Disclosed is a computer audio interface adapted to enable blind or visually impaired users to locate icons positioned in rows in the background of a graphical user interface. Whenever the pointer of the interface is positioned on the background, the system produces a distinctive tone. Whenever the pointer is positioned in an icon row that is occupied by one or more icons, the system produces a distinctive chord. Whenever the pointer is positioned in the background and not in an occupied row, the system produces stereo effects that give the user information as to the relative left/right position of the pointer. Whenever the pointer is positioned in an occupied row, the amplitude of the left and right stereo channels is controlled such that whenever the pointer is to the left of the leftmost icon, substantially all of the volume is produced by the left speaker and whenever the pointer is to the right of the rightmost icon, substantially all of the the volume is produced by the right speaker. Whenever the pointer is located between the leftmost and rightmost icons, the volume is balanced substantially equally between the two speakers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system and method for enabling a blind or visually impaired user to use a graphical user interface, and more particularly, to a system and method for enabling a blind or visually impaired user to locate icons in a graphical user interface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, there has been a move among computer application software developers toward graphical user interfaces (GUIS). In graphical user interfaces, objects are presented for users to manipulate in ways that are similar to the way that they are manipulated in the real work place. Objects, such as file cabinets, folders, documents, and printers, are displayed on the screen as icons. Users manipulate these objects with a mouse to perform desired operations. For example, to file a document in a folder that is located in a file cabinet in the real work place, the user opens the file cabinet, locates and opens the correct folder, and puts the document inside. In the electronic work place of the graphical user interface, the user performs a similar process. The user opens the file cabinet icon, locates the correct folder icon, and drops the document icon in the folder. Because this is an electronic environment, users do not have to open the folder to put the document in it. However, users have been able to use their knowledge of a real work place to perform this operation.
Normally sighted persons find graphical user interfaces intuitive and easy to work with. However, except for an occasional "beep" or "bong", graphical user interfaces are virtually silent and the vast majority of the information they provide to the user is visual. Thus, graphical user interfaces are essentially not usable by blind or severely visually impaired people.
Blind and visually impaired computer users now benefit from many forms of adaptive technology, including speech synthesis, large-print processing, braille desktop publishing, and voice recognition. However, presently, almost none of the foregoing tools is adapted for use with graphical user interfaces. It has been suggested that programmers could write software with built-in voice labels for icons. Lazzaro, Windows of Vulnerability, Byte Magazine, June, 1991 page 416. Various synthetic or recorded speech solutions for making computer display screen contents available to blind persons have been suggested, for example in Golding, et. al., IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 26, No. 10B, pages 5633-5636 (March 1984), and Barnett, et. al., IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 26, No. 10A, pages 4950-4951 (March 1984). Recently, there has been disclosed a prototype of a system called IBM Screen Reader/PM. Schwerdtfeger, Making the GUI Talk, Byte Magazine, December 1991, page 118. According to the Schwerdtfeger article, a user of the IBM Screen Reader/PM system can maneuver a mouse over the display and use the keyboard or a separate keypad, and a voice synthesizer will describe an icon the GUI has displayed or the graphical text shown on the screen. Additionally, there have been suggested systems that include a mouse with a braille transducer so that a blind user may read text and obtain certain tactile position feedback from the mouse. Comerford, IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Vol. 28, No. 3, page 1343 (August 1985), Affinito, et. al., IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Vol. 31, No. 12, page 386 (May 1989). However, while announcing various text items, either audibly or by means of a braille transducer in the mouse, may provide some information to blind user, it does not enable the user to navigate about and locate objects on the computer display screen.
There has been suggested an audible cursor positioning and pixel (picture element) status identification mechanism to help a user of an interactive computer graphics system locate data by using aural feedback to enhance visual feedback. As the cursor is stepped across the screen, an audible click is generated that varies in tone corresponding to the current status of each pixel encountered. With this combination in audible and visual cursor feedback, it becomes a simple task to identify the desired line by noting the change in tone as the cursor moves. For color display applications, each color is represented by a distinct tone so any single pixel may be distinguished from the surrounding pixels of a different color. Although the technique was originally developed for computer aided drafting, it has been suggested that this system is especially helpful for visually impaired or learning disabled users. Drumm, et. al., IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 27, No. 48, page 2528 (September 1984). However, the foregoing disclosure does not suggest a means of enabling a blind user to navigate about or locate objects on the computer display screen.
Recently, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,828, issued Jun. 29, 1993, entitled "Method and System for Enabling a Blind Computer User to Handle Message Boxes in a Graphical User Interface", which is assigned to the assignee of the present application, a system has been proposed that permits a blind or visually impaired user to interact with message boxes within a graphical user interface. Each message box consists of an icon, explanatory text, and one or more "pushbuttons". The icon allows the user to identify visually the type of message. The text typically explains the situation and may provide assistance. The textual content may be a question or a statement. Pushbuttons provided within the message box typically allow the user to interact with the message box.
The system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,828 permits blind or visually impaired users to accommodate a message box by announcing the textual content of such a box when the message box first appears. Thereafter, the pushbuttons available to respond to the message box are announced in order from left to right. A homing signal was then provided for finding the message box. The homing signal increases in pitch as the mouse pointer approaches the message box. When the pointer enters the message box, the message box text and available pushbuttons are re-announced and the pointer is automatically moved to a default pushbutton. By using this system, a blind or visually impaired user may locate a message box within a computer system.
Another system and method is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/022,788, filed Feb. 22, 1993, which is a continuation of abandoned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/746,840, filed Aug. 19, 1991, and entitled "Audio User Interface With Stereo and Filtered Sound Effects", which is assigned to the assignee of the present application. The system and method of application Ser. No. 07/746,840, permits a blind or visually impaired user to locate a mouse pointer or other graphical pointing device within the client area of a window within a graphical user interface by providing a stereo sound system and varying the intensity of the left and right audio channels to indicate the horizontal position of the mouse pointer. That system also proposes an increase in pitch of an associated sound to indicate the relative position of the pointer in the top/bottom access of the client area of the window.
Recently, in application Ser. No. 07/802,956, filed Dec. 5, 1991, entitled "Method and System for Enabling Blind or Visually Impaired Computer Users to Graphically Select Displayed Elements", which is assigned to the assignee of the present application, there is disclosed a method and system that may be used to enable a blind or visually impaired computer user to graphically select a displayed graphic element within a computer system display. A unique identifiable audible signal is associated with each displayed graphic element. A moveable cursor element or a pointer is displayed within the computer system display and a composite audible signal is periodically generated in response to the position of the moveable cursor element. The composite audible signal preferably includes elements of each identifiable audible signal associated with each displayed graphic element within a pre-determined radius of the location of the moveable cursor element. In one embodiment of that system and method, each displayed graphic element comprises multiple picture elements and the composite audible signal includes elements of each identifiable audible signal associated with each displayed graphic element having picture elements within a rotational sector of a circle having its origin at the moveable cursor element and a radius equal to the pre-determined radius.
In certain graphical user interfaces, frequently used objects that have system wide application are positioned in the background of the display screen, which is frequently called the "electronic desktop." Such objects may include printer icons and wastebin or shredder icons. The printer icons are provided so that a user may print a document or other objects by direct manipulation and shredder or wastebin icons are provided so that the user can delete a document or object by direct manipulation. Those icons are positioned on the desktop so that they will be readily available to the user without the user having to open a window that may contain them. Users are also typically given the ability to customize their interfaces by placing various objects of their own choosing on their desktop. Certain operating systems adapted for graphical user interfaces, such as IBM OS/2 Presentation Manager, provide a facility that automatically arranges the icons on the desktop in rows.
The prior art has provided certain tools by which a blind or visually impaired user may navigate within windows and find certain elements. However, there does not currently exist any tool by which a blind or visually impaired user can readily locate icons on the desktop. In the prior work on audio graphical user interfaces, the blind user has been able to wander about the screen in search of icons. When passing over an icon, certain sounds have been created or altered along with a verbal announcement of the identity of the icon using a text-to-speech synthesizer. However, this random searching process can be tiresome and time consuming to the user.

