Several embodiments of an endourethral prosthesis, assembly, and attendant methods are provided for patients presenting with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) or urinary retention. The endourethral prosthesis includes a reversibly expandable element disposed circumferentially about, and longitudinally along a tubular member adapted to receive urine. The tubular member is positionable within a lower urinary tract such that the reversibly expandable element operatively engages a structure of the lower urinary tract so as to prevent migration of the prosthesis so positioned. The reversibly expandible element is in non-reversible fluid communication with the tubular element for selective expansion thereof, the reversibly expandible element is further operatively engagable so as to discharge fluid non-reversibly received from the tubular member exterior to same.

Discharge of bladder contents can be a source of serious and distressing problems for persons whose anatomy is temporarily, or over time, incapable of completely controlling the outflow of urine from the bladder, a clinical condition known as urinary retention. Traditionally, indwelling urethral catheters (i.e., Foley catheters, or the like), in which a free passage is created between the bladder and the outside of the human body in such a way to ensure the permanent flow of urine, have long been used to facilitate bladder drainage in individuals who are unable to initiate or control such drainage due to organic disability, immobility, or other physical impairment, most typically scenarios of acute, rather than chronic, retention. For instance, acute retention is frequently experienced by patients who have recently undergone surgical intervention, either unrelated or related to the urethra. Acute urinary retention is also frequently experienced following radioactive seed implantation within the prostate, cryogenic treatment of the prostate, or minimally invasive procedures performed for the purpose of reducing the volume of the prostate. These include various thermal procedures such as the introduction of microwave energy, heat introduction systems, and chemical injections.
Intraurethral catheters generally permit continuous drainage, or user controlled bladder drainage, with such latter devices typically requiring replacement of, or supplementing the continuous drainage catheter with an incontinence flow control device that enables the user to control bladder discharges through user controlled valves such as those shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,841 (Isaacson), U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,785 (Burton et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,938 (Goldberg et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,449 (Davis, Jr.), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,092 (Barwick).
The shortcomings of heretofore known devices have included, but are not limited to, in-situ migration of such devices, a limited indwelling life because of the likely onset of serious urethral infections, and operational complications, most remarkably the cessation of reliable valve functioning, necessitated by the general urinary tract environment (e.g., limited dimensions of the urethra, prolonged device exposure to urine, etc.).
A somewhat related, yet distinct retention solution, in contrast to the traditional indwelling urethral catheter, and those heretofore enumerated urinary flow control devices, has been endourethral stents, or what was initially referred to as the "urological spiral," first developed by Fabian in or about 1978. Generally, the patency of the prostatic urethra is optimally secured by the spiral shape and elastic construction of a coiled, rust-proof, steel urological spiral element. Although chronic infections of the urinary tract and "valve" failure are avoided, since the physiological "valve" function of the man's urethra remains maintained with use of the urological spiral, device migration, deployment difficulties, and debris accumulation and passage, offset any perceived advantages. Later developed prosthetic devices for stenting portions the lower urinary tract integrated inflatable balloons therewith to facilitate placement and positioning of such prosthesis, with heretofore known examples of such devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,209 (Devonec), U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,417 (Devonec et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,195 (Eshel et al.), and PCT/US99/23610 (Lennox et al.).
Devonec '209 provide a device having a sphincter responsive sleeve which is sufficiently flexible to conform to the anatomical profile of the urethra and its movements, yet is sufficiently rigid so as to maintain an artificial passage in the urethra. The device is generally supported in the urethra principally by the elastic bearing of the wall of the device segment in radial extension.
Devonec et al. '417 provide a catheter having a indwelling element comprising upper and lower tubular elements, the lower tubular element having an inflatable balloon which circumscribes it. As is readily appreciated with reference to FIGS. 4–9 of Devonec et al. '417, the inflatable balloon functions solely as a positioning device, the indwelling portion being suitably positioned upon abutment of the striated muscular sphincter by the inflated balloon so as to position the deformable portion of the catheter within the sphincter orifice.
Eshel et al. '195 show an internal catheter having proximal and distal tubular members interconnected by a fluid conduit for inflating a balloon attached to the distal tubular member, the device being deliverable using a guiding element which includes a guide balloon for frictionally retaining the device with respect thereto. Once introduced into the urethra, the device balloon is positioned to be within the urinary bladder, and inflated so as to temporarily anchor the catheter at a required position such that a segment of said tubular member is located at the prostatic urethra. The positioning of one of the tubular members at one side of the sphincter, and the other tubular member at the other side of the sphincter, is alleged to effectively anchor the catheter in place, such that after extraction of the guide element, the device balloon is deflated (i.e., the distal device balloon is used as a locating mechanism, rather than a anchoring mechanism).
Lennox et al. '23610 likewise make use of an inflatable balloon for inserting a prosthesis into the urethra of a patient. More particularly, in the deployment methodology, the prosthesis, the pusher, the inflation cannula, and the balloon are inserted into a urethra of the patient. The prosthesis is pushed by the pusher along with the inflation cannula until a drainage hole of a first tubular element is positioned within the bladder. Thereafter, the balloon is inflated via the inflation cannula, the prosthesis thereafter being withdrawn until resistance is felt. This resistance indicates that the balloon is contacting the opening of the bladder just above the prostate. After appropriate positioning, the deployment apparatus including the balloon may be retracted in furtherance of removal.
Due to a general lack of reliable device performance (e.g., continued device migration, increasing device and deployment complexity, generally cumbersome overall device structure, etc.), heretofore known stenting devices served a single purpose, namely as a retention solution, and did so with a variety of shortcomings. With no reliable, straight forward differential diagnosis options being generally accepted and practiced, males presenting with non-retention symptoms have had no diagnostic options short of invasive irreversible medical procedures (e.g., surgery, thermal treatment, etc.).
Presently, millions of men in the United States alone exhibit some form of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), with bladder outlet obstructions (BOOs), being a major subgroup of LUTS. BOOs are primarily caused by the enlargement of the prostrate gland (e.g., benign prostate hyperplasia (BHP)) which results in radial compression of the urethra surrounded thereby (i.e., the prostatic urethra), thus obstructing (i.e., constricting) urine flow, resulting in incomplete emptying of the bladder (i.e., there being what is clinically referred to as a "post void residual" (PVR) remaining in the bladder). Heretofore, such symptoms would be treated by using surgical procedures such as trans urethral resection of the prostate (TURP), or non-surgical procedures such as thermal treatment of the prostate.
As alluded to herein above, three inter-dependent, easily-measured parameters may be ascertained and assessed in furtherance of increased understanding of the patient's urodynamic status, namely, PVR, volumetric flow (i.e., discharge rate) of urine from the bladder, and voiding pattern(s) readily established via maintenance of avoiding diary (i.e., evaluation of about one week's worth of voiding specifics).
The first parameter, PVR, is determined using ultrasound imaging of the bladder, with a retained urine volume calculated and recorded post void. Although there exist a variety of clinical data on the matter, it is generally believed that a PVR value of about <100 cc is considered a "successful" void, with a PVR value in excess of about 300 cc being cause for serious concern, or at least cause for further inquiry into the subject's void patterns, etc. For example, a subject with an "abnormal" PVR (i.e., symptomatic PVR) will often need to urinate more frequently, and-is likely to experience physical discomfort, such as frequent urges to urinate, as well as physical exhaustion due to sleep deprivation (i.e., nocturia). Symptomatic PVR is typically associated with either hyperplasia (i.e., thickening) of the prostatic gland, or a bladder that is not functioning properly due to decompensation of the muscular function. It is this diagnostic differentiation that has heretofore been unrealized in a simple, straight forward and reliable manner.
The second parameter, urine discharge rate during emptying of the bladder, is a strong indicator of the function of the bladder when obstruction via the prostate is not present. Typical urine discharge rates for "healthy" males is in excess of about 12 cc/s, with a diminished discharge flow rate of about <5 cc/s generally believed to be indicia of BOO.
Due to the fact that BOO patients are only a subgroup of patients with LUTS, proper treatment of the specific problem requires complete knowledge of the urodynamic status of the patient in order determine whether the patient's symptoms are caused by BOO, or from bladder deficiencies (e.g., bladder decompensation), or sphincter dysnergia. While comprehensive knowledge of the bladder-urethra interaction during urination may be obtained using complex urodynamic procedures, and urethra pressure profiling, most urologists are currently reluctant to perform such procedures prior to invasive, or minimally invasive, procedures directed to debulking the prostatic urethra.
Thus there remains a need, in addition to traditional therapeutic application of an improved endourethral device for subjects in retention, for improved diagnostic confidence for LUTS patients, more particularly, a differential diagnostic that is low risk, reliable, and least cost. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide additional, improved device and procedural options for the care and diagnosis of patients who present to the urologist with LUTS, or patients who experience acute retention or chronic retention.


