An exterior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle includes a mirror head portion and a reflective element accommodated by the mirror head portion. The reflective element includes a glass substrate and a mirror reflector coated at a surface of the glass substrate. The reflective element is configured to provide a field of view of at least about 15 degrees at the side of the vehicle and provides a substantially undistorted reflected image as viewed by the driver of the vehicle. The reflective element may have a width dimension of less than about 15 cm and a height dimension of less than about 9 cm. The mirror substrate is curved or formed via a hydro-bending process utilizing at least one bending element, which may be CNC formed in accordance with a free form pattern of curvatures.

It is known to provide a vehicular exterior rearview mirror assembly that has a curved or bent reflective element to provide a wide angle rearward field of view to the driver of the vehicle. Typical automotive mirror reflective elements incorporate convex and aspheric bends to produce the desired larger or wider field of view as compared to flat mirror reflective elements. Such curved or bent reflective elements are typically disposed at passenger side exterior rearview mirror assemblies in the U.S., given that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard FMVSS 111 (which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety) prescribes that the driver side mirror element be a plane or flat mirror with unit magnification.
The application of convex and aspheric mirrors typically causes distortion of images and make it difficult for a driver to gauge distance to the rear (hence the FMVSS 111 requirement for the indication that "objects in mirror are closer than they appear"). In order to limit or reduce this distortion, the radius of curvature of the reflective element is typically in the range of about 1000 mm to about 2000 mm for passenger side convex mirrors used in the U.S. If the mirror reflective element includes an aspheric wide angle optic or element at an outboard portion thereof, such aspheric regions are typically delineated or demarcated to indicate to the driver as to the extra distorted region of the mirror reflective element. The design of such bent or curved reflective elements result in design parameters for the physical size of the outside or exterior reflective element on the particular vehicle application.
Moreover, the requirement in FMVSS 111 to utilize a plane or flat driver side mirror and the desire by automakers to provide to a driver a driver side sideward/rearward field of view on the order of about 12 degrees to about 17 degrees or thereabouts requires that the outside mirror assembly that houses such a plane or flat mirror element be sized accordingly. Stylists or designers at automakers for symmetry and appearance typically desire and require that the driver side exterior mirror assembly and the passenger side exterior mirror assembly be of similar/same dimensions, appearance, styling and the like. Thus, the size of the driver side exterior mirror assembly, driven larger as it is by the requirements to use a flat (unit magnification) driver side mirror element, defacto dictates and drives the size dimensions of the passenger side exterior mirror assembly.

Mirror assembly with formed reflective element substrate


A method of carrying out a recovery action upon peers becoming out of synchronization with one another is provided in a telecommunications signaling network comprising a sending peer (30) that sends sequenced data messages to an associated receiving peer (40). The method includes: sending a poll message from the sending peer (30) to the receiving peer (40), the poll message indicating a sequence number for a sequenced data message to be sent next; returning a response to the poll message from the receiving peer (40) to the sending peer (30), the response indicating that the sequence number indicated in the poll message is the one expect next by the receiving peer (40) or indicating an error when the sequence number indicated in the poll message is not the one expect next by the receiving peer (40), as the case may be; and, entering into a recovery action state upon the response to the poll message indicating an error, wherein while in the recovery action state selected sequenced data messages received by the receiving peer (40) from the sending peer (30) subsequent to entry into the recovery action state are buffered by the receiving peer (40).

In ATM signaling layers, what is known as a Service Specific Connection Orientation Protocol (SSCOP) provides mechanisms for the establishment and release of connections and the reliable exchange of signalling information between signaling entities. The International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) has set forth what is known as the Q.2110 standard (July 1994), incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, to specify a peer-to-peer protocol for the transfer of information and control between pairs of SSCOP entities.
With reference to FIG. 1, part of the aforementioned Q.2110 standard is a recovery action that is employed when a data message sending node or peer (i.e., sender 10) and an associated data message receiving node or peer (i.e., receiver 20) become out of synchronization with one another. That is to say, in a properly executed signaling scenario, sequential data messages are transmitted from the sender 10 to the receiver 20 in order. However, in transit the messages may get out of order, e.g., due to differing transmission delays, different routing paths, etc. When this happens a recovery action is taken to rectify the situation. In the traditional recovery action, a state is entered wherein otherwise properly received data messages are dropped with no notification to the user or other protocol layers at the receiving end. In the example shown, a finite signaling scenario is defined by the sender 10 attempting to send a series of sequenced data messages (namely, data messages having sequence numbers 1 through 8) to the receiver 20. In the usual manner, the data messages are sequentially sent from a retransmission buffer 12 on the sender side. The data messages are received on the receiver side, and under normal operating conditions, loaded in a reception buffer 22. From the reception buffer 22, the data messages are passed up to a user or other protocol layers on the receiving end.
Periodically or at otherwise designated times, poll messages are sent from the sender 10 to the receiver 20 to verify synchronization of the peers. The poll messages typically indicate the sequence number of the next data message that is to be transmitted. The receiver 20 responds to the poll messages by either indicating confirmation that the same sequence number is expected or that there is an error (i.e., that some other sequence number is expected). When an error is encountered, recovery action is immediately taken and the aforementioned state is entered whereby subsequently received data messages are dropped at the receiving end.
For example, in the particular scenario shown, data messages 1-3 are send and received in proper order. Then, a poll message is sent indicating the next data message to be sent from the sender 10 is number 4, and (being that 1-3 have already been received) the response thereto is that the receiver 20 is expecting number 4. The sender 10 then proceeds to sent in order data messages 4-6, followed by another poll message indicating number 7 is the next data message, followed by data messages 7 and 8. The receiver 20 receives data messages 4-6 in the proper order, however, for what ever reason, data message 7 is received before the corresponding poll message. Therefore, when the poll message is received (indicating the next message to be sent is number 7), the receiver 20 (having already received message number 7) is expecting message number 8. The response to the poll message therefore indicates an error and recovery action is immediately initiated such that thereafter further received data messages (namely number 8) are dropped without being sent to the user or other protocol layers at the receiving end. Consequently, data message number 8 will have to be resent. However, as can be appreciate from the present example, data message number 8 was otherwise already received once in the proper order. The resending of data messages in such instances represents a certain inefficiency associated with the traditional recovery action strategy.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved recovery action system and/or technique that overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.

Enhanced recovery action in service specific connection orientation protocol


A material according to one embodiment exhibits an optical response signature for neutrons that is different than an optical response signature for gamma rays, said material exhibiting performance comparable to or superior to stilbene in terms of distinguishing neutrons from gamma rays, wherein the material is not stilbene, the material comprising a molecule selected from a group consisting of: two or more benzene rings, one or more benzene rings with a carboxylic acid group, one or more benzene rings with at least one double bound adjacent to said benzene ring, and one or more benzene rings for which at least one atom in the benzene ring is not carbon.

Radioactive materials are often detected and identified by measuring gamma-rays and/or neutrons emitted from the materials. The energy of gamma-rays is specific to that particular material and acts as a "finger print" to identify the material. Similarly, neutron energy is particular to the material, and may be used to identify the material. Of very high value are detectors capable of identifying the distinctive time-correlated signatures corresponding to neutrons and gammas emitted by fissioning material from within a background of uncorrelated natural radiation. A detector capable of distinguishing neutrons from gammas, as well as offering a fast response time typically has better capability for detecting the distinctive time-correlated events indicative of the presence of fissioning nuclei.
The ability to detect gamma rays and/or neutrons is a vital tool for many areas of research. Gamma-ray/neutron detectors allow scientists to study celestial phenomena and diagnose medical diseases, and they have been used to determine the yield in an underground nuclear test. Today, these detectors are important tools for homeland security, helping the nation confront new security challenges. The nuclear non-proliferation mission requires detectors capable of identifying diversion of or smuggling of nuclear materials. Government agencies need detectors for scenarios in which a terrorist might use radioactive materials to fashion a destructive device targeted against civilians, structures, or national events. To better detect and prevent nuclear incidents, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are funding projects to develop a suite of detection systems that can search for radioactive sources in different environments.
One particularly useful type of radiation detection, pulse shape discrimination (PSD), which is exhibited by some organic scintillators, involves subtle physical phenomena which give rise to the delayed luminescence characteristic of neutrons, providing a means of distinguishing neutrons from the preponderance of prompt luminescence arising from background gamma interactions. The mechanism by which this occurs begins with intersystem crossing (ISC), where the excited singlet state (S1) nonradiatively relaxes to the excited triplet (T), as shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, the basic physical processes leading to the delayed fluorescence characteristic of neutron excitation of organics with phenyl groups is shown.
Since the triplet is known to be mobile in some compounds, the energy migrates until two triplets collide and experience an Auger upconversion process, shown as Equation 1:T1+T1→S0+S1  Equation 1
In Equation 1, T1 is a triplet, S0 is the ground state, and S1 is a first excited state. Finally, the delayed singlet emission occurs with a decay rate characteristic of the migration rate and concentration of the triplet population, which is represented as Equation 2:S1→S0+hv  Equation 2
In Equation 2, hv is fluorescence, while S0 is the ground state and S1 is a first excited state. The enhanced level of delayed emission for neutrons arises from the short range of the energetic protons produced from neutron collisions (thereby yielding a high concentration of triplets), compared to the longer range of the electrons from the gamma interactions. The resulting higher concentration of triplets from neutrons, compared to gamma interactions, leads to the functionality of PSD. The observation of PSD is believed to be in part related to the benzene ring structure, allowing for the migration of triplet energy.
It is generally accepted in the prior art that stilbene offers good PSD. However, stilbene, generally grown from melt, is difficult to obtain. Therefore, a number of other organic molecules have been examined. Unfortunately, most research in this area has concluded that other known liquid and solid materials, including many compounds having benzene rings, do not possess PSD properties comparable to single-crystal stilbene.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide organic materials which may be comparable to or better than stilbene in relation to PSD properties for neutron radiation detection.