Method and system for enabling a blind computer user to locate icons in a graphical user interface

International Business Machines Corporation


An apparatus and method for maintaining non-volatility in a ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM), in which recorded information is maintained during a power failure, are provided. The apparatus for maintaining non-volatility includes a control portion for a writeback function, a power source voltage sensing portion for sensing a failure in the power source voltage and providing a power failure signal to the control portion such that the control portion completes a writeback cycle before power failure. The power source voltage sensing portion generates a control signal by sensing a failure in power source voltage, and provides a power failure signal to the control portion such that a writeback process is completed before power failure, thereby maintaining non-volatility in the memory device. That is, loss of non-volatility in the memory device occurring during a power failure can be prevented by increasing the reliability of products.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for maintaining non-volatility in a ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) which enables preservation of recorded information during power failure.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a FRAM is classified into two types: 1T-1C having a one-transistor, one-capacitor structure, and 2T-2C having a two-transistor, two-capacitor structure depending on the structure of a unit memory cell. Even though the structure of each FRAM is different, a ferroelectric capacitor as a constituent thereof operates under the same principle. Also, there is an advantage of non-volatility of recorded information in the FRAM since the polarization state of a ferroelectric material is maintained during a power failure. The polarization state changes according to the direction of an externally applied electrical field, and the change in polarity is shown in FIG. 1. That is, a ferroelectric material has two polarization states, +Pr and -Pr, during a power failure. Also, the two polarization states are changed according to the polarity of the voltage applied to a capacitor as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Thus, the FRAM operates in a different manner than other memory devices. As the most significant difference, the FRAM applies a read pulse to an electrode of the capacitors to distinguish the polarization states of the capacitors by polarity. In the FRAM adopting the above method of operation, the polarization state may be inverted after a read is completed.
The change in the polarization state of the ferroelectric material according to the polarity of the voltage will be described in detail as follows.
The ferroelectric material has two polarization states, +Pr and -Pr, during a power failure according to the polarity of the voltage provided just prior to the polarization, as shown in FIG. 1. Also, the degree of polarization representing the polarization state varies depending on the polarity of the voltage just previously applied to the capacitor and is represented by a hysteresis curve as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. For example, the ferroelectric material is in the +Pr polarization state (corresponding to the upper portion of the hysteresis loop) when a positive (+) voltage is applied to the upper electrode of the capacitor with respect to the lower electrode, as shown in FIG. 2. On the contrary, the ferroelectric material is in the -Pr polarization state (corresponding to the lower portion of the hysteresis loop) when a positive (+) voltage is applied to the lower electrode of the capacitor with respect to the upper electrode, as shown in FIG. 3.
By changing the polarity of a voltage at both ends of the capacitor, a write information is accomplished in the ferroelectric capacitor so that its polarization state is the same as one of two polarization states shown in the hysteresis loop of FIG. 1. Also, a read pulse must be applied to the lower electrode of the capacitor in order to discriminate the polarization state (i.e. the information) written in the ferroelectric capacitor.
The reading process is as follows.
First, when a read pulse having the same polarity as that of a write pulse voltage is applied to the lower electrode of the ferroelectric capacitor, the polarization state is maintained without polarization switching by the read pulse, from -Pr to -Ps along the lower portion of the hysteresis loop as shown in FIG. 4. Here, the change of the polarization state along the hysteresis loop appears as an electrical charge amount at both ends of the electrode.
On the contrary, when a read pulse having the opposite polarity to that of a write pulse is applied to the lower electrode of the ferroelectric material, the polarization state is changed through a polarization switching by the read pulse, from -Pr to +Pr along the hysteresis loop as shown in FIG. 5. The polarization state change by the switching (i.e. the change of polarity) corresponds to a destructive readout where recorded information is lost by the change of polarity. Thus, in the case of the destructive readout causing the change of polarity, a writeback process is required to turn back the polarization state to the initial state. If the writeback process is not completed, the polarization state is not recovered, and the information is lost. The writeback process is essential for the operation of the FRAM device so long as its circuit structure or reading method is not changed. Due to the polarity inversion caused when the polarity of the pulse applied for writing and that of the pulse applied for reading are different, an FRAM device in which two pulses are applied to a plate line has been developed by Ramtron Co. That is, according to the structure of the circuit developed by Ramtron Co., the first pulse as a read pulse determines the polarization state of the ferroelectric material and the second pulse as a writeback pulse restores the polarization state of data to the state before the reading process. For example, the first pulse of a signal P1 in FIG. 8 is for reading and the second pulse thereof is for the writeback. However, the ferroelectric memory device having the writeback function does not include a safety device for power failures. Accordingly, when the power supply is interrupted during the writeback, the polarization state cannot be completely recovered to the initial state, so that a destructive readout is performed resulting in a loss of data. That this error cannot be recovered is a fatal defect in the memory device. That is, the error in the writeback which is caused by the interrupt of the power supply takes non-volatility away from the FRAM, wherein non-volatility of the FRAM enables data to be kept during a power failure. Even though the probability that a power failure will occur during the writeback is low, the error in the writeback may be a fatal defect in the reliability of the product.

Apparatus for maintaining non-volatility in ferroelectric ramdom access memory and method therefor


An optical transmitter is provided for use in a free-space optical communications system. The transmitter has a laser source with a tunable wavelength and adjustable power. A beam splitter divides the output beam from the laser source. A first portion of the divided beam is transmitted to a remote receiver through the atmosphere. A second portion of the divided beam is passed through a local optical path to a local receiver. The local optical path may be either a portion of the atmosphere local to the transmitter or may be an atmospheric spectral attenuation simulator. Processing circuitry receives signals from the local receiver that indicate the amount of attenuation of the second portion of the beam in the local optical path. The processing circuitry may adjust the wavelength and power output of the laser source to optimize transmission of the first portion of the beam to the receiver based on the amount of the attenuation measured in the local optical path. The processing circuitry may also adjust the wavelength and power of the laser source based on weather data received from a weather data source.

Free-space optical communications systems are systems in which beams of modulated light are transmitted from transmitters to receivers through free space (air). Such systems can be used to provide telecommunications services in areas in which it is difficult or expensive to provide hard-wired network connections using twisted pair wiring, coaxial cable, or optical fiber.
Although free-space optical communications systems have many desirable features, light transmission in such systems can be adversely affected by atmospheric absorption of the transmitted light and by limited visibility due to inclement weather conditions.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide improved transmitter arrangements for free-space optical communications systems.

Free-space optical communications system with open loop transmitter control


A HDMI type electrical connector assembly includes an insulative body comprising at least one top recess having at least one top tab, and at least one bottom tab; parallel conductors; a metal front housing formed by bending a metal sheet and comprising a front projected sheath including upper and lower flanges extended rearwards for fastening the insulative body and the rear member; a conductor mounting unit consisting of a rear member including two side protrusions, and upper and lower holding members together for pressing the rear member therebetween; and a plastic case comprising top and bottom shells each having a U section and comprising latches and holes disposed on both sidewalls such that the bottom and the top shells can be matingly coupled together.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connectors and more particularly to a HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) type electrical connector assembly with improved characteristics.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrical connectors are employed in the ends of cables for electrically coupling two electronic devices together for signal communication therebetween. Also, a wide variety of advanced electronic products such as LCDs (liquid crystal displays) are commercially available as time evolves. Thus, continuing improvements in the exploitation of electrical connector are constantly being sought by the manufacturers for meeting existing electrical requirements. For instance, HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) type electrical connectors are newly developed. HDMI type connectors have the advantages of DVI (digital video interface) type connectors while without its disadvantages. Also, HDMI type connectors are much compact for being easily adapted to mount in an AV (audio video) product.
However, metal shrouds of the well known HDMI type connectors suffered from several disadvantages including low precision, being difficult of being machined, and low yield due to the undesired extrusion process. Thus, it is desirable to provide an improved HDMI type electrical connector.


The present invention relates to an electronic signal switching module with connectors on a first side for connecting with a variety of devices and sources and with jacks for receiving patch cords on a second side. The switching modules include two position switches in the circuitry connecting the jacks with the connectors which allow the module to be configured as a straight-through patching module, a fully normal module with paired jacks or a half normal module with paired jacks. One alternative of the invention utilizes card edge connectors on the first side. Another aspect of the invention involves a chassis for holding a plurality of switching modules adjacent to and electronically connected with a plurality of connecting modules. The switching modules may also include designation lenses adjacent to the jacks for holding indicia.

