A source region is formed by performing ion implantation plural times to diffuse an impurity from the upper surface of a semiconductor region toward a region far dawn therefrom and to increase impurity concentration in the vicinity of the upper surface of the semiconductor region, whereby the source region and a gate electrode are overlapped with each other surely. Thus, offset between the gate and the source is prevented and an excellent ohmic contact is formed between a source electrode and the source region.

A so-called trench gate structure in which a trench is formed in a semiconductor substrate and a gate electrode is formed in the trench is applied to semiconductor devices such as IGBTs (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor), MISFETs, and is especially advantages in application to electric power sources (see Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Publication No. 2001-85685A, for example).
FIG. 12 is a section showing a semiconductor device of a conventional trench gate MISFET. In the trench gate MISFET shown in FIG. 12, a N−-type drain layer 112 made of a N-type epitaxial layer and a P-type body region 113 are formed in this order on a N+-type silicon substrate 111. Further, trenches 113 are formed in the P-type body region 113 so as to pass through the P-type body region 113 and so that each bottom thereof reaches the N−-type drain layer 112. A pair of N+-type source regions 114, each of which is in contact with a corresponding trench 116, are formed in the upper part of the P-type body region 113 interposed between the two trenches 116, and a P+-type diffusion region 115 is formed at a part interposed between the pair of N+-type source regions 114 in the upper part of the P-type body region 113. The N+-type source regions 114 and the P+-type diffusion region 115 are formed so as not to reach the N−-type drain layer 112.
In each trench 116, a gate electrode 118 made of polysilicon is filled, with a gate insulating film 117 intervened. A cap oxide film 119 and an insulating film 120 made of PSG (Phospho Silicate Glass) are formed on the gate electrode 118. A source electrode film 121 is formed on the N+-type source regions 114, the P+-type diffusion region 115 and the insulating film 120.

Vertical gate semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The invention relates to a genetically modified cereal plant having a recombinant DNA construct comprising a gene encoding a polypeptide having aspartyl protease activity (EC 3.4.23.12) whose expression, particularly in grain, confers enhanced fungal disease resistance as compared to a parent cereal plant from which said genetically modified cereal plant was derived. The invention further relates to a method for producing a genetically modified cereal plant of the invention comprising transforming one or more cells of a parent cereal plant with the recombinant DNA construct; as well as a method for manufacturing the genetically modified grain for production of a crop of genetically modified cereal plants which exhibit increased resistance to a fungal disease due to expression of the recombinant DNA construct. Furthermore, use of grain produced by a genetically modified cereal plant of the invention includes the manufacture of a composition, comprising a milled grain composition, an animal fodder, or steam-pelleted animal fodder.

Fungal pathogens cause considerable yield and quality losses of economically important crops. Fusarium head blight (FHB) or scab is one of the major fungal diseases of the Triticeae family in temperate, and warm humid regions of the world. The disease is linked to several Fusarium species, where F. graminearum and F. culmorum are economically the most relevant. FHB infection causes a significant reduction in crop yield and quality due to shrivelled grains and their contamination with mycotoxins. In the 1990s, FHB epidemics caused an estimated economic loss of 2.7 billion USD in the US alone. Fusarium species, causing FHB, produce toxins that belong to the trichothecenes such as Deoxynivalenol (DON), nivalenol (NIV) and their derivatives including 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-ADON), 15-ADON and 4-acetylnivalenol. They also produce mycotoxins such as zearalenone (ZEA), moniliformin, fumonisins and butenolide. Most of these mycotoxins are associated with fungal virulence and cause toxicosis in humans and animals.
FHB management based on the use of resistant cultivars with good agronomic traits would potentially provide a simple and effective control strategy. However, to date, few wheat and barley accessions, or other major crop plants with moderate resistance to FHB have been reported. Resistance to FHB is a quantitative trait, governed by the combined effects of several quantitative trait loci (QTL), epistasis and the environment. A major QTL (Fhb1) on chromosome 3BS and other minor QTL derived from the Chinese cultivar Sumai are the main sources of genetic resistance to FHB in wheat. In contrast, sources of FHB resistance in barley are limited and only provide a modest level of resistance. Due to the polygenic nature of FHB resistance, development of resistant cultivars with suitable agronomic traits is still a challenge. The discovery of antifungal or antitoxin genes provides a potential strategy for the development of FHB resistant cultivars; which may additionally confer resistance to other fungal diseases. Accordingly, the present invention addresses the problem of providing antifungal genes of plant origin that are capable of conferring resistance to FHB caused by Fusarium; and other fungal diseases (e.g. Aspergillus) when expressed in cereal cultivars, as well as in other crop plants such as legumes and cotton.