A heavy duty clutch release mechanism including a driveline master clutch release yoke where a bearing support shaft is used to minimize bearing end loading. The clutch release yoke is rotatably fixed to the clutch release shaft for rotation and having first and second forks extending adjacent to the release bearing assembly. The yoke includes a number of bearing support shafts having a first end attached to an inboard side of the first and second forks and a second end having a retention flange. The bearing elements are rotatably mounted on the bearing support shafts and engaging the surface of the clutch release bearing.

A heavy duty clutch release mechanism known in the art includes a clutch release sleeve, a clutch release bearing and a clutch release yoke. The clutch release lever has a lever engagement feature at a first end. The clutch release bearing engages a second end of the clutch release sleeve and has an inner race rotatably fixed to the second end of the clutch release sleeve. The clutch release yoke has roller assemblies disposed on each of two arms for engagement with an outer race of the clutch release bearing.
Unfortunately, the roller assemblies have several problems. Among other things the bearing elements associated with the roller assemblies have been subjected to the build up of contamination over time in combination with excessive end loading. Thus, the roller assemblies have failed sooner than would be optimally desired.


A method for communicating with a given device that is located at a given direction, the method may include transmitting a triggering signal, by a communication device and over a directional communication link; receiving, by the communication device, one or more responses to the triggering signal, wherein the one or more responses originate from one or more devices; participating in determining of whether the one or more devices comprises the given device or receiving indication about whether the one or more devices comprises the given device; and when the one or more devices comprises the given device then attempting, by the communication device, to establish communication with the given device.

Modern life exposes people to many different wireless devices that transfer data and/or control such as cellular phones, remote controls for home and toys, satellite television, and computer keyboards and mice.
Three technologies are employed for all wireless applications: radio, other electromagnetic such as light, magnetic or electric fields and sound.
Current devices use a wide range of different wireless methods, systems and protocols, such as: long term evolution (LTE), wireless networking WI-FI™ BLUETOOTH™, near field communication (NFC) and radio frequency identification (RFID).
Wireless communication, which can be person-to-person, person to machine, machine to person and machine to machine, requires having the recipient's contact details—(cellular number, BLUETOOTH™ etc.) and is not directional.

Communication management and communicating between a mobile communication device and another device


A movable barrier controller 41 has a force control 44 having a corresponding setting range. As operating conditions change, the barrier controller 41 can execute a learning mode 51. During this mode, the barrier controller 41 operates the barrier movement motor 42 and measures 53 at least one parameter that corresponds to operation of the motor 42. This measured parameter is used to determine 54 a control value which control value is then assigned 55 to a specific location within the setting range of the force control 44.

Movable barrier controllers are known in the art. Such devices typically respond to an actuation signal by actuating a motor and causing a movable barrier to move (the movable barrier can be, for example, a garage door, a date, a shutter, and the like). These devices have become increasingly sophisticated. For example, such controllers are often able to sense resistance to barrier movement. Such information can be used in a variety of ways, including automatically reversing movement of the barrier upon detecting an obstacle in the moving barrier's path. Unfortunately, a universal setpoint does not exist that will work for all barrier controllers systems to facilitate, under all operating conditions, utterly reliable obstacle detection with zero false positives all the time. Consequently, many barrier controllers include a force control that can be adjusted for an individual controller in a particular setting to better ensure safe, reliable, and effective operation.
Over the course of time, operating conditions for a given barrier controller can change. The barrier itself can be modified or exchanged for a different barrier. The barrier movement track can be altered (to obtain hoped-for improvement and/or through accident and mishap). The drive mechanism can also undergo change over time. For example, the motor and/or associated gear ratio can be changed (this often occurs in the context of maintenance and repair). Such changes can significantly impact the efficacy of previous force control settings. For example, consider FIG. 1. Torque/speed curves are depicted for three motors A, B, and C. For a given speed S, motor A has a corresponding torque T1, motor B has a corresponding torque T2, and motor C has a corresponding torque T3. These torques can differ considerably from one another and should ordinarily be taken into account when selecting a force control settings that correspond to a particular speed.
Unfortunately, the force control typically comprises a mechanical device having a corresponding mechanical setting range. As depicted in FIG. 2, a typical force control comprises a potentiometer having a user manipulative setting range that is bounded by a lower limit the and an upper limit. Ideally, this setting range should correspond to a useful setting range for a particular barrier controller system. Such correspondence allows for greater useful resolution and granularity of control. For a given set of conditions (including a known motor and gear ratio) such a setting range is achievable. As noted above, however, operating conditions often change over the useful life of a given barrier controller system. By changing motors, as noted above, torque at a given speed can change considerably. This change can make an existing user manipulative setting range of force control values as established for a first set of conditions quite inappropriate for a later set of conditions. For example, with reference to FIG. 3, a prior art force control as designed to accommodate a variety of operating circumstances (including different motors and gear ratios) may have a relatively small useful range of settings for a first motor (as depicted by range 1) and a similar relatively small useful range of settings for a second motor (as depicted by range 2).
A need therefore exists for a way to better accommodate subsequent operating system changes while providing an acceptable range of sensitivity control. Preferably, this need should be met in an economical and ergonomically sensitive manner. Further, minimized user responsibility to ensure such accommodation would be beneficial. Any such solution should also be relatively flexible and able to accommodate a relatively broad range of altered circumstances.

Method and apparatus for automatically establishing control values for a control device


Disclosed is a paint drying furnace for baking and drying paint films on painted objects following a painting process. The furnace of the invention has an interior combustion type heating device arranged on fresh air passages upstream of points of connection to furnace interior circulating gas passages for heating passing fresh air. The combustion type heating device is a direct heating type, combustion type heating device for burning a fuel directly in an atmosphere of passing fresh air to be heated.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 5, a paint drying furnace as noted above has, acting as furnace interior heating means Hb, Hc for heating, to a high temperature, gases RA' returned from furnace interior circulating gas passages 9b, 9c to furnace interiors 1b, 1c, combustion type heating devices 19b', 19c' disposed on the furnace interior circulating gas passages 9b, 9c for heating gases RA circulating through the furnace interior circulating gas passages 9b, 9c by burning operation of burners b.
As the above combustion type heating devices 19b', 19c' for the furnace interiors, it is necessary to employ indirect heating type, combustion type heating devices in which burning flames and combustion gas G produced by the burning operation of burners b and the gases RA circulating through the furnace interior circulating gas passages 9b, 9c to be heated exchange heat in a non-contact mode through inner heat exchangers hx.
Where direct heating type, combustion type heating devices are employed as the combustion type heating devices 19b', 19c' for the furnace interiors, which burn a fuel directly in the atmosphere of gases RA circulating through the furnace interior circulating gas passages 9b, 9c, paint solvent vapor generated in the furnace interiors 1b, 1c during a baking and drying process and included in the gases RA circulating through the furnace interior circulating gas passages 9b, 9c is directly exposed and reacts to the burning flames in the combustion type heating devices 19b', 19c', to produce a reaction product which lowers paint film quality (i.e. a reaction product which adheres to the paint films after return to the furnace interiors 1b, 1c to lower paint film quality). The above construction is employed in order to prevent formation of such a reaction product. In FIG. 5, 8b, 8c denote furnace interior exhaust passages for discharging as exhaust gas EA from the system, part of furnace interior gases ZA withdrawn from the furnace interiors 1b, 1c. 18b', 18c' denote fresh air passages for mixing fresh air OA (usually ambient air) in a quantity corresponding to the exhaust gas from the furnace interior exhaust gas passages 8b, 8c into the gases RA circulating through the furnace interior circulating gas passages 9b, 9c to dilute the solvent vapor produced in the furnace interiors 1b, 1c.
However, the above conventional furnace discharges from the system the combustion gas G retaining a large amount of heat after the heat exchange in the indirect heating type, combustion type heating devices 19b', 19c' with the gases RA circulating through the furnace interior circulating gas passages 9b, 9c (specifically, the circulating gases mixed with fresh air OA), and thus involves a great heat loss. Moreover, the indirect heating type, combustion type heating devices 19b', 19c' including the inner heat exchangers hx have a large heat capacity, and require a large heating load in start-up times. These points pose a problem of high running cost.
In addition, the indirect heating type, combustion type heating devices 19b', 19c', with the inner heat exchangers hx, have a large, complicated construction, which poses a problem of requiring high apparatus cost and large installation space.
Having regard to the state of the prior art noted above, a primary object of this invention is to reduce the heat loss noted above while preventing formation of a reaction product which lowers paint film quality.
Another object is to reduce the heating load in start-up times, and yet to downsize and simplify the apparatus construction.


