A method is provided for fabricating a memory device. A semiconductor substrate is provided which includes a first well region having a first conductivity type, a second well region having the first conductivity type, a first gate structure overlying the first well region and the second gate structure overlying the second well region. An insulating material layer is conformally deposited overlying exposed portions of the semiconductor substrate. Photosensitive material is provided over a portion of the insulating material layer which overlies a portion of the second well region. The photosensitive material exposes portions of the insulating material layer. The exposed portions of the insulating material layer are anisotropically etched to provide a sidewall spacer adjacent a first sidewall of the second gate structure, and an insulating spacer block formed overlying a portion of the second gate structure and adjacent a second sidewall of the second gate structure. A drain region and a source/base region are formed in the semiconductor substrate adjacent the first gate structure and a cathode region is formed in the semiconductor substrate adjacent the second gate structure. The drain region, the source/base region, and the cathode region have a second conductivity type. An anode region of the first conductivity type is formed adjacent the second gate structure in a portion of the source/base region.

Integrated circuit memories include static random access memory (SRAM). Many SRAM cell structures utilize six-transistor and four-transistor memory cells. The large layout areas associated with such six-transistor and four-transistor memory cells which are used in many implementations of SRAM cells has limited the design of high density SRAM devices.
Given these drawbacks, there have been attempts to build a thyristor-based memory cell to reduce layout area associated with conventional memory cells, and provide a thyristor-based memory cell having a simple layout. A thyristor is a bi-stable, three terminal device which consists of a four layer structure including a P-type anode region, an N-type base, a P-type base, and an N-type cathode region arranged in a PNPN configuration. PN junctions are formed between P-type anode region and the N-type base, between the N-type base and the P-type base, and between the P-type base and the N-type cathode region. Contacts are made to the P-type anode region, the N-type cathode region, and the P-type base coupled to the gate electrode.
FIG. 1 is a circuit schematic 100 which illustrates an array of conventional thyristor-based Random Access Memory (TRAM) cells including TRAM cell 110.
As shown in FIG. 1, TRAM cell 110 consists of a word lines 120, 130, a bit line 150, a Thin Capacitively-Coupled Thyristor (TCCT) device 160 in series with an NMOS access transistor 170. The TCCT device 160 provides an active storage element which comprises a thyristor and a capacitor coupled to the gate of the thyristor. The NMOS access transistor 170 is coupled between a cathode node 146 of the TCCT device 160 and the bit line 150. An anode node 148 of the TCCT device 160 is fixed at a positive bias. The TCCT device 160 exhibits a bi-stable current-versus-voltage (I-V) characteristic. The bi-stable current-versus-voltage (I-V) characteristic results in a wide read margin between logical one (1) and logical zero (0) data states because the on/off current ratio between two states are greater than 1×105. The bi-stable current-versus-voltage (I-V) characteristic results in good read current because at a logical one (1) data state, TCCT device 160 is in forward diode mode resulting in higher current. The T-RAM cell 110 can make it difficult to maintain good retention and disturb characteristics because the retention of the T-RAM cell 110 is sensitive to leakage currents of the NMOS access transistor 170 which are hard to control.
FIG. 2 is a circuit schematic 200 which illustrates an array of conventional Thin Capacitively-Coupled Thyristor (TCCT)-DRAM cells including TCCT-DRAM cells 210, 270. In contrast to conventional DRAM cells, which usually include a MOSFET device and a capacitor, the TCCT-DRAM cell 210 consists of a single TCCT device 260 and three controls lines including a write enable line 230, word line 240, bit line 250. The TCCT device 260 consists of a thyristor (not labeled in FIG. 2) which includes an anode node 248 connected to the bit line 250, a cathode node 246 connected to the word line 240, and a gate capacitor (not shown) connected directly above a P-base region of the thyristor to a gate line which functions as the write enable line 230. The TCCT-DRAM cell 210 is operated using basic read/write operations which include a standby mode, a write logic one (1) operation, a write logic zero (0) operation, and a read operation.
In standby mode, both bit line 250 and word line 240 are at Vdd and the stored cell data is maintained by the charge state of the P-base region of thyristor. The word line 240 functions as the word line in TCCT DRAM, and activates the TCCT cells connected along the write enable line 230. During a write logic one (1) operation, the write enable line 230 is pulsed while word line 240 is held at ground level, triggering the TCCT device 260 to latch. The bias scheme for write zero (0) operation is the same as the write one (1) operation except that the voltage applied on the bit line 250 is kept low so that the pulsing of the write enable line 230 switches the TCCT device 260 into its blocking state. During a read operation, the word line 240 is held low and the change in the voltage or the current of the bit line 250 is read into a sense amplifier.
Although the TCCT-DRAM cell 210 does not require an access transistor, operation of the TCCT-DRAM cell 210 suffers from disturbance problems such as charge loss during a write zero operation. For example, when one TCCT-DRAM cell 210 is selected for a write zero operation, a bias level on the bit line 250 must decrease to ground which, in turn, can make an unselected TCCT-DRAM cell 270 lose charge through the bit line 250.
Accordingly, there is a need for memory devices and memory cell structures which can help to resolve such issues, and methods for fabricating those memory devices and memory cell structures.

Semiconductor memory devices and methods for fabricating the same


A system and method identifies a video file in response to a video based search query. A video imaging device in a mobile device captures a video file, and sends the video file to a search engine. A database associated with the search engine stores pre-indexed metadata of pre-indexed frames of video. A video analyzer separates the received video file into individual frames, analyzes the individual frames received from the mobile device by converting the individual frames into metadata, and compares the metadata to the pre-indexed metadata of the pre-indexed frames stored in the database. The video analyzer then sends a message containing information about the identified pre-existing video back to the mobile device based on the comparison of metadata. The metadata of the file and/or the metadata in the database may include one or more of pixel information, histogram information, image recognition information and audio information for each individual frame.

The use of hand held mobile stations for recording digital images has revolutionized the world. Similarly, conducting searches for information using mobile stations has greatly increased the speed at which hand held users can obtain information. For example, obtaining information while traveling in an automobile or walking on the street saves a significant amount of time and expense.
Combining the search function and camera function of a mobile station allows for a user to search based upon a digital image. Key words or other search criteria are extracted from a digital image, captured, for example, using the camera in a mobile station; and the search criteria are submitted to a search engine to obtain information of interest which is transmitted back to the mobile device and presented to the user.
Some systems for matching images taken with a mobile phone compare the images to images in a database. This allows users to quickly identify an object of interest. This system also uses key word extraction in order to search the database to identify an object.
These search techniques have processed still images. Modern hand held mobile devices often can also capture videos or "motion pictures." However, the use of a hand held device to identify a video program, such as a movie or a television program, may require a more robust search method.


The present invention provides various covalently modified hemoglobin compositions, each having a low temperature-dependent oxygen-binding function. The present invention also provides methods for preparing the hemoglobin compositions wherein a hemoglobin is intra-molecularly cross-linked and covalently modified with a class of hydrodynamic volume-enhancing, anionic compounds. The present invention also provides therapeutic, oxygen-delivering compositions comprising the hemoglobin compositions and pharmaceutically useful vehicles. Moreover, the present invention provides methods for delivering oxygen to cells or tissues using these compositions.

The restoration of oxygen delivery is a key survival factor for humans and other mammals following oxygen deprivation, such as that which results from blood loss (global ischemia) or restrictions to blood flow following myocardial infarction or stroke (focal ischemia). Transfusion of warmed (37.degree. C.) blood or packed red cells restores the circulating fluid volume and oxygen delivery following hemorrhage, but is not useful as a means for restoring oxygen delivery to tissues where the circulation has been impeded. Conversely, since hemoglobin (Hb) is much smaller in size than the red cell and is recognized as the natural oxygen transporting protein in mammals, solutions of this protein have the potential both to restore the circulating volume and to perfuse areas where the circulation has been compromised by infarcts. Thus, Hb solutions have been studied extensively as potential resuscitative fluids for the restoration of oxygen delivery.
However, native mammalian Hbs have two significant shortcomings that negate their therapeutic utility for the restoration of oxygen delivery following oxygen deprivation. First, following their isolation from red cells and purification, the oxygen affinity of native mammalian Hbs is too high to allow for effective oxygen delivery to ischemic tissues in vivo. Second, native mammalian Hbs break down in the circulatory system into alpha chain- or beta chain-containing subunits having dose-related nephrotoxicity.
These two shortcomings have been addressed by covalent modification of Hb. As a result of modification, Hb compositions have been produced that cannot break down into subunits and also have therapeutically useful oxygen binding properties at pH 7.4 and 37.degree. C. Four general types of Hb modification are recognized: (1) intra-molecular cross-linking; (2) modification of amino acid residues on the surface of the protein ("decoration"); (3) polymerization; and (4) combinations of intra-molecular cross-linking with decoration and/or polymerization.
Hypothermia is a corollary treatment that is used in surgeries of the heart and brain, two organs that are very sensitive to oxygen deprivation, and in organ, tissue or cell preservation. Under hypothermic conditions the patient's body temperature (or the temperature of the organ, tissue or cell) is lowered from about 37.degree. C. to about 20.degree. C. As the temperature is decreased, both blood and many mammalian Hbs, both native and covalently modified, show an increase in oxygen affinity that adversely affects their oxygen delivery capability. As a consequence of this increase in oxygen affinity of the Hb, neither blood or any of the known Hb compositions has the capability to maintain therapeutically effective oxygen delivery at these low temperatures. Oxygen deprivation (ischemia) results.
Accordingly, there exists a therapeutic need for new covalently modified hemoglobin compositions having an oxygen affinity that is less adversely affected by decreases in temperature, i.e., hemoglobin compositions having a low temperature-dependent oxygen binding function. The present invention satisfies this need.