Nepenthesin-1 derived resistance to fungal pathogens in major crop plants


A reflector (10) includes a frame (20) and reflector pieces (40, 50). The frame (20) is made of a light-opaque material and the reflector pieces (40, 50) are made of semi-light-transparent materials, preferably color tinted. The frame (20) includes frame portions (22, 24, 26, 28) that are, in cross-section, L-shaped members that support and cover the edge of a flat object when that object is placed within the frame (20). The frame (20) includes a plurality of bands (32, 34, 36). Between the bands (32, 34, 36) are voids (33, 35). The bands (32, 34, 36) include rearwardly extending posts (38). A first reflector piece (40) includes a reflector surface (42) surrounded by a flat border (44). The reflector surface (42) is made up of a plurality of pyramidal elements (46), that are intended to reflect light back toward a light source in a generally light-scattering and diffusing manner. The border (44) of the first reflector piece (40) includes a plurality of apertures (48), each of which corresponds to a complementary post (38).

During evening hours, stationary objects that are situated alongside a roadway, and objects moving along the roadway, present a special visibility hazard to users of the roadway. The use of motor vehicle headlights provides some degree of protection for night-time travelers and reduces that hazard substantially. However, light reflective surfaces and devices have long been used to further reduce this visibility hazard by enhancing the amount of light that is reflected back to the vehicle operator. For example, small plastic reflectors have been mounted to rods that are strategically placed at corners and at the edges of driveways to safely guide a motorist along that corner or driveway. Reflectors and reflective tapes have been used to identify mailboxes and other stationary objects located at the side of the roadway. Very often, the roadway itself may contain imbedded reflective lane markers to assist users of the roadway to stay within a certain lane of traffic which traveling at night. Each of these examples is a typical use of light reflective devices or surfaces that are well known in the art. Also well known is the fact that each of these reflective objects tends to be monochromatic in application.
In the experience of these inventors, what has not been done in the prior art is to use a safety marker in the form of a reflector where multiple pieces or multiple colors of reflective material are used in combination with an overlay material to make the reflector decorative as well as functional, and without diminishing its safety qualities. Accordingly, what is needed is a reflector that can be used as a safety device and as a message-giving device at the same time, the reflector using multiple colors or multiple pieces of reflective material and an overlay material to selectively divide the different reflective colors or pieces to thereby form a design. What is also needed is an easy way to fabricate and assemble the reflector such that a minimal number of parts are used and a minimal number of steps are used to assemble the reflector. What is also needed is a versatile way to mount the reflector to magnetic or non-magnetic surfaces, to mount the reflector as a stand-alone object, and to combine the reflector with an advertising frame or other retailer or source identifier as required or desired. Finally, what is also needed is a reflector that can be specifically formed into a flag arrangement, using a color scheme such that the reflector can replicate the colors of a flag, whereby the reflector can be used for safety purposes as well as for providing the user with a patriotic display.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful reflector that can be used as a safety device and as a message-giving device at the same time. It is another object to provide a reflector that is easy to fabricate and assemble. It is still another object to provide a reflector that can be mounted to a magnetic or non-magnetic surface, as a stand-alone object, or combined with an advertising frame or other source identifier. It is yet other object to provide such a reflector that is specifically formed into a flag arrangement, using a color scheme such that the reflector replicates the colors of a flag.

Variably mountable multiple colored safety and novelty reflector and method for making same