Compounds for neutron radiation detectors and systems thereof

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC.


An herbicide delivery device comprises a cane-type structure that applies herbicide directly to unwanted foliage, comprising an ergonomic handle at a top end and a dauber mechanism at a bottom end further comprising a rotating spherical foam rubber applicator. An interior of the cane structure houses a replaceable vessel of liquid herbicide. The dauber mechanism can be removed to access and refill the tube. The dauber dispenses a small amount of herbicide as the applicator is pressed against a surface. In use, the user walks around an outside area and directly places the foam rubber applicator against foliage to dispense the herbicide without endangering any nearby plant life. A protective cap is attached over the dauber mechanism when not in use.

Eliminating unwanted vegetation such as weeds or other foliage is a common concern for many property occupants. Unwanted vegetation becomes an eyesore and overruns other valued vegetation. Various systems which are utilized to destroy unwanted vegetation are known; all of which discharge some type of herbicide onto a surface.
A common problem with the systems is that the application of the herbicide is uncontrolled. Another problem is that the systems do not contain the herbicide enough to prevent leaks.
Various attempts have been made to provide a delivery system for herbicide. Examples of these attempts can be seen by reference to several U.S. Pat. No. 1,606,860, issued in the name of Winn, describes a system which distributes weed killing liquids in small amounts onto a surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,979,757, issued in the name of Smith, describes a cane-type weed killer applicator.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,833, issued in the name of Longer, describes a fluid application system.
While these attempts fulfill their respective, particular objectives, each of these references suffer from one (1) or more disadvantages. Many are not suited to provide control of the herbicide. Others are prone to leaks of the herbicide.


The disclosure includes embodiments for managing a Quality of Experience (QoE) level experienced by a connected vehicle. In some embodiments, a method for the connected vehicle includes receiving a Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) message that includes a management decision for the connected vehicle. The management decision is made based at least on a QoE status in a geographic location of the connected vehicle. The method includes modifying an operation of a vehicle control system of the connected vehicle to implement the management decision so that a QoE level experienced by the connected vehicle is improved.

The specification relates to managing quality of experience (QoE) for a vehicle control system. In some embodiments, the specification relates to managing QoE for a vehicle control system of a connected vehicle.
Various services provided to vehicles are time sensitive. For example, with respect to services such as high-definition (HD) map creation and distribution, Vehicle-to-Cloud (V2Cloud) cruise assistance and cloud-server (or edge-server) assisted platooning, up-to-date information needs to be delivered from a cloud server or an edge server to the vehicles in a timely fashion. Otherwise, QoE of the vehicles that depend on these services may be downgraded by outdated information.

Quality of experience (QoE) management for vehicle control systems


Single crystal composed of silicon with a section having a diameter that remains constant, are pulled by a method wherein the single crystal is pulled with a predefined pulling rate vp having the units [mm/min]; and the diameter of the single crystal in the section having a diameter that remains constant is regulated to the predefined diameter by regulating the heating power of a first heating source which supplies heat to the single crystal and to a region of the melt that adjoins the single crystal and is arranged above the melt, such that diameter fluctuations are corrected with a period duration T that is not longer than (2·18 mm)/vp.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for pulling a single crystal composed of silicon with a section having a diameter that remains constant. The single crystal grows while a monocrystalline seed crystal is raised from a melt contained in a crucible, with a specific pulling rate vp. The aim of the method is to obtain a single crystal composed of silicon with a longest possible cylindrical section having a predefined desired diameter which is suitable for further processing to form semiconductor wafers. Temperature fluctuations in the melt alter the crystallization rate v with which the single crystal grows. If the pulling rate vp and the crystallization rate v do not match, the diameter of the single crystal varies. It is necessary, therefore, for deviations of the diameter from the desired diameter that are brought about by temperature fluctuations in the melt to be minimized by means of the diameter being regulated.
2. Background Art
The requirement for achieving a situation in which the diameter in the section having a diameter that remains constant deviates as little as possible from the desired diameter can be met satisfactorily, considered in isolation, by compensating for deviations from the desired diameter by regulating the pulling rate vp and/or the supply of heat to the melt by means of a heating source arranged around the crucible. It is significantly more difficult to meet the requirement if it is simultaneously demanded that the quotient v/G of the crystallization rate v and the axial temperature gradient G at the phase boundary between the growing single crystal and the melt be kept within a narrow range. This is regularly demanded because v/G is crucial with regard to whether vacancies or silicon interstitials dominate as intrinsic point defects in the single crystal. In the event of supersaturation, vacancies or silicon interstitials aggregate to form larger units and form defects such as FPDs ("flow pattern defects") or Lpits ("large etch pits"). In general, the formation of such defects must be avoided, but this is only accomplished if v/G remains within the narrowest possible limits during the pulling of the section having a diameter that remains constant. The requirement to match the diameter in the section having a diameter that remains constant with respect to the desired diameter and the requirement to keep v/G within narrow limits lead to a conflict because, on the one hand, an adaptation of the pulling rate vp to an altered crystallization rate v caused by temperature fluctuations in the melt readily has the consequence that the narrow limits for v/G are deviated from and, on the other hand, a correction of the altered crystallization rate v by changing the supply of heat to the melt by means of a heating source arranged around the crucible brings about a deviation from the desired diameter. It is difficult, therefore, to regulate the diameter to a desired diameter without having to disregard the regulation of v/G, and vice versa.
EP 1 541 721 A1 describes measures for regulating the diameter and measures for regulating v/G, but they cannot resolve the above-mentioned conflict.

Method for pulling a single crystal composed of silicon with a section having a diameter that remains constant


Maximizing a common process window for optical proximity correction (OPC)-modified features of a semiconductor design having varying pitch is disclosed. For each pitch within a semiconductor design, a bias needed at the pitch that maximizes a common process window for the number of pitches given a critical dimension (CD) specification for a semiconductor design of the photomask is determined. The original layout for the semiconductor design of the photomask is then modified by performing rule-based optical-proximity correction (OPC), including adding the bias determined at each pitch, to yield a modified layout for the semiconductor design of the photomask. The modified layout is further modified by performing model-based on the modified layout such that exposed semiconductor wafer CD""s at each pitch are at least substantially equal to the CD specification for the pitch, to yield a final layout for the semiconductor design of the photomask.