Methods and systems for resource and utilization management of telecommunications devices within an enterprise, where the enterprise contracts for telecommunications service from one or more service providers, comprising components configured to receive quantity data corresponding to the amount of telecommunications service used by the enterprise per period into a resource management system including a microprocessor executing programmed instructions, group telecommunications devices into pools of shared use for the telecommunications service, the pools of shared use including one or more telecommunication devices, analyze for each telecommunications device telecommunications services plans available from the service providers to determine the total quantity of telecommunications service provided by the service providers and the cost per unit of telecommunications service, select selected telecommunications service plans for each telecommunications device that accommodate a target quantity of projected telecommunications service use per period, and subscribe the telecommunications devices to the selected service plans.

The present disclosure relates generally to telecommunications and wireless expense management. In particular, methods and systems for resource planning and utilization management of telecommunications devices within enterprise are described herein.
Telecommunication devices within an enterprise are a complex field for users, financial managers, procure gent officers, and other corporate users. Billing, reporting, provisioning, and procurement follows arcane methods developed by the telecommunication service providers to maximize profits for their services.
Numerous techniques have been developed for optimizing billing, particular in the wireless telecommunication space, based on the best available service plans and the past history of telecommunication device usage. Use of past history to predict wireless use and to choose a wireless plan accordingly is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 7,486,944 by Carpenter et al. Use of history and usage pattern to select the most cost effective wireless plan for each user is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,388 by Bradshaw et al. The complete disclosures of the above patents and patent applications are herein incorporated by reference for gall purposes.
These solutions provide a per-device approach that ultimately relies on the telecommunication service provider(s) billing a plan back to each device. These do not account for the increasing flexibility and availability of pooling resources and aggregate purchasing of telecommunication services. There is no solution currently in use for providing allocation of telecommunications devices within an enterprise from multiple service providers allowing for aggregate purchase of telecommunication services and usage based chargeback of services to individual users within the enterprise.
Disclosure addressing one or more of the existing needs in the industry is provided in the detailed description below. The methods and systems described below relate generally to resource management and more specifically they relates to methods and systems for resource planning and utilization management of telecommunications devices within an enterprise to optimize the delivery of telecommunications services to maximize matching services with usage while minimizing cost.

Resource and utilization management of telecommunication devices


An electronic device includes a plurality of substrates joined together in a stacked state, a space formed in one substrate out of the plurality of substrates, and a movable region configured by one face out of faces bounding the space. The movable region includes a recess indented from a space side to partway along a thickness direction of the movable region. An internal dimension of the recess in a direction perpendicular to a substrate stacking direction is larger than an internal dimension of the space in the direction perpendicular to the substrate stacking direction, and a wall bounding the space in the one substrate, and at least a portion of a bottom face of the recess, are adhered together by an adhesive.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an electronic device, a liquid ejecting head, and a manufacturing method for an electronic device employed, for example, to eject liquid from a liquid ejecting head such as an ink jet recording head. In particular, the invention relates to an electronic device, a liquid ejecting head, and an electronic device manufacturing method in which plural substrates are joined together using an adhesive.
2. Related Art
Electronic devices employed in liquid ejecting heads include those in which plural substrates are joined together in a stacked state using an adhesive. Such electronic devices are provided with liquid flow paths in communication with nozzles, and movable regions that cause pressure fluctuations in the liquid in the liquid flow paths so as to eject the liquid through the nozzles. For example, an ink jet recording head described in JP-A-11-227190 describes an electronic device stacked with a substrate formed with a pressure chamber, a diaphragm that blocks off one open face of the pressure chamber, and a piezoelectric element that displaces a movable region of the diaphragm corresponding to the pressure chamber. In this configuration, a silicon single crystal substrate (referred to simply as a silicon substrate below) is employed as the substrate formed with the pressure chamber, and the pressure chamber is formed by etching the silicon substrate. In a process in which a mask used in formation of the pressure chamber is removed by wet etching, the diaphragm (insulating film) revealed inside the pressure chamber is exposed to the etching liquid such that the diaphragm is also etched (isotropic etching) up to partway along its thickness direction. Side etching (undercutting) then advances to below walls bounding the pressure chamber, resulting in eave portions being formed at opening edges on the diaphragm side of the pressure chamber.
In the configuration described in JP-A-11-227190, the diaphragm undergoes side etching beyond the opening edges of the pressure chamber, thereby enlarging the area of the movable region of the diaphragm that is displaced by the drive of the piezoelectric elements by a commensurate amount in comparison to configurations in which the diaphragm is not etched (a configuration in which the area of the movable region is substantially the same as the area of a pressure chamber opening). The thickness of the movable region is moreover thinner than the thickness of other portions of the diaphragm. Damage such as cracking is thereby liable to occur in the diaphragm as a result of displacement of the movable region. Since the area and thickness of the portion that in effect functions as the movable region is dependent on etching precision, there is a possibility that variation could occur between the oscillation characteristics of respective movable regions (for example, the displacement amount and natural oscillation frequency when applied with a uniform external force).

Electronic device, liquid ejecting head, and electronic device manufacturing method


A phase locked loop (PLL) circuit includes a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), a first loop circuit, and a second loop circuit. The first loop circuit includes a first loop filter configured to receive a first signal based on a feedback signal from the VCO and provide a first VCO frequency control signal to the VCO. The second loop circuit includes a compensation circuit configured to receive a reference signal and the first signal, and provide a second VCO frequency control signal to the VCO.

Temperature variations typically have a significant impact on the locking process of a PLL circuit. During the operation of the PLL circuit, temperature changes (e.g., from −40° C. to 125° C. or vice-versa) may cause frequency drifts of the voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) of the PLL circuit. Typically, to compensation for those frequency drifts, the PLL circuit may move a VCO frequency control signal to bring the output frequency Fout of the VCO back to a required frequency (e.g., a reference frequency Fref×N). However, such a VCO frequency control signal may be outside the PLL circuit's charge pump's operation range, which may lead to a PLL lock failure.
Accordingly, it would be desirable and useful to provide an improved method and system for temperature variation compensation in a PLL.