A method to construct a global equivalent database log file that transforms local log files from a parallel or distributed database system by extracting from each log file sequences of log entries from each database record, breaking the sequences into a series of segments, discarding the bulk of the segments and shortening other segments, then merging the remaining segments into an equivalent log file. The sequences are called "UID-sequences" and the segments "UID-segments" because they relate to one unique record ID or UID. The method also employs backward and forward superposition to further shorten the segments. This method works on database systems with or without instant constraint checks and also provides for treating log entries from multiple adjacent transactions on a log file as a single transaction. In systems with instant constraint checks, this method performs a "unique-key check" and a "foreign-key check" and resolves conflicts that are created because of superposition.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to computers and computer systems, and in particular to database management systems (DBMS).
2. Description of the Related Art
A database management system keeps track of changes made to a database during its lifetime. These changes are called "transactions" and each transaction is made up of operations such as insert, update, and delete. The operations are recorded in a "log file" in the order in which the operations are performed in the system. This log file may contain entries of operations performed from the time the database was created or from the time the database was last backed up until the present. The content and format of log entries depend on the design of the database system. Logically, each entry can be thought of as at least having (1) a transaction ID; (2) a unique record ID ("UID");and (3) an operation description (such as "insert," "update," etc.). A UID is any ID the logging subsystem uses to uniquely identify a database record. Many database systems also have an internal record ID that the DBMS uses for efficiency purposes. These record IDs are often the addresses of records in some level of storage abstraction. The UID need not be the same and is often different from the record ID in the system. One example of a UID is to use a combination of the primary key-value and the table ID of the record.
With the increasing emphasis in the database community on historical data, online analysis processing (OLAP), data warehousing, and data marts, it is crucial to propagate transactions performed on or changes made to an operation site database system (called the "operation site" or "local site") to another database system (called the "warehouse site" or "remote site") where analysis and decision support computation are performed. Other purposes, such as archiving or history analysis, may also require the propagation of changes in the operation site to the warehouse site. In these scenarios, the changes made to the database are captured through the log files of the operation site before the change-information is propagated to the warehouse site.
To propagate changes made on an operation site, it is first necessary to reconstruct a coherent view of the changes from the information available in its log files. This reconstruction results in an "equivalent global log file" which can apply the changes to remote copies of the same database. A log file that is "equivalent" to log file L is a sequence of log entries that, after applying the operations of the sequence to a copy of the database in the starting state of L, will bring the copy to the ending state of L.
For serial database systems, the order of operations can easily be inferred by examining the log files for each transaction; creating a global log file in that case is trivial. However, in parallel or distributed database systems, which consist of nodes each of which performs a part of a transaction, creating a global log file is much more complex. In such systems, after all the nodes have finished processing their parts of the transaction, the results are put together to complete the transaction. Each node has its own log file associated with it, often called a "local log file," in which all of the operations performed by the node are recorded in the order completed. On a "share-nothing" model of a parallel or distributed database system, each node operates on a partition of the database; the problem of constructing a global transaction order is especially complex in this case because any data item in the database belongs to exactly one partition and thus to exactly one node. FIG. 1 depicts the architecture of a share-nothing parallel database system in which the network 9 is made up of processing nodes 1,2,3,4 each respectively associated with partitions 5,6,7,8. Parallel and distributed database systems are designed in such a way that application programs and end users need not be aware of the parallel or distributed architectures and data partitioning in the systems.
Reconstructing parallel or distributed database system log files into a global equivalent log file requires merging the entries of the local log files of all nodes in the system. If information for a total order of all log entries is recorded in the log files, the problem is trivial. However, this information is often unavailable. Modifying the logging subsystem to record this information in the log files may not be feasible because of efficiency, cost, backward compatibility, and other practical reasons. Even when this ordering information is available, determining the actual order of log entries from the information can be expensive when the number of logs is large.
The problem can be broken down into two parts--ordering of transactions and ordering of entries within each transaction. If two log entries belong to different transactions, they are arranged in the same order as their enclosing transactions. The order of transactions can be determined by examining a virtual timestamp or some other mechanism. For systems without virtual timestamps or other mechanism to establish order between two transactions, they may be arranged using a transaction-ordering mechanism as described in a co-pending application entitled "Constructing a Transaction Serialization Order Based on Parallel or Distributed Database Log Files," U.S. Application Ser. No. 08/871,001, filed Jun. 6, 1997.
Once the transaction order is known, it is necessary to order entries within each transaction. If two log entries belong to the same transaction and to the same local log, they can be arranged in the same order as they appear in the local log. The solution to this is trivial. However, the situation in which the two log entries belong to the same transaction but to different log files is not trivial and must be treated differently. And the problem of finding an equivalent log for a coherent log set can be considerably complicated when the two log entries have the same UID, i.e. they operate on the same record. This is possible because of "intra-transaction tuple migration" (a "tuple" is another word for a record), a phenomenon that occurs when within a transaction, a UID disappears from one node and reappears at another node, either because of "cross-node intra-transaction UID recycling" or because of "intra-transaction partition redistribution." Generally, "intra-transaction UID recycling" occurs when a transaction deletes a record of some UID and then inserts another record with the same UID. More specifically, "cross-node intra-transaction UID recycling" occurs when the "delete" and the "insert" occur on different nodes. "Intra-transaction partition redistribution" occurs after a number of insert and delete operations have been executed to the table resulting in uneven partition sizes. "Redistribution" rearranges the records to even out the partition sizes. When redistribution is encapsulated as a dedicated transaction, it is clean in concept and easy to handle. However, including redistribution as part of an ordinary transaction may be useful for transactions that insert or delete a very large number of records. It is in these cases that "intra-transaction partition redistribution" occurs.
Up to now, there has been no method for ordering entries belonging to the same transactions but to different nodes. It is the object of the present invention to develop a method that merges the local log files into a coherent, equivalent global log file that overcomes the aforementioned difficulties without imposing any additional requirements on the logging subsystem.