This invention relates generally to semiconductor device fabrication, and more particularly to the use of optical proximity correction (OPC) masks in such fabrication.
Since the invention of the integrated circuit (IC), semiconductor chip features have become exponentially smaller and the number of transistors per device exponentially larger. Advanced IC""s with hundreds of millions of transistors at feature sizes of 0.25 micron, 0.18 micron, and less are becoming routine. Improvement in overlay tolerances in photolithography, and the introduction of new light sources with progressively shorter wavelengths, have allowed optical steppers to significantly reduce the resolution limit for semiconductor fabrication far beyond one micron. To continue to make chip features smaller, and increase the transistor density of semiconductor devices, IC""s have begun to be manufactured that have features smaller than the lithographic wavelength.
Sub-wavelength lithography, however, places large burdens on lithographic processes. Resolution of anything smaller than a wavelength is generally quite difficult. Pattern fidelity can deteriorate dramatically in sub-wavelength lithography. The resulting semiconductor features may deviate significantly in size and shape from the ideal pattern drawn by the circuit designer. These distortions include line-width variations dependent on pattern density, which affect a device""s speed of operation, and line-end shortening, which can break connections to contacts. To avoid these and other optical proximity effects, the semiconductor industry has attempted to compensate for them in the photomasks themselves.
This compensation is generally referred to as optical proximity correction (OPC). The goal of OPC is to produce smaller features in an IC using a given equipment set by enhancing the printability of a wafer pattern. OPC applies systematic changes to mask geometries to compensate for the nonlinear distortions caused by optical diffraction and resist process effects. A mask incorporating OPC is thus a system that negates undesirable distortion effects during pattern transfer. OPC works by making small changes to the IC layout that anticipate the distortions. OPC offers basic corrections and a useful amount of device yield improvement, and enables significant savings by extending the lifetime of existing lithography equipment. Distortions that can be corrected by OPC include line-end shortening and corner rounding, among others.
Line-end shortening (LES) is the shortening of the end of a metal line end in the actual fabricated semiconductor device as compared to the circuit designer""s originally contemplated ideal device. OPC can be used to correct LES by adding serifs or hammerheads to the originally designed end in the photomask, such that during photolithography, the actually fabricated end more closely approximates the location of the originally designed end. Corner rounding is the degree to which the lithography process rounds feature corners that should be at sharp angles. OPC can be used to correct corner rounding by adding serifs to outside corners, which are called positive serifs, and subtracting serifs from the inside corners, which are called negative serifs, to the feature in the photomask.
A process window is the region enclosed on an exposure-defocus plane by two curves, corresponding to the upper and lower CD specifications, respectively. For example, FIG. 1 shows a graph 100 of a typical ED process window for a given semiconductor pattern feature. The y-axis 102 indicates exposure dose of the light source being used, whereas the x-axis 104 indicates depth of focus (DOF), which is the defocus range inside which lithographic performance is acceptable. The line 106 maps exposure dose versus DOF at one end of the tolerance range for the CD of the pattern feature, whereas the line 108 maps exposure dose versus DOF at the other end of the tolerance range for the CD of the feature.
The area 110 enclosed by the lines 106 and 108 is the ED process window for the pattern feature, indicating the ranges of both DOF and exposure dose that permit acceptable lithographic quality of the feature. Any DOF-exposure dose pair that maps within the area 110 permits acceptable lithographic quality of the pattern feature. Since the shape of the process window on the exposure-defocus plane is generally asymmetric, the CD at the process window center is not equal to the CD target. This is especially the case for isolated patterns, such as isolated trenches, even if scattering bars or anti-scattering bars are added.
Unfortunately, the process window typically varies by pattern feature. For example, the shape of the ED window for dense patterns, such as dense groupings of lines, is different than that for isolated patterns, such as isolated single lines. This is usually true even if the patterns have been modified by OPC to compensate for distortions. Individually optimizing the CD""s of a wafer""s features via OPC thus does not result in a maximized common process window over all the features. For various patterns, each having a different pitch-which is generally defined as the periodicity of a common pattern, such as a line-this means that applying OPC to each pattern to achieve identical pattern CD""s results in unequal process windows. The unequal process windows cannot be matched to one another to create a maximized common window.
Therefore, there is a need for maximizing the common process window for OPC-modified features of a semiconductor pattern over varying pitch. Such a maximization process should provide as wide a range as possible of exposure dose and DOF that will result in an acceptable lithographic image. The process should still, however, optimize the CD""s of the features as much as possible. For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.
The invention relates to maximizing the common process window for optical proximity correction (OPC)-modified semiconductor features of varying pitch. For each pitch within a semiconductor design, a bias needed at the pitch that maximizes a common process window for the number of pitches given a critical dimension (CD) specification for a semiconductor design of the photomask is determined. The original layout for the semiconductor design of the photomask is then modified by performing rule-based optical-proximity correction (OPC), including adding the bias determined at each pitch, to yield a modified layout for the semiconductor design of the photomask. The modified layout is further modified by performing model-based on the modified layout such that exposed semiconductor wafer CD""s at each pitch are at least substantially equal to the CD specification for the pitch, to yield a final layout for the semiconductor design of the photomask.
The invention provides for advantages not found within the prior art. Significantly, the depth of focus (DOF) of the maximized common process window obtained by using the invention can be increased by 0.1 to 0.2 microns, as compared to the common process window achieved in accordance with the prior art. This increase in DOF means that more leeway is provided for varying DOF at various exposure doses and still yielding an acceptable lithographic image on the semiconductor wafer. This increase in DOF still achieves optimizes CD""s in accordance with the specification for the semiconductor design. Other advantages, embodiments, and aspects of the invention will become apparent by reading the detailed description that follows, and by referencing the attached drawings.

Optical proximity correction common process window maximization over varying feature pitch

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


In the tread of the tire, the average modulus value in a center region including the equatorial plane of the tire is higher than the average modulus value in shoulder regions adjacent to edges of the tread, and in the shoulder regions, the modulus value is higher in a surface layer of the tread than in a portion other than the surface layer.

To suppress the rolling resistance of a tire, a method for dividing the rubber forming the tread of the tire into a plurality of regions in the tire width direction and varying the physical properties of the rubber between regions is known.
For example, patent literature (PTL) 1 discloses dividing the tread of the tire into three regions: a center region in the widthwise central portion, and shoulder regions on the widthwise sides of the center region. Furthermore, the value of the loss tangent tan δ of the rubber in the center region is made larger than in the shoulder regions of the tire, and the value of the elastic modulus of the rubber forming each region is also made larger in the center region than in the shoulder regions, thereby simultaneously achieving rolling resistance, braking performance on wet road surfaces, and the like.


A shipping/display container that may be opened without having to use a knife or other sharp instrument, and a blank for forming such a container. The container blank includes a plurality of side panels foldably connected together in a longitudinal series, and a connecting flap foldably connected to a first end of the side panels. The side panels form a line of weakness extending substantially completely across each of the side panels, and the connecting flap forms a notch extending from the first end of the side panels. To form the container, the connecting flap is connected to the second end of the side panels, forming the side panels into a continuous side wall for the container; and as this is done, the notch in the connecting flap is positioned over the end portion of the line of weakness. To open the container, the container is severed along the line of weakness to separate the container into a top section and a bottom tray section, and the top section of the container is removed to expose the interior of the container.

The present invention relates to shipping containers, and more particularly, to shipping containers that are intended to be converted into a display at the filling and palletizing stage or after opening at the final destination point. Even more specifically, this invention relates to such shipping/display containers that can be readily opened without having to use a knife or other sharp instrument.
In the consumer products industry, individual products are typically placed in larger containers or cartons that are shipped to retail establishments such as supermarkets. Often, at the retail establishment, the shipping container is cut open, along the perimeter of the container. Then, the top section of the container is removed and discarded, and the bottom section of the container is used as a display tray. There are numerous, well-known advantages to the use of such shipping/display containers. For instance, a large number of individual product packages may be placed on a shelf in the retail establishment by simply placing one of the shipping/display containers on that shelf. Also, the open display trays may be stacked on top of each other, on shelves, on separate display stands, or in the aisles between the shelves.
Commonly, knives or other sharp cutting tools are used to cut open containers of the above-described type. In opening the containers in this manner, it is very easy to cut accidently too deeply through the container walls and into the individual packages inside the container. Cutting into those individual packages almost always causes a loss of a certain amount of the product in those packages and creates a mess that may be expensive to clean. Further, if those inside packages contain a liquid, such as a beverage, cutting into the packages may result in a total loss of the product in the packages.
Various solutions have been proposed to prevent the accidental cutting of the packages inside the display/shipping containers. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,271 discloses a shipping/display container that is precut along a line of severance into separate top and bottom sections. These container sections are then taped together by adhesively attaching a wide tape to the side walls of the container, over the cut line between the two container sections. This wide tape has a narrow tear filament or strip attached to its inner surface; and the container is opened by pulling that tear strip to split the tape bridging the container sections, thereby separating the container into a top cover section and a bottom tray section.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,570 discloses a shipping carton having several bowed side walls that hold the inner packages away from outside edges of the carton. A knife can be inserted through those outside edges of the carton to open the carton without cutting the packages held therein. U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,281 discloses a container having one or more of its side walls formed from plural layers of panels or flaps. The outer layer of such a side wall is cut to open the container, while the inner layer of the side wall protects the packages inside the container.
The containers shown in the above-identified references are not very economical for general use; and none of the containers provides a complete, economically practical solution to the problem of fully protecting the contents of a shipping/display container from damage when the container is cut or sliced open.