Covalently modified hemoglobin having low temperature-dependent oxygen-binding function


Example methods for determining an over-sudsing condition during a wash cycle of operation in a laundry treating appliance containing a foamable liquid are disclosed. An example method includes rotating within a tub a drum defining a treating chamber while the tub contains a foamable liquid, determining, over time, a fluctuation in a signal from a pressure sensor fluidly coupled to the tub while the drum is rotating, the signal representing an amount of water in the tub, determining an over-sudsing condition when the fluctuation satisfies a predetermined threshold, and altering a cycle of operation in response to the determination of an over-sudsing condition.

Laundry treating appliances wash laundry using a treating chemistry, such as a wash liquor. The wash liquor may contain solvents, such as water and surfactants, as well as other agents. The surfactants may reduce the surface tension of water to enhance cleaning action. The reduced surface tension may also result in enhanced foaming of the wash liquor. Excessive foaming or an over-sudsing condition may lead to reduced effect of mechanical energy applied to the laundry for cleaning, such as, for example, the suds may insulate the impact of the laundry on the side of the drum. Detection of an over-sudsing condition may allow for responding to the over-sudsing condition to enable a more effective wash cycle of operation.

Method and apparatus to detect an over-suds condition


The present invention relates to modified Hepatitis C NS3 proteases and modified Hepatitis C NS4a-NS3 fusion proteases. These proteins are highly soluble and are useful for NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, and inhibitor screening. DNA constructs are also provided.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the suspected cause of 90% of all cases of non-A, non-B hepatitis (Choo et al., 1989, Kuo et al., 1989). HCV infection is more common than HIV infection with an incidence rate of 2-15% worldwide. Over 4 million people are infected with HCV in the United States alone. While primary infection with HCV is often asymptomatic, almost all HCV infections progress to a chronic state that persists for decades. A staggering 20-50% are thought to eventually develop chronic liver disease (e.g. cirrhosis) and 20-30% of these cases will lead to liver failure or liver cancer. Up to 12,000 people in the U.S. will die this year from sequelae associated with HCV infection. As the current population ages over the next two decades, the morbidity and mortality associated with HCV are expected to triple. The development of safe and effective treatment(s) for HCV infection is a major unmet medical need.
The established principle for antiviral intervention is the direct inhibition of essential, virally encoded enzymes. The only approved treatment for HCV infection is interferon, however, which indirectly effects HCV infection by altering the host immune response. Interferon treatment is largely ineffective, as a sustained antiviral response is produced in less than 30% of treated patients. A safe and effective antiviral treatment that blocks viral replication directly would likely have a much more beneficial impact on the public health for HCV infection than does interferon treatment. There have been no such inhibitors of HCV replication disclosed, to date. Vaccination to prevent HCV disease has not shown promise due to the lack of efficacy of vaccine candidates for HCV.
Hepatitis C virus is a positive-strand RNA virus of the family Flaviviridae. The HCV genome encodes a single polyprotein of 3033 amino acids, of which residues 1027 to 1657 (631 amino acids) represent the NS3 protein (Choo et al., 1991). The HCV NS3 protein is a site-specific protease that cleaves the HCV polyprotein selectively at four sites related by their primary amino acid sequences (Grakoui et al., 1993a). These cleavages give rise to the mature non-structural (replicative) proteins of HCV, including NS3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A, and NS5B (Bartenschlager et al., 1993; Grakoui et al., 1993b; Hijikata, et al., 1993a,b; Tomei et al., 1993; Bartenschlager et al., 1994; Eckart et al., 1994; Lin et al., 1994; Manabe, et al 1994). Genetic studies have demonstrated that the homologous NS3 proteases of related viruses (e.g Yellow Fever Virus and Bovine viral diarrhea virus) are absolutely essential for viral replication (Chambers et al., 1990; Xu et al., 1997). Thus, inhibitors of NS3 protease should inhibit HCV replication and would be useful for the discovery and development of effective antiviral treatments for HCV infection.
Efficient processing of the HCV polyprotein by NS3 also requires the NS4A protein, amino acids 1658-1712 (58 amino acids) of the HCV polyprotein (Bartenschlager et al., 1994; Overton et al., 1994; Bartenschlager et al., 1995; Bouffard et al., 1995; Tanji et al., 1995). NS4A stimulates protease activity through the formation of a heteromeric complex with NS3 (Bartenschlager et al., 1995; Lin et al 1995; Satoh et al., 1995). NS4A is also thought to target the localization of the NS3 protease to the ER membrane, the likely site of viral replication (Hijikata et al., 1993b; Lin and Rice, 1995; Tanji et al., 1995). Studies to map the functional domains of NS3 and NS4A have demonstrated that the protease catalytic domain of NS3 resides within amino acids 1-181 (Bartenschlager et al., 1994; Tanji et al., 1994; Failla et al., 1995; Shoji et al., 1995) and that the catalytic domain interacts with, and is stimulated by, NS4A (Hijikata et al., 1993a; Lin et al., 1994; Bartenschlager et al., 1995; Failla et al., 1995; Satoh et al., 1995; Tanji et al., 1995). The remaining 450 amino acids of NS3 comprise a functional domain with helicase and ATPase activities which are thought to be involved in viral genome replication (Jin and Peterson, 1995). Functional studies of NS4A in vitro demonstrated that the protease stimulatory activity mapped to amino acids 21-34 of NS4A (Lin et al., 1995; Tomei et al., 1995; Shimizu et al., 1996). The N-terminal 20 amino acids of NS4A, on the other hand, are largely hydrophobic in nature and might serve as a transmembrane anchor domain (Lin and Rice, 1995).
The three-dimensional structure of the protease catalytic domain of NS3 has been determined by X-ray crystallography, with and without a cofactor peptide from NS4A (Kim et al., 1996; Love et al., 1996; Yan et al., 1998). These structures revealed very strong structural homology to chymotrypsin-like serine protease domains with the canonical catalytic triad comprising Ser-139, His-57, and Asp-81. The N-terminal 28 amino acids of NS3 were unique, however, as they were unstructured in the absence of NS4A, while in the presence of NS4A peptide this region adopts .beta.-strand and .alpha.-helix secondary structures. The co-crystal structure revealed that the NS4A peptide is inserted into, and partially buried by, adjacent .beta.-strands of NS3. Local rearrangements near the protease active site also occur as a result of NS4A binding, and these are thought to render the protease more catalytically active. Thus, NS4A would be expected to stabilize the active conformation of the HCV protease.
Near the N-terminus of NS3 is an (.alpha.-helix spanning residues 13-21 ((.alpha.-helix 0) that appears to be stabilized by the NS4A peptide. The external face of this helix is very hydrophobic and consists entirely of branched aliphatic residues. Due to its hydrophobic nature, it has been speculated that this surface might be involved in additional membrane interactions for anchoring the NS3:NS4A complex to cytoplasmic membranes (Yan et al., 1998).
Routine methods for the expression of recombinant NS3 protease (e.g E. coli, baculovirus) have been employed widely. A common problem encountered when expressing wild-type NS3 protease (either full-length or truncated catalytic domain) has been the production of either insoluble or poorly soluble protein, especially when using E. coli vector systems. The best systems described to date have produced low levels of recombinant wild-type protease and the protease tends to be poorly soluble (Shoji et al., 1995; Suzuki et al., 1995; Hong et al., 1996; Steinkuhler et al., 1996). As many of these preparations are enzymatically active, this approach has sufficed to generate active enzyme for activity analysis and inhibitor screening. However, to carry out structural studies, highly expressed enzymes characterized by high solubility and low aggregation, in addition to enzymatic activity, are required.
Efforts have been made to overcome problems associated with low expression and/or poor solubility of the HCV protease, by constructing genetically engineered fusion derivatives of the native NS3 protease domain. Most notable are the generation of NS3 protease catalytic domains that form slowly-growing crystals suitable for structure determination by X-ray crystallography (Love et al., 1996; Kim et al., 1996; Yan et al., 1998). These have involved the construction of genetically engineered derivatives of NS3 by fusing polypeptide tags to the N-terminus and/or C-terminus that enhance the stable expression and/or solubility of the expressed protein (e.g. basic amino acids, poly-histidine). Other types of protease fusions (e.g. with ubiquitin, glutathione-S-transferase, maltose binding protein), including fusion of the NS4A protein to the C-terminus of the protease catalytic domain (Inoue etal., 1998), have been described that are partly soluble when expressed in E. coli, but few if any of these have overcome the critical limitation of low overall solubility. Very recently, bacterial expression of constructs in which the NS4a segment is fused to the N-terminus of the NS3 protease have been reported (Taremi et al., 1998; Pasquo et al., 1998); however, overall solubility of the final preparations were not reported.
There has been no published report of a NS3 preparation that is suitable for protein NMR work, as NMR studies typically require protein preparations that are expressed at high levels, are very highly soluble (>1 mM), and do not form soluble aggregates when purified. In addition, no X-ray structures of HCV protease complexed with enzyme inhibitors have been reported to date.