Merging database log files through log transformations


In a display device of the reset type, damage of switching elements such as diodes (9, 19) due to electrostatic discharge is prevented by arranging a switching unit (14) between column electrodes (8) and lines (18) for a reference voltage. The switching unit (14) comprises, for example a series arrangement of diodes (13) which is arranged anti-parallel to the diodes (9, 19) between column electrodes and the reference line. Further measures for preventing electrostatic discharge between row electrodes (7, 11) and column electrodes (8) are described.

The invention relates to a display device comprising an electro-optical display medium between two supporting plates, a system of pixels arranged in rows and columns, with each pixel being formed by picture electrodes arranged on the facing surfaces of the supporting plates, and a system of row and column electrodes for presenting selection and data signals, a picture electrode on one of the supporting plates being connected in an electrically conducting manner to a first non-linear asymmetric two-pole switching unit between a column electrode for data signals and the picture electrode and to a second non-linear asymmetric two-pole switching unit between the picture electrode and an electrode for a reference voltage.
A display device of this type is suitable for displaying video information and alpha-numerical information by means of passive electro-optical display media such as liquid crystals, electrophoretic suspensions and electrochromic materials.
In this Application a non-linear asymmetric two-pole switching unit is understood to mean a switching unit with a current-voltage behaviour which is asymmetrical with respect to the I axis in the current-voltage (I-V) characteristic and in which the current depends non-linearly on the applied voltage such as, for example, a diode. Such a switching unit may comprise a single switching element such as, for example, a diode or a combination of such switching elements which are arranged in series or parallel for reasons of, for example, redundancy.
A display device of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,831. In a device shown in this document diodes are used as switching elements. Juxtaposed columns of pixels are connected via these diodes to an electrode for a reference voltage and to drive electrodes (column electrodes) which are arranged between columns of picture electrodes. The reference voltage is used for applying, prior to selection, an auxiliary voltage across the pixel beyond or on the edge of the range of voltages to be used for picture display.
It is known that electrostatic charging may take place during the manufacture of the supporting plates on which the switching elements are provided (the active plates). A voltage difference may then occur between different column electrodes, such that there is breakdown between these column electrodes, while the switching elements or other components are damaged, and also the conducting tracks constituting the column electrodes may be damaged or may even melt.
Electrostatic breakdown may also occur between the row electrodes on the other supporting plate (the passive plate).
In a further stage of manufacture, when the active plates and passive plates have been joined and (at a still later stage) liquid crystal material or another electro-optical medium is present between the active and the passive plate, breakdown between a row and a column may also occur due to excessively high electrostatic voltages by which the switching element or a component of a pixel may be damaged. For example, degradation of the liquid crystalline material may also occur.
As the manufacture of the display device progresses, damage and consequently rejects due to electrostatic discharge will involve extremely high costs.