Method and apparatus for a phase locked loop circuit


A method and an apparatus for driving a plasma display panel with improved image quality are provided. The method for driving a PDP includes: determining whether a frame period is varied on the basis of order of an inputted vertical synchronization signal; varying the frame period; and shifting and arranging the first and second frames in the varied frame period.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for driving a plasma display panel, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for driving a plasma display panel with improved image quality.
2. Description of the Related Art
Plasma display panel (PDP) generally displays an image including character or graphic by exciting phosphor using ultraviolet rays with a wavelength of 147 nm, which is generated during a gas discharge of an inert mixed gas, such as He+Xe, Ne+Xe, He+Ne+Xe or the like. This PDP is easy to make slim and large-sized, and provides a greatly improved picture quality owing to the recent technology development. In particular, three-electrode alternating current (AC) surface discharge type PDP has advantages of a low voltage operation and a long life since wall charges stored on a surface in the course of discharge protect electrodes from sputtering caused by the discharge.
FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a discharge cell of a related art three-electrode alternating current (AC) surface discharge type plasma display panel.
Referring to FIG. 1, a discharge cell of the three-electrode AC surface discharge type PDP includes a scan electrode (Y) and a sustain electrode (Z) formed on an upper substrate 10, and an address electrode (X) formed on a lower substrate 18. Each of the scan electrode (Y) and the sustain electrode (Z) includes transparent electrodes 12Y and 12Z, and metal bus electrodes 13Y and 13Z. The metal bus electrodes 13Y and 13Z have line widths narrower than the transparent electrodes 12Y and 12Z, and are formed at one-sided edge regions of the transparent electrodes 12Y and 12Z.
The transparent electrodes 12Y and 12Z are generally formed of Indium-Tin-Oxide (Hereinafter, referred to as "ITO") on the upper substrate 10. The metal bus electrodes 13Y and 13Z are generally formed of chromium (Cr) on the transparent electrodes 12Y and 12Z to reduce a voltage drop caused by the transparent electrodes 12Y and 12Z having a high resistance. An upper dielectric layer 14 and a passivation film 16 are stacked on the upper substrate 10 having the scan electrode (Y) and the sustain electrode (Z) formed in parallel with each other. The wall charge generated at the time of plasma discharge is stored in the upper dielectric layer 14. The passivation film 16 prevents the upper dielectric layer 14 from being damaged due to the sputtering generating at the time of the plasma discharge and also, enhances an emission efficiency of secondary electrons. Magnesium oxide (MgO) is generally used as the passivation film 16. A lower dielectric layer 22 and a barrier rib 24 are formed on the lower substrate 18 having the address electrode (X), and a phosphor layer 26 is coated on a surface of the lower dielectric layer 22 and the barrier rib 24. The address electrode (X) is formed in a direction of crossing with the scan electrode (Y) and the sustain electrode (Z). The barrier rib 24 is formed in parallel with the address electrode (X) to prevent the visible ray and the ultraviolet ray caused by the discharge from being leaked to an adjacent discharge cell. The phosphor layer 26 is excited by the ultraviolet ray generated due to the plasma discharge to radiate any one visible ray of red, green or blue. The inert mixed gas for the discharge such as He+Xe, Ne+Xe, He+Ne+Xe and the like is injected into a discharge space of the discharge cell provided between the upper/lower substrates 10 and 18 and the barrier rib 24.
In such a three-electrode AC surface discharge type PDP, one frame is divided into several sub-fields having different light-emitting frequencies so as to embody a gray level of the image. Each of the sub-fields is divided into a reset period in which discharges are uniformly caused, an address period in which a discharge cell is selected, and a sustain period in which the gray level is embodied according to the discharging frequencies.
For example, in case that the image is represented using a 256-gray level as in FIG. 2, a frame period (16.67 ms) corresponding to 1/60 second is divided into eight sub-fields (SF1 to SF8). Also, each of the eight sub-fields (SF1 to SF8) is again divided into a reset period, an address period and a sustain period. Herein, the reset and address periods of each sub-field are identical to each other in every sub-field, whileas the sustain period is increased in a ratio of 2n (n=0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) at each of the sub-fields. Different brightness weights of every sub-field can be combined to embody a predetermined gray level.
The conventional PDP can control the number of sustain pulses according to average picture level (hereinafter, referred to as APL) so as to uniformly deal with consumption power.
FIG. 3 is a graph showing the number of sustain pulses according to a general APL.
Referring to FIG. 3, since the brightness is determined according to the number of the sustain pulses in a PDP, if the number of all the sustain pulses of the case that average brightness is dark is identical to that of the case that average brightness is bright, problems occurs such as image quality deterioration, excessive power consumption, panel damage and the like. For example, when the number of the sustain pulses is set to be too small for all input images, contrast is reduced. In addition, when the number of the sustain pulses is set to be too large for all input images, even a dark image gets brighter and contrast is improved but the power consumption gets larger and the temperature of the panel gets higher, so that the panel may be damaged. Accordingly, it is necessary to properly adjust the number of all the sustain pulses according to the average brightness of an input image. Herein, the number of the sustain pulses increases dramatically within the gray level range in which the APL is relatively low as FIG. 3 and the number of the sustain pulses decreases within the high gray level range. Accordingly, the number of the sustain pulses increases dramatically within the gray level range in which the APL is relatively low.
FIG. 4 shows a voltage waveform in a conventional method of driving a PDP.
Referring to FIG. 4, the PDP is operated with a reset period RPD in which entire screen is initialized, an address period APD in which a cell is selected, and a sustain period in which the discharge of the selected cell is sustained.
In reset period RPD, a ramp-up signal is simultaneously applied to all the scan electrodes (Y) in a set-up duration. Small discharge is caused in cells of an entire screen to thereby generate wall charge in cells. After the ramp-up signal is applied to all the scan electrodes (Y), a ramp-down signal falling from a positive voltage lower than a peak voltage of the ramp-up signal is simultaneously applied to all the scan electrodes (Y) in a set-down duration. The ramp-down signal causes small eliminating discharge in cells thereby eliminating unnecessary charges of the wall charge and space charge generated by set-up discharge and remaining the wall charge necessary for address discharge in the cells of the entire image.
In the address period APD, a negative scan pulse (SP) is sequentially applied to scan electrodes (Y) while a positive data pulse (DP) is sequentially applied to address electrodes (X). The voltage difference between the scan pulse SP and the data pulse DP and the wall charge generated in the initialization period cause the address discharge in the cell to which the data pulse DP are applied. The wall charge is generated in the cells selected by the address discharge.
In the meanwhile, in the set-down duration and the address period APD, positive direct current (DC) voltage of the sustain voltage level Vs is applied to sustain electrodes Z.
In the sustain period SPD, sustain pulses SUSPy and SUSz are alternatively applied to the scan electrodes Y and the sustain electrodes Z. Then, as the wall charge in the cell selected by the address discharge and the sustain pulse are added, a sustain discharge is caused in the manner of surface discharge between a scan electrode (Y) and a sustain electrode (Z). Finally, after the sustain discharge is completed, eliminating ramp signal EP whose pulse width is narrow is supplied to the sustain electrode (Z) to eliminate the wall charge in the cell.
Meanwhile, in the related art, the brightness weights of the reset period RPD and the address period APD of each sub-field are identical to each other in every sub-field, whileas the brightness weight of the sustain period is increased in a ratio of 2n (n=0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) at each of the sub-fields. As described above, since sustain period SPD of each sub-field gets different, a gray level of an image can be embodied. However, since these frames are arranged identically every vertical synchronization signal as shown in FIG. 5, it is limited to represent a gray level. FIG. 5 shows the case that the number of sub-fields is 12. The number of sub-fields can be modified variously according to the gray level to be embodied.
Accordingly, in order to overcome the limitation of the gray level, it has been suggested that two frames of FIGS. 6A and 6B are alternatively arranged at every vertical synchronization signal. For example, sub-fields are arranged in odd frames (or even frames) at weight ratios of 1, 6, 13, 23, 35, 51, 70, 91, 116, 145, 176 and 211 as shown in FIG. 6A, and the sub-fields are arranged in even frames (or odd frames) at weight ratios of 4, 9, 18, 29, 42, 60, 80, 103, 130, 160, 193 and 109 as shown in FIG. 6B. As described above, if the odd frames and the even frames whose brightness weights are different from each other of each sub-field are alternatively used at every vertical synchronization signal, gray level representation ability is increased two times or more as in the case that frames whose brightness weights are identical to each other are arranged. Herein, the brightness weights of the sub-field should be alternatively allocated to the odd frames and the even frames as follows: 1, 4, 6, 9, 13, 18, 23, 29, and so on.
If the brightness weights of the sub-field are alternatively allocated to the odd frames and the even frames as described above, light emission centers are not identical to each other and flicker is caused so seriously that the, image quality deteriorated. For example, if all the sub-fields of every frame are turned on, the light emission centers of the odd frames are the position of brightness weight of 211 while the light emission centers of the even frames are the position of brightness weight of 193. Accordingly, as the locations of light emission centers of both frames are different from each other, flicker is caused to affect fatally on image quality.

Method and apparatus for driving plasma display panel


In the field of optical quantum information processing, manipulation of single photon qubits in frequency modes employs a frequency beamsplitter employs an asymmetric two-path interferometer, reversible down to the quantum limit. A first partially transmitting mirror splits photons into first and second paths. A time delay element introduces a differential time delay into the second path. And a second partially transmitting mirror mixes the two paths again to form two outputs. A half-wave plate utilizes two of the beam splitters.

Quantum information operations may be performed by assigning logical states to the quantum states in physical systems. The logical states are analogous to the zero and one states for a conventional digital computer. Quantum information can be encoded and manipulated using single photon states. Many in principle demonstrations of quantum information tasks have now been accomplished in single photon optics including quantum cryptography [1], quantum dense coding [2] and quantum teleportation [3]. More recently two qubit gates have been realised [4,5] using conditional techniques [6]. Such experiments typically make use of polarisation to encode the qubits.
The tools used in polarisation encoding schemes are principally the half-wave plate which is used to make arbitrary rotations of a state in the polarisation basis, the polarising beamsplitter which is used to separate (or combine) photons into (from) different spatial and polarisation modes and the quarter-wave plate which is used to introduce relative phase shifts between the two bases.
It will be appreciated that polarisation is not the only photonic degree of freedom available to the experimentalist. For example schemes in which the temporal [7] or spatial [8] optical modes form the quantum basis have also been realised. Here we consider a basis consisting of two frequency optical modes.

Components for optical qubits in the radio frequency basis


The present invention relates to a method of purchasing one or more goods from a physical store through a virtual environment. The method includes obtaining one or more physical store details and one or more user details from a user device for authenticating a physical user. Further, a unique avatar indicative of a virtual user corresponding to the physical user is generated. Furthermore, the virtual environment comprising one or more virtual stores is generated from a real-time video. The virtual environment is provided to the user device. Subsequently, an optimal path for traversing the virtual user in the virtual environment is determined in real-time based on one or more shopping details and a time period associated with the one or more shopping details. Finally, the virtual user is navigated in the one or more virtual stores through the optimal path for purchasing the one or more goods.