Modified forms of Hepatitis C NS3 protease for facilitating inhibitor screening and structural studies of protease: inhibitor complexes


A system for regenerating a particulate filter mounted on an exhaust pipe of a gasoline engine including a plurality of cylinders and an ignition device for igniting fuel and air in the cylinder, a three-way catalyst device mounted on the exhaust pipe connected to the gasoline engine, and to oxidize or reduce exhaust gas, the particulate filter mounted on the exhaust pipe downstream of the three-way catalyst device to trap particulate matter and regenerate the particulate matter using heat of the exhaust gas, a differential pressure sensor mounted upstream and downstream of the particulate filter and to measure a pressure difference of the particulate filter, and a control portion to receive the measured pressure difference and control parameters to determine an amount of non-ignited fuel which is not ignited and flows to the three-way catalyst device among the fuel flowing into the plurality of cylinders.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a system and a method for regenerating a particulate filter. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for regenerating a particulate filter of a gasoline engine.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a gasoline direct injection (GDI) art has been developed so as to improve fuel consumption efficiency and performance of an internal combustion engine, wherein the GDI engine does not inject fuel into an intake pipe, but directly injects the fuel into a combustion chamber.
Since the air/fuel ratio is low (rich mode) around a spark plug, an engine is operated in a lean fuel condition, but there is a problem that a gasoline direct injection engine (GDI) generates a large amount of particulate matter (PM) according to an incomplete combustion period increment in a combustion chamber.
Accordingly, a particulate filter is mounted in a gasoline direct injection engine (GDI) vehicle. Because the temperature in the particulate filter, however, is low and oxygen concentration in the particulate filter is low, it is difficult to passively regenerate particulate matter (PM) in the particulate filter.
In a conventional art, various devices for supplying oxygen to a particulate filter have been developed so as to resolve such problems. That is, regeneration of the particulate filter is performed as a consequence of the particulate matter (PM) trapped in the particulate filter being oxidized and eliminated by supplying additional air to the front end of the particulate filter mounted on an exhaust pipe.
Exhaust gas exhausted from the gasoline engine is purified when passing through a three-way catalyst device. Particularly, when the air-fuel ratio in a cylinder is a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, the exhaust gas can be very effectively purified. If air, however, is additionally supplied for regenerating the particulate filter (i.e., the air/fuel ratio is high), nitrogen oxide (NOX) in the exhaust gas is hardly reduced.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

System and method for regenerating gasoline particulate filter


Image display method of superimposing virtual space image data on real space image data at an arbitrary viewpoint and exhibiting the superimposed image to a viewer is provided. When real space image data, including a prototype generated based on three-dimensional CAD data, is captured by an image sensing device, the position and orientation of the image sensing device and the prototype are tracked, and position/orientation data indicative of the position and orientation of the prototype in the image is acquired. Based on the position/orientation data and the three-dimensional CAD data, a three-dimensional computer graphic image is rendered so as to overlap the prototype in the image, thereby synthesizing the image with the three-dimensional computer graphic image. The synthesized image is then displayed.

The mixed reality system provides a user with a synthesized image, which is obtained by synthesizing a real space image with a virtual space image generated in accordance with a user's viewpoint position, visual line direction, and so forth. The mixed reality system can give a viewer a sense that as if a virtual object really exists in real space. Compared to a conventional virtual reality system (VR system), more realistic and full-scale viewing is possible (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-136706).
Meanwhile, in the design and production field, designing (shapes and designs) by a three-dimensional CAD is prevailing. The mainstream method of evaluating an object designed by a three-dimensional CAD includes a method that visually evaluates the object by displaying data (solid type) generated by a three-dimensional CAD on a computer screen as three-dimensional computer graphics (hereinafter referred to as a 3D-CG), or a method that visually and tactually evaluates the object by generating a simple prototype (simple mockup) using a rapid prototyping device or the like.
However, the method of displaying three-dimensional CAD data on a computer screen as a 3D-CG merely allows evaluation in virtual space, and it is impossible to evaluate an object as a full-scale object in real space. Furthermore, the method of generating a simple prototype (simple mockup) by a rapid prototyping device is effective for grasping a rough shape of an object under the constraints of processing precision, materials and so on, but it does not reproduce detailed information, e.g., the detailed design and shape, colors and so on, designed by the 3D-CAD. Therefore, there is a demand for a method that can evaluate design data under the condition close to a finished product.


A lens-refracting characteristic measuring apparatus includes a measuring optical device to measure refracting characteristics of eyeglass lenses, an input device to input a pupillary distance of eyes of a person wearing eyeglasses, and an arithmetic and control circuit for obtaining refracting characteristics of the eyeglass lenses in positions of centers of right and left pupils of the person wearing the eyeglasses based on the pupillary distance of right and left eyes of the person wearing the eyeglasses input by the input device and the refracting characteristics measured by the measuring optical device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for measuring a refracting characteristic of a lens, particularity eyeglass lenses, and more particularly to an apparatus for measuring a lens-refracting characteristic of eyeglasses in positions corresponding to pupils of eyes.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, when manufacturing eyeglasses, a distance between optical centers of right and left lenses of eyeglasses and a distance between pupils of right and left eyes for a person wearing eyeglasses are set to be equal such that the centers of the pupils coincide with the optical centers of the lenses of eyeglasses for the person wearing the eyeglasses, respectively.
In this case, respective distances from the center of the nose of the person wearing the eyeglasses to the respective centers of pupils of the right and left eyes, namely, half pupillary distances are respectively measured. Accordingly, the right and left half pupillary distances conform to the half optical center distances from the center between the right and left eyeglass lenses to the optical centers of the right and left eyeglass lenses, respectively.
Conventionally, there has been known a lens-refracting characteristic measuring apparatus for measuring an optical center distance between light and left lenses of such eyeglasses (For example, reference to Japanese Patent Laid-Open H08-29292).
However, there may be a case that right and left half pupillary distances of actually manufactured eyeglasses do not agree with the right and left half optical center distances of the eyeglasses. When the centers of pupils for a person wearing eyeglasses do not accurately agree with the centers of the eyeglass lenses, respectively, the person wearing the eyeglasses has to wear the eyeglasses in a state in which prism occurs, in other words, a plurality of refractions are generated. In such eyeglasses, it was impossible to accurately measure the refracting characteristics of the eyeglass lenses in the positions corresponding to the centers of the pupils of the person wearing the eyeglasses.
On the other hand, there may be a case when a person wearing eyeglasses includes heterophoria and cross-eye, amount of prism is set in case of manufacturing the eyeglasses. The optical center distance of the eyeglasses manufactured by the amount of prism does not conform to the above mentioned pupillary distance. When the pupillary distance of such eyeglasses was measured, it was impossible to judge whether the amount of prism is set for the cross eye or not, or whether the half pupillary distances do not agree with the optical center distances or not.
Moreover, when the amount of prism was set for the cross-eye, it was hard to determine whether the amount of prism is appropriately set or not.

Lens-refracting characteristic measuring apparatus


An R-T-B permanent magnet comprises rare-earth elements R, transition metal elements T, and boron B; wherein at least some of the rare-earth elements R is Nd and at least one of Tb and Dy; at least some of the transition metal elements T are Fe; the R-T-B permanent magnet comprises a plurality of main phase grains and grain boundary triple points each surrounded by the main phase grains; the grain boundary triple points comprise at least one of Nd and Pr, at least one of Tb and Dy, at least one of Fe and Co, and copper; the average contents of Nd, Pr, Tb, Dy, Fe, Co and Cu each (unit: atom %) are represented by [Nd], [Pr], [Tb], [Dy], [Fe], [Co] and [Cu]; ([Fe]+[Co])/([Nd]+[Pr]) is 2 or more and 5 or less; and [Cu]/([Tb]+[Dy]) is 1 or more and 4 or less.

An R-T-B permanent magnet containing rare-earth elements R (neodymium or the like), transition metal elements T (iron or the like) and boron B has excellent magnetic properties. As indices of magnetic properties of an R-T-B permanent magnet, residual magnetic flux density Br (residual magnetization) and coercivity HcJ are generally used.
An R-T-B permanent magnet is a nucleation type permanent magnet. Application of a magnetic field in the direction opposite to magnetization direction to a nucleation type permanent magnet allows magnetization reversal nuclei to easily occur in the vicinity of grain boundaries of many crystal grains (main phase grains) of the permanent magnet. The coercivity of a permanent magnet is reduced by the magnetization reversal nuclei.
In order to improve the coercivity of an R-T-B permanent magnet, heavy rare-earth elements such as dysprosium is added to the R-T-B permanent magnet (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-187734). Addition of heavy rare-earth elements allows an anisotropic magnetic field to easily grow larger locally in the vicinity of grain boundaries, so that magnetization reversal nuclei hardly occur in the vicinity of grain boundaries, resulting in increase of coercivity. In the case where the amount of heavy rare-earth elements added is too much, however, the saturation magnetization (saturation magnetic flux density) of the R-T-B permanent magnet decreases, and the residual magnetic flux density also decreases. It is therefore desirable to balance between the residual magnetic flux density and the coercivity of a heavy rare-earth element-containing R-T-B permanent magnet. Since the cost of heavy rare-earth elements is high, it is also desirable that the content of the heavy rare-earth elements in an R-T-B permanent magnet is reduced in order to reduce the production cost of the R-T-B permanent magnet.