Easy-open shipping/display container, and a blank for erecting the same


A window regulator includes a rotatable hub that is coupled to a traveller by a cable, such that rotation of the hub raises and lowers the traveller. The hub is mounted on a driven gear which is rotated by a drive gear. The hub and the driven gear are concentrically mounted around a post, which defines an outer surface that is frictionally engaged by a coil spring that is coupled both to the driven gear and to the hub. The coil spring brakes rotation of the hub when the traveller is pushed downwardly. The drive gear and its associated bushings are removably mounted on the window regulator to allow easy replacement.

This invention relates to a window regulator of the type used to raise and lower a window in a vehicle such as an automotive vehicle, and in particular to such a window regulator that has a long design life and an efficient braking system.
Window regulators are currently in wide spread use on vehicles such as cars and trucks. Conventional window regulators include a frame having a vertical guide portion which guides a traveller in movement between a raised position and a lowered position. A tension member such as a cable is secured to the traveller and passes around guide pulleys to a hub.
One type of window regulator employs a gear mechanism to rotate the hub. The hub is connected to a larger driven gear, which is driven by a smaller drive gear. The smaller drive gear in turn is rotated, typically by a manually operated crank arm or a motor.
In the past it has been conventional to use torsion springs positioned concentrically with the drive gear to engage an outer housing surrounding the gear, to form a type of drum brake. That is, the outer surface of the coil spring frictionally engages the inner surface of the surrounding housing to brake the window regulator and to prevent the weight of the window from causing the traveller to creep downwardly.
When window regulators of the type described above are used with unusually large, heavy windows certain wear problems are encountered. In particular, the bushings and the teeth of the drive gear may wear excessively. Furthermore, when the brake mechanism operates on the drive gear, the gear reduction provided by the gear linkage tends to make it more difficult for the brake to immobilize the traveller properly.
According, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved window regulator which can readily be serviced to provide extended life, and which provides a particularly efficient and effective brake mechanism.


A graphics processing unit 2 includes a texture pipeline 6 having a first pipeline portion 18 and a second pipeline portion 20. A subject instruction within the first pipeline portion 18 is recirculated within the first pipeline portion 18 until descriptor data to be loaded from a memory 4 by that subject instruction has been cached within a shared descriptor cache 22. When the descriptor has been stored within the shared descriptor cache 22, then the subject instruction is passed to the second pipeline portion 20 where further processing operations are performed and the subject instruction recirculated until those further processing operations have completed. The descriptor data is locked within the shared descriptor cache 22 until there are no pending subject instructions within the texture pipeline 6 which required to use that descriptor data.

This invention relates to the field of data processing systems. More particularly, this invention relates to data processing systems including processing pipelines and to the control of the processing pipelines within such data processing systems.
It is known to provide data processing systems that incorporate processing pipelines so as to increase the degree of parallel execution within the data processing system and accordingly increase the number of instructions executed per cycle. Increasing the number of pipeline stages within a processing pipeline increases the number of program instructions that can be executed in parallel. However, processing pipelines with a large number of pipeline stages have difficulty in efficiently handling instructions which fail. For an example, should a load instruction progressing along a processing pipeline fail to receive its loaded data within the expected time, then one approach would be for it to stall the processing pipeline. This would be highly inefficient. Another approach, if there are no later instructions dependent upon the failed load instruction, is to allow the load instruction to progress along the processing pipeline as a processing "bubble" in step with the other program instructions progressing through the pipeline and accordingly not disturb the execution of those other processing instructions. A problem with this approach is that the presence of the bubble within the pipeline reduces the number of program instructions which are being executed in parallel and accordingly reduces the overall executed instructions per cycle value.


An eye refractive power measurement apparatus capable of accurate measurement while preventing noise light from entering a photodetector even a measurement target is moved in an optical-axis direction, has a measurement optical system including an optical axis, a hole mirror having an aperture and a reflective surface, a concave mirror, an optical system projecting measurement light from the target onto a fundus via the aperture and the concave mirror, and an optical system having an image-forming member and the photodetector photo-receiving the light reflected from the fundus via the concave mirror, the reflective surface and the image-forming member, a unit moving the target and the image-forming member or photodetector in the direction to have a positional relationship optically conjugate with the fundus, and a calculation part obtaining eye refractive power based on a travel position or amount of the image-forming member or photodetector and an output from the photodetector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an eye refractive power measurement apparatus for measuring eye refractive power of an eye of an examinee objectively.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, there is known an eye refractive power measurement apparatus having a measurement optical system which includes a projection optical system for projecting measurement light from a measurement target onto a fundus of an eye of an examinee via an objective lens and a photo-receiving optical system for photo-receiving the measurement light reflected from the fundus via the objective lens in the projection optical system by using a photodetector. In such a configuration, the objective lens is shared by the projection optical system and the photo-receiving optical system; therefore, there is such a problem that the measurement light from the measurement target is reflected by the objective lens to inadvertently enter the photodetector as noise light, resulting in a decrease in measurement accuracy. Accordingly, proposed as a solution to this problem is an eye refractive power measurement apparatus in which the measurement target is arranged at a decentered position from an optical axis of the objective lens to dissipate the measurement light reflected by the objective lens to be off-axis, preventing the measurement light from entering the photodetector as noise light (see Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. Hei 4-73038).
Additionally, as for the measurement optical system of the eye refractive power measurement apparatus, in a case where the position of the measurement target is fixed, an image of the measurement target formed on the fundus is clear if the examinee's eye is close to emmetropia; however, if the examinee's eye has a refractive error, the image of the measurement target formed on the fundus becomes blurred and an S/N ratio (signal-to-noise ratio) at the photodetector is lowered to decrease measurement accuracy. In addition, in a case where the position of the photodetector is fixed, not only the image of the measurement target formed on the photodetector becomes blurred, but also its position on the photodetector changes if the examinee's eye has a refractive error; therefore, a resolution is lowered to decrease measurement accuracy if a wide measurement range is to be covered. This problem can be overcome in such a manner that the measurement target and at least one of the photodetector and an image-forming member in the photo-receiving optical system are moved in a direction of their optical axis to have a positional relationship optically conjugate with the fundus.
However, a combination of the configuration that the measurement light reflected by the objective lens is dissipated to be off-axis and the configuration that the measurement target and at least one of the photodetector and the image-forming member are moved in the optical axis direction brings about change in a reflection angle of the measurement light reflected by the objective lens; therefore, it is difficult to prevent noise light from entering the photodetector over a wide measurement range.

Eye refractive power measurement apparatus


A method for producing an integrated device including an MIM capacitor. The method includes the steps of providing a functional substrate including functional circuits of the integrated device, forming a first conductive layer including a first plate of the capacitor on the functional substrate; the first plate has a first melting temperature. The method further includes depositing a layer of insulating material including a dielectric layer of the capacitor on a portion of the first conductive layer corresponding to the first plate; the layer of insulating material is deposited at a process temperature being lower than the first melting temperature. The method further includes forming a second conductive layer including a second plate of the capacitor on a portion of the layer of insulating material corresponding to the dielectric layer. In the solution according to an embodiment of the invention, the first melting temperature is higher than 500° C.

1. Field of the Invention
An embodiment of the present invention relates to the microelectronics field. More specifically, the present invention relates to integrated capacitors.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Capacitors are components commonly used in most electronic circuits. Referring in particular to an electronic device being integrated in a chip of semiconductor material, many techniques are known for making the capacitors in the same chip wherein there are made other functional components of the integrated device, being both passive (such as resistors) and active (such as transistors).
For example, (integrated) Metal-Oxide-Metal (MOM) capacitors include two plates of conductive material (typically metal) between which there is grown a thin oxide layer of the metal (having insulating properties) to form a dielectric layer of the capacitor. The MOM capacitors are nowadays the preferred choice in many types of integrated devices for their manufacturing simplicity, even if they need particular manufacturing precautions in order not to damage the thin oxide layer.
On the contrary, (integrated) Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) capacitors are formed by two plates of conductive material (typically metal) between which there is deposited a layer of insulating material (for example, Silicon Nitride) to form the dielectric layer of the capacitor. The Silicon Nitride has a high dielectric constant, so that the MIM capacitors have a specific capacitance (per unit area of their plates) being greater than that of the MOM capacitors; this allows making more compact capacitors that, for the same overall capacity, occupy a lower area of the chip than the MOM capacitors do. Furthermore, the MIM capacitors allow integrating other components below them, with a further saving of area of the chip.
Typically, each MIM capacitor is made by forming a bottom plate thereof from a portion of a metal layer of the chip, being commonly used for distributing signals and/or power supply among functional components of the integrated device, while an upper plate thereof is formed within a protective layer (of insulating material) protecting the metal layer wherein there are made the bottom plate and the dielectric layer being formed thereon.
However, in the present state of the art, the quality of the dielectric layer of the MIM capacitors is not optimal. In fact, the layer of insulating material from which there is formed the dielectric layer is typically obtained through a deposition process on the bottom plate of the MIM capacitor; such deposition should be performed at temperatures such that the bottom plate is not damaged. Since the metal layer (from which the bottom plate is obtained) that are typically used in the integrated devices has a relatively low melting temperature (usually, not grater than 400° C.), the dielectric layer has to be deposited necessarily at process temperatures that are not optimal (for example, 200° C.). This has a negative effect on the chemical and mechanical properties of the dielectric layer, such as the planarity, with a consequent worsening of its insulating properties.
Furthermore, the low melting temperature of the bottom plate turns out to be particularly critical in power applications; particularly, when the MIM capacitors are integrated together with power components, the bottom plate should have a well-defined thickness depending on the requirements of the power components. For example, in the case of bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD) technology—where BJTs for precision analog applications, CMOS for digital applications, and DMOS for power applications are integrated in the same chip—the metal layer (and thus the bottom plate of the capacitor) has a typical thickness of 0.7-1.0 μm (for limiting an ON-resistance of the power components and for reducing electro-migration phenomena). If the bottom plate has a low melting temperature, it is more subject to thermo-plastic deformations being due to thermal stresses during the operations following its manufacturing; this involves a thick-grained structure of the bottom plate, which causes kinks and surface irregularities that affect not only the performance of the capacitor (such as a voltage breakdown thereof) but also the performance of the power components.

