computing system to the manufacturer for repair. As demonstrated at BlackHat, a crafty hacker could write remote control code into a system's BIOS and gain permanent access to the system even if the system's hard disk, processor, random access memory (RAM), DVD-ROM, and network card were all replaced with known good hardware components.
Another issue that these and other similar technologies have a tendency to share in common is that they are tailored to a specific use. That is, they are generally designed for a single purpose and deviations from that purpose either invalidate their security or simply are not possible and would crash or otherwise disable the technology. For instance, a LiveCD is statically configured to provide a specific set of services and cannot be modified without creating an entirely new LiveCD. This process often requires the advanced skills of a computer technician. Additionally, redistribution of this new LiveCD to all clients would be costly, time consuming, and may not be possible within acceptable business constraints.
Another issue is the industry mindset of "security as an afterthought." This practice has become the norm because for most companies profit is the bottom line. Thus, if it costs more to implement security, security will not be implemented. If security causes the product to work more slowly, or otherwise cause discomfort to the client, security will not be implemented. There are many other reasons why security is added to system after the main service of the product is completed. However, as has been shown countless times, the "patching" of products to add security rarely results in a significant improvement of the product's security. In fact, it is often the case that a false sense of security is assumed because a new password box was added, or encryption was used to wrap some critical data, etc. In reality, these new features introduced more areas for hackers and other malicious users to defeat the system and go undetected.
Another drawback of these and other similar services and technologies is that they are typically designed for a single operating environment. For instance, they may operate on the local hardware system as either a stand-alone environment or a remote access client, but are incapable of switching between various modes. Additionally, many of these technologies require an active network connection, which is usually an Internet connection, to download updates, access configuration information, etc. For a product designed for stand-alone mode, this could be very difficult if not impossible (depending on the configuration of the system).
Another shortcoming of the aforementioned technologies is their ability to unintentionally or intentionally access the client's personal data with our without the client's consent. This can lead to data corruption and if a client does not have a backup of the data it could be lost forever. Additionally, it could lead to leak of information that the client does not intend to share with others and could violate privacy laws.
Not necessarily every product or service in existence suffers from all the above listed disadvantages. However, current products or services suffer from at least one security flaw or other operational disadvantage including those that are not discussed herein in detail. Moreover, most product vendors and service providers intentionally cover-up instances of security weaknesses as it would undoubtedly hurt their corporate image. Lastly, other issues exist that weaken the trust, security, or verifiability of these devices and samples of these issues will be discussed when appropriate.
Although some types of security technologies are available, there is a need for a system and method that addresses the above and other weaknesses of existing security technologies.

System and method of providing trusted, secure, and verifiable operating environment


Described herein in part are silanol based therapeutic payloads comprising a silanol terminus, a divalent spacer moiety, and a drug moiety capable of effecting a target cell or tissue.

Devices and methods for delivery of desired components to a site of interest remain a growing need. A variety of methods and routes of administration have been developed to deliver pharmaceuticals or diagnostics, such as small molecular drugs, imaging agents and/or other biologically active compounds (e.g., peptides, hormones, proteins, and enzymes) and many routes of administration are known for delivering desired pharmaceuticals to a patient. However, as greater knowledge is learned regarding toxicity of drugs and the ability to elicit specific responses by delivery of a pharmaceutical only to a specific portion of the body, controlled release of pharmaceuticals after their administration has become a highly important area of research.
For example, the therapeutic efficacy of active agents is often limited by the inability to selectively deliver the drugs to the cell, e.g., most of the currently available anticancer drugs are highly cytotoxic and can kill normal cells along with cancerous cells. Thus, when high doses of drugs are used, there can be severe side effects. As a result, most of the currently used anticancer drugs have a rather limited therapeutic index. Such a limit on dosage can prevent complete eradication of cancer cells in a patient, and may lead to recurrence of the cancer in many patients. The limit in dosage can also predispose the recurring cancer to drug resistance, thus worsening the prognosis for the patient.
More generally, technologies which can specifically deliver drugs to affected tissues in diseases involving viral, bacterial, inflammatory, metabolic, and neurologic imbalances represent an important therapeutic breakthrough. Often, therapeutics for these diseases very strictly requires a large therapeutic window to be considered for clinical study. Introduction of moieties which deliver these therapeutics directly and specifically to the diseased tissues or to the disease-causing agents lowers the specificity requirements of the therapeutic itself. Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for new therapeutic approaches that permit the selective delivery of active agents to diseased cells, thereby providing improved therapeutic indices.


Systems and methods are provided for electronic tracking and control of secure test documents. One aspect of the present subject matter is a method for management of a plurality of test documents. In one embodiment, precode data for a test-taker population is associated with secure document data for the plurality of test documents. The plurality of test documents is distributed to a test-taking center for administration to a plurality of test-takers. The plurality of test documents is received from the test-taking center after administration to the plurality of test-takers. The received plurality of test documents is verified against the distributed plurality of test documents and the precode data to account for the distributed plurality of test documents. The received plurality of test documents is processed to determine test results. The test results are reported. Other aspects are provided herein.

One method for evaluating the knowledge or skill of a person includes the use of standardized tests. For example, standardized tests are used to monitor the academic progress of students. Some standardized tests incorporate objective test questions that are answered by filling in an appropriate oval in an associated bubble-type answer sheet using a pencil. Some standardized tests include open-ended questions or tests. Examples of open-ended questions in these tests include essay questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, fill-in-the-map questions, math questions, and motor skill tests in which a test taker draws geometric shapes. Open-ended questions or tests, also referred to herein as scoring tasks or test items, are evaluated and scored by a human reviewer, also referred to herein as a reader.
Standardized tests are distributed from test processing centers to test-taking centers where the tests are administered to test-takers. One example of a test-taker is a student. Another example of a test-taker is a student who is taking home-based assessments.
In order to promote the integrity and accuracy of the administered tests and the test results, it is desirable to limit access to certain standardized test documents. It is also desirable to quickly identify when a secure test document has not been accounted for as being within a controlled location to promote quick resolutions for potential problems and to promote quicker test evaluations and reporting of the test results.
There is a need in the art to provide improved systems and methods for standardized test management that improves the tracking of secure test documents and the processing of the test documents.

Integrated system for electronic tracking and control of documents


A power supply circuit and a display device are provided, belonging to the field of display technologies. The power supply circuit includes a boosting sub-circuit and a driving sub-circuit. The boosting sub-circuit may boost the voltage of the power signal provided by the power source; the driving sub-circuit may drive the load to work normally while ensuring that the capacitance of the capacitor in the driving sub-circuit is small when supplying power to the load with the power signal of which the voltage is boosted.

An electronic shelf label is an electronic display device with information sending and receiving functions, which is mainly used in supermarkets, convenience stores, and pharmacies. It is an electronic label that can display information such as price, place of origin, and items. This electronic shelf label can quickly and accurately deal with changes in the price of goods, reduces the high cost and time-consuming delays caused by manual processing of traditional paper shelf labels, and greatly reduces the workload and reduces operating costs.
Current electronic shelf labels usually include: power source, power supply circuit and display screen. The power supply circuit usually includes capacitors, by which the electrical signal provided by the power source can be filtered to reduce the ripple voltage in the electrical signal provided by the power source, such that the electrical signal filtered by the capacitors can drive the display to work.

Chongqing BOE Smart Electronics System Co., Ltd.


An apparatus includes a reservoir for holding a chemical solution, a pump and a discharge nozzle. The pump has an inlet and an outlet connected to the reservoir by inlet and discharge lines. The nozzle is disposed in a lower portion of the reservoir and discharges the solution toward the bottom of the reservoir; the nozzle has an inlet port connected to the pump discharge line through the sidewall of the reservoir. The pump inlet line is connected to a sidewall of the reservoir at a location below a normal surface level of the solution, and the pump discharge line is connected to the sidewall of the reservoir above that location. The reservoir, pump, pump inlet line, pump discharge line, nozzle inlet line and nozzle form a closed loop recirculation system effective to suspend insoluble material in the chemical solution.