The objective lens unit includes, a front lens group having a negative refractive power, a diaphragm, and a rear lens group having a positive refractive power, in order from an object side. The front lens group includes a negative lens having a concave surface facing an image surface side, and a positive lens having a convex surface facing the object side, and the rear lens group includes a positive lens having a convex surface facing the image surface side and a cemented lens in which a positive lens and a negative lens are cemented. The endoscope objective lens unit satisfies −1.6<fF/fR<−1.2 and −1.3<f3/fF<−0.7. Note that fF and fR are focal lengths of the entire system of the front lens group and the rear lens group, and f3 is a focal length of a positive lens, in the rear lens group.

Today, endoscopes are used to examine biological tissue inside a human body. An endoscope includes an image sensor that captures an image of a biological tissue illuminated with illumination light and an objective lens unit attached to the image sensor, at a distal end portion that is inserted into a human body. Since the objective lens unit needs to be very small and have high optical performance in order to reduce the size of the distal end portion, it is often configured with a small number of lenses.
For example, there is a known endoscope objective lens that includes a front lens group, a diaphragm, and a rear lens group in order from an object side, in which the front lens group is composed of a negative lens and a positive lens having a surface with a small curvature radius on the object side in order from the object side, and the rear lens group is composed of a positive lens having a surface with a small curvature radius on the image side and a cemented lens in which a positive lens and a negative lens are cemented, and there is a predetermined relationship between a focal length f of the entire system and a focal length f3 of the positive lens in the rear lens group (Patent Document 1).
According to the above endoscope objective lens, it is said that a lens having a wide angle, a small outer diameter, and a low maximum light beam height of the first lens can be provided.

Endoscope objective lens unit and endoscope


A relocatable traffic barrier system including a plurality of elongate barrier modules (112, 113) connected end-to-end, each module having a cavity for receiving a ballast of a fluid material wherein the barrier system includes at least one crash rail (124) extending lengthwise along at least one side of the plurality of elongate barrier modules wherein the at least one crash rail is secured to selected elongate barrier modules by a deformable member (123), said deformable member being disposed between the at least one crash rail and the selected elongate barrier modules.

Elongate barrier systems are commonly used for such purposes as guiding traffic and preventing ingress of pedestrians and vehicles into particular areas such as building and excavation sites. One form of barrier system used in such circumstances consists of a number of matching generally elongate modules which are connected end-to-end to form a barrier, each module including or being a container adapted to be filled with a fluid such as water for ballast. The ballast provides the container with sufficient weight such that the barrier is not easily moved by contact from the type of traffic (pedestrians or slow moving vehicles) it is intended to control or guide.
Whilst such barriers are useful for these limited purposes they generally lack the ability to safely absorb impacts, such as accidental impacts by motor vehicles, without failure of the barrier or excessively large lateral displacement. Failure of the barrier upon impact by a vehicle moving at speed, generally in the direction of longitudinal axis of the barrier, can result in the vehicle breaching the barrier. This may result in the pedestrians or objects protected by the barrier being endangered by the vehicle similarly excessive displacement of the barrier may endanger pedestrians or objects behind the barrier.
Government agencies establish guidelines for crash barrier safety. For example, the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) policy requires the use of devices on the National Highway System (NHS) that have been successfully tested in accordance with the guidelines contained in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350, "Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features." State transportation agencies may establish different standards for non-NHS projects, but the United States FHWA recommends the use of crash-worthy devices on all public facilities where run-off-the-road crashes may occur. Standards are provided for various highway safety features, including relocatable transportable work zone devices. Category 3 devices are subject to the full crash testing requirements of NCHRP Report 350, Levels 1 to 3. Level 3 is a 25 degree impact at 100 kmh with a 2000 kg pickup, and a 20 degree impact with a 820 kg sedan. Successful devices shall prevent penetration of the barrier line and control the deceleration of impacting vehicles by dissipating the vehicle's kinetic energy in a manner that does not cause violent decelerations which cause injuries to vehicle occupants. When struck, the barrier system shall redirect the errant vehicle back onto the roadway or bring the errant vehicle to a safe and controlled stop. Most of the available modular, ballasted longitudinal barrier style systems fail to meet these standards and where protection is required it is necessary to employ relocatable barriers of the type formed from concrete. The use of barriers formed from concrete increases the difficulty in transporting and positioning the barriers due to the extreme mass of the barrier elements that need to be transported and deployed.
Attempts have been made to modify ballasted barriers to enable them to function adequately as vehicular crash barriers. For example, one approach has been to provide an internal reinforced steel framework in each module, the framework being so designed that when modules are connected together by fasteners the frameworks are effectively connected together, thus increasing the crash-resistance of the barrier. This approach suffers from the disadvantage of complexity of manufacture, assembly and weight of the empty, or unballasted, modules
We have now found a barrier that is able to resist impacts such as impacts by motor vehicles, and which avoids the use of modules with internal frameworks or bracing. The barrier system of the present invention allows the use of existing modular ballasted barriers, which is advantageous, but also encompasses the use of purpose built barrier modules. In either case, the problems associated with transport of barrier modules encumbered by the weight of internal framing are minimized or at least the consumer is provided with a useful or commercial choice. Also within the scope of the invention are fittings and fixtures for use in the construction of the barrier of the present invention.

Relocatable transportable safety crash barrier system


An illuminating light source, and a scanner module and an image scanning apparatus including the same. The illuminating light source includes: a vacuum tube have a cylindrical shape, is filled with a discharging gas, and has a light emitting portion disposed in a lengthwise direction thereof; a discharging electrode disposed upon the vacuum tube, and having a width that increases from a center portion to end portions thereof; and a fluorescent body disposed within the vacuum tube, to absorb first light beams emitted by the discharging gas and to emit second light beams having a longer wavelength than the first light beams, with the second light beams being illuminated through the light emitting portion.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to an illuminating light source for a scanner module, to read information from an object, and an image scanning apparatus employing the scanner module.
2. Related Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a scanner module generally illuminates an object, e.g., a document disposed on a cover glass 3, with light from a light source 1. A scanner module generally forms an image with the light reflected from the document, through an imaging lens 5 and onto an image pickup device 7 (e.g. sensor). As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the amount of light picked-up from the image decreases from the center toward the edges of the image, due to the optical characteristics of the imaging lens 5.
As shown in FIG. 2, the amount of distributed light, i.e. the illumination, of the surface of a document is uniform across the document. Due to the optical characteristics of the imaging lens 5, the illumination of an image forming surface, of the image pickup device 7, is the highest in the center of the image forming surface and gradually decreases toward the edges thereof, due to the properties of the lens 5
The decrease in the amount of light focused through the edges of the lens 5 (reaching the edges of image pickup device 7) is represented as a function of an angle θ formed between an image reading unit (not shown) and the imaging lens 5. Generally, the decrease in the light intensity is proportional to cos 4θ. That is, as the angle θ becomes larger, the light amount is drastically decreased. Accordingly, the intensity of a signal inputted to the image pickup device 7 becomes weaker toward the edges, and the signal to noise ratio decreases. The decreased light amount causes a gradation difference between the center and the edges of an image.
To narrow the difference in the light amount, a conventional method, of decreasing the light amount of the center, is employed, as shown in FIG. 4. Referring to FIG. 4, the conventional illuminating light source includes: a lamp holder 10; a lamp 11, which is mounted in the lamp holder 10 and emits light; and a reflection plate 13, which is mounted in the lamp holder 10 and reflects incident light, so that the light emitted by the lamp 11 is directed in a predetermined direction. A non-reflective pattern 13a is formed in a predetermined region of the reflection plate 13, to decrease the light amount from the center of an image and to reduce the light amount difference. The non-reflective pattern 13a has a curvature that bocks more light from the center of an image than from the edges of an image.
If the illuminating light source is provided as shown in FIG. 4, a portion of the light emitted by the lamp 11 is blocked, thereby lowering light efficiency. A portion of the light, emitted to the non-reflective pattern 13a of the reflection plate 13, is absorbed by the non-reflective pattern 13a. Thus, the temperature of the reflection plate 13 increases, due to the absorption of thermal energy. Also, the non-reflective pattern 13a is printed in the reflection plate 13, thereby increasing production costs.

Illuminating light source, scanner module employing the same, and image scanning apparatus employing the scanner module


A packer assembly for use within a borehole. The packer assembly may include a mandrel, a top packer retainer, a packer, a bottom packer retainer, and a sleeve. The top packer may extend circumferentially around the mandrel. The packer may extend circumferentially around the mandrel and may be positioned downhole of the top packer retainer. The bottom packer retainer may extend circumferentially around the mandrel and may be positioned downhole of the top packer retainer. The bottom packer retainer may be shiftable to compress the packer against the top packer retainer to expand and set the packer. The packer sleeve may be shiftable between a run-in position covering the packer and a retracted position uphole of the packer, and the packer sleeve may restrict the packer from expanding when in the run-in position.