Display device with electrostatic discharge protection


An optical element for reflecting light has a substrate and a thin film formed on the substrate. The thin film reflects light in a predetermined reflection wavelength band so that the thin film adjusts a difference in phase differences between a P-polarized light component and S-polarized light component of an incident light to the thin film and between P-polarized light component and S-polarized light component of the reflected light to 180°±10° at an absolute value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical element and an optical pickup device used therewith, and more particularly, to the optical element having a phase difference adjusting function and the optical pickup device used therewith.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical pickup devices are widely used in order to write/read information to/from optical recording media such as CD (Compact Disk) and DVD (Digital Versatile Disk). In the optical pickup device, after P-polarized light or S-polarized light emitted from a light source is converted into circularly-polarized light by a quarter wavelength plate, an advancing direction of the light is changed by a reflecting mirror or the like and the light is condensed onto an optical recording medium by an objective lens. After the circularly-polarized light which is reflected by the optical recording medium is converted into S-polarized light or P-polarized light by the quarter wavelength plate, the S or P-polarized light is detected as a light signal by a light detector.
U.S. Published Patent Application No. US2002/093902A1 discloses that in the case where two light sources are used, after optical paths from the respective light sources are synthesized by a dichroic prism, linearly polarized light from the light sources is converted into circularly-polarized light by a quarter wavelength plate.
In the optical pickup device disclosed in the above publication, light converted into circularly-polarized light is reflected by a deflection prism. A phase difference is generated between a P-polarized light component and an S-polarized light component at the time of reflection, and the reflected light may become elliptically-polarized light. Since the elliptically-polarized light does not become linearly-polarized light even when it transmits through the quarter wavelength plate, signal strength to the detector is decreased or return light to the light source is generated, resulting in a problem that laser oscillation becomes unstable. Further, not only when the light is reflected but also when the light transmits through an optical element, a phase difference is generally generated between the P-polarized light component and the S-polarized light component. For this reason, the optical element, which reflects or transmits the light converted into the circularly-polarized light, is required not only to satisfy spectroscopic properties such as reflectance and transmittance but also to prevent the generation of a phase difference.
Since the wavelength of light sources is being shortened in recent years, a so-called blue laser, whose laser beam has a wavelength of 400's nm which is shorter than a laser beam having a wavelength of 600's nm to be currently and mainly used in DVD, is being put into practical use. For this reason, optical pickup devices which are mounted with three light sources with wavelength of 700's nm (for CD), wavelength of 600's nm (for DVD) and wavelength of 400's nm (for example, for BD (Blu-ray Disk) or for HD DVD (High Definition DVD)) are being currently developed.
In the design of optical thin films which are formed on substrates of optical elements, however, when an optical pickup device, which satisfies the spectroscopic properties such as reflectance and transmittance for such light having three wavelength bands and simultaneously prevents the generation of a phase difference due to reflection and transmission, is tried to be obtained, it is difficult to design a satisfactory thin film constitution because of too many restriction conditions. For this reason, the thin film has been designed so that one of the spectroscopic properties and the phase difference properties is prioritized and the other is sacrificed.