Analog and digital audio signals are transmitted over balanced and shielded twisted pair cables. These cables include a pair of insulated conductors, either stranded or solid wire, which are surrounded by a metal foil shield. The shield serves to reduce the impact of external electromagnetic inference on the signal being transmitted over the cable and also to reduce the electromagnetic field generated by the signals being transmitted over the cable.
In a professional audio and video industry application, a large number of such cables will be in use to carry signals from sources to processing devices such as mixers or equalizers and further to amplifiers or other downstream devices. The environment in which these signals are generated is quite dynamic and requires the ability to quickly and easily shift connections between sources, and and downstream devices. A jack field provides this sort of connection flexibility. A jack field allows incoming signals to be patched into circuits connected to devices and signals returning from devices to be patched into circuits connected to downstream devices. Each jack in this jack field requires three conducting paths, two for the balanced audio signal and one for the shield to serve as a grounding path. There are three principal ways to connect these jacks to one another, depending on the needs of the particular situation.
First, a jack field may be set up for non-normal connections, meaning that each jack is connected directly to another jack. When a connection between devices is needed, a patch cord must be used. For example, a source is connected to J1 and J1 is electronically linked to jack 1. A device is connected to J1 and J2 is electronically linked to jack 2. To link the source to the device, a patch cord would be used to electronically link jack 1 to jack 2, as shown in FIG. 28b. Without a patch cord in place in jack 1 or jack 2, no connection will exist for either the source or the device, as shown in FIG. 28a.
A second method of connecting jacks is referred to as normal. As an example, a source and an device are designated to be linked together electronically as a default or normal condition, but it is still necessary to be able to switch the source to another device, or connect another source to the device, on occasion. To accomplish this, a source is connected to J1 and an device is connected to J2. J1 is also electronically connected to J2. Jacks 1 and 2 are placed in the circuit connecting J1 and J2, as shown in FIG. 29a, and are configured such that, if a patch cord is inserted into jack 1 or jack 2, the connection between J1 and J2 is broken, as shown in FIG. 29b. If a patch cord is inserted into jack 1, it will not only break the J1–J2 connection, but the patch cord will be electronically linked to the source connected to J1. Similarly, a patch cord inserted into jack 2 will break the J1–J2 connection and be electronically linked with the device connected to J2. So, in a normal configured jack field, two elements can be configured to be normally electronically connected to one another but that normal connection can be broken and the connections redirected as necessary.
A third method of connecting jacks is referred to as half-normal. In the default state, a source connected to J1 and an device connected to J2 are connected together through jack 1 and jack 2, as shown in FIG. 30a. This arrangement allows, for example, the feed coming from a source to J1 to be monitored by a device connected into the normal circuit by a patch cord inserted into jack 1 without the insertion of the patch cord into jack 2 causing the connection between the source and the device connected to J2 to be broken, as shown in FIG. 30b. In addition, the connection between the source and the device can be broken by the insertion of a patch cord in jack 2. When a patch cord is inserted into jack 2, the patch cord in jack 1 can then be used to patch the source to another device and patch cord in jack 2 can be used to patch another source to the device, as shown in FIG. 30c.
Another aspect of the connection between jacks and devices connected to the jacks is the treatment of the shield. Typically, the shield of the cable connected to the first jack is electronically linked to the shield of the cable connected to the second jack when the first jack and the second jack are electronically linked. It is desirable to have the ability to link the shields either individually or jointly to a common ground. This allows maximum flexibility in the configuration in the electronic linkages between the jacks, depending on the devices connected to the jacks.
While these connection schemes within a jack field are known, the ability of users to reconfigure a jack field or a jack pair within a jack field from one to another of the three arrangements could be improved. A variety of approaches have been used in the past, including wire wrapping leads together between the jacks, soldering the leads together between the jacks, using straps or jumpers to reconfigure connections between jacks, or using small metal plates of different sizes and shapes to reconfigure the connection between jacks. In some designs, the entire jack field would need to be exchanged to reconfigure the arrangement. This type of design does not allow the users to configure the circuits connected to individual devices and required all devices connected to a particular jack field to be configured identically. Improvement to the ability to create and modify the state of the connection between jacks and individual devices in the jack fields is desirable.
In addition, users of these types of devices and jack fields have very complex and dense wiring environments within their physical plants. Improvement to the density of connections possible in the limited space available within their physical plant without a loss of flexibility of configuration is desirable.

Electronic signal transmission and switching jack


A sensing technique using a capacitance touch sensor as a user interface is provided. An apparatus for sensing the movement of fingers using a multi-touch sensor includes a touch determination module which determines whether a user has actually touched a touch sensor comprising one or more touch points with at least one of his/her fingers, a clustering module which groups a plurality of electrodes arrayed in the touch sensor into one or more clusters according to a set of standards if the touch determination module determines that the user has actually touched the touch sensor with at least one of his/her finger, a position value calculation module which calculates a finger position value indicating the location of the finger of the user that touches the touch sensor for each of the clusters, and a movement information detection module which detects movement information of the finger of the user that touches the touch sensor using information regarding variations over time in the finger position value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sensing technique using a capacitance touch sensor as a user interface, and more particularly, to an apparatus, method, and medium for sensing the movement of fingers using a touch sensor capable of sensing at least one touch point in which a signal output by a multi-touch sensor is analyzed, the number of a user's fingers that touch the multi-touch sensor and the movement of the fingers are detected based on the results of the analysis, and a scroll operation performed by the user is determined based on the results of the detection.
2. Description of the Related Art
Press switches widely used in home appliances or liquid crystal monitors have been increasingly replaced by touch switches. Touch switches generally include an electrode which is installed beneath a front cover. Thus, touch switches sense variations in the capacitance between an electrode and a user who touches the electrode, and provide the results of the sensing to microprocessors or microcomputers as switch signals.
Touch switches are classified into touch switches that sense variations in the capacitance between an electrode installed in each of the touch switches and a finger of a person who touches the electrode and touch switches that sense inductance variations or impedance variations.
Touch sensors that sense capacitance variations react not only to a user's fingers but also to other parts of the user's body or other conductive materials, thereby causing touch user interface systems equipped with such touch sensors to malfunction. In order to address this problem, a variety of techniques of improving the reliability of touch sensors through sensor signal processing have been suggested, and examples of these techniques are as follows.
First, there is a technique of improving the reliability of touch sensors through sensor signal processing that involves recognizing whichever of a plurality of touch sensors has been least recently fired is recognized when the touch sensors are all fired. This technique, however, may cause malfunctions especially when a signal output by whichever of a plurality of touch sensors has been least recently fired is noise (for example, when a scroll operation is performed when a user accidentally touches a touch sensor).
Second, there is a technique of improving the reliability of touch sensors through sensor signal processing. This technique aims at improving the reliability of touch user interfaces through multi-touch sensing, thereby enabling a touch screen capable of sensing only one touch point to be able to sense more than one touch point through signal processing. In detail, in this technique, estimated X and Y coordinates are determined based on the intensities of signals input from the X- and Y-axes of a touch screen, and whichever of a plurality of pairs of X and Y coordinates that can be generated based on the estimated X and Y coordinates is most reliable is determined as a final pair of coordinates. According to this technique, it is possible to determine whether one or more touch points are currently detected based on signals received from a touch screen, determine the position of each detected touch point, and determine which of a plurality of touch points that have been detected is a valid touch point. However, since conventional touch sensors can only detect a single touch point at a time, the number of touch points that can be detected using this technique is limited to a maximum of 2. Therefore, when two or more touch sensor signals are generated due to unintentional touches by a user's hand or fingers, it is difficult to detect intentional touches by the user's hand or fingers using this technique. Thus, the performance of the detection of touch signals generated by intentional touches by a user's hand or fingers considerably decreases.

Apparatus, method, and medium for sensing movement of fingers using multi-touch sensor array


A measurement technique which allows the error components of the testing process to be eliminated by performing a differential-style measurement of the programmable termination resistor network. Since for any given DUT pin which is to be tested, there are multiple possible resistances to be measured, the test process provides that two or more resistance measurements are taken on the same pin. Once those values containing the error components are obtained, they are compared to generate a differential resistance measurement which contains only the actual on-chip DUT resistance with the error components completely removed. The differential value can then be tested against previously defined test limits that are set to guarantee the conformance of the on-chip resistance to the processing specifications. The technique can be applied at either the wafer sort or package test phase of device testing, with the different error components associated with either phase being eliminated.

The present invention generally relates to the production test requirements for testing programmable termination resistor networks such as those used for Gigablaze® and other high speed serial interfaces.
The problem faced in the manufacturing test environment is that it is a non-ideal situation with respect to the contact resistance that occurs at multiple points between the tester's pin electronics and the actual device-under-test (DUT). These contact resistances are difficult to control at best, and cannot be completely eliminated. As such they contribute an error component to any resistance measurements that are to be made on the actual DUT. These errors in the measurements result in failing tests during the manufacturing test flow causing product yield issues.
The only existing solutions to the aforementioned problems involve the relaxation of test limits for the DUT, or the elimination of the test altogether. While this can address the manufacturing test problem, it provides the risk of shipping product out which is out of specification. Alternatively, the testing can be performed within the specified test limits, and the manufacturer is forced to accept any associated yield losses during the manufacturing test process.