This section is intended to provide relevant background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the described embodiments. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light and not as admissions of prior art.
In the drilling and completion of oil and gas wells, a borehole is drilled into subterranean producing formations. The borehole is sometimes lined with casing to strengthen the sides of the borehole and isolate the interior of the casing from the surrounding formation. It may also be desirable to selectively seal or plug the well at various locations during the production of hydrocarbons (e.g., oil and/or gas) from a well. To do so, some completion procedures use packers, or similar devices, to provide hydraulic isolation of zones within the well for sequential operations in one zone while isolating already treated zones. For example, open-hole packers can be used to provide a seal in annular areas between concentric tubulars, such as the annular space between the earthen sidewall of the borehole and a tubular. Similarly, cased hole packers can be used to provide an annular seal between an outer tubular (such as the borehole casing) and an internal tubular (such as production tubing).
One common type of packer is a mechanical-set packer, which comprises a tool that compresses and expands a sealing material radially outward. For example, the sealing material may be constructed of a rubber compound or other suitable compressible material. Once the mechanical set packer reaches the desired location within the borehole, the packer is compressed to create a seal the in the annular area between concentric tubulars.

Packer assembly for use within a borehole


A snap action switch including a switch in incipient form. The switch comprises a contact having a cut-out tongue mounted on a post with the tongue bent to form a spring, the post being one terminal. The other end of the element remote from the tongue end initially contacts an exposed second or third terminal above or below the other end. When an actuator or nose from a resilient body acts against the surround adjacent the tongue end, force is exerted against the contact. The contact snaps from the initial connection between the nose and one of the second or third contacts to the other. When the resilient body relaxes, the nose resumes its original position and the switch snaps back to resume a connection between the post and the initial connection with the second or third terminal.

Various patents describe snap action switches.
For example U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,004 to Williams, III, Mar. 7, 1972, for Auxiliary Support Means for Electrical Switch Actuator describes a snap action switch biased to a first position. By depression of a plunger, the switch is actuated to a second position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,700,843 to Resh, Oct. 24, 1972, for snap-in Rigid Lever Actuating Arrangement, describes a rigid lever actuator which is snap fastened into place on an electrical switch base.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,837 to Yoshioka May 7, 1974, for Microswitch with Readily Removable Leaf Spring Actuating Means, describes a push button switch including an actuator. One portion of a spring is formed into a hook which engages a presented edge on the corresponding wall of a recess. This edge is preferably sharp to provide a fulcrum for bodily rocking movement of the actuator.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,024 to Sevigny May 14, 1974, Monetary Contact, Non-Bounce Switch describes a switch means carrying a weighted contact which may be biased away, is allowed to snap back to make a momentary electrical contact.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,508 to Beck, Aug. 27, 1974, for Micro-lever Switch Operator describes a lever which includes a portion for engagement with the operating plunger and a mounting portion having a forked extension with pivot arms.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,284 to Kirchoff et al. Sept. 26, 1978, describes a three position switch having a rocker, or see-saw movable contact.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,387 to Kirchoff for Watertight Seal for Toggle Switches, Mar. 4, 1980, relates to the seal for a toggle switch.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,310 to Kirchoff et al., Mar. 3, 1981, for Subminiature Multi-pole Toggle Switch with Linear See-saw Contact, shows a toggle switch reaching stable positions by virtue of a compression spring.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,017 to Kashima et al. Oct. 13, 1981, for Limit Switch describes an actuating arm 141 that is operated about a fulcrum to actuate a push button of a switch. A spring returns the lever to its normal position after actuation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,132 to Henville, Dec. 15, 1981, for Electrical Switches describes a switch with an actuating lever for pivotal movement to actuate the switch.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,916 to Anderson, Dec. 7, 1982, for Miniature Precision Snap Action Switch Having Operating Lever Providing Large Overtravel uses one end 14a of a coiled bias spring 14 to bear against a bracket. The other end 14b is held against the riveted end of a cam 16 to bias the lever arm 12 and cam 16 counterclockwise until the tip 16e stops against the upper surface of a strip 8c.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,553 to Foil, July 19, 1983, describes a snap-action switch using a contact "trap mounted" to a terminal bracket. A lever may exert force on the spring to cause it to assume its other position. The spring contact returns when the lever is released.


Standard height wall form panels for poured concrete walls are extended with cap panels positioned on top thereof and secured thereto with cap clips which can be conveniently and easily installed and disassembled with the wall form panels. Furthermore, a spreader is used to maintain the spacing of the cap panels and provide a uniformly dimensioned concrete wall. Advantageously, the spreader in one embodiment allows a worker to pass a trowel there beneath to smooth out the top surface of the poured concrete wall.

This invention relates to poured concrete wall forms, and more particularly, to hardware for connecting and positioning the various opponents of poured concrete wall forms.
It is well known in the art to use prefabricated reusable panel units to construct a wall form for a poured concrete wall. Typically, a pair of spaced generally parallel wall forms are constructed from a plurality of individual panels. The individual panels are connected together with various attachment hardware to construct the wall form. After the spaced wall forms are constructed, concrete is poured between the wall forms and allowed to cure or harden at which time the wall forms, panels and associated hardware are disassembled, collected and transported to another site for reuse. Typically, a panel used in constructing a wall form is approximately 8' high and 2' to 3' in width. The individual panels each include a marginal frame projecting rearwardly from a back face of the panel to include a flange along the spaced side edges and top and bottom edges of the panel. The side flanges are adapted to be positioned in a face-to-face relationship with the flange of an adjacent panel for connection therewith to construct a concrete wall form. Holes in the side flanges of the adjacent panels can be aligned to receive therethrough the shank of a pin or a bolt. The bolt or pin may pass through the ends of tie rods and are held in position commonly by wedges which project through a slot in the shank of the bolt or pin. The tie rods serve an important function by maintaining the spaced wall forms at a predetermined distance so that the resulting poured concrete wall is of a uniform thickness, shape and configuration.
Due to the wide variety of architectural plans and construction designs, individual wall form panels of various sizes are frequently used in combinations to construct an appropriately configured wall form. Typically, panels having a width of 12" or less are called fillers and are often used with other "standard" size panels to construct a wall form.
Commonly, poured concrete walls are used to construct the foundation or basement of a residential house or other building. Typically, 8' high panels have been used to construct the wall forms for such a basement or foundation. However, frequently a filler panel of typically 12" in width is laid on its side atop the top edge of the wall form panels as a cap panel to provide a 9' high wall form. The extended height wall form and resulting poured concrete wall are commonly required for an elevated ceiling in the basement or extra head room to conceal duct work, wiring, plumbing or the like without diminishing the 8' high ceiling in the basement or foundation.
In the construction of a concrete wall form, a large quantity of hardware is necessary to connect the adjacent panels together. This situation is further complicated when a filler panel is positioned atop a standard 8' wall form to provide an 9' high wall. Furthermore, the wall forms are commonly constructed in excavated areas such as ditches and trenches with basement or below ground floor of a commercial building. As such, the work space for constructing the wall form and for the workers to maneuver and manipulate the associated hardware and panels is extremely tight and limited.
Therefore, the installation of the attachment hardware for the various panel configurations must be convenient, easily performed and require a minimal amount time and effort. The cost of labor and materials, therefore, has a significant impact upon the effectiveness of the wall form panel and attachment hardware designs.
The attachment hardware commonly used to secure adjacent panels in a side-by-side relationship cannot be used for securing an upper cap panel or filler panel atop the standard 8' high panels because of the orientation and configuration of the holes, pins and the like. Nevertheless, off-the-shelf products are often used in an attempt to secure the upper cap panel, and these techniques and attachment schemes often prove to have limited success. As a result, the upper cap panel may waiver or become misaligned with respect to the lower panels or with respect to the opposing wall form. Commonly, a 2'.times.4' or other member spanning the wall forms is clamped or secured to the upper flange of the cap member with a C-clamp or the like and the lower flange of the cap member and the upper flange of the panel are likewise clamped or otherwise secured together. However, this often proves to be a very time consuming and problematic operation for the workers.
Therefore, there exists a need in the industry for an attachment mechanism for coupling an upper cap panel onto a wall form and accurately and securely maintaining the cap panel in position relative to the opposite wall form, all of which is easily and conveniently installed and disassembled by the workers in the field.

Cap clip and spreader for poured concrete wall forms


Disclosed is a system for performing User Interface (UI) verification of a Device Under Test (DUT). Before performing the UI verification, a set of corner markers is positioned at corners of a display frame associated to the DUT. Once the set of corner markers are positioned, an image receiving module receives a DUT image, captured by an image capturing unit, of the UI pertaining to a DUT. A skew correction module for correcting orientation of the DUT image by determining an orientation correction factor. A file configuration module for storing the orientation correction factor in a pre-configuration file when the DUT image is occupying the content greater than the predefined threshold percentage. In one aspect, the orientation correction factor may be referred while testing a UI of the DUT.