Optical element and optical pickup device used therewith


The output electromagnetic power of optoelectric heterojunction semiconductor devices having an active semiconductor layer with a mobile charge carrier plasma is controlled by applying a microwave electric field inside the active layer by means of at least two semiconductor contacts to the active layer that are conducting to at least one type of mobile charge carrier and blocking to another type of charge carrier. An electrical signal is applied inside the active layer to transform the distribution of energies and equivalent temperature of the charge carriers of the mobile charge carriers in order to control light emission and absorption in the active layer. A modulator is disclosed with two such semiconductor contacts on the active layer in which charge carriers are optically generated. A monolithically integrated, cavity-coupled laser and modulator is disclosed in which the laser and modulator are fabricated on a common substrate and the laser is a distributed feedback laser (DFB). Another monolithically integrated cavity-coupled laser and modulator is fabricated in which the laser and modulator are coupled Fabrey-Perot optical cavities separated by a low-loss, 1-3 um groove. Operating modes of the modulator and laser are disclosed which include synchronously controlling the intensity period and phase of the signal controlling the electric field inside the active layer of the modulator and the signal controlling the laser. Best mode of operation is disclosed in which the signal sources to the laser and modulator are synchronously controlled to a cavity-coupled monolithically integrated laser and modulator, thereby generating short pulses of photonic radiation at a high data rate and with best mode and spectral quality.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to high frequency, high bit-rate, optoelectric (photonic) heterojunction devices and more particularly, to controlling the equivalent temperature of the energy distribution fraction of the mobile charge-carrier plasma and gain in the active layer of the heterojunction in order to control the electromagnetic output power.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Optoelectronic semiconductor devices that emit electronic radiation are used extensively today for applications such as, for example, fiber-optic telecommmications and laser printers. These devices include light-emitting diodes (LED) and the diode laser. Other such devices detect and modulate optical signals generated by an external radiation-emitting oscillator, while others convert optical electronic radiation into electrical energy. The theory and operation of these devices are well understood in the art as was discussed in the book "Physics of Semiconductor Lasers" by S. M. Sze, Chapter 12, p. 736, pub. by John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1981.
Furthermore, as also described in the book by Sze, Chapter 12, Sec. 12.5.1, referenced above, heterostructures with low threshold current density have been designed by the use of: "carrier confinement provided by the energy barriers of higher bandgap semiconductor surrounding the active region, etc." More recently, small, efficient quantum well optoelectronic switching devices, such as the optical modulators and switches that were described in the article entitled "Quantum Well optoelectronic Switching Devices" by D. A. B. Miller, Int. J. of High Speed Electronics, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp 19-46, March 1990, are capable of logic themselves and have potential for integration, and in the article entitled "Advances in Optoelectronic Integration" by O. Wada, Int. J. of high Speed Electronics, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp 47-71, March 1990, which reviewed the latest advances in optoelectronic integration. Furthermore, in the article entitled "Analysis of Semiconductor Microcavity Lasers Using Rate Equations" by G. Bjork and Y. Yamamoto, IEEE J. of Quantum Electronics, Vol. 27, No. 11, pp 2386-2396, Nov. 1991, equations that might achieve microcavity lasers with higher modulation speeds than previous devices were theoretically considered.
Devices for optical power modulation, such as described above, can be divided into two groups: active and passive devices. Active devices radiate electromagnetic power simultaneously with modulation and passive devices only modulate the radiation that passes through them. In all these devices, high frequency and high pulse rate modulation of optical power is the problem of importance in optical communication and high data rate system.
However, it is well known in the art that at present the maximum effective modulation bandwidth is limited to about 10 GHz for semiconductor lasers and to about 1 GHz for light diodes (Sze referenced above). Consequently, to investigate the limits on bandwidth, V. B. Gorfinkel and I. I. Filatov, in the article entitled "Heating of an Electron Gas by an hf Electric Field in the Active Region of a Semiconductor Heterolaser", Sov. Phys. Semicond., Vol. 24, No. 4, April 1990, investigated theoretically the influence of the heating of electron gas by an electric field E(t) in the heterostructure AlGaAs, GaAs, AlGaAs on the optical gain. We considered only the energy balance equation and the carrier density rate equations in order to determine theoretically the influence of electric field E(t)=E.sub.0 +E.sub.1 Sin (2.pi.ft) on the optical gain. Indeed, our theoretical analysis indicated that (where f is the applied signal frequency and t is time) depending on the ratio of the variable and constant components of the heating field E.sub.1 and E.sub.0, the optical gain value may theoretically be modulated both at signal frequency f and at double frequency 2 f up to f=400 GHz! But, this theoretical analysis (Gorfinkel & Filatov) above did not consider any actual lasing operation and did not take into account any rate equation for light. Thus, our initial theoretical analysis encouraged us to proceed further with a new analysis and, if promising, to investigate new methods that might overcome the bandwidth problems associated with the prior art.
Subsequently, as described in the article entitled "High Frequency Modulation of Quantum Well Heterostructure Diode Lasers by Carrier Heating in Microwave Electric Field" by S. A. Gurevich et al, Joint Soviet-American Workshop on the Physics of Semiconductor Lasers, p. 67, May 20-Jun. 3, 1991, our more complete theoretical analysis that considered the laser equations among others revealed that the optical gain of a quantum well heterostructure can be modulated by a spatially controlled microwave electric field when the field is applied by semiconductor contacts to the active layer. Our results were particularly surprising because Takamiza et al in Proc. IEEE, Vol. 56, No. 1, p. 135, 1968, failed in their early attempts to modulate laser output by placing samples in a microwave waveguide. Thus our method, which includes controlling the period and spatial distribution of the electric field inside the active layer, appears to have overcome the problems of the prior art.
More recently, Gorfinkel and Luryi published in Applied Physics Letters, 60 (25), 22. Jun. 1992, pp 3141-3143, an article entitled "Rapid Modulation of Interband Optical Properties of Quantum Wells by Intersubband Absorption" in which we calculated theoretically that intersubband radiation can control the mobile electron temperature and modulate the optical properties of a semiconductor quantum well. Our calculations in this article of a modulator are based on the same concepts described in the parent application relating to modulating by heating of one mobile charge carrier, but substituting intersubband radiation from a CO.sub.2 laser for heating mobile electron charge carriers.
The entire specifications of the parent application Ser. No. 07/815,174 filed on Dec. 31, 1991, are particularly incorporated herein, including the Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments.
Furthermore, applicants request that the prior art patents cited by the Examiner during examination of the parent application, namely U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,393, which issued to Oka on Jun. 2, 1992, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,633, which issued to Danner on Jan. 14, 1992, be made references of record in the present continuation-in-part. Both patents described lasers that were constructed with a plurality of optical cavities and with a plurality of electrodes. Oka teaches the use of a p-n junction to pump both types of charge carriers and Danner teaches the use of an indirect bandgap active layer and a constant electric field to transform the indirect material to direct bandgap. Thus, neither Oka nor Danner can fraction in accordance with the present invention to generate short pulses of photonic radiation by heating one type of charge carrier with a modulated electric field, as discussed below in connection with FIG. 5.