Calcium hypochlorite is a solid, dry chemical that when dissolved generates a hypochlorous acid solution that is then used for disinfection of water. Hypochlorous acid is commonly referred to as "available chlorine." Equipment for dissolving the calcium hypochlorite typically includes a water sprayer or erosion chamber that dissolves the calcium hypochlorite into an available chlorine solution that can then be pumped through a discharge line into a water main for disinfection. An example of such a water sprayer is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,608, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Such equipment is commonly called "feed equipment."
In a solution of calcium hypochlorite, material such as calcium carbonate, calcium hydroxide, and other insoluble material can rapidly precipitate out of the solution and solidify in the bottom of the feed equipment. In locations where the water chemistry is alkaline or contains silicates, a reaction with calcium in the water may cause precipitation of hard aggregate that is not easily suspended in the solution. Failure to mix the solution so as to suspend the particles of insoluble material inside the feed equipment results in plugging of the discharge line which results in failure of the equipment.

Apparatus and method for mixing a concentrated water treatment solution


A system for cashless payment of goods or services is provided which includes at least one payment unit disposed in at least one automat or machine, having at least one transmitting/receiving unit for short range communication; a processing unit; and a memory, wherein the automat or machine is connected to one or more other automats or machines via a short range communication means, at least one mobile device also having a transmitting/receiving device for both short range communication and long range communication, a processing unit and a memory. Many other detailed configurations, functionalities, systems, processes and alternatives thereto are also disclosed.

A previously known system is generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,856,045, wherein an automat includes a payment unit, with said payment unit including at least one transmitting/receiving unit for short range communication, and a processing unit with a memory.
A user with a mobile telephone likewise including a transmitting/receiving device for short range communication as well as for long range communication; a processing unit; and a memory, can build up a short range communication using Bluetooth™ or the like with the payment unit, the communication typically being encoded.
The user starts a request regarding a-product or a service of the automat, wherein an authorization request for an amount of money to be paid for the product or service is sent from the payment unit to the mobile telephone. The mobile telephone then transfers the authorization request for a sum of money to a server via-a long range communication, wherein the server exists at a bank or other financial service provider such as, for example, PayPal™ or the like.
The server, which has been provided with the respective credit data of the user of the mobile telephone, then sends a confirmation signal for the sum of money to the mobile telephone using the long range communication, and the mobile telephone-transfers the confirmation signal to the payment unit of the automat via short range communication. The product or the service is then issued by the automat after receiving the confirmation signal, and the procedure is completed.
With this system for cashless payment, however, a short range communication, as well as a long range communication, is necessary in order to carry out the sales procedure; specifically, on the one hand between the automat and the mobile telephone by way of the short range connection, as well as between the mobile telephone and the bank or credit institute. Therefore, the cashless payment cannot be carried out if a long range communication is not possible at the location of the automat.
Thus, if the automats are designed as, for example, drying automats or laundromats, and since such are often located in remote or relatively inaccessible areas such as cellars or the like, there will often be no internet access to use as a long range communication possibility.

System for cashless payment of products or services

Walter Hanke—Mechanische Werkstätten GmbH & Co. KG


A method of operating a packaged flash memory module includes applying a first program or erase command and a first address associated with the first commend to a first flash memory chip of a plurality of flash memory chips that are arranged within the packaged flash memory module; applying a second program or erase command and a second address associated with the second commend to a second flash memory chip of the plurality of flash memory chips that are arranged within the packaged flash memory module, the second command being applied to the second flash memory chip prior to the completion of the first command by the first flash memory chip; and determining whether or not the first flash memory chip has completed the first command.

The present invention relates to a method of operating NAND flash memory chips, and more particularly, to a method operating a plurality of NAND flash memory chips stacked in a package.
A flash memory is a kind of a non-volatile memory in which data can be stored even when power is off. The flash memory can be electrically programmed and erased and does not need a refresh function by rewriting data at periodical cycles. The term "program" refers to an operation of writing data into memory cells and the term "erase" refers to an operation of erasing data from memory cells.
The flash memory device are generally classified into either NOR flash or NAND flash depending on the structure of the cells and operation conditions. The NOR flash memory has the source of each memory connected to a ground terminal (VSS) and can program and erase with respect to any particular address. The NOR flash memory is mainly used for application fields requiring high-speed operation.
To the contrary, the NAND flash memory has a plurality of memory cells connected in series to form a string. Memory cells connected to a single word line forms one page. The NAND flash memory is mainly used for application fields high data capacity.
The flash memory chips employs a memory controller located between the flash memory and a host system for exchanging data with the host system. The memory controller manages exchange data between flash memory chips stacked in a package and the host system.
FIG. 1 shows NAND flash memory chips F1 through F4 stacked in a package. FIG. 2a is a timing diagram for programming data into the NAND flash memory chips F1 and F2. In FIG. 2a, "IOx" indicates an input signal and "R/Bb" indicates a program start signal. FIG. 2b is a flowchart illustrating a conventional method of programming data into the NAND flash memory chips F1 and F2.
In the related art, a memory controller (not shown) selects and drives one NAND flash memory chip at a time when driving the NAND flash memory chips F1 through F4 shown in FIG. 1. Therefore, when driving two or more NAND flash memory chips (e.g., F1 and F2), a subsequent NAND flash memory chip is driven after the prior NAND flash memory chip has finished a program command, as shown in FIG. 2b.
Hereinafter, a conventional method of programming data into two NAND flash memory chips stacked in a package will be described with reference to FIG. 2b.
A program command & an address are applied to the first NAND flash memory chip F1 to drive the NAND flash memory chip F1 at step S11. The program time is then checked at step S12 to determine whether the program operation has been completed at step S13. As a result of the determination, if the program operation has not been completed, the process returns to step S12 wherein the program time is checked after waiting for the program operation to finish.
If it is determined that the program operation has been completed, a program command & an address is applied to a second NAND flash memory chip F2 to drive the second NAND flash memory chip F2 at step S14. The program time is then checked at step S15 to determine whether the program operation has been completed at step S16. As a result of the determination, the process returns to step S15 wherein the program time is checked after waiting for the program operation to finish.
If it is determined that the program operation has been completed, the whole program operation on the NAND flash memory chips F1 and F2 is completed.
That is, in the related art, when driving two or more NAND flash memory chips stacked within a package, the next NAND flash memory chip is driven after the operation of a NAND flash memory chip is finished.
In this conventional method, after a NAND flash memory chip performs the program operation, the next NAND flash memory chip performs the program operation. Therefore, a lot of program (erase or read) time is taken up.


A method and system for dynamically modifying the graphics capabilities of a mobile device is disclosed. One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a method, which includes the steps of abstracting the handling of a first graphics subsystem and a second graphics subsystem associated with the mobile device, so that the first graphics subsystem and the second graphics subsystem appear as a third graphics subsystem to an operating system for the mobile device, detecting a configuration change event corresponding to the first graphics subsystem, masking the configuration change event to induce the generation of a reset event, and modifying the graphics capabilities of the mobile device to match the highest graphics capabilities between the first graphics subsystem and the second graphics subsystem that are accessible to the mobile device.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to graphics enhancement techniques and more specifically to a method and apparatus for dynamically modifying the graphics capabilities of a mobile device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Generally, mobile devices are designed to consume less power but support less than ideal graphics capabilities. However, as they offer more and more functions, an increasing number of users of these mobile devices rely on the devices to perform tasks traditionally reserved for desktop computers. For example, a notebook computer user nowadays often plays games, reads news, or even watches movies on his or her notebook computer.
To improve the viewing experience for such a user, one approach is to include a second graphics subsystem with enhanced graphics capabilities in a docking system or a graphics enhancement system (collective referred to as an "add-on system"), which the notebook computer can attach to either via a wired connection or a wireless connection. So, instead of relying on the inferior graphics subsystem inside the notebook computer, after attaching to the add-on system, the notebook computer can switch over to the second graphics subsystem to drive its internal display panel. After detaching from the add-on system, on the other hand, the notebook computer then switches back to its internal graphics subsystem.
Conventionally, switching to and away from the second graphics subsystem requires a lengthy restarting sequence. The situation is further worsened if the attachment or the removal of the add-on system is unexpected (also referred to as a "surprised attachment" or a "surprised removal" event). To illustrate, suppose an application A currently runs on a notebook computer X, and the notebook computer X is not attached to any add-on system. Then the operating system of the notebook computer X detects a surprised attachment event. In order for the application A to take advantage of the superior graphics capabilities of the second graphics subsystem in the add-on system, the user of the notebook computer X needs to manually close and re-launch the application A. If instead the operating system of the notebook computer X detects a surprised removal event indicative the removal of the add-on system, then the notebook computer X necessarily needs to go through the sequence of shutting down and rebooting to switch back to its internal graphics subsystem. These required re-launching and rebooting sequences are cumbersome and time consuming.
As the foregoing illustrates, what is needed is an improved way of dynamically and seamlessly modifying the graphics capabilities of a mobile device and address at least the problems set forth above.