MIM capacitor with plate having high melting point


A process and device for automatically feeding workpiece layers to be processed in a hanging position in a vertical plane to a scanning and aligning station (R). The workpiece layers are grasped individually in a horizontal starting position, brought into the vertical position, and transferred to the scanning and aligning station (R), from which they are taken over directly after alignment and forwarded to the processing station (N). The device for carrying out this process has two conveyors (F and F'), each of which consists of a feed conveyor (Z; Z') designed as a manipulator and a transport mechanism (T; T') formed by a conveyor belt (48; 48'). The workpiece layers are held by controllably movable clamps (20; 20') in the scanning and aligning station (R). The transport mechanisms (T and T') can be moved to and fro between a carrying position and a non-carrying position in the area of the clamps (20 and 20'). As a result of which the feed conveyors (Z and Z') are able to transfer the workpiece layers to the clamps (20 and 20' ), and these the clamps are able to move freely for mutually aligning the workpiece layers.

A similar process and device are described in European Patent Disclosure Document No. EP-OS 0,260,331.
In the prior-art process, the workpiece layers are fed toward each other by means of conveying means. The conveying means comprise rail-guided carriages on which clamps are arranged that hold the upper end of the workpiece layers. These conveying means have track sections directed in parallel to one another in a scanning station and an aligning station. To make possible the mutual alignment of the workpiece layers, the clamps on the carriages of one of the conveying means are arranged by means of a holding head that is movable in a plurality of directions in relation to the carriage carrying it. This holding head carries a magnetizable plate that comes into frictionally engaged contact, in the aligning station, with a permanent magnet that is fastened to the adjacent carriage of the other conveying means. Using an adjusting device of the stationary aligning station, the movable holding head of the clamps on the first-named carriage is adjusted corresponding to the scanning result so that the two workpiece layers that are located adjacent to one another in the aligning station will reach the predetermined relative position. Due to the frictional engagement between the magnetizable plate on the holding head of one carriage and the permanent magnet on the other carriage, this relative position will be maintained when the two carriages move together from the aligning station into a subsequent processing station after alignment of the workpiece layers.
This design is relatively complicated, because it requires a holding head that is adjustable in a plurality of directions on each of the carriages of one conveying means. In addition, to adjusting the holding heads, the adjusting device must apply a considerable force to produce the specified relative position of the two workpiece layers in order to overcome the frictional force between the magnetizable plate and the permanent magnet, which must, as is explained, be strong enough to maintain the relative position, once set, between the permanent magnet and plate and consequently the aligned position of the workpiece layers.
It is assumed in the prior-art process that the workpiece layers to be brought together are already suspended on the clamps carried by the carriages of the conveying means, and the manner in which this suspension was performed is left open.

Process for bringing together, aligning, and co-processing flaccid workpiece layers


A leak detecting device for a package having a plastic cover. Before sealing the cover, a gas containing five percent helium is introduced into the package. The package is placed beneath a hood which has an aspiration device to move the air within the hood through a pipe. A helium sensor is placed within the pipe to detect helium which leaks from the package. The hood also carries a plate which is spring mounted and which comes into contact with the package lid as the hood is lowered over the package. This causes additional pressure within the package so as to accelerate the detection of any leak.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to leak detection devices for packages and more particularly to leak detection devices utilizing helium detectors.
2. Discussion of the Background
Flexible packaging material such as that made of polymer or polymer derivatives has been widely used for packaging in many industries and especially the food industry. These materials can be manufactured in any size and shape and accordingly are advantageous to package manufacturing. However, some problems also occur due to the use of these materials. Since they are light and flexible, they are less resistant to puncturing, slicing and other problems than conventional metallic or glass material.
In one standard packaging process, the final sealing step is achieved by fusing similar materials which are used on both the lid and container. This creates a very safe seal which is nearly impossible to break. However, this creates problems for the consumer since there is great difficulty in opening such packages. In order to avoid marketing problems, seals have been made which are easier to open but which therefore have a greater chance of being unsealed. Problems in the defective seals may be due to wrinkles in the packaging, improper temperatures, contamination of the seal with extraneous material, absence of adhesive and variability of the sealant thickness.
Because of these reasons, the flexible packaging process is not completely reliable. In those packages which include a vacuum, seal defects allow air into the container. In those packages where a modified atmosphere is inserted, the gas contained in the headspace will leak out.
In order to ensure proper packaging, a number of detecting devices have been made so that improperly sealed packages can be rejected. Unfortunately, many of the leaks are too small to be detected by eye and, accordingly, this sophisticated equipment must be utilized.
One type of device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,299 includes a method of testing a seal by changing the external pressure around the seal. The change in position of the distended container wall in response to the pressure is then sensed.
Another device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,745 shows the application of a vacuum to a package with the measurement of the vacuum thereafter to determine if air has leaked into the vacuum from the container.
Another device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,551 includes a needle which is inserted into the package to apply pressure thereto. A sensor in the needle then determines if the pressure decreases.
Another device shown in U.S Pat. No. 4,715,215 includes a vacuum container for receiving the package. As the pressure is reduced, the package expands. If the size of the package decreases over time, a leak is indicated.
Other devices place a container under water in order to visually check for bubbles which escape from the container indicating a leak.
All of these testing devices are somewhat reliable but create problems in that they are too slow for inline testing and often require expensive equipment for varying the pressure around the container. In addition, trays having stiff bottoms and soft tops are not easily tested due to their construction. It is also difficult to detect leaks on the bottom of packages since they sit on a hard surface.
In other industries, leak detectors using gasses which can easily be sensed such as helium or carbon dioxide have been used. Helium, for example, has been used in a number of situations to detect very fine leaks in a process where fluids are carried or stored in pipes or vessels. Since helium is an inert gas, it can be used safely in conjunction with many materials. Also, helium sensors have a sensitivity which can detect the presence of helium at lower than 10.sup.-10 cc/second.

Leak detection device for in-line measurement of package integrity


An integrated circuit device may include a gate insulation layer covering a top surface and opposite sidewalls of a fin-shaped active region, a gate electrode covering the gate insulation layer and a hydrogen atomic layer disposed along an interface between the fin-shaped active region and the gate insulation layer. A method of manufacturing the integrated circuit device may include forming an insulating layer covering a lower portion of a preliminary fin-shaped active region, forming a fin-shaped active region having an outer surface with an increased smoothness through annealing an upper portion of the preliminary fin-shaped active region in a hydrogen atmosphere and forming a hydrogen atomic layer covering the outer surface of the fin-shaped active region. A gate insulation layer and a gate electrode may be formed to cover a top surface and opposite sidewalls of the fin-shaped active region.

Example embodiments of the inventive concepts relate to integrated circuit devices and methods of manufacturing the same, and/or more particularly, to integrated circuit devices including fin-shaped active regions and methods of manufacturing the same.
As an electronic technology is developed, a down-scaling of a semiconductor device has been proceeding rapidly. In recent years, since the semiconductor device needs an accuracy of an operation as well as a high-speed operation, various studies are being conducted for structural optimization of a transistor constituting the semiconductor device.