Technique for measurement of programmable termination resistor networks on rapidchip and ASIC devices


Improved brine solutions and uses thereof for uncontaminatedly and/or efficiently freezing items such as foods, and biological samples. In accordance with one embodiment, a brine solution containing a sufficient amount of dye in conferring the solution a distinctive color is used in the freezing process. In accordance with another embodiment, a brine solution containing deionized water is used for improving the freezing efficiency and/or freezing capacity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a brine for use in preserving various foods and biological samples without causing contamination thereto. The present invention also pertains to a method for preserving various foods and biological samples with a brine, such as by freezing, so as not to cause contamination to the preserved items by the brine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Methods of freezing food products for long time preservation or biological samples for cytological or histological examination are known and available. For example, liquid nitrogen is a conventional method for freezing food or biological samples. Nevertheless, this method is costly since the liquid nitrogen is expensive. Moreover, there may be damage to the cellular structure of the foods or biological samples, which in turn results in deterioration in the quality of the foods, or interferes with a rapid and accurate examination of cryogenically frozen tissue.
Using a cooled brine (antifreeze solution) is another conventional freezing method. Brine includes inorganic substances such as calcium chloride, and organic substances such as ethylene glycol, and propylene glycol. Furthermore, the solution prepared by mixing the above ingredients is advantageous in that greater cooling is achieved at a comparatively lower price.
For example, "A Method of Freezing Fishery Products" is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,909 issued to Nagoshi on Jul. 22, 1986. This method includes the steps of preparing a brine containing rapeseed oil, propylene glycol, calcium chloride and water, cooling the brine and immersing the seafood in the cooled brine until it is frozen. This method reduces or eliminates breakdown of muscle tissue in the seafood. Hence, deterioration in quality of the frozen product is prevented or reduced.
A similar process for "Quick Freezing of Meat" is disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,217 issued to Nagoshi on Mar. 31, 1987. The process disclosed in this later patent is similar to that disclosed in the earlier patent except that it is applicable to beef, poultry, pork and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,768 issued to Nagoshi on Apr. 14, 1987, discloses a "Freezing Method for Perishable Foods" which includes placing a perishable food in a heat conducting container and causing the other surface of the heat conducting container to contact cooled brine or a liquefied gas. Accordingly, the perishable food is frozen quickly without immersion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,963 issued to Sakai on Sep. 1, 1987, relates to a method of freezing foods. The method of Sakai is similar to the methods of Nagoshi except that a layer of brine is placed in the heat conducting container along with the perishable food. Freezing proceeds only from the portion which is in contact with the brine and the potential for the food to stick to the container is reduced.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,035 provides a method of freezing a tissue specimen by using a brine comprising a cruciferous oil.
None of the aforementioned patents addresses the potential problem that the chemical ingredients of the brine may enter into the package of the foods or biological samples during the freezing process, when the package develops a puncture or tear and is compromised. Thus, the brine may contaminate the frozen foods or biological samples, and causes problems such as deteriorating the quality of the foods; causing an unpleasant or undesired taste of the foods; and interfering with rapid and accurate examination of the frozen biological samples.
Accordingly, it is desirable to find a simple, convenient, and effective freezing method, which can facilitate the identification and separation of the contaminated frozen products. In addition, there is also a need to further improve the efficiency of the freezing or the freezing capacity per unit volume of brine.


A method for analyzing the ADME/PK properties of a mixture of compounds is (1) perfusing an animal or organ with a perfluorocarbon emulsion blood substitute, (2) administering the mixture of test compounds, (3) withdrawing an aliquot of the perfusate, (4) disrupting the emulsion, and (5) analyzing the aqueous phase of the perfusate for the concentration of test compounds.

Drug development begins with the identification of a lead compound, based on the ability of the compound to exhibit a desired biological effect, such as the ability to inhibit bacterial growth, inhibit the activity of a target enzyme, increase or modulate the uptake of neurotransmitters, and the like. Biological activity is typically determined on the basis of in vitro experimentation or assays designed to rapidly identify candidate drugs. Typically, only a small percentage of the compounds tested will demonstrate sufficient activity and selectivity to merit further investigation.
Once a candidate or lead compound has been identified and selected for further development, its ADME/PK characteristics are determined. ADME/PK concerns the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and pharmacokinetics of drugs in the body. The ADME/PK properties of a drug are critical, and often serve to distinguish pharmaceutical products from mere lead compounds. For example, a drug that is poorly absorbed orally may require intravenous (or other parenteral) administration to be effective, which may be unacceptable for the condition to be treated. A compound effective as an antibiotic may be ineffective to treat bacterial meningitis if its distribution does not carry it to the central nervous system. A compound that is rapidly metabolized and/or excreted may not reside in the body long enough to serve its intended purpose. These properties are all independent of the drug candidate's in vitro activity, and are difficult or impossible to predict based on current information. The complex factors that influence ADME/PK make it hard to model accurately, and necessitate the use of living tissues and research animals before a compound may proceed with clinical trials.
To enhance the speed of drug discovery and reduce the number of animals required, it is desirable to characterize the ADME/PK of mixtures of lead compounds (rather than single compounds) in procedures that involve either living animals (i.e., in vivo), or isolated organs or organ systems from animals.
In in vivo analyses of ADME/PK, plasma is generally the biophase used as the analytical endpoint. Measurement of individual drug candidates in plasma typically involves a unique extraction method based on the physicochemical properties of each molecule, in order to separate and quantify the compound from the numerous plasma components. Optimization of one plasma extraction method for all components of a chemical mixture poses a major problem for rapid screening.


An aerosol is formed by supplying a material in liquid form to a flow passage and heating the flow passage such that the material volatizes and expands out of an open end of the flow passage. The volatized material combines with ambient air such that volatized material condenses to form the aerosol. An apparatus and method for generating such an aerosol are disclosed wherein the apparatus may include an electrically conductive sleeve at an open end of the flow passage, an electrically conductive flow passage and/or a spacer chamber. The volatilized material may contain a volatilized solute and vehicle such that the resulting aerosol particle sizes of the solute and the vehicle are either different or the same.

Aerosols are useful in a wide variety of applications. For example, it is often desirable to treat respiratory ailments with, or deliver medicaments by means of, aerosol sprays of finely divided particles of liquid and/or solid, such as powders, liquid medicaments, and the like, which are inhaled into a patient's lungs. Aerosols are also used for such purposes as providing desired scents to rooms, applying scents to the skin, and delivering paint and lubricant, for example.
Various techniques are known for generating aerosols, particularly in the field of medicine. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,811,731 and 4,627,432 both disclose devices for administrating medicaments to patients in which a capsule is pierced by a pin to release medicament in powder form. The user inhales released medicament through an opening in the device. Medicaments in liquid form are known to be delivered by generation of an aerosol with a manually operated pump. The pump draws liquid from a reservoir and forces it through a small nozzle opening to form a fine spray.
Both of these methods of generating an aerosol for the delivery of medicaments suffer from problems. The aerosols produced by these techniques contain substantial quantities of particles or droplets which are too large to be inhaled. Further, it is difficult to synchronize the inhalation of the medicament with the pumping of the aerosol device or the release of the powder. Persons who have difficulty in generating a sufficient flow of air through the device to properly inhale the medicaments, such as asthma or emphysema sufferers, have particular difficulty in using these devices.
An alternate means of delivering a medicament is generating an aerosol including liquid or powder particles by means of a compressed propellant, usually a chloro-fluoro-carbon (CFC) or methyl chloroform, which entrains the medicament, usually by the Venturi principle. Such inhalers are usually operated by depressing a button to release a short charge of the compressed propellant which contains the medicament through a spray nozzle, allowing the propellant encapsulated medicament to be inhaled by the user. However, it is again difficult to properly synchronize the inhalation of the medicament with depression of the actuator. Further, large quantities of medicament or other materials are not suitably delivered by this method. This method is better suited to delivery of such materials as antiperspirants, deodorants and paints, for example.
Most known aerosol generators also are unable to generate aerosols having an average mass median aerosol diameter (MMAD) less than 2 to 4 microns, and are incapable of delivering high flow rates, such as above 1 milligram per second, with particles in the range of 0.2 to 2.0 microns. A high flow rate and small particle size are particularly desirable for better penetration of the lungs during medicament administration, such as for asthma treatment.
Large particles generated by aerosol generators may be deposited in the mouth and pharynx of the patient, rather than inhaled into the lungs. Further, what is inhaled may not penetrate the lungs deeply enough. Therefore, it is known to add a spacer chamber to a pressurized inhaler mechanism in order to allow the propellant time to evaporate, decreasing the mass median aerosol diameter of the particles. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,202 to Andrade and Eur. Respir. J. 1997; 10:1345–1348. Particles from aerosol generators may have an MMAD of 5–6 μm. The use of a spacer chamber in such a case reduces the particle MMAD to about 1.5 μm or greater, enhancing medicament deposition in the lung as opposed to the mouth or throat. See, for example, Eur. Respir. J. 1997, 10:1345–1348; International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 1 (1978) 205–212 and Am. Rev. Respir. Dis. 1981, 124:317–320.
Spacer chambers also are known to affect the output of the aerosol device because of the static charge which may be created therein. Medicament particles may be deposited in spacer chambers by electrostatic attraction to the spacer chamber wall, by inertial impaction, or by gravitational settling over time. Further, different medicaments behave differently within such spacer chambers based on particle size, particle charge, and the like. Thus, loss of medicament occurs within spacer chambers and is a drawback to effective spacer chamber use. See Eur. Respir. J. 1997; 10: 1345–1348.
The aerosol generator (CAG) described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,251, herein incorporated by reference, and further described in Respiratory Drug Delivery VI, Eds. R. N. Dalby et al., Interpharm Press, IL (1998) pp 97–102, has many advantages over other aerosol generators. In general, the CAG operates by supplying a material in liquid form to a flow passage, such as a tube or capillary, and heating the flow passage so that the material volatilizes and expands out of the open end of the flow passage. The volatilized material combines with ambient air in such a manner that the volatilized material condenses to form an aerosol. The aerosol therefore contains no propellant, and has a mass median aerosol diameter of less than about 2 microns, generally between about 0.2 and about 2 microns, and preferably between about 0.2 and about 1 micron.
However, like other aerosol generators, some material can be lost during aerosol generation to the CAG device itself. It has been found that some aerosol particles can deposit on the end of the capillary or tube, thereby retaining the aerosol particles within the device itself. This phenomenon appears in part to be solute dependent. Further, if used to deliver medicament to the lungs of a patient, some aerosolized medicament can be lost to the throat and mouth of the patient. Because the CAG produces very fine particles, the particles may potentially be exhaled before settling fully into the patient's lungs, diminishing the amount of medicament delivered to the patient.
It is desirable to achieve a particle size of an aerosol which can penetrate deep into the lungs. It is further desirable to have the same or approximately the same mass median aerosol diameter for the aerosolized liquid and solid components. Further, it is desirable to minimize loss of the aerosol to the aerosol generator, as well as to the mouth and throat of the patient. One or more of these attributes can be achieved by the methods and apparatus described herein.