In this competitive world, if a commodity/product is launched in the market with less defects, the profit earned by a manufacturer, of the commodity, is huge. To do so, manufacturers have to ensure quality of the commodity/product before it's launch. In addition to the quality, it is further important to launch the commodity/product at the right time to limit the competition. Therefore, the manufacturers may opt for an automation testing that enable the manufacturers to launch the commodity/product while maintaining the quality.
In the domain of electronic goods, it becomes necessary to verify a User Interface (UI) of a display device before the launch. Examples of the display device may include Television and Monitor. If the display device has a standard display output interfaces, the verification of the UI may be performed by capturing the display through various available interfaces. Examples of the available interfaces may include High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) and Video Graphics Array (VGA). However, when the display device does not have the standard display output interfaces, it becomes a challenge for the manufactures to verify the UI of the display device.

Method and system for performing user interface verification of a device under test


When a separating plate 9 is lowered by the actuation of a cylinder unit 11 from the condition in which the far right C-shaped clip W of a group of C-shaped clips W touches a step section 15 of the separating plate 9 and stops, a wedge section 16 is driven between the far right C-shaped clip W and the subsequent C-shaped clip W to separate the far right C-shaped clip W to fall down on the right side. When the separating plate 9 is further lowered, the far right C-shaped clip W is completely separated. With this arrangement, a shaft section 101 of an installation jig 100 is positioned by a guide plate 8 and is inserted into the inner hole of the guide rod 3 to hold down part of the C-shaped clip W separated between the front shaft section 101 and a clamp member 103 for separation.

To prevent a piston pin attached to a piston from coming off, a C-shaped clip is fitted into an annular groove of a hole into which the piston pin is installed. A device for automatically conducting such a C-shaped clip fitting operation is proposed in Patent Document 1. The device comprises an ejecting cylinder, a positioning cylinder, and a fitting cylinder, wherein a C-shaped clip held within a holder is pushed slantwise in a cylindrical member in a reduced diameter condition by the ejecting cylinder, the cylindrical member is caused to come down by the positioning cylinder to touch a piston, and the clip is caused to engage the inside of an annular groove by the fitting cylinder.
Devices for separating workpieces other than the C-shaped clips one by one disclosed in Patent Documents 2 and 3 are also known.
The device disclosed in Patent Document 2 is provided in such a manner that a cylinder containing a workpiece is arranged slantwise, a spiral bar adapted to rotate by a motor is provided within the cylinder, and the workpieces are supplied one by one from an upper opening of the cylinder as the spiral bar rotates.
The device disclosed in Patent Document 3 is provided in such a manner that a slider is disposed slantwise, a stopper is disposed on the lower end of the slider, and workpieces slipping off the slider are separated one by one by the stopper.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-225754
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-135099
[Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-175425
A circular workpiece such as a C-shaped clip and a piston ring is usually narrow and thin. Further, oil and rust retardant are often attached to the workpiece. In the case of a cartridge and the like in which a number of circular workpieces are bundled, the circular workpieces cling to one another and separation of the workpieces by the devices stated above is quite difficult.


A virtualization system, upon judging that a write operation from a higher-level device is an operation to write in the format of the virtual volume, even when the write position of the write operation is in a virtual area different from a virtual area to which an allocated actual area has been allocated, if there is an unused area in the allocated actual area, writes management information to the unused area according to the write operation, and if there is no unused area in the allocated actual area, newly allocates an unallocated actual area, and writes management information to the newly allocated actual area according to the write operation.

This invention relates to a technique for dynamically allocating storage areas to virtual logical volumes used by a higher-level device.
There is for example the technology disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2005-31929. According to this technology, a management server, connected to a plurality of servers and a storage device, manages a physical storage area of the storage device, used by the plurality of servers, as a virtual area (storage pool), and, in response to a command received from a server to allocate an area equal to or greater than the unallocated area, releases at least a portion of the area allocated to another server, and allocates the area to the server issuing the area allocation command.
However, virtualization systems, which provide virtual logical volumes (virtual volumes) to higher-level devices (for example, to host computers or to storage systems), are well-known. Virtualization systems may be storage systems, or may be server machines, or may be switching devices which configure networks (for example a SAN (Storage Area Network)).
FIG. 3 shows an example of a method by which a virtualization system allocates an actual storage area (hereafter called an actual area) to a virtual volume.
In other words, an actual area, which is a unit of allocation, is an area in a logical volume with an actual presence (hereafter an "actual volume"). An actual volume is a logical storage device provided with storage space from one or a plurality of physical storage devices (for example, hard disk drives or flash memory). One or a plurality of actual volumes are managed as a pool. When an operation occurs to write to a certain address in a virtual volume (hereafter a "virtual address"), the virtualization system selects an unallocated actual area from among the plurality of actual areas in the pool, allocates the selected actual area to an area containing the certain address (hereafter a "virtual area"), and writes the data for writing to the certain virtual address to the allocated actual area (for example, the storage capacity of the virtual area and the storage capacity of the actual area may be the same). When an operation occurs to write to the virtual area containing the certain virtual address (to a prescribed virtual address range), data is written to the allocated actual area, and when an operation occurs to write to a virtual area different from the virtual area, another unallocated actual area is allocated to the other virtual area, and data is written to the other actual area.
When using this method, the following problem occurs. That is, in order for the higher-level device to use a virtual volume, the virtual volume must be formatted (initialized). In a file system format used by a virtual volume, management information of small size (meta-data; specifically, for example, superblocks, i-nodes, and similar) is written to the virtual volume, and the virtual address to which the management information is written is shifted at regular intervals. In this case, if actual areas are allocated using the above method, actual areas can be allocated appropriately as in the example of FIG. 4A, but in each of the allocated actual areas, there is the problem that the size of the unallocated area becomes large. That is, the problem of poor efficiency of use of storage capacity arises.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Virtualization system and area allocation control method


A new and distinct cultivar of grapevine which is characterized by producing a large, bright purple to dark purple-skinned, seedless grape, is described.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of grapevine referred to as grapevine '90-3437'. When treated with Gibberellic Acid, this variety produces seedless fruit which are mature for commercial harvesting and shipment approximately October 1 to October 15 in the San Joaquin Valley of central California.
The invention and development of new varieties of grapevines, as with other fruit producing varieties of plants, is a science marked by attentiveness, nurturing of the new varieties over lengthy periods of time, devotion to achieving the desired results and, in the end, good fortune. The variables associated with this process are countless and the results relative to the fruit produced, as to maturity date, size, quality, coloration, quantity and the like, may vary from growing season to growing season depending upon a multitude of influences. Variations in such influences may include, but are not limited to, seasonal variations such as temperature, rainfall, pests and diseases, as well as other factors which may be more reliably within control, such as the age of the plants, irrigation, pruning, fertilization, trellising practices and the like.
Nonetheless, such invention and development continues and superior varieties of grapevines are discovered and developed as a result of the arduous tasks required. More specifically, with respect to grapevines, there continues to be significant effort to develop new varieties which are superior in one or more respects over existing commercial varieties. Such respects include, for example, relative to the fruit, productivity, size, coloration, flavor, shipping quality, as well as other characteristics. Still another characteristic is the maturity period of the fruit of the new variety. It is frequently deemed desirable in a new variety that the fruit matures during a period of time in which no other desirable variety matures, or which is superior in other respects to varieties which may mature at approximately the same time.
The grapevine of the instant variety is a promising candidate for commercial success in respect to many of these criteria.


A method for forming a propshaft assembly includes: providing a tube having an annular wall member and an axial end face; providing a yoke having body and a pair of arms that extend from the body, the body defining an annular groove having sidewalls and an end face, the sidewalls being spaced apart to receive the annular wall member; spinning at least one of the tube and the yoke while engaging the axial end face to the end face of the annular groove to plasticize a portion of the yoke and a portion of the tube; and driving the yoke and the tube together to fuse the plasticized portion of the yoke and the plasticized portion of the tube together and thereby form a friction weld; wherein the tube is fused to the yoke over portions of the yoke that correspond to the sidewalls and the end face.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Propshaft assemblies for cars and trucks typically are employed to transmit rotary power from an input device, such as a transmission or a transfer case, to an output device, such as an axle assembly. Commercial propshaft assemblies typically comprise a propshaft tube that is welded on one or more ends to a weld yoke. A common welding process for coupling the weld yoke(s) to the propshaft tube is friction welding. We have noted that it can be challenging to achieve sufficient weld strength when using relatively thin-walled tubing for the propshaft tube.

Propshaft assembly having yoke friction welded to propshaft tube


A three-dimensional API for communicating with hardware implementations of vertex shaders and pixel shaders having local registers. With respect to vertex shaders, API communications are provided that may make use of an on-chip register index and API communications are also provided for a specialized function, implemented on-chip at a register level, that outputs the fractional portion(s) of input(s). With respect to pixel shaders, API communications are provided for a specialized function, implemented on-chip at a register level, that performs a linear interpolation function and API communications are provided for specialized modifiers, also implemented on-chip at a register level, that perform modification functions including negating, complementing, remapping, stick biasing, scaling and saturating. Advantageously, these API communications expose these very useful on-chip graphical algorithmic elements to a developer while hiding the details of the operation of the vertex shader and pixel shader chips from the developer.