Example multi-layer apparatus for electromagnetic waves and methods for fabricating such apparatus are described. An example apparatus may include a first conducting layer including an input port and a second conducting layer including at least one through-hole. The apparatus may also include a first layer between the first conducting layer and the second conducting layer, including a first waveguide aligned at least in part with the input port and the at least one through-hole. The apparatus may also include a third conducting layer including an output port. The apparatus may also include a second layer between the second conducting layer and the third conducting layer, including a second waveguide aligned at least in part with the output port and the at least one through-hole. The at least one through-hole may be configured to couple millimeter electromagnetic waves from the first waveguide to the second waveguide.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials 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.
In communications and electronic engineering, a transmission line is a specialized cable designed to carry alternating current of radio frequency, that is, current with a frequency high enough that their wave nature are taken into account. Transmission lines are used for purposes such as connecting radio transmitter and receivers with their antennas, distributing cable television signals, and computer network connections. Transmission lines use techniques, such as precise conductor dimensions and spacing, and impedance matching, to carry electromagnetic signals with minimal reflections and power losses. Types of transmission lines include coaxial cable, stripline, optical fiber, and waveguides, for example.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Printed waveguide transmission line having layers with through-holes having alternating greater/lesser widths in adjacent layers


A mechanism is provided for efficiently debugging software code. A set of modified log files associated with the software code is presented to a software debugging user. Responsive to receiving an indication from the software debugging user to tag a portion of a modified log file of the set of modified log files with a tag, the portion of the modified log file is tagged such that the tag of the portion of the modified log file is utilized in debugging the software code. The tag of the portion of the modified log file is propagated to a plurality of other software debugging users who are viewing the modified log file.

The present application relates generally to an improved data processing apparatus and method and more specifically to mechanisms for efficiently debugging software code.
"Infrastructure as a service" (IaaS) cloud computing paradigm has changed the way information technology (IT) services are managed and delivered to the end consumer. In such a cloud environment, the cloud-service provider exposes application programming interfaces (APIs) and an end user makes use of these APIs to request for virtual server resources. The virtual servers are always provisioned with a specific operating system and in many situations even with a complete application stack over the operating system. Access to the virtual machine is usually enabled via secure shell (SSH) or X-Windows™ like interface, not a console. Existing remote management consoles are not designed to operate in a cloud kind of environment.
It has been often observed in the cloud environments that virtual servers become inaccessible because of various system level problems, namely kernel incompatibility, wrong boot-sequence such as incorrect startup sequence of system services, bad system or application configuration, etc. This renders the end user completely helpless as the user can neither determine the problem nor fix it. This makes cloud-environments unsuitable for system development and testing purposes. In addition, it also makes the cloud service expensive and inefficient.

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention generally relates to the field of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), and more specifically to cationic intrinsically disordered antimicrobial peptides (CIDAMPs) and their use as disinfectants and therapeutic agents for the treatment of infections, especially as a therapeutic alternative for the treatment of infectious diseases caused by antibiotic resistant microorganisms.

The widespread use of antibiotics (e.g., in food and livestock industrial products) during the last decades has promoted the development of antibiotic resistance. Today, antibiotic resistance is a serious and life-threatening clinical and public health problem of world-wide relevance.
Antibiotics are a diverse group of compounds that may be categorized according to their principal modes of action, including interference with cell wall synthesis (e.g., beta-lactams and glycopeptide agents), inhibition of protein synthesis (macrolides and tetracyclines), interference with nucleic acid synthesis (fluoroquinolones and rifampin), inhibition of metabolic pathways (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole), and disruption of bacterial membrane structure (polymyxins and daptomycin) (Tenover, F., 2006, Am. J. Med., 119, S3-S10).
While antibiotics are being successfully used in a wide variety of infectious diseases, various pathogenic bacteria may be intrinsically resistant to different types of antimicrobial agents, or may acquire resistance by de novo mutation or via the acquisition of resistance genes from other organisms. The acquisition of new genetic material may occur through conjugation, transformation, or transduction, with transposons often facilitating the incorporation of the multiple resistance genes into the host's genome or plasmids (Tenover, supra, and Davies and Stone, 1986, Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. 5, 277-281).
The main mechanisms of antibiotic resistance include inactivation of the antibiotic, alteration of the antibiotic's target site, blockage in the transport of the antibiotic, expression of efflux systems, use of alternative metabolic pathways, expression of increased levels of the target (e.g., the inhibited enzyme), and inhibiting the antibiotic-sensitive step by endogenous or exogenous products (Davies and Stone, supra). A major disadvantage of antibiotics is their activity against commensals with the consequence of disrupting the microflora and subsequent post-antibiotic-treatment side effects.
Intense efforts have been made in the past to discover and develop new and improved antibiotics against strains of bacteria that are resistant to conventionally used antibiotics. It was found that antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) can provide a therapeutic alternative for the treatment of infectious diseases caused by antibiotic resistant microorganisms (Cruz et al., 2014, Curr. Med. Chem., 21, 1-23; Hancock et al. 2006, Nat. Biotechnol., 24, 1551-1557).
AMPs are essential components of host defense against infections and are ubiquitous in nature, being widely distributed in microorganisms, plants and animals (Yeaman and Yount 2003, Pharmacol. Rev., 55, 27-55; Zasloff, M., 2002, Nature 415, 389-395). They are relatively small (12 to 100 amino acids), cationic and amphipathic peptides of variable length, sequence and structure. AMPs display a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity, being effective against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, fungi, enveloped viruses, parasites and some types of cancer (Cruz et al., supra; Brown and Hancock, 2006, Curr. Opin. Immunol. 18, 24-30; Jenssen et al., 2006, Clin. Rev. Microbiol. 19, 491-511).
The vast majority of AMPs is, mostly inducibly, expressed in epithelial cells of multicellular organisms. Vertebrate skin, trachea and tongue epithelia are sources of these AMPs, which may in part explain the unexpected resistance of these tissues towards infection. Human skin is a particularly rich source of antimicrobial peptides. Their cellular source includes keratinocytes, which terminally differentiates, eventually forming the stratum corneum, the horny layer.
The easy availability of stratum corneum allowed the identification and characterization of a number of human antimicrobial peptides. Moreover, the availability of lesional scales of patients with psoriasis allowed to find inducible peptide antibiotics, which are absent in healthy skin. Specifically, the cationic and amphipathic beta-defensins hBD-2 (Harder et al., 1997, Nature 387, 861), hBD-3 (Harder et al., 2001, J. Biol. Chem. 276, 5707-13) and RNase-7 (Harder et al., 2002, J. Biol. Chem. 277, 46779-84) together with the cathelicidin LL-37 (Gudmundsson et al., 1996, Eur. J. Biochem., 238, 325-32; Lande et al., 2007, Nature 449, 564-9; Lande et al., 2015, Eur. J. Immunol. 45, 203-13) have been identified as cationic human antimicrobial peptides and proteins in inflamed skin.
Unlike most antibiotics that typically target specific proteins, AMPs can act on bacterial membranes or other targets different to those of conventional antibiotics, and generally have a different mode of action as compared to that of conventional antibiotics (Stoop et al., 2010, Mol. Cell Proteomics 9, 2063-2075). This makes AMPs essentially insusceptible to microbial resistance. As a result, AMPs constitute promising candidates for clinical developments against microbial infections.
However, a major drawback to the use of many of these amphipathic and cationic antimicrobial peptides as antibiotics is their toxicity and/or ability to lyse eukaryotic cells (Hancock and Lehrer, 1998, Trends Biotechnol. 16, 82-8). For a peptide to be useful as an antibiotic, it should have an increased antimicrobial activity and a reduced toxicity to normal cells.
Another disadvantage of natural cationic AMPs is their relatively large molecular size, which requires costly recombinant biotechnical synthesis. A synthetic peptide approach to examining the effect of changes, including small or incremental changes, in hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity, amphipathicity, helicity and molecular size of cationic antimicrobial peptides can facilitate rapid progress in rational design of amphipathic peptide antibiotics. However, many of these peptides are still toxic and need micromolar to low millimolar concentration (depending on the size and structure) for effective bacteriostatic or bactericidal activity (Domalaon et al., 2016, Curr. Top. Med. Chem. 16, 1217-30), possibly because the formation of pores requires the amphipathic AMPs to be present in the micromolar range (Kurut et al., 2014, Proteins 82, 657-67; Roversi et al., 2014, ACS Chem. Biol. 19, 2003-7).
In the last years, there has been a shift in the paradigm that protein function always requires well-defined conformations. It was found that there are proteins or sizeable regions of proteins that lack a well-defined conformation, which are commonly referred to as "intrinsically disordered proteins" (IDPs) or "intrinsically disordered protein regions" (IDPRs). Many IDPs are functional and adopt a defined conformation upon interaction with a target molecule. It is estimated that long IDPRs are found in about 33% of eukaryotic proteins (Ward et al., 2004, J. Mol. Biol. 337, 635-645).
The structural disorder of IDPs/IDPRs is caused by their distinct amino acid content. Usually, they have a low hydrophobicity content combined with a high net charge content (Uversky V. N., 2013, Protein Sci. 22, 693-724). Comparison of amino acid sequences of IDPs/IDPRs with ordered proteins and domains revealed that IDPs/IDPRs are significantly depleted in order-promoting amino acids (e.g., Trp, Tyr, Phe, Ile, Leu, Val, Cys, and Asn), and are generally enriched in disorder-promoting residues (e.g., Ala, Arg, Gly, Gln, Ser, Glu, and Lys) (Uversky V. N., 2013, Protein Sci. 22, 693-724). Thus, in IDPs the amino acid composition, rather than the amino acid sequence determines the disorder promoting properties (Uversky V. N., 2002, Protein Sci. 11, 739-756).
Most of the functions of IDPs are related to molecular recognition of DNA, RNA, and other proteins (Hansen et al., 2006, J. Biol. Chem. 281, 1853-56). IDPs and IDPRs are highly susceptible towards proteolysis and are frequently involved in transcription, cell cycle regulation, signal transduction, chaperoning the folding of proteins and RNA etc. (Hansen et al., supra). Partially disordered regions are often found at the amino and carboxyl ends of proteins, but can also be present at internal sites. Based on their function, IDPs have been grouped into two main categories: mediators of macromolecular interactions and entropic connectors/springs (Tompa, P., 2005, FEBS Lett. 579, 3346-3354). Many IDPs appear to be involved in innate immunity against virus infections, suggesting that host cells use numerous advantages of IDPs to overcome viral infections (Xue and Uversky, 2014, J. Mol. Biol. 426, 1322-50).
Recently, it was discovered that recombinantly generated 8-16 kDa peptide fragments exhibit antimicrobial activity (Wu et al., 2009, J. Invest. Dermatol. 129, 1446-58). This led to the novel concept that cationic IDPs may also be antimicrobial peptides, challenging the dogma that antimicrobial peptides are amphipathic peptides having microbial membrane-active properties. Despite recent efforts to develop antimicrobials based on AMPs or IDPs, there remains an ongoing need for new and improved antimicrobial compounds.