In recent times, purchasing one or more goods via an e-commerce merchant has increased rapidly. Users prefer e-commerce merchants over retail shopping because of limited availability of parking space, increased travelling time due to traffic, and increased waiting time for billing requests. The users willing to purchase the one or more goods from an e-commerce merchant accesses a two-dimensional image-based online home shopping site, searches for words including the name of the one or more goods, specification of the one or more goods, and price of the one or more goods, category search related to the one or more goods, and image search of the one or more goods. Based on the search result provided by the e-commerce merchant, the users purchase the one or more goods.
For purchasing the one or more goods from the e-commerce merchant, the users have to manually input search queries. Further, looking for the item of interest consumes more time in running multiple queries. Further, the results provided by the e-commerce merchant may be inaccurate. Further, the users do not undergo a shopping experience similar to the retail shopping, where the users get to see the one or more goods in a three dimension, compare the one or more goods with similar goods in a store. Further, the users cannot experience the interaction with other users purchasing the in the store and lack the assistance provided by the store managers regarding the one or more goods in the store.
The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure 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 of shopping using a virtual reality device and an avatar


A motor capable of suppressing the torque ripple includes a rotor, a stator and stator coils. The rotor is provided with a plurality of permanent magnets which are arranged at a constant pitch in the circumferential direction. The stator surrounds the rotor and is formed with a plurality of stator poles and a slot located between every two stator poles. The stator coils are wound on the stator and are supplied with three-phase sinusoidal current. The rotor is composed of a plurality of rotor portions which are arranged in the axial direction of the rotor. The difference between the open angle of each permanent magnet of one rotor portion and the open angle of each permanent magnet of another rotor portion is an integral multiple of 30.degree. in electrical angle. When three-phase sinusoidal current is applied to the stator coils, a torque ripple is generated. However, the phase of a torque ripple generated at one of the rotor portions arranged in the axial direction can be made different from the phase(s) of torque ripple(s) generated at other rotor portion(s).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor, and more particularly to a brushless motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional brushless motor having a rotor made of a permanent magnet and a stator surrounding the rotor, a plurality of stator poles are formed in the yoke of the stator such that the stator poles face the periphery of the rotor. When current is supplied to stator coils wound on the yoke, repulsive forces and attractive forces are produced between the stator and the rotor due to magnetic flux induced by the current so that the rotor is rotated by the repulsive forces and attractive forces.
However, when three-phase sinusoidal current is applied to the stator coils of the conventional motor, a ripple is generated in the torque, which equals to the product of current and magnetic flux density, if the profile of magnetic flux generated at each magnetic pole of the rotor, i.e., the profile of the magnetic flux density is rectangular. The ripple is a sixth-order vibration having a frequency six times the frequency of the current.

Electric motor with plural rotor portions having pole members of different widths


The disclosed technology provides a system and method for allocating resource blocks to a mobile device based on a power headroom of the mobile device as contained in a power headroom report (PHR) from the mobile device. The network allocates mobile devices with the highest power headroom (e.g., power headroom above a certain power threshold) with edge resource blocks, mobile devices with the lowest power headroom (e.g. power headroom below a certain power threshold) with inner resource blocks, and other mobile devices with outer resource blocks.

Power back-off, particularly in a power amplifier (PA) of a mobile communication device, e.g., a cellular user equipment (UE), is a power level below the PA's saturation point at which the PA will continue to operate in the linear region even when the input power level swings. Typically, PAs are configured to operate close to saturation as this is the region of maximum efficiency. However, when operating close to saturation, a small increase in input power can push the PA from the linear region to the saturation region thereby leading to non-linear distortion (e.g., intermodulation distortion (IMD)) that can desensitize the receiver. To ensure that the PA operates in the linear region, the PA's power level can be lowered from the point of maximum efficiency to ensure that it always operates in the linear region despite an increase in the input power of the signal to be amplified. The amount by which the power level is lowered is known as the power back-off or power reduction.
5G NR UEs operate with a choice of two waveforms or access schemes in the uplink (UL). Cyclic Prefix (CP) Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) (CP-OFDM) or Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT)-spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM). DFT-s-OFDM is also known as Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA). Despite the advantages of CP-OFDM (e.g., better spectral efficiency), CP-OFDM suffers from higher peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) than DFT-s-OFDM. Because of the PA nonlinearity, 3GPP allows 5G UEs to reduce the UL transmit power for both the CP-OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM waveforms so that the PA, for example, operates in its linear region thereby avoiding or reducing non-linear distortion (e.g., IMD).
Maximum power reduction (MPR) defines an allowed reduction of maximum power level for certain combinations of modulation used and number of resource blocks assigned. The MPR allows chipset manufacturers to optimize UEs' modulation performance. 3GPP standards define MPR allowed for UEs with different power classes and for different modulation orders and transmit bandwidth configurations. In general, the higher the modulation order, the higher the power reduction allowed; edge and outer resource block (RB) allocations allow for higher power reduction than inner RB allocations; and, CP-OFDM typically allows for a larger power reduction because of the higher PAPR as described above. See, for example, 3GPP TS 38.101-1 v17.1.0 at Tables 6.2.2-1 and 6.2.2-2 for allowed MPR for different power classes, waveforms, modulation mode, and bandwidth. Although MPR allows UEs to avoid non-linear distortion, higher MPR (higher power back-off) can result in lower UL performance and reduced coverage.
The technologies described herein will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from studying the Detailed Description in conjunction with the drawings. Embodiments or implementations describing aspects of the invention are illustrated by way of example, and the same references can indicate similar elements. While the drawings depict various implementations for the purpose of illustration, those skilled in the art will recognize that alternative implementations can be employed without departing from the principles of the present technologies. Accordingly, while specific implementations are shown in the drawings, the technology is amenable to various modifications.

Maximum power reduction based on power headroom


A semiconductor device is provided, which is able to suppress the capacitance lowering of the capacitor due to a voltage applied across the capacitor. The device includes a well formed in a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type. The well is of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type. A surface area of the well is divided into at least first and second parts. The first part is of the first conductivity type and the second part is of the second conductivity type. An insulating layer is formed on the well to be contacted with the first and second parts. An electrode is formed on the insulating layer and is located over the first and second parts. The capacitor formed by the well, the insulating layer, and the electrode is equivalent to a capacitor composed by a first subcapacitor including the first part and a second subcapacitor including the second part. The dopant concentration of the first and second parts of the well may be higher or lower than that of the remaining well.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and more particularly, to a semiconductor device with a so-called Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) capacitor, and a fabrication method thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a MOS capacitor has been used as one of the electronic components in a semiconductor device.
It is needless to say that a plurality of active areas are defined on a main surface of a semiconductor substrate and a plurality of MOS capacitors are formed in the plurality of active areas. However, only one of the plurality of active areas and only one of the capacitors are explained in this specification for the sake of simplification of description.
A typical example of the conventional semiconductor devices with MOS capacitors is shown in FIGS. 1A to 1E.
First, as shown in FIG. 1A, a patterned photoresist film 102 with a window 102a is formed on a main surface of a p-type semiconductor substrate 101. The window 102a typically has a square or rectangular plan shape.
Next, using the patterned photoresist film 102 as a mask, phosphorus (P) ions are selectively implanted into the substrate 101 through the window 102a of the film 102 with a dose of approximately 1.times.10.sup.12 to 1.times.10.sup.14 atoms/cm.sup.2. The bottom of the ion-implanted region is indicated by the reference numeral 103 in FIG. 1A.
After the photoresist film 102 is stripped, the substrate 101 is subjected to a heat treatment at a temperature of 1000.degree. C. or higher to diffuse the implanted phosphorus ions within the substrate 101, thereby forming an n-type well 104, as shown in FIG. 1B. The well 104 typically has a square or rectangular plan shape.
Subsequently, a silicon nitride (SiN.sub.x) layer 105 with a thickness of approximately 50 to 1000 nm is grown on the well 104 by a Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) process or the like. The layer 105 is then patterned to have a specific plan shape such as a square or rectangle by popular patterning processes, as shown in FIG. 1B.
Using the patterned silicon nitride layer 105 as a mask, the substrate 101 is thermally oxidized to selectively grow a field oxide layer 106 at a location where the silicon nitride layer 105 is removed, as shown in FIG. 1C. Thus, an active area 107 is defined by the field oxide layer 106 on the main surface of the substrate 101. The field oxide layer 106 is located on the periphery of the n-type well 104.
After stripping the patterned silicon nitride layer 105, an insulating layer 108 with a thickness of approximately 1 to 100 nm is formed on the whole, exposed surface of the well 104 or the active area 107. This insulating layer 108 is formed simultaneously with the formation process of a gate insulating layer for MOS Field-Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) (not shown) to be provided on the same substrate 101.
A conductive layer (not shown) with a thickness of approximately 100 to 1000 nm is grown over the whole substrate 101 by a CVD process or the like, and then, is patterned to form an electrode 109 on the insulating layer 108, as shown in FIG. 1C. This conductive layer is formed simultaneously with the formation process of gate electrodes for the MOSFETs to be provided on the same substrate 101.
The insulating layer 108 is partially exposed from the electrode 109, as shown in FIG. 1C.
Subsequently, using the electrode 109 as a mask, phosphorus (P) or arsenic (As) ions are selectively implanted into the well 104 through the gap between the electrode 109 and the field oxide layer 106 with a dose of approximately 1.times.10.sup.14 to 1.times.10.sup.16 atoms/cm.sup.2. The bottom of the implanted region are indicated by the reference numeral 110 in FIG. 1D.
Further, the substrate 101 is subjected to a heat treatment at a temperature of 800.degree. C. or higher to activate the implanted ions within the well 104, thereby forming an n.sup.+ -type diffusion region 111 to surround the electrode 109, as shown in FIG. 1E.
Through the above-described process steps, the conventional semiconductor device with the MOS capacitor is obtained. The MOS capacitor is composed of the n-type well 104, the insulating layer 108, and the electrode 109. The n.sup.+ -type diffusion region 111 serves as a contact region for electrical connection to the n-type well layer 104.
With the above-described conventional MOS capacitor, the n-type well 104 and the electrode 109 serve as a pair of electrodes of the capacitor and the insulating layer 10B serves as a dielectric thereof. The n.sup.+ -type diffusion region 111 serves as a contact region for electrical connection.
The conventional semiconductor device as shown in FIG. 1E has a problem that the capacitance of the MOS capacitor may decrease when the electric potential difference between the n-type well 104 and the electrode 109 satisfies a specific condition.
Specifically, when the electric potential of the electrode 109 is lower than that of the n-type well 104, i.e., a backward voltage is applied across the MOS capacitor, a weak inversion region will be formed on the surface of the well 104. When the electric potential of the electrode 109 is further lowered, the weak inversion region will be a strong inversion region.
The weak or strong inversion region causes a depletion region and a channel region in the surface area of the well 104. As a result, a capacitor is formed by the well 104, the depletion region, and the channel region and at the same time, another capacitor is formed by the channel region, the insulating layer 108, and the electrode 109. These two capacitors are electrically connected in cascade. Therefore, the total capacitance of the MOS capacitor is decreased to approximately (1/2) to (1/5) of the normal capacitance where no weak nor strong inversion region are formed.
Accordingly, considering the above capacitance decrease due to the formation of the weak or strong inversion region, it is necessary that the MOS capacitor is designed to have a larger size than that for the required capacitance. This means that the chip area of the MOS capacitor increases, resulting in lowering of the device integration density.
To solve the above problem about the capacitance decrease, the Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication No. 2-137256 published in May 1990 disclosed an improved structure of the MOS capacitor.
In the conventional, improved structure of the Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication No. 2-137256, first and second MOS capacitors having the same structure are provided on a semiconductor substrate. The first and second capacitors are electrically connected to each other to be opposite polarities or directions.
With the improved structure of the Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication No. 2-137256, however, the first and second capacitors need to be located at a comparatively large lateral distance in order to prevent the latch-up phenomenon. This also results in decrease of the device integration density.