Computer systems are commonly used for displaying graphical objects on a display screen. The purpose of three dimensional (3-D) computer graphics is to create a two-dimensional (2-D) image on a computer screen that realistically represents an object or objects in three dimensions. In the real world, objects occupy three dimensions. They have a real height, a real width and a real depth. A photograph is an example of a 2-D representation of a 3-D space. 3-D computer graphics are like a photograph in that they represent a 3-D world on the 2-D space of a computer screen.
Images created with 3-D computer graphics are used in a wide range of applications from video entertainment games to aircraft flight simulators, to portray in a realistic manner an individual's view of a scene at a given point in time. Well-known examples of 3-D computer graphics include special effects in Hollywood films such as Terminator II, Jurassic Park, Toy Story and the like.
One industry that has seen a particularly tremendous amount of growth in the last few years is the computer game industry. The current generation of computer games is moving to 3-D graphics in an ever increasing fashion. At the same time, the speed of play is driven faster and faster. This combination has fueled a genuine need for the rapid rendering of 3-D graphics in relatively inexpensive systems.
Rendering and displaying 3-D graphics typically involves many calculations and computations. For example, to render a 3-D object, a set of coordinate points or vertices that define the object to be rendered must be formed. Vertices can be joined to form polygons that define the surface of the object to be rendered and displayed. Once the vertices that define an object are formed, the vertices must be transformed from an object or model frame of reference to a world frame of reference and finally to 2-D coordinates that can be displayed on a flat display device, such as a monitor. Along the way, vertices may be rotated, scaled, eliminated or clipped because they fall outside of a viewable area, lit by various lighting schemes and sources, colorized, and so forth. The processes involved in rendering and displaying a 3-D object can be computationally intensive and may involve a large number of vertices.
To create a 3-D computer graphical representation, the first step is to represent the objects to be depicted as mathematical models within the computer. 3-D models are made up of geometric points within a coordinate system consisting of an x, y and z axis; these axes correspond to width, height, and depth respectively. Objects are defined by a series of points, called vertices. The location of a point, or vertex, is defined by its x, y and z coordinates. When three or more of these points are connected, a polygon is formed. The simplest polygon is a triangle.
3-D shapes are created by connecting a number of 2-D polygons. Curved surfaces are represented by connecting many small polygons. The view of a 3-D shape composed of polygon outlines is called a wire frame view. In sum, the computer creates 3-D objects by connecting a number of 2-D polygons. Before the 3-D object is ultimately rendered on a 2-D display screen, however, the data of sophisticated graphics objects undergoes many different mathematical transformations that implicate considerably specialized equations and processing unique to 3-D representation.
As early as the 1970s, 3-D rendering systems were able to describe the "appearance" of objects according to parameters. These and later methods provide for the parameterization of the perceived color of an object based on the position and orientation of its surface and the light sources illuminating it. In so doing, the appearance of the object is calculated therefrom. Parameters further include values such as diffuse color, the specular reflection coefficient, the specular color, the reflectivity, and the transparency of the material of the object. Such parameters are globally referred to as the shading parameters of the object.
Early systems could only ascribe a single value to shading parameters and hence they remained constant and uniform across the entire surface of the object. Later systems allowed for the use of non-uniform parameters (transparency for instance) which might have different values over different parts of the object. Two prominent and distinct techniques have been used to describe the values taken by these non-uniform parameters on the various parts of the object's surface: procedural shading and texture mapping. Texture mapping is pixel based and resolution dependent.
Procedural shading describes the appearance of a material at any point of a 1-D, 2-D or 3-D space by defining a function (often called the procedural shader) in this space into shading parameter space. The object is "immersed" in the original 1-D, 2-D or 3-D space and the values of the shading parameters at a given point of the surface of the object are defined as a result of the procedural shading function at this point. For instance, procedural shaders that approximate appearance of wood, marble or other natural materials have been developed and can be found in the literature.
The rendering of graphics data in a computer system is a collection of resource intensive processes. The process of shading i.e., the process of performing complex techniques upon set(s) of specialized graphics data structures, used to determine values for certain primitives, such as color, etc. associated with the graphics data structures, exemplifies such a computation intensive and complex process. For each application developer to design these shading techniques for each program developed and/or to design each program for potentially varying third party graphics hardware would be a Herculean task, and would produce much inconsistency.
Consequently, generally the process of shading has been normalized to some degree. By passing source code designed to work with a shader into an application, a shader becomes an object that the application may create/utilize in order to facilitate the efficient drawing of complex video graphics. Vertex shaders and pixel shaders are examples of such shaders.
Prior to their current implementation in specialized hardware chips, vertex and pixel shaders were sometimes implemented wholly or mostly as software code, and sometimes implemented as a combination of more rigid pieces of hardware with software for controlling the hardware. These implementations frequently contained a CPU or emulated the existence of one using the system's CPU. For example, the hardware implementations directly integrated a CPU chip into their design to perform the processing functionality required of shading tasks. While a CPU adds a lot of flexibility to the shading process because of the range of functionality that a standard processing chip offers, the incorporation of a CPU adds overhead to the specialized shading process. Without today's hardware state of the art, however, there was little choice.
Today, though, existing advances in hardware technology have facilitated the ability to move functionality previously implemented in software into specialized hardware. As a result, today's pixel and vertex shaders are implemented as specialized and programmable hardware chips. Exemplary hardware designs of vertex and pixel shader chips are shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, and are described later in more detail. These vertex and pixel shader chips are highly specialized and thus do not behave as CPU hardware implementations of the past did.
Thus, a need has arisen for a 3-D graphics API that exposes the specialized functionality of today's vertex and pixel shaders. In particular, since present vertex shaders are being implemented with a previously unheard of one hundred registers, it would be advantageous to have a register index for indexing the registers of the vertex shader. Also, since realistic simulations require the precision of floating point numbers, it would be advantageous to provide specialized vertex shading functionality with respect to the floating point numbers at a register level. For example, it would be desirable to implement an instruction set that causes the extremely fast vertex shader to return only the fractional portion of floating point numbers. Similarly, with respect to pixel shaders, it would be desirable to provide specialized pixel shading functionality as well. More particularly, it would be desirable to provide a function that performs a linear interpolation mechanism. Furthermore, it would be desirable to use operation modifiers in connection with an instruction set tailored to pixel shaders. For example, negating, remapping, biasing, and other functionality would be extremely useful for many graphics applications for which efficient pixel shading is desirable, yet as they are executed as part of a single instruction they are best expressed as modifiers to that instruction. In short, the above functionality would be advantageous for a lot of graphics operations, and their functional incorporation into already specialized pixel and vertex shader sets of instructions would add tremendous value from the perspective of ease of development and improved performance.

API communications for vertex and pixel shaders


A method of making a translucent cleaning composition is disclosed. The method includes providing a perfume; providing a hydrogen bond receiving compound; providing a hydrogen bond providing compound; combining the hydrogen bond receiving compound with the hydrogen bond providing compound to create a eutectic liquid; adding the perfume to the eutectic liquid to create a perfumed eutectic liquid; and adjusting the pH of the perfumed eutectic liquid to above 6.0.

Tough food soil removal through quicker, more effortless means is a continuing goal in dishwashing. Most attention historically has been given to pure grease soils. Also, everyday cleaning needs are readily met by conventional cleaners and cleaning equipment. Removal of heavily encrusted and burnt on soils, however, remains a challenge. Common approaches include prolonged soaking and/or heavy scouring. Specialty solutions such as pre-treatment products can be generally effective but very abrasive or harsh (high pH) on hands and surfaces. Also, they are inconvenient to the consumer since multiple products are required for complete cleaning. An increasing problem comes from the greater use of microwave ovens that provide more intensive cooking. Hence, It would be desirable to have a cleaner that is effective on tough soil removal. Further, it would be desirable to make a translucent cleaning composition that incorporates the desired compositions.