Method and apparatus for dynamically modifying the graphics capabilities of a mobile device


A method for manufacturing a sensor element that includes: a pair of electrodes; a ceramic layer having a hollow space that is to be an air introduction hole; and a first layer and a second layer stacked at both surfaces of the ceramic layer, One of the electrodes is in communication with the hollow space, The method includes: preparing an unsintered ceramic sheet, and a burn-out material sheet having a thickness different from that of the unsintered ceramic sheet, the burn-out material sheet having, in a plane orthogonal to the direction of an axial line O, a cross-sectional area substantially identical to a cross-sectional area of the pre-sintering hollow space; placing the burn-out material sheet in the pre-sintering hollow space; pressing the sheets so as to have an identical thickness; and burning out the burn-out material sheet.

To date, a gas sensor for detecting the concentration of a specific component (e.g., oxygen) in exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine has been used. As for the gas sensor, a configuration is known in which: the gas sensor includes a sensor element; the sensor element has a plate shape obtained by stacking a plurality of ceramic layers and has a pair of electrodes disposed at a solid electrolyte; and a reference electrode of the pair of electrodes faces an air introduction hole serving as a hollow space inside the sensor element (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2003-344351 (FIG. 2)).
Meanwhile, the air introduction hole which is the hollow space inside the sensor element can be formed as shown in FIG. 10. First, an unsintered ceramic sheet 1010x having a hollow space in an U-shape that is open to one end in a direction of an axial line O of the sensor element is stacked on an unsintered insulation layer 1020x that is to be a base. Thereafter, a burn-out-type paste 1100x is printed and filled in the hollow space of the unsintered ceramic sheet 1010x, then, another unsintered layer 1030x is stacked on the unsintered ceramic sheet 1010x, and then, the entirety of the resultant article is sintered. As a result, the burn-out-type paste 1100x is burnt out, and the hollow space of the ceramic sheet 1010 becomes an air introduction hole.


Improved processes for the preparation and purification of maytansinoid esters, especially thiol and disulfide-containing maytansinoids are described. In one aspect the process comprises a process of making a maytansinoid ester comprising forming an anion of maytansinol or a maytansinoid bearing a free C-3 hydroxyl moiety and reacting the anion with an activated carboxyl compound to thereby produce the maytansinoid ester.

Maytansinoids are highly cytotoxic drugs. Maytansine was first isolated by Kupchan et al. from the east African shrub Maytenus serrata and shown to be 100 to 1000 fold more cytotoxic than conventional cancer chemotherapeutic agents like methotrexate, daunorubicin, and vincristine (U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,111). Subsequently it was discovered that some microbes also produce maytansinoids, such as maytansinol and C-3 esters of maytansinol (U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,042). Synthetic C-3 esters of maytansinol and analogues of maytansinol have also been reported (Kupchan et al., 21 J. Med. Chem. 31-37 (1978); Higashide et al., 270 Nature 721-722 (1977); Kawai et al., 32 Chem. Pharm. Bull. 3441-3451 (1984)). Examples of analogues of maytansinol from which C-3 esters have been prepared include maytansinol with modifications on the aromatic ring (e.g. dechloro) or at the C-9, C-14 (e.g. hydroxylated methyl group), C-15, C-18, C-20 and C-4,5.
The naturally occurring and synthetic C-3 esters can be classified into two groups:                (a) C-3 esters with simple carboxylic acids (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,248,870; 4,265,814; 4,308,268; 4,308,269; 4,309,428; 4,317,821; 4,322,348; and 4,331,598), and        (b) C-3 esters with derivatives of N-methyl-L-alanine (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,137,230; 4,260,608; 5,208,020; 5,416,064; and 12 Chem. Pharm. Bull. 3441 (1984)).
Esters of group (b) were found to be much more cytotoxic than esters of group (a). Because maytansinoids are highly cytotoxic, they were expected to be of use in the treatment of many diseases, such as cancer. This expectation has yet to be realized. Clinical trials with maytansine were not favorable due to a number of side effects (Issel et al., 5 Can. Trtmnt. Rev. 199-207 (1978)). Adverse effects to the central nervous system and gastrointestinal symptoms were responsible for some patients refusing further therapy (Issel at 204), and it appeared that maytansine was associated with peripheral neuropathy that might be cumulative (Issel at 207).
However, forms of maytansinoids that are highly cytotoxic, yet can still effectively be used in the treatment of many diseases, have been described (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,208,020 and 5,416,064; Chari et al., 52 Cancer Res. 127-131 (1992); Liu et al., 93 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 8618-8623 (1996)).
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,208,020, 5,416,064 and 6,333,410 disclose that a thiol-containing maytansinoid may be produced by first converting a maytansinoid bearing an ester group into maytansinol, then esterifying the resulting maytansinol with a disulfide-containing acyl N-methyl-L-alanine to yield disulfide-containing maytansinoids. Reduction of the disulfide group with dithiothreitol gave the thiol-containing maytansinoids. However, this process involves several inefficient steps that are cumbersome and result in only moderate yields.
More specifically, maytansinol is first derived from maytansine or other esters of maytansinol by reductive cleavage, such as with lithium aluminum hydride. (Kupchan, S. M. et al., 21 J. Med. Chem. 31-37 (1978); U.S. Pat. No. 4,360,462). It is also possible to isolate maytansinol from the microorganism Nocardia (see Higashide et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,042). In one specific example, the conversion of Ansamitocin P-3 into maytansinol by reductive hydrolysis with lithium aluminum hydride in tetrahydrofuran at −5° C. is described (U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,940).
The next step in the process is the conversion of maytansinol to different ester derivatives using N-methyl-L-alanine derivatives, and suitable agents such as dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) and catalytic amounts of zinc chloride (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,137,230, 4,260,609, 5,208,020, 5,416,064 and 6,333,410; Kawai et al., 32 Chem. Pharm. Bull. 3441-3951 (1984)). In all cases, two diastereomeric products containing the D and L-aminoacyl side chains result, as does a small portion of unreacted maytansinol. In the processes previously described (Kupchan, S. M., 21 J. Med. Chem. 31-37 (1978); U.S. Pat. No. 4,360,462; U.S. Pat. No. 6,333,410), the desired L-aminoacyl ester is obtained after purification over two silica gel columns or a combination of silica gel columns and HPLC columns. In addition, because of complete racemization, the isolated yield of the desired L-aminoacyl isomer is only around 30%. Hence, the processes described thus far are cumbersome, uneconomical and poorly amenable to use on an industrial scale.
Accordingly, an improved process for the preparation and purification of thiol-containing maytansinoids, which predominantly results in the synthesis of the desired diastereomers, is greatly needed.