Cationic intrinsically disordered antimicrobial peptides


The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for processing multi-gesture sequences in a collaborative environment. It provides a method for cascading two or more gestures performed by one or more users at one or more interactive display devices, into a single compound gesture delivering events to a persistent first gesture, that establishes the owning context. The invention in one aspect increases the variety of ways a single user can interact with a piece of digital content by increasing the gesture vocabulary beyond simple single gesture interactions. Further, it delivers the ability to express complex contextual relationships directly among multiple pieces of content, among multiple interactive display devices, and among multiple users, generating expanded opportunities to route events across physically separated devices, and distances, that deliver greater control of content flow. This provides a substantially more direct method over current practice of selecting content, then triggering actions based on traditional menu and toolbar controls.

The ultimate human-computer interface would enable content creation at the pace of human thought, leveraging computational bandwidth to augment human cognitive activities. Attempts to achieve this tight coupling between human and computer have traditionally failed. The obstacles preventing this rest with the interface, and the friction introduced by the need to structure the graphical environment. Instead of shaping application architecture to fit cognitive needs, traditional solutions have instead structured cognitive activities to fit within the computer form-factor. This is exacerbated by two main factors.
The first factor is the diversity of computing devices, and methods of interaction, which generate a variety of non-portable interface structuring techniques. What works for mouse and keyboard does not propagate to touch displays. Even techniques developed for hand-held touch devices do not scale when taken to wall-sized displays, or down to postage stamp sized wearables. For instance, touch-based tablet applications that rely on interface artifacts such as menus and toolbars, result in operation friction when taken to the size of a wall, where the operator may have difficulty reaching controls placed along the top or needs to walk back and forth to access toolbar elements along the side. The opposite problem is encountered at ultra-small scales, such as smartwatches, where limited real estate prevents nearly any kind of interface structuring. Device-centric structuring, so effective at providing form-factor specific interface solutions, creates impediments to universal platform deployment.
The second factor is the impact interface structuring has on the fluidity and scope of applications. Reliance on literal graphical controls tied to screen real estate restricts the number of those controls and thus the functionality of the application. Attempts to force this result in applications with complex stacks of toolbar and menu elements layered across tabbed headers. Thus, traditional solutions are forced to divide-up human activities across a myriad of applications and specialized apps to stitch together functionality in a piecemeal fashion. This impedes the human capacity to move fluidly among disparate mental tasks, spanning many subjects and activities simultaneously. Paper and whiteboards in contrast excel at covering a vast range of subject matter using a simple means of interface. Historically, paper and whiteboards have provided an effective, unstructured free-form medium for the fluid capture of unbounded exposition, doodling, brainstorming, composing, calculating, etc. This is because paper and whiteboards remain unstructured up and until the point the user adds content in the form of annotations that cause the paper to become a graph, a sketch, an equation, a music score, a table, and so on. Paper becomes what you need it to be. This delayed structuring provides immense versatility, and offers distinct advantages for spontaneous lecturing, amorphous brainstorming and collaboration activities for which these analog forms remain dominant. While adequate for the task, paper and whiteboards lack the capacity to leverage the exponentially increasing power of digital computers.
Thus, the deep-seated reliance on legacy interface methods prevents the ultimate achievement of a truly versatile digital medium capable of supporting unstructured cognitive activities. The ever expanding diversity of display interfaces coupled with ubiquitous computer access, provide compelling evidence that these traditional, dated, structured graphical user interface concepts should be abandoned.


Provided are a fuel cell system and a control method thereof capable of inhibiting the occurrence of problems caused by surplus electrical power even in cases where the torque able to be generated by the motor is limited due to a low motor drive voltage. A fuel cell system provided with a fuel cell and a motor is further provided with required output torque calculation means for calculating a required output torque based on an output requirement, torque upper limit value calculation means for calculating a torque upper limit value of torque able to be generated by the motor based on a drive voltage of the motor, required motor torque calculation means for calculating a required motor torque based on the required output torque and the torque upper limit value, required motor power calculation means for calculating a required motor power based on the required motor torque, and required generated power calculation means for calculating a required generated power of the fuel cell based on the required motor power.

Fuel cell systems installed in vehicles are provided with an inverter for supplying electrical power to a motor from a fuel cell and an energy storage device. For example, Patent Publication JP-A-2005-348530 discloses a fuel cell system provided with two DC-DC converters in addition to an inverter. These consist of a first DC-DC converter that supplies electrical power to the inverter while controlling output voltage of the fuel cell, and a second DC-DC converter that supplies electrical power of an energy storage device while controlling input voltage of the inverter (Patent Literature 1).
According to the invention described in Patent Literature 1, by controlling the first DC-DC converter and setting the output voltage value of the fuel cell to within the range between a maximum value and minimum value of the circuit voltage of the energy storage device, the frequency of execution of a voltage conversion operation can be reduced, thereby making it possible to suppress increases in power loss (Paragraph 0012).
In addition, with respect to controlling power conversion of the inverter, Patent Literature 1 describes that a torque command is calculated based on a signal of an accelerator depression amount related to the amount of depressing operation of an accelerator pedal by a driver, the torque signal is input to the inverter, and current of each phase is output to each phase of the motor in order to generate the required torque (paragraph 0023).

Fuel cell system and control method of same


A battery mounting mechanism includes a terminal connector, a first stopper, a second stopper, and a release button. The first stopper is disposed movably in the Z axis direction with respect to the terminal connector. The second stopper is disposed on the opposite side of the terminal connector with respect to the first stopper, and is disposed movably in the Z axis direction with respect to the terminal connector. The release button is arranged to release the restriction of the first battery or the restriction of the second battery by the first stopper, and arranged to drive the first stopper and the second stopper in the Z axis direction with respect to the terminal connector.