Method and apparatus for generating an aerosol


A batter's eye or backdrop apparatus and system, and to a free-standing deployable batter's eye apparatus and system, including a panel which may be raised, lowered and/or removed, as desired. The apparatus and system are easy to install and maintain, designed to tolerate design wind loads by changing orientation, shape and/or area presented to winds in response to the winds and/or wind pressures. The batter's eye apparatus is flexible and allows for movement in instantaneous wind modes, thereby reducing the complexity and cost of a support structure for the batter's eye and the batter's eye system. The batter's eye also includes a panel, screen or sheet that may be raised, and lowered closer to the ground to provide further protection against damage due to winds and/or weather.

A batter's eye or backdrop is typically a solid-colored, usually dark, area beyond an outfield or centerfield wall or fence of a baseball diamond, stadium or field. It is a visual backdrop directly in a line of sight of a baseball batter at home plate while facing a pitcher or pitching mound. The dark backdrop helps the batter to see a pitched ball, and its primary purpose is the safety of the batter. In addition, the batter's eye helps eliminate any unfair advantage that the pitcher may have if the background were light or white colored.
In some stadiums, there are seats behind centerfield. They are often painted a dark color or otherwise covered with a large black fabric and not occupied during baseball games and can themselves serve as a batter's eye. Such a solution, however, does not work well where there are no seats or another suitable structure already in place behind the outfield or centerfield wall.
There is a long-felt need for a batter's eye that may be used in connection with baseball fields where there are no seats or bleachers or other such structure beyond the outfield or centerfield. The apparatus should be easy to install, use and maintain. In addition, the apparatus should be designed to withstand the design maximum three-second wind gust for the particular location (e.g., 90 miles per hour in most locations, and higher in hurricane zones). In addition, the apparatus should be deployable such that it may be raised or lowered closer to the ground quickly and easily, as desired.


A media signer produces an array of hash values including a respective hash value for each of multiple different portions of content. The media signer applies a hash function and an encryption key to the array of hash values to create a digital signature associated with the content. Prior to playback of the content, a media verifier retrieves the array of hash values for the different portions of content. The media verifier produces a hash value result for the retrieved array. Based on the hash value result for the retrieved array and a hash value result of the array in the received digital signature, the media verifier verifies the integrity of the retrieved array. If the retrieved array of hash values is found to be trustworthy, the media verifier determines the integrity of a portion of the content by verifying the portion's corresponding hash value from the “trustworthy” array.

Conventional computer systems allow for the production and distribution of content such as video data, audio data, image data, text-based data, etc. Such distribution and production is increasing at a phenomenal rate due to the growing popularity of the Internet and the growing affordability of personal computers capable of efficiently processing and displaying content to users.
People now access and use content in numerous ways. One way that people access content is over a network. For example, persons using web browsers on personal computers can access content by surfing the World Wide Web via the Internet. Countless numbers of content providers link content to web pages accessed by persons using web browsers. Accordingly, persons using web browsers can access a web page from a web server operated by a content provider to view documents, video clips, listen to audio clips, or view images made available by the content provider.
In a typical application, when a client requests a piece of media content from a server, the client provides a global address associated with the content in the form of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Based on receiving a request at a location as specified by the global address, a server then accesses the content and sends or "streams" it to the client in accordance with an appropriate communication protocol.
There are various file formats for streaming media content and composite media streams. Regardless of the streaming file format used, an individual data stream may contain a sequence of digital data sets or units. The units can represent an image, sound, or some other stimuli "played back" to a viewer via a client.
The integrity of distributed media content can be enhanced using conventional security measures. For example, content can be digitally signed using conventional hashing and encryption techniques prior to being distributed for "playback" by one or more different users. A processing device receiving content can be configured to use the conventional digital signature to verify a trustworthiness of received content prior to play back of the digitally signed content. Conventional security techniques require verification of an entire grouping of media content before the user is afforded access to any segment of the media content.

Content integrity and incremental security


A method for manufacturing an optical film comprising the steps of: 1) casting a dope (a solution), prepared by dissolving thermoplastic resin film raw materials in a solvent, from a casting die onto an at least 1.8 m wide belt support, and 2) drying a cast web (a cast film) peeled from the belt support, wherein the belt support has a thickness (Te) at both right and left end portions, of 5-20% less than a thickness (T) of the remaining portion including the transverse center portion of the belt support, provided that the Te indicates a thickness at both right and left end portions, each having a width (We) of 2-25% of a total width (W) of the belt support when viewed from both right and left side edges thereof.

A fundamental structure of a liquid crystal display device is commonly one in which a polarizing plate is provided on both sides of a liquid crystal cell. Since a polarizing plate passes only light of a polarized wave plane from a predetermined direction, it plays a significant role in visualizing variations of the orientation of a liquid crystal via an electric field in a liquid crystal display device, whereby performance of the liquid crystal display device largely depends on performance of the polarizing plate.
Over recent years, with the increased size of the screen of liquid crystal panels, wide polarizing plate protective films and retardation films have been urgently sought.
Conventionally, in manufacturing an optical film via a solution casting film forming method, a resin solution containing a desired component is cast on a rotationally-driven endless metal belt (belt support), dried to a conveyable state, peeled from the belt support, and then dried, followed by winding as a prepared film.
Herein, as a method for preparing a wider film, there is cited a manner of transverse stretching of a peeled film, however, which have ever produced problems that required optical characteristics were not realized; unviable or application-limited products resulted due to variation in mechanical characteristics.
Therefore, conventionally, a wide film has been manufactured by expanding the casting width via increase of the width of the belt support.
In contrast, to control meandering during film (web) conveyance using a belt support, the angle created by the rotational axes of a pair of front and rear rotating drums rotationally driving an endless metal belt is allowed to vary. For example, a method is employed in which the rotational axis of either one of the rotating drums is changed, to some extent, from a right angle to the moving direction of the belt support.
However, in such meandering control of the belt support, since strong force is loaded to belt end portions, repetitive control tends to deform the belt end portions. Especially, when the width of the belt support exceeds 1.8 m, such deformation becomes pronounced. With large deformation, the contact between the belt end portions and a heating/cooling drum becomes weak, between which heat transfer is decreased, resulting in occurrence of incomplete drying of the end portions and bubble defects at the end portions. It has been noted that the problem of incomplete drying of the belt end portions resulted in incomplete peeling wherein a part of the film remained on the belt during peeling; and when the right and left end portions of the belt support were further largely deformed, the flatness of film products became deteriorated and the apparatus was damaged via contact between the belt support end portions and the casting die, resulting in adverse effects during film manufacturing.
Herein, a patent document relating to a conventional method for manufacturing an optical film via a solution casting film forming method employing a wide belt support is as follows:
Patent Document 1 discloses a solution film forming method, and describes that a belt featuring a width of at least 1.6 m is used as a support to support a polymer solution film cast from a die; the amount of meandering of the belt is controlled to be at most ±0.5% based on the belt width; and also the casting width of the film from the die is controlled to be at least 70% of the belt width, as well as being controlled to be at most [belt width−(meandering amount×4)].
Patent Document 1: Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. (hereinafter, referred to as JP-A) 2002-127169


A computer-implemented method is provided for visualizing multiple objects in a computerized visual environment. The method includes displaying to a user a virtual three-dimensional space via a viewing device worn by the user, and determining a data limit of the viewing device for object rendering. The method includes presenting an initial rendering of the objects within the virtual space, where the visualization data used for the initial rendering does not exceed the data limit of the viewing device. The method also includes tracking user attention relative to the objects as the user navigates through the virtual space and determining, based on the tracking of user attention, one or more select objects from the multiple objects to which the user is paying attention. The one or more select objects are located within a viewing range of the user.

In recent years, hardware such as headsets, adapters, and viewers used in virtual reality or augmented reality environments have become widely available. In the case of virtual reality (VR), a user sees a visual environment comprised of computer-generated graphical objects and in the case of augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality (MR), a user sees a visual environment comprised of both real-world objects and computer-generated graphics.
In general, a virtual environment provides a user with a comprehensive space to visualize data as graphical objects. However, in some cases, the amount of data that requires visualization can exceed the data limit of the viewing device worn by a user for visualization, such as a headset that enables VR, AR and MR experiences. Therefore, systems and methods are needed to maximize the user's viewing experience in a computerized virtual environment while avoid overloading the viewing device.