Method for the preparation of maytansinoid esters


An LGA connector (1) includes a housing (2), and a number of contacts (3) received in the housing. The housing defines a cavity (23) in a middle thereof for receiving a CPU (7) and a multiplicity of passageways (231) in a portion thereof under the cavity, and has a number of stand-offs (220) at a bottom surface thereof. Each passageway includes a slot (2312). Each contact comprises an engaging portion (33) movably engaging in the corresponding slot, a long arm (31) accommodated within the passageway, and a solder portion (32) engaging a PCB (5). In use, the CPU is pressed downwardly to press the housing downwardly. The engaging portion of each contact slides upwardly in the slot. The stand-offs of the housing attach on the PCB, and the long arm of each contact deforms elastically to contact the CPU. The LGA connector thus electrically connects the CPU with the PCB.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to land grid array (LGA) connectors, and particularly to an LGA connector for electrically connecting an electronic package such as an LGA central processing unit (CPU) with a circuit substrate such as a printed circuit board (PCB), wherein the LGA connector movably engages a number of electrical contacts therein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At present, LGA connectors are widely used to electrically connect LGA CPUs with PCBs. A typical LGA connector is disclosed in Taiwan Patent No. 444960. Referring to FIGS. 8 through 10, a conventional LGA connector 6 comprises an insulative housing 61, and a multiplicity of electrical contacts 62 received in the housing 61. The housing 61 is substantially rectangular, and defines a rectangular cavity 63 in a middle thereof for receiving an LGA CPU 8 therein. A portion of the housing 61 under the cavity 63 defines a multiplicity of passageways 631 therethrough. Each passageway 631 includes a pair of aligned slots 6310 in a middle thereof. The contacts 62 engage with the housing 61 in the corresponding slots 6310 of the passageways 631, respectively. Each contact 62 comprises an engaging portion 623, a contact portion 621 extending from an end of the engaging portion 623, and a solder portion 622 extending from another end of the engaging portion 623. A solder ball 624 is electrically mounted to the solder portion 622 by welding. The engaging portion 623 has a number of protrusions 6230. The protrusions 6230 of the contacts 62 interferentially engage the housing 61 at the corresponding slots 6310, such that the contacts 62 are secured in the housing 61. The contact portions 621 protrude out from a top surface 610 of the housing 61, and the solder balls 624 project down beyond a bottom surface 611 of the housing 61. Therefore, the contact portions 621 are liable to be accidentally damaged, particularly during shipping of the LGA connector 6.
In use, the LGA connector 6 is mounted to a PCB 9, with the solder balls 624 electrically connected with the PCB 9. The CPU 8 is mounted in the cavity 63 of the LGA connector 6. A force is applied to press the CPU 8 downwardly. Such force may be transmitted by another component such as a retention module (not shown). The contact portions 621 of the contacts 62 deform elastically such that the contact portions 621 firmly electrically connect with the CPU 8. The LGA connector 6 thus electrically connects the CPU 8 with the PCB 9. In this state, the solder balls 624 of the LGA connector 6 sustain the pressure applied from the retention module, and the solder balls 624 are liable to be damaged thereby. When any one or more of the solder balls 624 are damaged, the electrical connection between the CPU 8 and the PCB 9 is liable to be disrupted.
In view of the above, a new LGA connector that overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages is desired.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a land grid array (LGA) connector for electrically connecting an LGA central processing unit (CPU) with a printed circuit board (PCB), and particularly to an LGA connector which can be safely shipped.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a land grid array (LGA) connector for electrically connecting an LGA central processing unit (CPU) with a printed circuit board (PCB), and particularly to an LGA connector which has a housing configured to minimize the risk of solder balls being broken in use.
To achieve the above-mentioned objects, an LGA connector in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises an insulative housing, and a multiplicity of electrical contacts received in the housing. The housing is substantially rectangular, and has a plurality of stand-offs at a bottom surface thereof. Two aligned of the stand-offs at one side of the bottom surface are parallel to another of the stand-offs at an opposite side of the bottom surface. A rectangular cavity is defined in a middle of the housing for receiving an LGA CPU therein. A multiplicity of passageways is defined in a portion of the housing under the cavity. Each passageway includes a slot at an end thereof. The contacts engage with the housing in the slots respectively. Each contact comprises an engaging portion for engaging in the slot of one of passageways of the housing, a contact portion accommodated within the passageways, and a solder portion. A solder ball is mounted to the solder portion for electrically connecting with a PCB by welding. In use, a force is applied to press the CPU downwardly. The CPU presses the housing downwardly, and the engaging portion of each contact slides upwardly in the corresponding slot relative to the housing until the stand-offs make contact with a top surface of the PCB. The contact portion deforms elastically to firmly electrically connect with the CPU. The LGA connector thus reliably electrically connects the CPU with the PCB.

Land grid array connector having movable engagement of electrical contacts thereinto


Each drive in a cluster is organized into splits of a single size. The splits are used as protection group members for a selected RAID level. Individual clusters can be scaled up with a number of new drives that is less than the number of protection group members for the RAID level by redistributing some data/parity to splits of the new drives. Splits are selected for redistribution such that new protection groups are created. If the number of new drives is equal to or greater than the number of protection group members for the RAID level, then new clusters may be created using the new drives. Any remaining drives are used to scale-up individual clusters.

Large organizations such as banks, large retailers, governments, and multi-national corporations may rely on data centers to maintain data associated with inventory control, accounting, sales, manufacturing, and other critical functions for which avoidance of data loss and maintenance of data availability are important. A key building block of a data center is a storage array. Storage arrays manage access to large data sets that are concurrently used by multiple host applications and potentially many users.
The disk drives that are managed by a storage array may be organized into RAID protection groups to improve data availability and reduce the possibility of data loss in the event of drive failure. Different implementations of RAID use different features such as redundant copies, striping, and parity. Striping reduces latency because accessing n drives in parallel yields up to n times the throughput of accessing a single drive serially. Parity information such as CRC (cyclic redundancy check) enables reconstruction of data and generally requires less storage space than compressed data. RAID-5 uses data striping and distributed parity information. In other words, the drives store both data and parity information. RAID-6 uses two parity stripes on each drive. Regardless of which RAID level is implemented, standby drives can be pre-mounted and automatically utilized in the event of drive failure. More specifically, a failed drive of a RAID can be automatically rebuilt on a standby drive using a redundant copy or parity.
There is sometimes a need to scale-up the storage capacity of a storage array and data center as additional data is created. Storage systems that implement RAID can be scaled-up by adding new protection groups of (R+P) drives where R is the number data drives and P is the number of parity drives. A RAID-5 (4+1) protection group, for example, includes five drives so a storage system that implements RAID-5 (4+1) may be scaled-up in increments of five drives. Similarly, a RAID-5 (3+1) would scale in increments of four drives. Scaling in increments of R+P drives can become problematic as the storage capacity of individual drives increases due to technological advancements. In other words, as commercially available drives store more data and increase in cost, an increment of R+P drives may add significant costly storage capacity that will not be utilized within a reasonable timeframe.

Scaling raid-based storage by redistributing splits


A method, system, and computer program product provide automatic resolution of coding issues by applying code modifications to an application to generate a modified application, and then applying static analytic tools to the modified application to identify coding problems in the modified application related to at least one code modification, where the coding problems are evaluated using a first machine learning model to identify a subset of coding problems meeting a first project relevancy requirement.

Computer programmers and developers increasingly write, test, debug, and maintain computer software, code instructions, and computer programs on collaborative software development systems, such as GitHub, that host software on a repository and that provide distributed development version control whereby changes to a source code or program are tracked or managed to allow different developers to contribute code changes to the original computer software, code instructions, or computer programs. When writing or making changes to computer program to address new or unique technical challenges, programmers often introduce various problems to a codebase with any modification, such as a simple syntax error or a security breach by leaving explicitly a token or passphrase. These problems can be exacerbated as the code is updated or new features are added by different developers who can each contribute different errors with their project modifications. These problems can be addressed with development tools which statically analyze the code (i.e., without running it) to identify potential problems. Since existing tools obey static configurations, they are never optimized to suit a project and often generate some false positive and true negative reports. False positives are usually handled by adding ad-hoc instructions into the code to explicitly instruct a specific tool to avoid throwing an alert or warning. In addition, there can be local false positives generated with static analysis tools that result from being applied to different local projects where different rules, conventions and exceptions are applied such that a problem detected by a tool might be valid in one project but not in another. As a result, static tools are rarely used because developers often end spending more time correcting what the tool wrongfully detected and corrected. Another drawback with existing programming tools is that there are very few tools for automatically solving detected problems. And even when such tools exist, such as lint or linter, they are rarely used because they generate false positives or can event introduce bugs. For example, in Python programs, many linters will reorder imports to create a circular import that prevents the program from even starting. As a result, the existing solutions for detecting a solving coding issues are deficient at a practical and/or operational level by virtue of imposing undue computational cost and processing complexity to achieve poor or suboptimal coding results.