An apparatus for recirculating a reactant fluid stream of a fuel cell system, and electric power generation systems comprising the apparatus, are disclosed. The apparatus comprises (1) a common suction chamber fluidly connected to a suction inlet configured to receive a recirculated flow from the exhaust stream of the fuel cell stack, (2) a low-flow nozzle positioned in the common suction chamber and fluidly connected to a low-flow motive inlet configured to receive a first motive flow from a reactant source of the fuel cell stack, (3) a low-flow diffuser fluidly connected to a discharge outlet configured to provide the inlet stream to the fuel cell stack, (4) a high-flow nozzle positioned in the common suction chamber and fluidly connected to a high-flow motive inlet configured to receive the first motive flow from the reactant source, and (5) a high-flow diffuser fluidly connected to the discharge outlet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to fuel cell systems and, more particularly, to fuel cell systems with recirculation of a fluid stream.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrochemical fuel cell assemblies convert reactants, namely fuel and oxidant, to generate electric power and reaction products. Electrochemical fuel cell assemblies generally employ an electrolyte disposed between two electrodes, namely a cathode and an anode. The electrodes generally each comprise a porous, electrically conductive sheet material and an electrocatalyst disposed at the interface between the electrolyte and the electrode layers to induce the desired electrochemical reactions. The location of the electrocatalyst generally defines the electrochemically active area.
Solid polymer fuel cell assemblies typically employ a membrane electrode assembly ("MEA") consisting of a solid polymer electrolyte, or ion exchange membrane, disposed between two electrode layers. The membrane, in addition to being an ion conductive (typically proton conductive) material, also acts as a barrier for isolating the reactant (i.e., fuel and oxidant) streams from each other.
The MEA is typically interposed between two separator plates, which are substantially impermeable to the reactant fluid streams, to form a fuel cell assembly. The plates act as current collectors, provide support for the adjacent electrodes, and typically contain flow field channels for supplying reactants to the MEA or for circulating coolant. The plates are typically known as flow field plates. The fuel cell assembly is typically compressed to ensure good electrical contact between the plates and the electrodes, as well as good sealing between fuel cell components. A plurality of fuel cell assemblies may be combined electrically, in series or in parallel, to form a fuel cell stack. In a fuel cell stack, a plate may be shared between two adjacent fuel cell assemblies, in which case the plate also separates the fluid streams of the two adjacent fuel cell assemblies. Such plates are commonly referred to as bipolar plates and may have flow channels for directing fuel and oxidant, or a reactant and coolant, on each major surface, respectively.
The fuel stream that is supplied to the anode typically comprises hydrogen. For example, the fuel stream may be a gas such as substantially pure hydrogen or a reformate stream containing hydrogen. The oxidant stream, which is supplied to the cathode, typically comprises oxygen, such as substantially pure oxygen, or a dilute oxygen stream such as air.
Each of the fuel cells making up a stack is typically flooded with the selected fuel and oxidant at a desired pressure. In certain systems, the desired pressure is kept constant regardless of load demand, while in other systems the desired pressure varies according to load demand. In all systems however, the desired pressure is generally controlled by a regulator at the source of the reactant. Such regulators can take many forms. For example, where the reactant originates from a source where gas pressure is higher than the desired pressure, the regulator can take the form of a variable opening valve system, which lets in as little or as much flow as necessary to maintain/attain the desired pressure: such regulators are typically called pressure regulators. In another example, where the reactant originates from a source where gas pressure is lower than the desired pressure, the regulator can take the form of a compressor. In yet another example, where the reactant originates from a source where gas pressure is substantially the same as the desired pressure, the regulator can take the form of a blower. More than one form of regulator can exist in a system. For example, Merritt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,821 discloses a system where the fuel originates from a high pressure source (pressurized hydrogen) and is controlled by a pressure regulator before reaching the stack, while the oxidant originates from a low pressure source (the environment) and is controlled by an air compressor (i.e., the air is compressed before reaching the stack).
Pressure regulators operate on a differential basis as the desired pressure is always set in relation to another pressure, which can be constant (e.g., maintain/attain a desired pressure over atmospheric pressure) or variable (e.g., maintain/attain a desired pressure over the pressure in some other part of the system, such other pressure being variable). For example, in the system disclosed by Merritt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,821, the compressor sets the desired oxidant pressure in relation to a constant pressure (atmospheric pressure), while the valve-type pressure regulator sets the desired fuel stream pressure according to a variable pressure, more specifically to maintain/attain a desired steady-state pressure differential between the fuel and oxidant streams.
Each reactant stream exiting the fuel cell stack generally contains useful reactant products, such as water and unconsumed fuel or oxidant, which can be made use of by the fuel cell system. On way to make use of such useful reactant products is to recirculate the exhaust reactant streams. Therefore, for example, recirculating the hydrogen exhaust stream to the anode inlet leads to a more efficient system as it minimizes waste that would result from venting the unconsumed hydrogen to the atmosphere.
As outlined in Merritt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,821, one way to effect hydrogen recirculation is through the use of a jet ejector, where the ejector's motive inlet is fluidly connected to the pressurized hydrogen supply, the ejector's suction inlet is fluidly connected to the hydrogen exhaust outlet and the ejector's discharge outlet is fluidly connected to the fuel cell stack's hydrogen stream inlet. As a result, according to the well known operation of jet ejectors, the hydrogen supply stream entrains (and therefore recirculates) the relatively low pressure hydrogen exhaust stream, with the two streams mixing before entering the fuel cell stack's anode inlet.
In light of the wide spectrum of fuel cell stack hydrogen inlet stream flow rates over which the jet ejector must operate, it has proven difficult to design a satisfactory jet ejector. Designing a jet ejector to supply the needed inlet flow rate to the fuel cell stack during maximum-load demand periods results in the nozzle and/or the throat portion of the diffuser being too large to recirculate the needed hydrogen during low-load demand periods (e.g., idle periods). Conversely, designing a jet ejector to recirculate the needed hydrogen during low-load demand periods results in the nozzle and/or the throat portion of the diffuser being too small to supply the needed inlet flow rate to the fuel cell stack during maximum-load demand periods.
To address the foregoing problem, a two-stage changeover ejector system has been proposed by Tatsuya et al., Japan Publ. No. 2001-266922, where one of either a low-flow or high-flow ejector is used depending on the conditions prevailing at the time. However, having two separate ejectors and the related fluid circuitry leads to space requirement concerns in typical automotive applications. Furthermore, the transition point in such systems, more specifically when the motive flow course is changed from the low-flow to the high-flow ejector, typically experiences a sudden drop in recirculation that often falls below the needed minimum entrainement level. Adding further ejectors would alleviate the transition point concern but, in turn, would aggravate the space requirement concerns.
There is therefore a need for a fuel cell system, with recirculation of a fluid stream, that can operate efficiently over the whole range of a fuel cell stack's operating conditions and that addresses some of the space requirement concerns typical in vehicular applications. The present invention addresses these and other needs, and provides further related advantages.

Fuel cell system with fluid stream recirculation


A grid structure with sinuous interstices comprises intersecting grid sections having undulate surfaces. The intersecting grid sections of the grid structure are made of a composite material consisting of fibers (e.g., graphite fibers) embedded in a matrix (e.g., epoxy resin).

A technique was disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/286,120, filed on Dec. 19, 1988, for fabricating grid structures of various configurations from a composite material consisting of fibers embedded in a matrix--e.g., graphite fibers embedded in an epoxy resin matrix.
A grid structure fabricated according to the technique disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/286,120 comprises intersecting grid sections, which define interstices of the grid structure. The intersecting grid sections interpenetrate each other without causing the integrity of any of the intersecting grid sections to be breached. Consequently, the technique disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/286,120 enables substantial uniformity in strength to be achieved without producing significant variations in weight distribution throughout the grid structure.
A grid structure according to the technique disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/286,120 is fabricated by the following procedure:
a) a filament made of fibrous material is arranged on a loom according to an iterative pattern so as to form intersecting grid sections, which define interstices of the grid structure that is to be fabricated;
b) filaments made of fibrous material are wound or wrapped around mandrels, which generally conform in cross-sectional configuration to the interstices defined by the intersecting grid sections;
c) the mandrels with the filaments of fibrous material wound or wrapped thereon are inserted into corresponding interstices of the grid structure;
d) the filament that is arranged on the loom so as to form the intersecting grid sections defining the interstices, as well as the filaments that are wound or wrapped around the mandrels inserted into the interstices, are impregnated with a liquid matrix material;
e) the filaments, after having been impregnated with the liquid matrix material, are then compressed between the mandrels in adjacent interstices;
f) the matrix material is then cured; and
g) the mandrels are removed from the interstices.
Intersecting grid sections defining the interstices of a grid structure that is fabricated according to the above-listed steps (as previously disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/286,120) can have planar or arcuate surfaces, depending upon the configuration of the loom and the mandrels. Prior to the present invention, however, no technique had ever been devised for imparting an undulate configuration to the surfaces of the intersecting grid sections defining the interstices of a grid structure.


Methods of diagnosing and treating vitiligo.

Vitiligo is caused by CD8+ T cells that target melanocytes for destruction (van den Boorn et al., 2009), resulting in patchy depigmentation that is disfiguring and distressing to patients (Alikhan et al., 2011) Depigmentation typically recurs rapidly at the same location after therapy is stopped (Cavalie et al., 2015), indicating that autoimmune memory persists in the skin and permits disease reactivation after cessation of treatment. It affects approximately 1% of the population worldwide, yet there are currently no FDA approved treatments.


A visual signal system for a vehicle projects a shaped light symbol onto the ground. For example, a visual signal system for a vehicle can include a light source configured to project light outside of a vehicle. In an example, the visual signal system can also include a ground projection adjustor configured to adjust the light source to be a projection of light on the ground. In an example, the visual signal system can also include a connection interface configured to transmit instructions to the ground projection adjustor and the light source.

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it can be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Vehicles, such as cars, trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), minivans, and boats, among others, can have systems that provide signals that can be for the benefit of other vehicles, drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, animals in a roadway, or any device that can interact with a vehicle. For example, a first vehicle can have brake lights that alert a driver in a second vehicle when the first vehicle has its brake pedal applied. This can allow the driver in the second car to react appropriately so as not to collide with the first vehicle.
The present disclosure presents techniques to add visual signal systems including using lighting systems to project intended actions onto the road. For example, a car could have ground facing lights that activate upon the use of a turn signal by the driver. The use of the turn signal by the driver could result in an arrow shape area of light being projected on to the road in the direction of a driver's intended or indicated movement. This additional visual signal system could more effectively catch a second driver's attention, convey an action or potential action, reduce potential for blind spots, and indicate targets of interest.

Panasonic Automative Systems Company of America, division of Panasonic Corporation of North America