Systems and methods for data visualization in virtual reality environments


Provided is a magnetic material with excellent magnetic properties to be used for recording media, which contains small ratio of superparamagnetic fine particles while maintaining high coercivity. It is spinel ferrimagnetic particles, a composition equation of which when prepared is (CoO)0.5-x(NiO)0.5-y(MO)x+y.n/2(Fe2O3) (M is a bivalent metal except Co and Ni) and a value of n (molar ratio)=Fe/(Co+Ni+Zn) is 2.0<n<3.0, which is larger than stoichiometric amount (n=2) of a spinel ferrite and less than that of 1.5 times, and values of x, y satisfy 0≦x<0.5, 0≦y<0.5, 0<x+y<0.5, wherein, also, superparamagnetic fine particles contained in the spinel ferrimagnetic particles is 5% by mass or less.

Conventionally, researches have been carried out on spinel ferrite which is a composite oxide containing iron as a magnetic material to be used as recording media of data-filing tapes. There are various compositions (M, Fe)3O4 (M=Fe(II), Co, Ni, Mn, Al, Cu, Zn, etc.) considered as the spinel ferrite, and one of the examples is Co ferrite. Co ferrite exhibits a large value of magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant so that it does not easily become superparamagnetic particles even if the particles become finer. Thus, it can maintain excellent magnetic properties and has been expected to be utilized as a high-density magnetic recording material.
Conventionally, a known method for preparing the aforementioned Co ferrite is to form it as a thin film by using a spin-spray-ferrite plating method. In order to further improve the magnetic properties of the magnetic material, a known research has been carried out in regards to forming Co-Ni ferrite thin films by the above-described method (see Zhang et al., "Ni Addition into Co Ferrite-plated Films", Powder and Powder Metallurgy, vol. 47, No. 2, P 171-174, 25 of Feb., 2000).
Although Co—Ni ferrite which has been conventionally used is ferrimagnetic substance, it is a bulk material or of a thin film type. Thus, the coercivity is less than 239 [kA/m] (3000 [Oe]) even at the maximum, so that it is difficult to further improve the recording density of the recording medium using this magnetic material. That is, the spinel ferrites are used for tapes as recording media, however, the coercivity cannot be improved so that there raises an issue that the performance of the recording medium cannot be improved more than that of the present ones.
In the meantime, it has been examined to make finer particles of the magnetic material to be applicable for the recording media, and researches have been actively carried out on, for example, Ba ferrite as magnetoplumbite ferrite (M-type ferrite). However, although the magnetic particles with an average particle diameter of 30 [nm]-40 [nm] can be prepared, the coercivity still remains 239 [kA/m] (3000)[Oe]) at the maximum. Thus, the coercivity is still low.
That is, with the conventional magnetic materials, it is impossible to improve the coercivity more than that of the present level, so that it is difficult to achieve still higher recording density of the recording medium.
For overcoming the aforementioned shortcomings, presently, researches have been carried out in regards to Co—Ni spinel ferrite particles which, conventionally, had been the thin films or bulk materials. One of the examples is disclosed in a literature by H. Yamamoto, Y. Nissato, "Magnetic Properties of Co—Ni Spinel Ferrite Fine Particles with High Coercivity Prepared by the Chemical Coprecipitation Method", IEEE Transaction on Magnetics, vol. 38, No. 5 pp 3488-3492, September 2002. In this literature, in order to improve the magnetic properties, especially, the coercivity of the conventional Co spinel ferrite fine particles, so as to provide a magnetic material with high coercivity HcJ, a part of Co is substituted with Ni for making Co coexists with Ni. Specifically, by setting the value of Fe/(Co+Ni) within a specific range, it is possible to obtain a magnetic material with relatively high coercivity.
However, with the above-described Co—Ni spinel ferrite, it is impossible to achieve small and uniform particle diameter, so that the coercivity of the particles also becomes nonuniform. Further, since there are a large percentage of superparamagnetic particles contained in the magnetic particles, the magnetic state varies according to the intensity of the surrounding magnetic field so that the magnetism cannot be stably maintained.
Therefore, when the magnetic fine particles of the above-described conventional case are used for a data storage recording medium, specifically for a magnetic tape, transcribing of recorded data is easily generated in a laminated area where the tape is being wound. That is, basically, if the coercivity is not uniform, the recorded data cannot be stably maintained in an area with low coercivity. Thus it is possible that the magnetic transcription is caused between magnetic tapes which overlap with each other. Moreover, in the area with the superparamagnetism, the magnetization intensity becomes unstable according to the magnetic state of the overlapping area of the magnetic tape so that the stable magnetic state cannot be maintained. As described above, when using the conventional magnetic fine particles for the magnetic recording media, the performance of recording information is deteriorated.
On the other hand, it is possible to remove the superparamagnetic substance from the generated magnetic fine particles in order to achieve the stable magnetic state. However, it requires time and work for this to be done, which increases the manufacturing cost.
Moreover, the values of saturation magnetization and remanent magnetization are not necessarily high. Thus, the magnetic properties are still insufficient to be used for the data storage recording media.
An object of the present invention is to improve the inconvenience of the conventional case described above and, specifically, to provide a magnetic material which can be preferably used for magnetic recording media, in which the content of the superparamagnetic fine particles is low while the high coercivity is maintained.

Spinel ferrimagnetic particles and magnetic recording medium


Retaining device for patient feeding set to prevent unintentional disconnect of the feeding solution supply tube from the feeding tube.

One of the problems associated with patient feeding, whether enteral or parenteral feeding, is the unintentional disconnect of the feeding supply tube from the connector of an enteral or parenteral feeding tube.
This invention provides a retaining device for preventing the unintentional disconnect of a feeding solution supply tube from the connector of a feeding tube by providing a flexible locking strap on the connector, wherein the strap has an opening in which the supply tube is removably secured to prevent unintentional disconnect of the supply tube from the connector.
The connector may be a commercial connector device which provides retention of the union between the female connector part on the feeding tube, and a male (luer) dispensing tip on the supply tube.
The connector may also be a Y-port connector in which one or both of the main or secondary ports may have the retaining device of this invention.
The retaining device may also contain a plug normally used for stoppering the port of the connector.


A propellant driven deodorant composition for topical application to the human skin, comprising a deodorant active material comprising a cosmetically acceptable. polyhexamethylene biguanide salt, a cosmetically suitable vehicle comprising a short chain monohydric alcohol, and a non polar propellant composition having a Hildebrand Solubility Parameter of less than 14.5 MPa.sup.1/2, characterized in that the composition additionally comprises an effective amount of water.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to deodorant compositions, which are suitable for topical application to the human skin. In particular, it refers to propellant driven aerosol compositions which contain certain biguanide compounds.
2. The Related Art
Deodorant compositions suitable for topical application to the human skin, in particular the underarm area, have long been known. These typically comprise a deodorant active material, which may be an inorganic metal salt, such as an aluminium or zinc salt, in a cosmetically acceptable base. Alternatively the deodorant agent in the topical composition may be organic; two very popular and often used organic deodorant agents are ethanol and triclosan. For a propellant driven aerosol product, a base composition containing an appropriate deodorant agent is typically combined in an aerosol can with an appropriate amount of propellant.
Conventional propellant driven aerosol compositions of this form do have associated problems. The exact nature of the problem will vary according to the formulation and the deodorant agent used, but typical problems include insufficient deodorant efficacy, perfume interaction, or sensory problems such as the production of visible deposits.
It is known that certain biguanide salts can have antimicrobial activity. For example, polyhexamethylene biguanide hydrochloride (PHMB) salts have been sold by Zeneca for many years, for example as a 20% aqueous solution of the hydrochloride salt, under the tradename Cosmocil CQ, for purposes which include their use as antimicrobials. In addition, such an effect is described in "Disinfection, Sterilization, and Preservation", chapter 18(polymeric antimicrobial agents),fourth edition, Seymour S. Block, Lea & Febiger, 1991.
Such polyhexamethylene biguanide hydrochloride type materials are also known deodorant actives in their own right. For example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,821 (Gillette), the ability of PHMB salts to reduce body odour is described. According to the teaching therein, such salts are suitable for inclusion in any product form, including lotions, sticks, creams, ointments, powders, suspensions, soaps, gels, and pressurized aerosols. However it is noted that no propellant driven aerosol compositions are exemplified in this patent; instead the examples relate to liquid and stick formulations.
However, problems have been experienced in trying to incorporate hydrophilic, cationic polymer type materials, such as PHMB salts, into propellant driven aerosol formulations, to try to formulate compositions which would be suitable for commercial sale. In particular such salts have been found to be incompatible with aerosol formulations which comprise significant amounts of a non polar propellant, such as a hydrocarbon propellant, and short chain monohydric alcohol, such as ethanol.
If the neat PHMB salts are introduced into a hydrocarbon propellant/ethanol system, the salt does not appreciably dissolve. Attempts have been made to incorporate PHMB salts into propellant driven aerosols where the propellant is non polar, using surfactants. However, this has not been found to be an efficient way of dissolving or dispersing the salts into such aerosol compositions, since it has proved difficult to find a surfactant which was compatible with the short chain monohydric alcohol/non polar hydrocarbon vehicle, did not effect the chemical nature of the PHMB salt, and yet was suitable for use in a topical cosmetic composition.