Cloud application to automatically detect and solve issues in a set of code base changes using reinforcement learning and rule-based learning

International Business Machines Corporation


An effective corrosion inhibiting polymer composition including an interceptor for an acid gas combined with known VCI ingredients produces a more effective VCI than the prior art composition. The composition in macrogranular form may be held in a receptacle which is sealed in a container in which ferrous articles are protected. When the composition, greatly diluted is injection- or blow-molded or extruded as film which contains more than 100 ppm of a 2,4-6-tri-substituted phenol and uniformly dispersed small amounts of solid micron-sized particles of interceptor, an alkali metal nitrite and a solid adjuvant to aid in dispersing the solid particles, the film is transparent and has a smooth surface. All solid particles in the material have a primary particle size smaller than 53 μm which makes it possible to obtain the uniform dispersion, transparency and smooth surfaces of an article such as film in which a ferrous metal object is wrapped prior to shipment; or, a capsule which is filled with the VCIs and placed with ferrous metal objects in a sealed container.

A large variety of organic corrosion inhibiting compounds such as N-nitrosamine and/or benzol have been embedded or otherwise confined in packaging materials, more particularly in sheet stock made from paper or other cellulosic materials, or from a polymer of an olefin containing from 2 to 8 carbon atoms. Such compounds function as VCIs without directly contacting the surface of the metal being protected, except to the extent that particles of a VCI at the surface of a wrap or sheet of packaging material contact the surface of the object packaged. A VCI is a "noncontact inhibitor". Therefore, the effectiveness of a VCI is necessarily predicated upon its ability to provide protection against corrosion without contacting surfaces to be protected, for example, even if the object to be protected is suspended in a sealed space provided by packaging material containing the VCI, as demonstrated by a test described herebelow.
Unlike VCIs, rust-inhibiting inorganic alkaline salts have long been used to combat corrosion, as for example in U.S. Pat. No. 3,110,684 which discloses a combination of from 30% to 50% by weight of the alkaline salt, with 30% to 50% by weight of a sequestering or chelating agent, and 10% to 30% by weight of a preservative agent. Examples of the alkaline salt include sodium silicate, sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, sodium chromate, sodium chlorate, or sodium carbonate, or potassium silicate, potassium nitrite, potassium nitrate, etc. or lithium silicate, etc.; examples of a sequestering or chelating agent include a sodium salt of phosphoric acid, such as tetrasodium pyrophosphate, sodium citrate or sodium gluconate, a potassium salt of phosphoric acid, potassium citrate, etc., or an ammonium salt of phosphoric acid, ammonium citrate, etc., citric acid or gluconic acid or ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid; examples of a sequestering agent include sodium benzoate, ammonium benzoate or lithium benzoate.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,304,267 teaches a combination of from 75-85% by weight of a rust inhibiting alkaline salt, 5-15% by weight of sodium metasilicate, and from 5 to 15% by weight of a non-ionic organic dispersant compressed and molded into a solid which operates as a corrosion inhibitor only when water is present. Hungarian Patent HU 48857 teaches using an aqueous paste of perlite, bentonite containing sodium silicate and/or sodium phosphate as active ingredients, which paste is plastic enough to be pressed into holes in steel used to reinforce concrete. However, such inorganic materials, with the exception of sodium nitrite have not been suggested for use as VCIs because of their much lower vapor pressure compared to that exerted by corrosion inhibiting organic compounds. Additional problems with respect to using other inorganic compounds include the difficulty of grinding or otherwise comminuting them to a sufficiently small particle size so as to be rendered essentially invisible when dispersed in transparent film; of dispersing them uniformly in the film because of their proclivity to clump; and, of extruding film with surfaces smooth to the touch, because of the proclivity of the particles to come to the surfaces of the film.
With the foregoing in mind, U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,912 issued to Boerwinkle et al, about two decades ago, disclosed that an inorganic nitrite, e.g. potassium nitrite, sodium nitrite and calcium nitrite, in combination with a 2,4,6-trisubstituted phenol provided a VCI combination in a lower PO polymer. Neither potassium nitrite nor calcium nitrite is a usable VCI since they are too hygroscopic. A specific '912 combination comprised about equal parts (1.485 phr each) by weight of sodium nitrite and a 2,4,6-tri-substituted phenol containing 9 to 24 carbon atoms, specifically 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methyl phenol, along with small amounts of one or more inert ingredients such as fumed silica and oleyl alcohol which are known to possess no anti-corrosive properties. As of this time, sodium nitrite is the only usable VCI found to be effective with the 2,4,6-tri-substituted phenol. Effective-ness of the '912 film was unconcerned with the primary particle size of the sodium nitrite because the '912 patent did not address the problems (i) of embrittlement, (ii) of maintaining transparency and/or uniform thickness of extruded film having smooth surfaces, or (iii) of protection against sulfur dioxide, or the ability to tailor the thickness of film to provide protection for a predetermined period under expected unfavorable storage conditions.
The newly discovered effectiveness of sodium silicate and/or zinc oxide in combination with the '912 VCI combination of active ingredients was unexpected because there is no reason to believe that either the stable essentially anhydrous silicate or amphoteric zinc oxide, when combined with a non-hydrolyzable polymer having a WVTR at least as high as that of LDPE, might interact with an acid gas such as sulfur dioxide, present in an amount in the range from about 10 ppm to 100 ppm, to function predominantly as an interceptor; and, in combination with sodium nitrite and the 2,4,6-tri-substituted phenol function as a VCI; further, neither the silicate nor the zinc oxide, by itself, has any discernible anti-corrosive activity as a VCI; still further, the WVTR (water vapor transmission rate) of the novel film which contains the interceptor, whether zinc oxide or silicate of sodium, or both, in addition to the '912 ingredients, after about 24 hr, is essentially the same as that of the plain PE film with no VCI ingredients (as shown in Table I below), or of the '912 film.
Since a lower WVTR with polymer containing the interceptor, would appear to provide a theoretical basis upon which to expect better corrosion protection, no decrease in the WVTR provided a reasonable basis not to use one or more of the interceptors as an essential ingredient of the VCI combination. By "essentially non-hydrolyzable" is meant that the polymer is not hydrolyzed more than 5% under conditions at which an object to be protected is stored while exposed to the VCI ingredients in a sealed environment.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Corrosion inhibiting composition and article containing it

Northern Technologies International Corp.


The present invention relates to a fluid absorbing sheet including a bottom- or under-layer of water- or fluid-tight material, a middle layer of super absorbent polymer (SAP) and an upper layer of diffusing material The fluid absorbing sheet may further include at least one water- or fluid-tight bag for collecting and/or disposing of body fluids and/or other body wastes. The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing such a sheet as well as its use.

Different types of pads and sheet-like articles comprising fluid absorbent materials are used in health or medical related services, such as for example hospitals, ambulances, nursing homes or institutions, etc.
These known pads or sheets have fluid absorbent polymer(s) mixed with filling materials in a layer which is fairly thick, e.g. about 1-2 cm. Examples of such known products are pads from Abena and Tena. As a whole, these known pads or sheets are rather thick and take a lot of storing place.
Other examples of known pads and sheet-like articles are known from e.g. DE 30 02 136 describing an absorbent body comprising: i) a carrier layer, ii) a coating of absorbing, swellable powder and thermoplastic in powder form, and iii) a covering layer. The thermoplastic powder is used both for fixing the absorbing, swellable powder and for merging of the carrier with the covering layer, and a laminating machine or calender bowl is used to fasten the absorbing body together.
EP 0 291 316 relates to an absorbent pad having a densification pattern comprising relatively low density tuft regions which are separated and surrounded by channels. This absorbent pad is positioned between a liquid pervious topsheet and a liquid impervious backsheet. Furthermore, the pad is preferably contained between a pair of tissue layer superposed and subjacent thereto, where the pad and the tissue layer form the absorbent core. The backsheet may be secured to the absorbent core by a uniform continuous layer of adhesive, a patterned layer of adhesive or an array of separate lines or sports of adhesive. The absorbent pad is produced by a densifying apparatus. The absorbent material forms a multiregional "pillow" with several levels of heights due to the densification.
EP 0 891 758 describes a method of making absorbing articles where superabsorbent powder is arranged uniformly between upper and lower sheets. The powder and sheets are compressed in specific areas in order to structurally consolidate the powder in the compressed areas, while the powder in the surrounding areas remains loose. The loose powder located between the compressed zones or areas is extracted by suction or gravity. The regions of the upper and lower sheets are sealed around the periphery of the consolidated areas and furthermore the regions around the consolidated areas are cut. The packet-like article produced comprising compressed absorbent powder resembles a pillow(s) stuffed with the absorbent powder.
Hence, an improved fluid absorbing sheet being as thin as an ordinary bed sheet, having an even surface and being comfortable to rest on for the patient while having the capability to absorb large amounts of body fluids and/or wastes would be advantageous.