Semiconductor device with MOS capacitor and fabrication method thereof


A distance measuring device includes a light emitter; a light receiver; a protection cover that is located on an optical path between the light emitter and the light receiver; a mode switch that switches between a first mode and a second mode; a distance calculator that calculates a distance from a target object based on a difference between a time when light is emitted from the light emitter and a time when reflected light is received by the light receiver in the first mode; and an LD light emission intensity adjuster that adjusts a light emission intensity of the light emitter. The adjustment is performed such that a light emission intensity of the light emitter in the second mode is lower than a light emission intensity of the light emitter in the first mode.

As one of in-vehicle safety mechanisms, a system that monitors a front side, a surrounding area, or a back side of a vehicle by using an image sensor has heretofore been proposed. As a configuration of a distance measuring device that measures a distance from an object in the vicinity of a vehicle, a configuration using the principle of time-of-flight method for measuring a time required for emitted light to be reflected by an object and then received is known. The measured time is converted into the distance from the object (see PTL 1 and PTL 2).
To protect a light emission element or a light receiving element from an external environment, a cover composed of a glass plate or a resin plate, which transmits light, is attached to the distance measuring device. If any foreign material, such as dirt, is on a protection cover, which is located on an optical path of light to be emitted to an object from which a distance is to be measured and on an optical path of light that is reflected from the object and returned, an abnormality occurs in the distance measuring, which may cause an error in the measurement or cause a measurement failure.

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A rotating machine element is monitored for displacements using co-rotating sensors for acceleration, rotation or the direction of gravitation. In doing so, the sensor data are received by a, likewise, co-rotating electronic unit. The data can also be stored and further processed in this electronic unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device and method for monitoring of rotating machine elements.
2. Description of Related Art
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2004/024499 describes how the coupling of a drive shaft of a VTOL aircraft is monitored using magnetostrictive sensors. Here, the sensors are attached to a rigid sleeve. On the end of each shaft, a magnetic target, for example, a permanent magnet, is mounted to the rotating flexible coupling. The target can also be formed of components of the coupling. This target is detected by way of sensors in the rigid sleeve. The rigid sleeve is advantageously arranged without any mechanical contact to one of the two coupling halves.
A similar principle is described in German Patent Application DE 195 06 471. In this document, the displacements of rotating shafts are monitored with inductive sensors, for example, eddy current sensors. This method is also suitable for monitoring of the displacements of couplings on comparatively slow-running shafts, for example, in mills. In order to measure one or more mill shafts in operation, inductive proximity sensors are used. These inductive proximity sensors are attached, for example, to stands on a separate base frame. This procedure is complex.
In contrast to U.S. Patent Application Publication 2004/024499, International Patent Application Publication WO 2009/011638 A1 proposes monitoring of a two-part coupling with a permanent magnet which is inserted into one half of the coupling and a two-dimensionally readable Hall sensor is located in the other half of the coupling. There is also a reference sensor for determining the rotary position.

Device and method for monitoring of rotating machine elements


A mounting system for the display of an audio/visual product. A cable-based mounting system for an audio/visual product includes at least one hanging cable and at least one attachment mechanism. The at least one attachment mechanism is configured to operatively engage with a plurality of various mounting patterns located on the rear of the audio/visual product. The cable-based mounting system allows for the relatively inexpensive and uncomplicated mounting of the audio/visual product on a display region.

This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention that is recited in the claim. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Recently, flat panel televisions and other flat panel display screens have become popular among consumers as prices have fallen. One appeal of flat panel displays is the increased ability to mount the flat panel display in various locations where traditional "tube" displays could not be easily located. One such popular location is on a wall. As a result of the increased popularity and the increased affordability, more consumers may purchase flat panel televisions with the desire to mount the flat panel display on a wall.
Traditional tube displays are larger, heavier and bulkier than flat panel displays having similar-sized viewing screens. The size, weight and bulk of the traditional tube displays make placing the display in a variety of locations difficult. In many homes, tube displays are located on entertainment centers or shelving units. These entertainment centers and shelving units provide sufficient support for the tube display and allow the tube display to be located at a generally desirable viewing angle. Some of these entertainment centers and shelving units are large and aesthetically unpleasing. In some homes and many non-residential environments, tube displays are connected to overhead mounting systems. These overhead mounting systems themselves are also often heavy and bulky. As a result, these overhead mounting systems typically require professional installation. Once mounted, the tube displays are difficult to move or adjust due to their location overhead and the need for professional installation.
With flat panel displays, systems have been developed that allow a flat panel display to be mounted to various locations, including a wall. Various mounting systems for flat panel displays provide different features. Many existing displays may comprise several pounds of materials which may be required to be connected to a wall even before the flat panel display is connected. As with some of the mounting systems for tube displays, some of the mounting systems for flat-panel displays are complicated and unfamiliar to install, even requiring professional installation. Also, with the decrease in price of many flat panel displays, the cost of a complex mounting system may comprise a greater percentage of the total cost of purchasing and installing a flat panel display than many consumers may desire.
Mounting a flat panel display may be further complicated by the mounting pattern, or the configuration of the mounting regions on the rear of a flat panel display that allow the display to be connected to a mounting system. Many flat panel displays provide mounting regions on the rear of the display to allow the connection of the display to a mounting system. The connection of a mounting system to the flat panel display is often achieved, at least in part, by using screws which engage with these mounting regions on the rear of the display. The mounting pattern may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and, even within a manufacturer, between models. As a result of the varied mounting patterns on flat panel displays, not all mounting systems may be used with a given flat panel display.


A configurable metal register of an integrated circuit that allows a register output value to be changed by changing any metal or any contact within a metal pattern solution of the register. More than one metal and/or corresponding contact within the metal pattern solution may be changed so that the register output value is correspondingly changed.