Chesebrough-Pond's USA Co., Division of Conopco, Inc.


The lighting fixture includes a mounting box and a component assembly. The mounting box can be oriented in a first direction for a recessed box mounting and wiring configuration or in a second direction (180.degree. from the first direction) for a surface conduit mounting and wiring configuration. The mounting box is mounted first and initial wiring connections are made, then component assembly is mounted on the mounting box.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a light fixture with a detachable rear mounting box. The rear mounting box is affixed to a wall or similar mounting surface and the initial electrical connections are made through the mounting box prior to the attachment of the light fixture thereto.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, it has been unnecessarily difficult to mount certain light fixtures as the initial wiring connections had to be made before the fixture was fully secured to the wall or ceiling. This was particularly difficult in the case of heavy light fixtures.
Similarly, the configuration of certain light fixtures made it difficult to perform the initial wiring connections as parts of the light fixture would obstruct these tasks.
Additionally, it was particularly difficult to level a heavy light fixture. Also in the prior art, supply wire connections needed to be rated for high temperatures because these wires could come into direct contact with hot electrical components. These temperature ratings ranged from 105.degree. C. to 200.degree. C. In addition, the prior art required that photocontrollers be mounted exterior of the fixture because of their 90.degree. C. temperature rating.
Additionally, the prior art has not allowed for the simple conversion from recessed box mounting and wiring to surface conduit mounting and wiring.

Light fixture with detachable rear mounting box


In this invention, a provision is made for a means for detecting the voltage or current of a dynamic brake regenerative (DBR) circuit for determining whether the DBR circuit is properly functioning in an elevator system in which a DBR circuit for controlling the regenerative electrical power is connected between the input terminals of an inverter working as an electrical power source for an alternating current electric motor for driving an elevator car, so that the operation of the DBR circuit is automatically checked immediately before operating an elevator, preventing the occurrence of an abnormal situation caused by unabsorbed regenerative electrical power.

In an elevator system, a regenerative condition may arise between the beginning and the end of an operation when the elevator car is operated up or down. If this regenerative electrical power is not controlled, an overvoltage occurs, stopping the device, and therefore measures for controlling this regenerative electrical power are taken. One of those measures is a DBR circuit.
In this circuit, a series circuit consisting of a resistor and a switching element (for example, a transistor) is connected between the input terminals of an inverter device working as an electrical power source for driving an elevator car, and the regenerative electrical power is consumed by means of the ON/OFF control of the switching element to prevent the overvoltage.

Operation check device of dynamic brake circuit for elevator


A catheter and introducer needle assembly is provided including a catheter adapter at its proximal end. The catheter adapter includes a side port in fluid communication with the catheter and a septum located in the proximal end of the catheter adapter proximal of the side port. The introducer needle is connected at its proximal end to a needle hub and includes at least one notch in communication with the introducer needle lumen. The notch allows blood to flow into the open distal end of the needle and through the notch into the catheter lumen (specifically, the annular space between the outside of the introducer needle and the inside of the catheter and catheter adapter). Thereafter, the blood can flow through the annular space and then through the side port and extension tube that extends from the catheter adapter.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to systems and methods of delivering anesthesia to tissue. Specifically, the invention relates to systems and methods of providing anesthesia to tissue using a catheter and introducer needle assembly, and applying a current to the needle assembly to create stimulation in the tissue to identify a target needle depth at which to deliver the anesthesia. The present application
2. Description of the Related Art
In certain instances, it is desirable to provide anesthesia at a point in a patient's tissue proximate to a nerve. Such procedures are known as peripheral block procedures. Typically, the clinician employs a hollow needle that is coated with an electrical insulator, leaving only the tip of the needle exposed. The clinician first locates anatomical landmarks to establish the location of the nerve. As the needle is inserted into the tissue, a small electric current is passed through the needle. The current passes to the patient's tissue at the tip of the needle (the only exposed portion of the needle) and causes surrounding muscle tissue to contract or "twitch." This twitching is observed by the clinician and helps locate the needle tip. As the needle tip proceeds closer to the nerve, the clinician reduces the current and moves the needle tip to a point that is believed to be appropriately close to the nerve to be effective.
Once the needle tip is in place, the clinician delivers a bolus of anesthesia through the needle to the region around the nerve. Typically, such a delivery of anesthesia will deaden both the motor and sensory impulses. After delivery of the anesthesia, the rigid needle is withdrawn. Consequently, if more anesthesia is required, another needle must be inserted. Alternatively, some practitioners will insert a catheter through the needle so that the tip of the catheter is near the tip of the needle. The needle is then withdrawn over the catheter and the catheter remains in place. After the needle is threaded off the catheter, a special connector is attached to the catheter end to permit that delivery of additional anesthesia. This can be a time consuming process.