A packaging assembly includes a case configured to hold at least one injection device for delivering a medicament and a mounting attachment configured to be attached to the case. The case includes one or more magnets for attaching the mounting attachment to the case and an external face of the case is formed having a recess configured to receive at least part of the mounting attachment.

Patients suffering chronic disease require regular treatment with medicaments, e.g. on the basis of a predefined schedule. Particular medicaments require refrigerated storage, and are often stored refrigerated in a household refrigerator or fridge. In a home treatment environment, the patient stores the medicament in their own fridge and administers a predefined dose as required. Hence, the medicament is typically provided in a secondary packaging for convenient placement and storage in the household fridge. However, the medicament must be stored together with other items that require constant refrigeration, like foodstuffs and beverages.
Depending on the dosage form of the medicament, the secondary packaging containing the medicament may store a primary packed medicament itself, or may store one or more different kinds of drug delivery devices. For instance, the medicament may be provided in a pre-filled syringe or pen-type injector.
A medicament may have a predefined dosing schedule which requires the administration of a dose at relatively long intervals, for instance every two weeks, or once a month. The medicament may be provided in a secondary packaging containing several doses which may be stored in the fridge for 3 or 6 months for instance. It can be difficult for patients to keep track of each scheduled dosing time.

Packaging assembly with mounting attachment


A one-package type tooth surface coating material that is capable of forming, on the surface of a tooth, a cured film having not only a very high strength of adhesion to the tooth surface but also excellent properties such as long-term adhesion, long-term durability, dentinal tubule occlusion and aesthetic appearance, and that has excellent storage stability and can be stored in the form of one package. The one-package type tooth surface coating material includes (A) a polymerizable monomer component containing not less than 5% by mass of an acidic group-containing polymerizable monomer; (B) polyvalent metal ions; (C) a volatile water-soluble organic solvent; (D) water; and (E) an effective amount of a photopolymerization initiator; the amount of the polyvalent metal ions (B) and the amount of the volatile water-soluble organic solvent (C) satisfying a specific relationship.

A tooth surface coating material comprising a curable composition has heretofore been used for various purposes in the dental field. To prevent decaying or to suppress hypersensitivity, for instance, a tooth surface coating material is applied to a predetermined portion on the tooth surface and is cured to form a cured film. That is, upon coating a predetermined portion on the tooth surface with the cured film of the tooth surface coating material, the decaying can be prevented and, besides, hypersensitivity such as smarting of a tooth can be suppressed. The tooth surface coating material is, further, used as an opaquer for shielding the discoloration of the tooth surface and as a dental manicure for improving aesthetic appearance of the tooth surfaces.
The tooth surface coating material is different from the dental adhesives that adhere and fix a composite resin or a prosthetic material to the tooth with respect to that the tooth surface coating material forms by itself the cured film which serves as the outer surface coating that is exposed directly on the surface of the tooth. The tooth surface coating material, however, shares the requirement of adhesion to the tooth with the dental adhesive. Therefore, though not so many proposals have heretofore been made as tooth surface coating materials, many adhesives have now been proposed having good adhesiveness to the teeth, and it has now been considered that the adhesives can also be applied as coating materials for the tooth surfaces (e.g., patent documents 1 and 2).
Many of the dental curing compositions used as adhesives contain (meth)acrylic acid esters as polymerizable monomers and, therefore, have been blended with photopolymerization initiators without, however, capable of exhibiting a sufficient degree of adhesion to the teeth. Therefore, it has been desired to improve their adhesiveness to the teeth.
In order to effectively improve the adhesiveness of the adhesive to the teeth, it is an accepted practice to pre-treat the tooth in two steps as described below prior to applying the adhesive to the teeth.
(1) Apply an aqueous solution (etching agent) of an acid such as phosphoric acid, citric acid or maleic acid to the surface of the tooth, and etch the hard tooth (mainly enamel).
(2) After the etching, a solution (permeation accelerator or also called primer) containing an amphiphilic monomer such as hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) or the like and an organic solvent as chief components is applied so that the permeation accelerator permeates into the tooth (dentin).
However, these pre-treatments require complex operations. Therefore, there has been developed an adhesive which is imparted with a function (primer function) equivalent to that of the pre-treatment. For example, a patent document 3 is proposing a dental adhesive containing a polymerizable monomer (acidic group-containing polymerizable monomer) that contains an acidic group such as phosphoric acid group or carboxylic acid group as part of the polymerizable monomer and, further, containing a predetermined amount of water and a photopolymerization initiator. The acidic group-containing polymerizable monomer in this adhesive exhibits tooth deliming property and affinity to dentin. Besides, water contained therein works to effectively conduct the tooth deliming. It is, therefore, allowed to form a cured product that strongly adheres to both the enamel and the dentin in the initial stage of adhesion through a simple operation without the need of conducting the above-mentioned pre-treatment.
The patent document 3, further, proposes blending a polyvalent metal ion-eluting filler (e.g., fluoroaluminosilicate glass) making it possible to further improve the adhesion to the teeth. That is, the dental adhesive has the above-mentioned primer function (deliming function for the teeth and permeation acceleration function for the dentin) and, further, develops ionic crosslinking at the time of curing owing to the interaction among the acidic group-containing polymerizable monomer, water and polyvalent metal ions eluted out from the filler in addition to the radical polymerization of the polymerizable monomer. Owing to the synergistic action of these radical polymerization and ionic crosslinking, there is formed a cured product that strongly adheres to both the enamel and the dentin.    Patent document 1: JP-A-06-256131    Patent document 2: JP-A-10-245525    Patent document 3: JP-A-10-236912

One-package type tooth surface coating material


A foldable stroller includes a linkage and an engaging mechanism; the linkage includes a slider connected to the rear frame, a pull rod connected between the slider and the upper frame, and/or between the slider and the lower frame, and struts whose middles are pivoted each other, with two ends of each strut connected to the rear frame, and the sliders connected to the struts so as to actuate the struts to pivot each other; and the engaging mechanism is formed on the rear frame to restrict a sliding motion of the slider. The structure is simple and handy, and the stroller can be folded due to the gravity of the upper and lower frames when operating the engaging mechanism, which needs small strength of the user.

It's usual for parents to carry babies outdoors for taking a walk or shopping, and a carrier for carrying the baby such as a stroller is bulky however, which is inconvenient to carry. Therefore, some improved strollers with foldable function are developed in the market, which is unfolded for carrying the baby while in use and folded to reduce the bulk while out of use.
Most of current foldable strollers need both hands to fold or unfold, which need to fold for several times to complicate the operation. Specially, it's much inconvenient if there is only one baby caregiver who must carry the baby in one hand and could not fold the stroller in the other single hand. Furthermore, large strength should be applied to the conventional stroller in order to fold it; it's impracticable for a thin baby-caregiver.
Thus, there is a need for a handy foldable stroller to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks.

Foldable stroller and folding device thereof

DONGGUAN WENJIAN GOLF PRODUCTS CO., LTD.