The design of complex integrated circuits (ICs), such as Central Processor Unit (CPU) chips, normally goes through several revisions, or turns, in silicon before the final production version is ready. These revisions could be a full turn, which includes metals and FET's, or a metal only turn in which only metal layers of the chip are changed. Fabrication of these turns is costly. As an example, for a current CPU, a full turn may cost on the order of one million dollars while a metal only turn may cost on the order of half a million dollars. A turn with a smaller number of metal layers changed (a partial metal turn) costs less. The cost is roughly proportional to the number of metal layers with its associated contacts, with lower level metal costing more. Reducing the number of metal layers that need to be changed helps to reduce the cost of fabrication. As an example, a design chip's first turn may only change one metal layer with the metal layer's associated contact.
The front side bus is the portion of an integrated circuit (IC) that is responsible for transporting data among the various subsystems and devices that make up the IC. In many integrated circuit applications, the performance of the front side bus of the integrated circuit is controlled by a collection of registers. As bus speed increases and the number of chips on the bus increase, the signal integrity of bus signals becomes more important. That is why many registers may be added to the CPU to change the associated bus parameters, such as driver termination, driver slew rate, receiver trip point, receiving deglitch delay, etc.
When the IC is in the design stages, it may undergo iterations of changes to the register values, where each iteration can require the fabrication of a new prototype IC. For each revision of the IC, the input/output performance of the front side bus of the IC is tested. If the bus performance does not meet design guidelines, then the IC layout is altered and a new IC revision fabricated. Clearly, the turnaround time of this process can be lengthy and affect the overall design time of the IC. Conversely, it can be seen that for an IC already in a production environment, having registers set to incorrect values can be catastrophic to the IC operation. This situation may occur if the design and prototyping was not done properly or it may be due to unforeseen system level impacts.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a block diagram of a fabrication process 100 for a circuit containing one or more registers is shown. After an IC containing one or more registers is designed (block 110), the IC is fabricated for testing (block 120). The IC is then tested for layout errors (block 130). If the IC test fails (block 140), then the register values must be changed during IC layout and the IC fabricated and tested again (blocks 120 and 130). The number of times the registers are changed, the layout changed and the IC fabricated and re-tested has a large impact on the overall cost and time-to-market of the IC. A second concern can occur if the IC passes the pre-production test and enters the production process (block 150). If an error is detected after the IC is in production (block 155), either due to a design flaw or an error in the previous test process of block 130, then the IC's that have been produced may not be usable, the IC layout will need to be modified (block 145) and the IC fabricated and tested again (blocks 120 and 130). Clearly detection of an error after production has started is undesirable, since many IC's may be wasted.

Method and apparatus for a configurable metal register

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An electric bending endoscope according to the present invention includes a bending portion arranged to an inserting portion, a bending driving mechanism which electrically bends the bending portion, an operation input member which instructs an operation to the bending driving mechanism so that the bending driving mechanism bends the bending portion, and a bending angle holding mechanism which holds the bending angle of the bending portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric bending endoscope which electrically bends a bending portion arranged to a distal-end portion of an inserting portion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, an endoscope is widely used. Various curing treatments are performed by inserting an elongated inserting portion in the body cavity so as to observe the organ in the body cavity or by using a therapeutic instrument inserted in a channel dedicated to the therapeutic instrument as needed. In the industrial field, the endoscope observes and examines inner scratches and corrosion of a steam generator, a turbine, an engine and a chemical plant by inserting the elongated inserting portion.
The endoscope has a bending portion which is freely bendable connected to a proximal-end side of a distal-end portion of the elongated inserting portion. The endoscope receives an instruction as to the bending amount which corresponds to a bending direction or a bending speed of the bending portion, by inputting means for a bending operation such as a bending operation lever or a joystick device arranged to an operating portion. In the endoscope, a bending operation wire is mechanically stretched and contracted based on the bending amount inputted as the instruction so as to bend the bending portion.
The above-mentioned endoscope contains an electric bending driving system, that is, electric bending endoscope, in which a motor as bending driving means included in the endoscope is electrically rotation-controlled, the driving force of the motor contracts and stretches the bending operation wire, and the bending portion is bent.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-63010 discloses an endoscope, in which a pad arranged like a cross as bending operation input means performs the operation for instructing the bending. Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-304126 discloses a joystick or the like as the bending operation input means.
In the electric bending endoscope having the above-mentioned bending operation input means, in the case of an endoscope which is not electrically operated but performs the bending operation by manually rotating a bending operation knob, the bending operation does not need to be executed with large-force rotation and the operability is improved.

Endoscope device with electrically actuated bending


An input/output memory management unit (IOMMU) having an “invalidate all” command available to clear the contents of cache memory is presented. The cache memory provides fast access to address translation data that has been previously obtained by a process. A typical cache memory includes device tables, page tables and interrupt remapping entries. Cache memory data can become stale or be compromised from security breaches or malfunctioning devices. In these circumstances, a rapid approach to clearing cache memory content is provided.

1. Field
The disclosed embodiments relate generally to computer systems, and more particularly to memory management units for input/output (I/O) devices.
2. Background Art
Computer systems of various types are ubiquitous in modern society, including personal computers (PCs), workstations, servers, various personal digital assistant (PDA) devices, etc. Most, if not all, of these computer systems have implemented memory management functionality for access by a processor to memory. Generally, the memory management functionality has included translating addresses from a virtual address space used by each process to a physical address space that spans the actual system memory. Included with the memory management functionality are various memory protections (e.g., read only, read/write, privilege level requirements, etc.). The memory management functionality has a variety of uses, such as protecting the memory used by each process from unauthorized access by other processes, permitting large virtual spaces to be used by processes even if the physical memory system is not that large, relocation of virtual addresses to available physical memory without the participation of the process, and the like.
Like processor addresses that are frequently translated, addresses used by input/output (I/O) devices in computer systems can also be translated. That is, the I/O devices can use virtual addresses rather than physical addresses to access the memory needed to fulfill its operational requirements. Use of virtual addresses rather than physical addresses by devices is preferred in current day systems since it improves the overall security of the system. Use of physical addresses by a malfunctioning device (or a device programmed by a malicious software agent) would result in improper memory access, with potentially catastrophic consequences.
In single operating system (OS) computer systems, such as most PCs, the OS controls access to the I/O devices by other processes (applications and OS services). Accordingly, the OS can control which process has access to a given device at any given point in time, and can at least somewhat control the addresses accessed by the device. Virtual machine systems are more complex, as they may have multiple guest OSs running on a virtual machine monitor. In a virtualized system, many applications and I/O devices access physical memory through the use of virtual addresses. In such a virtualized system, an I/O memory management unit (IOMMU) is coupled to the I/O devices and the system memory. Here, the IOMMU is configured to translate the virtual address in the device memory request to physical addresses so that the device can access the physical system memory.
Performance indicators of an IOMMU include its efficiency of memory access, as well as its ability to perform in a variety of both normal as well as abnormal settings. Efficiency of memory access can be improved through the use of cache, a small, fast memory separate from the main memory that is used to hold recently accessed data.

All invalidate approach for memory management units


Methods for the treatment of a disorder characterized by excessive proliferation and/or lipid content of sebocytes are disclosed. In one embodiment of the invention, the method comprises administering to a subject in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of a pharmaceutical composition comprising a small molecule inhibitor targeted to galectin-12 or a nucleic acid-based inhibitor targeted to galectin-12 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, wherein said inhibitor is a non-naturally occurring molecule and administration of said inhibitor produces a decrease in the proliferation and/or lipid content of the sebocytes. Methods for decreasing sebaceous gland size, inhibiting sebocyte proliferation, and/or inhibiting sebocyte lipid content are also disclosed.

Deregulation of sebaceous gland, including enhanced sebocyte proliferation and sebum production, with abnormal differentiation and lipogenesis, is associated with several human diseases such as acne vulgaris, sebaceous hyperplasia, and sebaceous gland carcinoma, atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis and primary cicatricial alopecia. A mechanistic understanding of sebocyte proliferation and differentiation is important for developing novel therapeutic strategies to manage certain sebaceous gland disorder.
Acne vulgaris, the most common sebaceous gland diseases, is still a challenge to dermatologists since most medical and surgical therapies developed so far to treat acne vulgaris have relatively modest efficacy, possibly because of the inherent pathological complexity of the disease. Currently, topical retinoids, oral isotretinoin, and antimicrobials have been widely used as first-line therapies for acne since they can suppress sebaceous gland activity such as suppressing sebum secretion and reducing sebaceous lipogenesis or reduce the colonization of P. Acnes and its subsequent pro-inflammatory effects on comedogenesis. Unfortunately, these conventional therapies may not be effective against refractory acne, can lead to antibiotic resistance, or are associated with serious side effects. Although light and laser therapy and photodynamic therapy are growing in popularity as adjunctive treatments, it usually only shows short-term efficacy for inflammatory acne vulgaris. Therefore, their use as alternative acne treatments cannot be recommended until long-term studies are available that rule out a potential irreversible sebaceous gland destruction.
Galectin-12, a member of a β-galactoside-binding lectin family, contains two carbohydrate recognition domains (CRDs). Its mRNA contains five AU-rich motifs (AUUUA) which are known to confer instability to mRNA in the 3′-untranslated region, might therefore contributing to very restrict expression in adipocytes and peripheral blood leucocytes. (Yang, R. Y. et al., J Biol. Chem. 276:20252-20260 (2001)). Galectin-12 plays an important role in modulating adipogenesis by positively regulating expression of CCAAT enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR). (Yang, R. Y. et al., J Biol Chem. 279(28):29761-6. (2004) In addition, galectin-12 is specifically localized on lipid droplet and negatively regulates lipolysis and insulin sensitivity. (Yang, R. Y. et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci. 15; 108(46):18696-701(2011). Both C/EBPs and PPARs are also expressed in sebaceous gland cells and regulate sebocyte lipogenesis and differentiation. It has been demonstrated that galectin-12 is also expressed in human sebaceous glands and cultured sebocytes. (Harrison, W. J. et al., J Invest Dermatol. 127(6):1309-17. (2007)). However, its roles in sebocyte differentiation and the pathophysiology of sebaceous gland disorders remain to be elucidated.