System and method of delivering local anesthesia


A two-component curable paint composition comprises a base component containing at least one curable resin, and a hardening component which contains a non-conducting polyaniline, and a liquid-phase or molten-phase curing agent capable of curing said curable resin of the resin component and capable of dissolving non-conducting polyaniline. According to the invention, the curing agent comprises an organic amine compound having at least two primary amine functions linked together by a hydrocarbon chain which is optionally interrupted by at least one heteroatom, said amine compound exhibiting irregularities in the chemical structure of its hydrocarbon chain. The invention also provides a method of preparing paint compositions, a method of forming a paint coating on the surface as well as a coated metal surface. The solutions produced by the invention are stable over extended periods of time, and the anti-corrosive erect of the paint compositions is good even at very low concentrations of the polyaniline.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to anticorrosive paints for metals. More particularly, it relates to paints comprising conjugated polymers as corrosion preventing agents and to methods for the preparation thereof. The present invention also concerns a method of forming a paint coating on the surface of an object and coated metal surfaces comprising an anticorrosive paint composition.
2. Description of Related Art
Corrosion of metal surfaces, such as steel, is a significant problem and in the prior art several ways of different efficiencies have been suggested for solving this problem. The simplest procedure is to passively coat the metal surface with a paint, comprising epoxies, alkyds, polyurethanes, phenolics, and the like. It provides protection if the coating is perfect (defect-free) and does not allow significant diffusion of water, oxygen, electrolytes and the like through it. A common technique is to add additives to paint formulations to provide active protection. Zinc and zinc-containing additives, such as zinc chromates, zinc phosphates, or calcium plumbate, are commonly added to the paints to allow cathodic protection. Detailed description of the prior art of the corrosion-inhibiting pigments can be found e.g. in Paints and surface coating, by R. Lambourne and T. A. Strivens, Woodhead Publishing, Ltd, 1999, pp. 162-165. There has, however, been a push towards reducing or eliminating heavy metal pigments for safety and environmental reasons, and therefore new concepts are called for.
The use of conjugated oligomers and polymers as coatings or additives of coatings to provide anticorrosion effects has been extensively reviewed in the art (W.-K. Lu, S. Basak, and R. L. Elsenbaumer, in Handbook of Conducting Polymers, Marcel Dekker, Inc. 1998, p. 881). It has been suggested to use oligomeric pyrroles or substituted pyrroles as corrosion inhibiting additives (R. M. Hudson and C. J. Warning, Metal Finish. 64 (1966) 63). Also oligomeric aniline has been described to be an inhibiting additive for mild steel such as in hydrochloric acid solution (C. C. Nathan, Corrosion 9 (1953) 199). Oligomeric thiophenes have also been described (Z. Szklarska-Smialowska and M. Kaminski, Corros. Sci. 13 (1973) 1). It can be concluded that conjugated oligomers are shown in the prior art to have corrosion inhibiting properties. However, their toxicity limits their widespread use in practical coatings, as there is a difficulty to bind the oligomers perfectly in the coating to provide mechanical and environmental stability.
Conjugated polymers can in principle be used to overcome this problem. A. G. MacDiarmid suggested use of conducting conjugated polymers to allow anodic protection of steel and other metals (Lecture Series at State University of New York, 1985). D. W. DeBerry (J. Electrochem. Soc. 132 (1985) 1022) found that polyaniline electrochemically deposited on stainless steel provides anodic protection. Since then, there has been considerable effort to develop methods based on conjugated polymers, such as substituted polythiophenes, polypyrroles and polyanilines. There, however, is a major and extensively reported complication due to the rigidity of the conjugated polymer chains: In the general case such materials do not melt and dissolve only in rare or in some cases no solvents due to low conformational entropy (J. I. Kroschwitz, High Performance Polymers and Composites, Wiley, 1991). This central observation can be illustrated using polymers having closely related flexible and rigid modifications: 1) Flexible pyridine containing polymers, such as poly (4-vinyl pyridine) dissolve in a wide variety of solvents, such as alcohols (methanol, ethanol and the like), phenols (m-cresol and other alkyl phenols), halogenated solvents (chloroform, tetrachlorobenzene and the like), amines (N-methyl pyrrolidone, and the like), acids (formic acid, sulphonic acids); 2) Rigid conjugated polymer poly(p-pyridine) dissolves only in few of the solvents listed above, i.e. formic acid (in the unprotonated form), strong acids such as methane sulphonic acid (in the protonated form) and dichloroacetic acid. A commonly used method to identify solvents is based on matching solubility parameters (D. W. Van Krevelen, Properties of polymers, Elsevier, N.Y., 1990, p. 875). The solubility parameters can be evaluated using group contribution methods to render xcex4=22.4 {square root over (MPa)} for poly(4-vinyl pyridine) and a xcex4=21.7 {square root over (MPa)} for poly(p-pyridine), which would suggest that the two polymers should have essentially the same solvents. The fact that only few of the solvents of poly(4-vinyl pyridine) are also solvents for polyp-pyridine) demonstrates that solubility parameters have only a marginal predictive power of identifying solvents for rigid polymers, such as conjugated polymers, like polyaniline. In spite of this well documented inconsistency, there have been efforts to use solubility parameters to identify solvents for polyaniline, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,213.
Due to the generic poor solubility of the rigid polymers, finding suitable processing routes to produce coatings, in particular anticorrosion coatings, becomes particularly challenging, and preparation of coatings and identifying solvents are intimately connected. It is well known in the prior art that solvents for neutral and doped conjugated polymers are different in the general case. The present application deals with neutral conjugated polymers. Several solvents for undoped (neutral) polyaniline have been experimentally identified and disclosed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,867 describes N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) as a solvent for neutral polyaniline. Closer studies reveal that such solutions are unstable against gelation upon prolonged storage (K. T. Tzou and R. V. Gregory, Synthetic Metals 69 (1995) 109). Other solvents have also been reported, such as dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethyl formamide, and N,Nxe2x80x2-dimethyl-propylene urea. U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,213 describes a wide variety of solvents and claims solvents with sufficiently high polarity with relative dielectric constant larger than 5, dipole moment greater than 3.5xc2x710xe2x88x9230 Cm, net hydrogen bonding capability greater than ca. 50, and Hildebrand solubility parameter from ca. 17{square root over (MPa)} to ca. 29{square root over (MPa)}. In addition to the problems to classify solvents of rigid polymers by solubility parameters, said patent specification describes solely the use of polyaniline/solvent solutions where all or portion of said solvent is removed from said solution in the end to form solidified neutral polyaniline coatings (col 4 lines 21-24 and col 14 lines 16-24). Further, it should be pointed out that U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,213 does not present or anticipate a case where the solution would be crosslinked instead of its removal.
EP Patent Specification No. 0 581 886 B1 discloses a concept where a neutral polyaniline forms a fine dispersion wit particle size less than 100 nm within a liquid medium where the latter is removed in the end, and where said article is doped for conductivity, unlke in the present invention which deals concepts for neutral non-conducting articles. EP Patent Specification No. 0 623 159 B1 relates to paints based on neutral conjugated polymers dispersed in liquid medium which allows for an anticorrosion effect when the amount of conjugated polymer is from 3 to 20% by weight in the final dried paint, including the binder. As the conjugated polymer is only dispersed as separate particles within the paint without forming more continuous structures (as discussed in the specification of said patent: cf. p. 2, lines 20 and 28), the concentration required to show anticorrosion effect is relatively high. Therefore, there is a need for new ways of obtaining a more uniform distribution of conjugated polymers, not based on dispersions but based on solutions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,772 describes the use of neutral polyaniline solutions to provide coatings which, upon removal of the solvent, render corrosion protection of steel. U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,772 discloses that the composition can include other polymers that are miscible with polyaniline. As neutral polyaniline is immiscible with epoxy resin (see Example 8 below), such as polycondensated bisphenol diglycidyl ethers, the concept is different from the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,649 discloses a method to provide two-layer structure where a doped conducting polyaniline is mixed with epoxy resin and cured. Subsequently a second layer, i.e. a topcoat, is added to provide increased mechanical integrity. Unlike our work, U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,649 deals with the conducting form of polyaniline. U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,890 again describe solutions of neutral undoped polyaniline films cast from solvents, such as N-methyl pyrrolidone or dimethyl sulphoxide, upon removal of the solvent. U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,416 describes a wide variety of paint formulations where the neutral undoped polyaniline is dispersed within said paint formulations consisting of one or more binders dispersed within a liquid medium. As solubility is not pursued and polyaniline is in the form of dispersed particles, the required amount of polyaniline is relatively high, as demonstrated in the examples therein. Therefore, new options are called for to provide compositions with smaller amount of polyaniline. U.S. Pat. No. 5,853,621 relates to non-conducting coatings where dispersed polyaniline is used.
The prior art briefly reviewed above describes several concepts to allow anticorrosion coatings based on conducting polymers. Neutral undoped polyaniline is a feasible candidate to inhibit corrosion propagation under nearly neutral conditions. Taking also into account its economics, a wide variety of concepts based on polyaniline has been discussed in the prior art either based on solution casting where a solvent is totally or partly removed at the end to allow solid neutral coating or dispersion where the neutral polyaniline has been dispersed in a wide variety of paint formulations. The first case deals with evaporation of large amounts of volatile potentially harmful organic solvents and the latter case requires relatively large amount of dispersed polyaniline particles to allow anticorrosion effect.
An interesting approach to the manufacture of coatings from non-conducting polyaniline and epoxy resins is discussed by X.-H.Wang et al. In Polyaniline as marine antifouling and corrosion-prevention agent, Synthetic Metals 102 (1999) 1377. According to Wang, a solvent free corrosion prevention coating based on epoxy and neutral polyaniline could be produced by dissolving emeraldine base in tetraethylene pentaamine, which is mentioned as a curing agent of epoxy resin.
Tests made with the amine suggested by Wang, and disclosed in more detail below, have showed, however, that the solution of emeraldine base in tetraethylene pentaamine (TEPA) is not stable. Within a week the solution will turn cloudy, which indicates precipitation and segregation. As a result, the anticorrosive effect of paint compositions incorporating segregated mixtures of tetraethylene pentaamine and emeraldine base will be subtantially poorer, see Example 12 as well as FIGS. 6 and 7.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel two-component curable paint composition, comprising a curable binder and a hardener.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method of preparing a two-component paint composition.
It is a third object of the invention to provide a method of forming a paint coating on the surface of an object
It is a fourth object of the invention to provide coated metal substrates with improved corrosion resitivity.
These and other objects, together with the advantages thereof over known methods and products, which shall become apparent from the specification, which follows, are accomplished by the invention as hereinafter described and claimed.
The present invention is based on the finding that polyaniline can be dissolved in a specific group of curing agents comprising an organic amine having primary amine groups to form stable solutions. The amines of the present kind have irregularities in the chemical structure of its hydrocarbon chain. These irregularities comprise either branches or unsaturation in the chain, or both.
Surprisingly, and contrary to the teaching of the prior art cited above, the amines according to the present invention are very effective solvents of polyaniline even if they are primarily less polar and have a rather low solubility parameter.
According to a preferred embodiment, neutral polyaniline is dissolved in one or more basic hardeners of epoxy resins that form stable solutions optionally containing also other additives and the mixture is thereafter cross-linked to form solid surface coatings.
The method of forming a paint coating on the surface of an object typically includes the steps of
i) dissolving neutral polyaniline in an epoxy hardener, optionally containing also other additives;
ii) mixing epoxy resin, optionally containing also other additives, in the said polyaniline/hardener mixture,
iii) optionally adding further additives;
iv) applying the mixture on the surface of an object; and
iii) curing the coating
More specifically, the present invention is mainly characterized by what is stated in the characterizing part of claim 1.
The method according to the present invention of preparing paint compositions is characterized by what is stated in the characterizing part of claim 25.
The method of forming a paint coating on the surface of an object is characterized by what is stated in the characterizing part of claim 32, and the coated metal surface is characterized by what is stated in the characterizing part of claim 37.
Considerable advantages are obtained. Thus, the present invention represents a straightforward and economically attractive procedure for producing coatings and coated articles based on solutions of neutral undoped polyaniline. Instead of solvent removal the invention provides for cross-linking of the polyaniline using polymeric or oligomeric resins to produce neutral polyaniline coatings that have anticorrosion effect at lower concentration of said polyaniline than allowed by dispersion techniques.
The solutions produced by the invention are stable over extended periods of time, which facilitates storage, and transportation of the paint compositions. The anti-corrosive effect of the paint compositions is good even at very low concentrations of the polyaniline. Surprisingly it has been observed that tie required amount of polyaniline is low, typically about 1% by weight, to allow for a substantial anticorrosion effect.