An information processing apparatus includes a storing unit that stores information concerning model feature points and model feature quantities at the model feature points, a first acquiring unit that acquires an input moving image, a first feature-point extracting unit that extracts input feature points for recognizing an action from the input moving image, a first feature-quantity extracting unit that extracts input feature quantities at the input feature points, a feature-quantity comparing unit that compares the input feature quantities and the model feature quantities and generates candidate corresponding feature point pairs, a posture estimating unit that removes outliers from the candidate corresponding feature point pairs, estimates postures of models on the input moving image, and obtains a recognition corresponding feature point pair group corresponding to the postures, and a recognition-result generating unit that generates a recognition result on the basis of the recognition corresponding feature point pair group.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, a computer program, and recording medium, and, more particularly to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, a computer program, and a recording medium suitably used in detecting the motion of an object.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various methods have been used to acquire moving image data and detect the motion of an object.
There are proposed a large number of methods of identifying, from acquired moving image data, positions of specific body parts such as hands and feet of an object, which should be recognized, and recognizing actions from motion information of the body parts. Specifically, there are, for example, a method of using special equipment for identifying body parts (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2558943or Japanese Patent No. 3144400), a method of performing template matching (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2781743 or JP-A-8-279044), and a method of identifying body parts using color information or contour information (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 625,600B1, Japanese Patent No. 2868449, Japanese Patent No. 2934190, Japanese Patent No. 3440644, JP-A-10-214346, JP-A-2003-039365, JP-A-2003-216955, or Japanese Patent No. 2868449).
There is also proposed a method of extracting a motion area according to temporal subtraction or optical flow and recognizing actions from a center-of-gravity temporal change pattern of the area (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,031B2)).
There is also proposed a method of preparing, for an action desired to be recognized (a model action), a large amount of motion images for learning in which the action is imaged, extracting a feature quantity group that describes space-time events from the respective moving images, and performing learning using a statistical learning method such as a support vector machine to thereby obtain feature quantities for satisfactorily separating the model action from other space-time patterns out of the feature quantity group, and, in recognizing the model action from an input moving image during recognition processing, judging presence or absence of detection using only the feature quantity obtained by the learning (see, for example, C. Schuldt, I. Laptev, and B. Caputo, Recognizing human actions: a local SVM approach, In ICPR, pages III: 3236, 20).

Information processing apparatus, information processing method, computer program, and recording medium


A bubble generating assembly has a housing, an air generator associated with the housing, a bubble producing device positioned in front of the air generator to receive air generated from the air generator, and a cover or dipping cup configured as an inverted cup. The cover or dipping cup has an interior and a locking mechanism that removably connects the housing, and the cover or dipping cup retains the bubble producing device in the interior when the cover or dipping cup is connected to the housing. In addition, a bubble generating device has a loop with a cylindrical wall extending from the opening of the loop. The cylindrical wall has a plurality of ridges provided on the inner circumferential surface thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bubble generating assemblies, and in particular, to bubble generating assemblies which include a cap that covers the bubble generating device and also functions as a dipping cup.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bubble producing toys are very popular among children who enjoy producing bubbles of different shapes and sizes. Many bubble producing toys have previously been provided. Perhaps the simplest example has a stick with a circular opening or port at one end, resembling a wand. A film is produced when the port is dipped into a bubble solution or bubble producing fluid (such as soap) and then removed therefrom. Bubbles are then formed by blowing carefully against the film. Such a toy requires dipping every time a bubble is to created, and the bubble solution must accompany the wand from one location to another. Another drawback is that only one bubble can be produced at a time. Therefore, such simple bubble producing toys offer limited amusement and are limited in the types, shapes and sizes of the bubbles that they can produce.
As a result, attempts have been made to provide bubble producing toys that offer more variety and amusement. Many of these newer bubble producing toys are more sophisticated, and many even allow for the provision of multiple bubbles.
Notwithstanding the above, there remains a need to provide bubble producing toys that can further enhance the amusement value and play variety for children.


Ink additives that reduce the deceleration of inks containing a polymer, such as acrylate binders, are disclosed. In accordance with the invention, an ink-jet liquid, an ink-jet liquid set, and the method for using the same are provided, wherein the one of the liquids comprises an aqueous vehicle, and a deceleration-alleviating component. The present formulations are used to formulate ink-jet liquids, and more particularly, to provide enhanced drop ejection performance in inks containing a polymer, such as deceleration (rapid drop velocity degradation during continuous operation of the firing resistor), when the liquid contains a deceleration-alleviating agent, such as, an aromatic glycol ether, a polar solvent and a long alkyl chain surfactant.

The present invention relates to ink additives for improving deceleration in ink jet inks containing polymers. More particularly, the present invention relates to ink additives that reduce the deceleration.
Ink-jet printing is a non-impact printing process in which droplets of ink are deposited on print media, such as paper, transparency film, or textiles. Essentially, ink-jet printing involves the ejection of fine droplets of ink onto print media in response to electrical signals generated by a microprocessor.
In general, a successful ink set for color ink-jet printing should have the following properties: good crusting resistance, good stability, proper viscosity, proper surface tension, good color-to-color bleed alleviation, rapid dry time, no negative reaction with the vehicle, consumer-safety, good permanence (e.g., smearfastness, lightfastness, waterfastness), and low strike-through. When placed into a thermal ink-jet system, the ink set should also be kogation-resistant and have stable drop ejection performance (e.g. little or no drop velocity degradation over time).
There are two basic means currently available for achieving ink droplet ejection in ink-jet printing: thermally and piezoelectrically. In thermal ink-jet printing, the energy for drop ejection is generated by electrically-heated resistor elements, which heat up rapidly in response to electrical signals from a microprocessor to create a vapor bubble, resulting in the expulsion of ink through nozzles associated with the resistor elements. In piezoelectric ink-jet printing, the ink droplets are ejected due to the vibrations of piezoelectric crystals, again, in response to electrical signals generated by the microprocessor. The ejection of ink droplets in a particular order forms alphanumeric characters, area fills, and other patterns on the print medium.
One major drawback of pigmented inks in thermal inkjet printers is the formation of a pigmented film on the resistor surface during prolonged printing. The formation of this film results in a steady and continuous loss of heat transmission to the ink resulting in a phenomena called xe2x80x9cdecelerationxe2x80x9d, or decel, which, in thermal ink-jet technology, refers to a decrease of drop velocity during continuous firing of a nozzle or nozzles. This can lead to drop misdirection, misplacement, or even nozzle turn-off (where velocity equals 0). It is understood that the presence of organic acids serve to prevent the formation of transient insoluble material that can affect heat transfer from the firing resistor to the ink, thereby causing inefficient drive bubble formation, which in turn causes decel.
Decel is often caused by low solubility of the polymer, which is added to improve durability of the ink. One common way to solve decel is to use a inks containing hydrophilic polymers, such as the aqueous inks containing polymers (e.g., acrylate binders) disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,425, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Doing so, however, typically leads to a reduction in the waterfastness of the ink.
As previously discussed, ink compositions are required to have certain characteristics. However, few ink compositions are known that possess all the aforementioned properties, since an improvement in one property often results in the degradation of another property.
In accordance with the invention, an ink-jet liquid, an ink-jet liquid set, and the method for using the same are provided, wherein the one of the liquids comprises an aqueous vehicle, and a component capable of alleviating decel in inks containing polymer(s) (acrylate binders), the decel-alleviating component being capable of undergoing rapid thermal decomposition upon heating.
The present formulations are used to formulate ink-jet liquids for use with inks having polymer(s), and more particularly, to provide enhanced drop ejection performance in such ink compositions, such as decel, when the liquid contains a decel-alleviating agent, such as, an aromatic glycol ether, a polar solvent and a long alkyl chain surfactant.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


In a substrate processing method, a polysilicon layer 38 on a wafer W is etched with a bromine cation 45a and a bromine radical 45b in plasma generated from a processing gas containing a hydrogen bromide gas, an oxygen gas, and a nitrogen trifluoride gas, and then, is ashed with an oxygen radical 46 and a nitrogen radical 47 in plasma generated from a processing gas containing an oxygen gas and a nitrogen gas. Thereafter, the polysilicon layer 38 is etched with a fluorine cation 48a and a fluorine radical 48b in plasma generated from a processing gas containing an argon gas and a nitrogen trifluoride gas. While the polysilicon layer 38 is ashed, an oxidation process is performed on a silicon bromide generated by etching the polysilicon layer 38 with the bromine cation 45a.