1. Technical Field
The technical field relates to a battery mounting mechanism for mounting batteries of different sizes in an apparatus main body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Special batteries have been used in video cameras and other such imaging devices in recent years. For instance, rechargeable batteries that are commonly used for video cameras come in different sizes depending on their capacity, and there has been a practical need for a mechanism with which batteries of different sizes can be mounted. Also, a structure for directly mounting batteries on the outside of a video camera housing has been employed as a battery mounting mechanism for commercial-use video cameras so that the batteries can be replaced more easily.
For example, the mechanism described in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Application H4-16869 has been proposed as this type of battery mounting mechanism. This battery mounting mechanism includes a box-shaped main body, a first support member, a second support member, a latching member, and a release member.
The main body has a lid that can be opened and closed. The first support member individually supports the bottoms of a first battery and a second battery that have different sizes. The second support member restricts the upper face of the first battery and the two side faces of the second battery. The latching member is provided on the inside of the main body, and restricts upward movement of the first and second batteries. The release member releases the restriction of movement of the first and second batteries by the latching member.
With the above-mentioned conventional configuration, however, when the first battery is removed, restriction of the first battery by the support members and the latching member must be released. Also, when the second battery is removed, restriction the second battery by the support members and the latching member must be released. In other words, although batteries of different sizes can be mounted with this battery mounting mechanism, removing the batteries involves a lot of work.


Embodiments of the present disclosure include devices, systems, and methods. For example, one device embodiment of a thermally conductive shelf for operation with a conduction-cooled electronic module includes an expandable member defining a fluid passage between a first end and a second end, where the expandable member includes a first outer surface to contact a first conduction-cooled electronic module, an inlet located at a first end to receive a conductive fluid, and an outlet located at the second end to exhaust the conductive fluid.

Electronic module chassis which include multiple electronic modules mounted in the chassis are widely used in electronic applications. An electronic module chassis assembly may include a chassis configured to mechanically support the electronic modules, electrical connectors to interconnect the electronic modules, power supplies for operation of the electronic modules, and one or more external connectors to connect the electronic module assembly to external equipment.
Such electronic module chassis assemblies are used in military and aircraft applications, but are not limited to such applications. Electronic module chassis assemblies for military applications and other fields of use can be designed to operate reliably in harsh environments by increasing the ruggedness of the components and/or structure of the assembly.
Electronic components of electronic module chassis assemblies can generate heat, and can be operated with a cooling system to remove the heat and to maintain the electronic modules within a specified temperature range. The various cooling technologies utilized include conduction cooling, air-flow-through cooling, and/or liquid-flow-through cooling.
In some form factor instances, air-flow-through cooling may be used, for example, for up to 70 watts heat generation, conduction cooling may be used, for example, for up to 200 watts of heat generation, and liquid-flow-through cooling may be used, for example, for up to 500 watts heat generation. However, electronic modules may be trending toward higher speed and higher performance and generating larger amounts of heat. In addition, in some instances, maintenance exposure can be encumbered by some types of cooling forms.


An apparatus for removing powder from a powder-based additively manufactured part includes a chamber for locating a powder-based additively manufactured part therein, a support mesh for supporting a powder cake that includes one or more parts therein, an inlet for introducing a gas into the chamber to flow throughout the powder cake and fluidise the powder to disengage from the part, and an outlet to allow the gas to exit the chamber. The apparatus further includes a cryogenic blasting system for spraying a mixture of liquid CO2 and compressed air at the powder-based additively manufactured part to remove powder therefrom.

The present invention relates to additive manufacturing (AM) and in particular, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to removing un-sintered powder from parts manufactured using a powder-based AM process.
Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an additive manufacturing (AM) technique that uses a laser as the power source to sinter powdered material (typically nylon/polyamide) by aiming the laser automatically at points in space defined by a 3D model to bind the material together and create a solid structure. The laser selectively fuses powdered material by scanning cross-sections generated from a 3-D digital description of the part (for example from a CAD file or scan data) on the surface of a powder bed. After each cross-section is +scanned, the powder bed is lowered by one-layer thickness, a new layer of material is applied on top, and the process is repeated until the part is completed. The process typically takes place in an inert gas environment to prevent the material, e.g. nylon, oxidising when heated by the laser beam. The temperature inside the build chamber is typically kept relatively high but below the melting point of the un-sintered powder, e.g. around 170° C. for nylon, so that the temperature increase required by laser to fuse the surface particles is relatively low. In contrast with some other additive manufacturing processes, such as stereolithography (SLA) and fused deposition modelling (FDM), which most often require special support structures to fabricate overhanging designs, SLS does not need a separate feeder for support material because the part being constructed is surrounded by un-sintered powder at all times. Furthermore, since the build chamber is always filled with powder material, multiple parts can be fabricated within the boundaries of the powder bed allowing for high volume productivity.
However, after a part has been made using a powder-based AM process, it is encapsulated by an amount of un-sintered powder known as a powder 'cake' which is left to cool before being manually removed from the build chamber. The un-sintered power surrounding the sintered part is then removed manually with a brush, vacuum, compressed air gun, tumbler, blasting, or the like. This cooling and manual removal of un-sintered powder, particularly from AM parts having relatively complex geometries, is labour intensive, time consuming and costly. Furthermore, such manual methods are often inefficient and it is often particularly difficult to remove all un-sintered powder from an AM part. Additionally, much of the un-sintered powder is currently disposed of and not recycled which is costly and environmentally unfriendly.

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED


The present invention relates to moisture-curing compositions that comprise, in addition to a first type of polymer having a specific end group, at least one additional type of polymer having a different specific end group. It has been shown that such compositions have a surprisingly quick adhesive formation and a low amount of seepage.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of moisture-curing compositions, in particular the field of moisture-curing polymers containing silane functional groups (silane-functional polymers).
2. Prior Art
Moisture-curing compositions based on silane-functional polymers are known in the prior art, and are used inter alia as elastic adhesives, sealants, and coatings. They do not contain isocyanate groups and therefore from a toxicological viewpoint are preferred alternatives to isocyanate-containing polyurethane systems.
WO 03/018658 A1 describes silane-functional polymers with α-functional silane groups as end groups, which are distinguished by high reactivity and thus faster curing. WO 2007/085620 A1 also describes the use of silane-functional polymers with α-functional silane groups as end groups in adhesives and sealants having improved adhesion. However, such systems have a considerable tendency toward creep.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,751 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,207,766 describe silane-terminated polyether polymers which can be used in moisture-curing compositions. However, such systems firstly are very slow curing and sometimes possibly have a tendency toward creep. US 2006/0128919 A1 discloses that creep of such silane-terminated polyether polymers can be improved by addition of silicates or tin catalysts. Tin catalysts, however, are often undesirable for ecological and occupational safety reasons.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,955 discloses compositions which contain silane-terminated polyurethane polymers. Development of adhesion in such systems, however, is very slow.
WO 2007/085622 A1 discloses in an Example an adhesive which, in addition to a polymer with α-functional silane groups, contains an extremely small amount of acrylate polymer with silane groups. However, this system tends toward creep. US 2007/0088137 discloses sprayable adhesives which contain a phenol resin as a tackifier and a polymer with hydrolyzable silicon end groups. The Examples of that patent include sprayable adhesives which, in addition to a phenol resin as a tackifier, also contain a dimethoxy(methyl)silylmethylcarbamate-terminated polyether as well as other silane-terminated polymers if needed.
WO 2006/130592 A1 discloses a polyurethane sealant which consists essentially of an isocyanate-terminated polyurethane prepolymer and only small amounts of a polymer with α-functional silane groups and an even smaller amount of a silane-terminated polyurethane polymer. Such sealants, however, have large amounts of isocyanate groups and are therefore undesirable from a toxicological standpoint.

Moisture-curing composition comprising at least two polymers having silane groups


A character agent function is added to a wireless terminal and an avatar user interface (UI) for generating and processing an event is expressed when an event occurs in the wireless terminal, such that call and message-related events occurring in the wireless terminal can be expressed through the character agent function.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an agent apparatus and method for use in a wireless terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for implementing a character agent function, and processing a call and message-related events in a wireless terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a wireless terminal is a portable device carried by a user, and the wireless terminal's representative device is a wireless phone. The wireless phone can serve various supplementary functions as well as a basic phone function. Wireless phones with the supplementary functions may be a camcorder phone with a camera, television (TV) phone through which TV can be watched, Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) layer 3 (MP3) through which an MP3 music file can be listened to, digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) phone through which satellite broadcasting and/or terrestrial broadcasting programs can be watched, and the like. Accordingly, products with supplementary functions capable of processing multimedia data are widely used as the current wireless phones.
The wireless terminals with various supplementary functions conventionally include a liquid crystal display (LCD). Various display methods for effectively displaying information on a display unit of the LCD are being developed such that a user can easily recognize various supplementary functions, and states of a wireless terminal. The wireless terminals are being developed such that various types of user data can be displayed. Currently, user data displayed in the wireless terminals are mainly configured by visual image data such as photo data, character images, animations, and the like. Avatar image data can also be included in the user data, and a need exists for wireless terminals using the avatar image data.

Apparatus and method for processing call and message-related events in a wireless terminal