Reducing galectin-12 activity to influence the cell function of human sebocytes


A game call striker for frictionally interacting with a prior art game call. The game call striker includes a striker member that outwardly extends from a body portion. The body portion comprising first and second sound chambers, the first sound chamber including an insert sized to frictionally receive a base end of the striker member. In particular, the base end is fixedly secured within the insert with adhesive means such as glue. The striker member extends from the insert, through the first sound chamber, and outwardly extends from the body portion without the outer surface of the striker member touching the side walls of the first sound chamber. As a result, it is as though the striker member is “floating” within the first sound chamber.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to game calls useful by hunters, photographers and game-watchers and the like to reproduce yelps, cackles, purrs, clucks and so on, to attract wild turkeys. More particular, the present invention relates to a game call striker for frictionally interacting with a prior art game call.
2. Brief Description of Prior Art
Turkey call devices are used to produce mimic turkey calls in hopes of inducing a live bird to respond and approach the caller. Use of these devices is fairly an art form. Numerous devices are known and understood in the relevant art for use by hunters and others for producing game sounds. While there are many types of calls available, including mechanical and electronic, the most widely used is the so-called "friction" or "rubbing" calls in which a vibratory rub or striker element is rubbed on a soundboard.
As is known in the art, a "friction" or "rubbing" game call is generally a handheld device that typically includes a sounding plate having a frictional upper surface and a cup in which the friction plate is disposed. The friction plate is typically manufactured of a material such as slate, ceramic, or other materials. The cup is typically manufactured of a plastic or other material and often includes one or more sound chambers to amplify the sound produced by the friction plate when frictionally excited by a game call striker.
As is generally understood in the relevant art, a game call striker includes a striker element that outwardly extends from a block or member. The striker element is typically manufactured from one of a variety of materials such as various woods, metals, and other materials. The block or member is typically manufactured of any variety of materials such as wood and plastic, as well as other materials.
The device is used by holding the game call in one hand with the upper surface of the friction plate facing upward and with the game call striker held in the other hand. The game call striker is typically held by the striker element close to the exposed tip of the striker element, similarly to holding a writing instrument between the thumb and the first two fingers. The tip of the striker element is then frictionally rubbed across the upper surface of the friction plate in various fashions and in various directions to produce desired animal calls.
Much of the appeal of the call and striker type of game call as described above comes from the wide variety sounds the device can produce. For instance, a given game call striker can produce numerous types of sounds by varying the speed, direction, angle, and force with which the tip is frictionally slid across the upper surface of the game call.
The prior art teaches game calls of various types, but does not teach a turkey call with the structure of the instant invention capable of being constructed inexpensively, is easy and therefore not cumbersome to carry, and produces numerous type of game sounds. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.
As will be seen from the subsequent description, the preferred embodiments of the present invention overcome the above problems and difficulties of the prior art.


A lighting apparatus used for a projection type display is provided, which can change the incident ray volume to an optical modulation device without changing the optical output intensity of the lamp, and can exhibit excellent effects in expressive power of an image and adaptability to the use environment. The lighting apparatus of the present invention comprises; a light source, two fly-eye lenses constituting a uniform lighting device, and a shading plate arranged between these fly-eye lenses and constituting a dimming device for adjusting the amount of light of the outgoing light from the light source. The angle of inclination of the shading plate is controlled based on an image signal supplied to the optical modulation device, thereby enabling adjustment of the amount of light.

Recent development of information equipment is remarkable, and demand for thin displays having high resolution and low power consumption is increasing with research and development advancing. Amongst these, the liquid crystal display for which the optical properties can be changed by electrically controlling the arrangement of the liquid crystal molecules, is anticipated as a display that can correspond to the above needs. As one form of such a liquid crystal display, a projection type liquid crystal display (liquid crystal projector) is known, which enlarges and projects an image emitted from an optical system using a liquid crystal light valve, onto a screen through a projection lens.
The projection type liquid crystal display uses a liquid crystal light valve as an optical modulation device, but a projection type display which uses a digital mirror device (hereinafter referred to as DMD) as the optical modulation device, instead of the liquid crystal light valve, has been put to practical use. However, this type of conventional projection type display has problems as described below.    (1) Due to leakage of light and stray light, which occur in various optical elements constituting an optical system, sufficient contrast cannot be obtained. Therefore, the gradient range (dynamic range) which can be displayed is narrow, and the image quality and power is inferior, as compared with an existing television receiver using a cathode ray tube (hereinafter referred to as CRT).    (2) Even if it is attempted to improve the image quality by various kinds of image signal processing, since the dynamic range is fixed, a sufficient effect cannot be demonstrated.
As a solution for the problems of the projection type display, that is, as a method of extending the dynamic range, it can be considered to change the amount of light shone onto the optical modulation device (light valve) corresponding to the image signal. The simplest method for realizing this is to change the optical output intensity of the lamp. In the projection type liquid crystal display, a method of controlling the output light of a metal halide lamp is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 3-179886.
As a lamp used in the projection type liquid crystal display, a high-pressure mercury-vapor lamp is mainstream at present. However, it is quite difficult to control the optical output intensity with the high-pressure mercury-vapor lamp. Therefore, a method is desired in which the amount of incident light to the optical modulation device can be changed corresponding to the image signal, without changing the optical output intensity itself of the lamp.
Moreover, in addition to the above problems, since the brightness of a light source is fixed in the current projection type display, there are problems in that the screen becomes too bright, for example, in a dark viewing environment, and that when the projection screen size is changed by the projection distance or zooming of a projection lens, the brightness of the screen changes corresponding thereto.

Lighting apparatus and projection type display, and driving method therefor


Techniques are provided for exchanging configuration settings in a distributed software system in which interrelated software processes execute on both a client system and a service provider. Automation scripts are generated and used by the client system and the service provider to establish and initiate respective test environments. Related apparatus, systems, techniques and articles are also described.

Companies are increasingly adopting computing environments in which software (e.g., client applications, ERP systems, etc.) resides locally on one or more client systems and such software interacts with remote servers (e.g., service providers, cloud computing systems, etc.) executing software managed by a different organization. In such distributed software environments, the connections among the various systems need to be managed by the IT organizations in each respective company. However, in such situations, each organization only controls a portion of the overall distributed software system and so the respective IT organizations need to coordinate any changes that are being made which might impact the functionality of the local and/or remote software. Such changes, which are sometimes referred to as configuration settings, are often conveyed in an ad-hoc basis as each IT organization has its own practices in this regard.

Enhanced connectivity in distributed computing systems


An image forming apparatus includes: a job control unit configured to impose an execution restriction on a job if the number of simultaneously-executed jobs on a function-to-function basis reaches an upper limit value; a guaranteed job count setting unit configured to set a guaranteed job count, wherein the guaranteed job count provides a guaranteed number of simultaneously-executable jobs on a function-to-function basis; and a shared job count setting unit configured to set a shared job count that can be allocated in common to respective functions, which provides the number of simultaneously-executable jobs.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus capable of controlling the number of jobs that can be executed simultaneously. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the description in this section is not prior art to the claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image forming apparatus such as a typical copier or a printer, efficiency and smoothness of output processing are achieved by temporarily spooling image data on a scanned original, received print data, or the like in a memory and sequentially performing outputs thereof in executing jobs.
For this reason, in an attempt to simultaneously process a large number of jobs, a delay or an interruption may occur due to excess of a memory capacity. In such a case, an upper limit value (number limit) of the number of simultaneously-executed jobs is defined in advance to restrict execution of the job if the upper limit value is reached.
The number of simultaneously-executable jobs may be controlled based on a priority.
According to this control, the upper limit value of the number of simultaneously-executed jobs is dynamically changed depending on an urgency degree or a requester of the job or depending on an operating ratio of a CPU.
This involves troublesome processing for setting the priority on a job-to-job basis and determining a priority order of the respective jobs.

Image forming apparatus which controls the number of jobs that can be executed simultaneously