In a DRAM as a semiconductor device, a capacitor is formed in a cylinder shape in order to obtain capacitance of the capacitor. However, recently, it has been considered to form a capacitor in a polysilicon layer. In this case, it is necessary to form a hole of a high aspect ratio in the polysilicon layer formed on a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, simply referred to as "wafer").
Typically, a polysilicon layer is etched by using plasma generated from a halogen-based gas such as a hydrogen bromide (HBr) gas. If a hole of a high aspect ratio is formed in the polysilicon layer, a deposit generated by etching is formed on a hard mask layer having a pattern in order to prevent the hard mask from being etched. Thus, etching selectivity of the polysilicon layer can be relatively increased. This method has been suggested by the present applicant (see, for example, Patent Document 1).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2010-153702
However, as depicted in FIG. 5(a), if a polysilicon layer 50 is etched by using plasma generated from a hydrogen bromide gas, a bromine radical 51 in the plasma reacts with silicon so as to produce a reactive product such as silicon bromide (SiBrx (x is a natural number)). Further, the reactive product produced by the etching includes silicon oxybromide (SiOBrx (x is a natural number)). Since, however, the etching is typically performed in a depressurized environment where an atmosphere does not exist. Thus, the generated reactive product is silicon bromide or the like without oxygen.
The generated silicon bromide is deposited on an inner surface of the hole 52 as a deposit 53 (FIG. 5(b)). As the polysilicon layer 50 is etched, the amount of the silicon bromide is increased. Since it is difficult to remove the silicon bromide by using bromine plasma or hydrogen plasma, the amount of the deposit 53 formed on the inner surface of the hole 52 is increased, and silicon is hardly exposed at the hole 52 (FIG. 5(c)). Thus, an etching rate of the polysilicon layer 50 is decreased.

Substrate processing method and storage medium


A vibration damping device comprises two cylindrical and flexible membrane members, a restricted passage constituting member connected at both end portions to these membrane members, two face plates connected at their end portion to the membrane members, a closed chamber defined by these members and face plates, a rigid member connecting both the face plates to each other at inside or outside of the closed chamber, a fluid filled in the closed chamber, and a fastening member disposed at each side of the restricted passage constituting member and the face plate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vibration damping device which can develop a large vibration damping performance when being applied to a suspension member for automobiles and the like.
2. Related Art Statement
In general, a shock absorber of monotube type or twin tube type is widely known as a conventional device developing the vibration damping performance when being applied to the suspension member for an automobile.
Such a shock absorber is constructed by enclosing an incompressible oil and a high pressure gas in an inside of a cylindrical body structure comprising a piston and a cylinder. The damping of vibrations through this shock absorber is attained by flowing the oil through a communicating hole formed in the piston based on relative motion between piston and cylinder.
However, the high pressure gas (15-30 kg/cm.sup.2) acting to guarantee the approaching of piston rod is filled in the inside of the cylindrical body through a free piston as a partition in addition to the oil, so that it is required to considerably make the friction force of the free piston large for the filling of the high pressure gas and consequently the smooth action of the free piston under an influence of small external force can not be ensured. Therefore, such a shock absorber has a problem that high frequency slight vibration can not be absorbed effectively.
In the shock absorber, the free piston slidingly comes into contact with the cylinder under an influence of a large friction force and also the piston rod slidingly comes into contact with the end face of the cylinder under an influence of a large friction force for the complete filling of oil, so that when force transmitted to the absorber does not exceed these friction forces, the vibration damping performance can not effectively be developed.


An elongate emitter is used as a cathode to coat material onto a cylindrical workpiece by magnetron sputterinig. Where the inside surface of the workpiece is coated, the workpiece itself is used as the vacuum sputtering chamber. The overlap between the plasma field and the magnetic field creates a coating zone which is moved along the length of the workpiece to evenly coat the workpicce.

Magnetron sputtering is a well known process for applying thin coatings onto objects. Sputtering is implemented by creating an electrical plasma over the surface of an target emitter material in a low-pressure gas atmosphere. Gas ions from the plasma are accelerated by electrical fields to bombard and thereby eject atoms from the surface of the emitter. These atoms travel through the gas environment until they impact the surface of the object to be coated, where they bond to the object, creating the coating layer.
A standard method of improving the efficiency of sputtering has been to use magnetic fields to confine electrons to the glow region in the vicinity of the emitter surface. The addition of such magnetic fields increases the rate of ionization which in turn increases the ion energy and the number of ions in the plasma. The increased ion energy and number of ions increases the overall sputtering rate.
Cylindrical magnetron sputtering devices are known which utilize elongated emitters and solenoid coils which produce flux lines parallel to the axis of the emitter. A significant drawback to such cylindrical sputtering devices is that they suffer from undesirable end effects. In a cylindrical magnetron, the direction of the electron drift velocity vector causes the electrons to orbit around the longitudinal axis of the emitter. However, the electrons tend to leak out or escape their orbits near each end of the emitter, resulting in lower ionization intensities and therefore lower sputtering rates at each end of the emitter. As a result, the portions of the object to be coated in the vicinity of the ends of the emitter may receive little or no coating.
Another drawback to cylindrical magnetrons is that in order to uniformly coat long objects such as pipes, a corresponding long vacuum chamber, emitter and solenoid coil must be provided, adding to the complexity and expense of the apparatus.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for apparatuses and methods suitable for uniformly coating long cylindrical objects such as pipes and the like.

Magnetron sputtering method and apparatus


A device and method for increasing the mass transport rate of a chemical or electrochemical process at the solid and fluid interface in a fluid cell. The device includes a membrane in close contact with surface of the work piece, to separate the process cell into two chambers, so that fluid velocity at the work piece is controlled separately from the main cell flow. Thus the diffusion boundary layer is controlled and minimized by the rate that fluid is withdrawn from the work piece chamber.

Many manufacturing processes rely on the chemical or electrochemical reactions at the solid and fluid interface of a flow cell. Examples are electrochemical machining and solid catalysis reactions. Rates of chemical reactions between the fluid and solid interface are governed by the mass transport rate of the reactants or products at the interface. The mass transport rate, determined by Ficks' Law, is proportional to the concentration of the chemical species, the diffusion coefficient and is inversely proportional to the diffusion boundary layer thickness. As the diffusion boundary layer is determined by the fluid velocity near the solid surface, a higher flow rate increases the mass transport rate and, hence, the reaction rate. Therefore, agitation or circulation of the fluid is commonly used in chemical processes between fluids and surfaces to reduce the boundary layer and enhance the mass or energy transport rate.
As the volume of the fluid increases, strong agitation is required to circulate large volumes of fluid across the solid surface. Since the diffusion boundary layer is primarily determined by the flow velocity near the surface of the solid, the bulk of the fluid flow away from the solid and fluid interface has little effect on the diffusion boundary layer. A great percentage of the energy used for circulating the fluid is wasted. The need for a large flow rate also increases the complexity of the design of such chemical reactor systems. Furthermore, as a uniform diffusion boundary is critical for certain coating applications, such as electroplating processes, elaborate equipment design results in high capital cost.
Other means for increasing the mass or energy transport rate to facilitate reactions between fluids in contact with surfaces include vibration, impinging jet flow, or spray. However, such methods are often either not practical or impossible due to other restriction of particular processes.
For process consistency it is advantageous to provide a uniform mass or energy transport rate across the solid surface. Membranes are commonly used to separate the anode and cathode compartments in electroplating but these membranes either impede or accelerate ion transfer in the bulk fluid only, still leaving mass transfer at the anode or cathode up to the uncontrolled boundary layer if other means, described above, are not used. Indeed, the electroplating systems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,096,550 and 6,126,798 fail to consider control of the fluid flow at this interface. Anode bags described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,246 also fail to consider this problem. Other references such as JP4052296 and EP471577 also fail to adequately consider control of the solid-liquid boundary layer.
There is a need to control fluid flow at the solid and fluid interface, and enhance the mass or energy transport rate at the solid interface without circulating a large volume of fluid.

Device and method for increasing mass transport at liquid-solid diffusion boundary layer