Method of and means for controlling the electromagnetic output power of electro-optic semiconductor devices


Systems and methods for performing malware detection for determining suspicious data based on data entropy are provided. The method includes acquiring a block of data, calculating an entropy value for the block of data, comparing the entropy value to a threshold value, and recording the block of data as suspicious when the entropy value exceeds the threshold value. An administrator may then investigate suspicious data.

A common problem facing information security personnel is the need to identify suspicious or outright malicious software or data on a computer system. This problem typically arises when a computer system is compromised by an attacker through a piece of malicious software. Initial steps taken in response to this kind of situation include attempts to identify malicious software (also known as "malware") or data, followed by attempts to classify that malicious software so that its capabilities can better be understood. Investigators and response personnel use a variety of techniques to identify suspicious software, such as temporal analysis, filtering of known entities, and Live Response (described below).
Temporal analysis involves a review of all activity on a system according to date and time so that events occurring on or around a time window of suspected compromise can be more closely examined. Such items might include event log entries; files created, deleted, accessed, or modified; processes that were started or terminated; network ports opened or closed, and so on.
Additionally a comparison of files against known entities can be performed. In this situation, all files on the system may be reviewed and compared against a database of known, previously encountered files. Such comparisons are usually accomplished through use of a cryptographic hash algorithm—a mathematical function that takes the data from a file and turns it into a compact numerical representation. A fundamental property of hash functions is that if two hashes generated using the same algorithm are different, then the data used to generate those hashes must also be different. The corollary is that hashes found to match were generated from data that was identical. While the corollary is not always true, hash collisions (identical hashes generated from different input data) for cryptographic hash algorithms are provably rare such that a hash comparison can be used to determine file equivalence.
An alternative to reviewing static historical data such as files and event logs is Live Response. This technique examines running programs, system memory contents, network port activity, and other system metadata while the computer system is still on and in a compromised state in order to identify how it may have been modified by an attacker.
There are many other techniques that may be employed to identify suspicious activity on a potentially compromised computer system. These techniques often generate a rather large amount of data, all of which must be reviewed and interpreted in order to reach any conclusions. Further complicating this equation is the fact that attackers typically have a good understanding of the techniques used to identify compromised systems. They employ various methods to hide their presence, making the job of an investigator that much more difficult. Some of these techniques include deleting indicators of their entry to a system once it's compromised, such as log file entries, file modification/access dates, and system processes. Attackers may also obfuscate running malware by changing its name or execution profile such that it appears to be something benign. In order to better hide malware or other data stored on disk, attackers may make use of a "packed" storage format. Packing is a technique by which data is obfuscated or encrypted and encapsulated along with a program to perform a decryption/de-obfuscation, and then stored somewhere on a system. For example, a "Packed Executable" is a piece of software that contains an "unpacking" program and a payload. That payload is often malicious software, such as a virus or Trojan Horse.
One of the fundamental properties of encrypted, compressed, or obfuscated data (depending on the method of obfuscation) is its entropy, or randomness, tends to be higher than that of "structured" data, such as user generated documents and computer programs. A measure of entropy isn't a guaranteed method for identifying malware or an attacker's hidden data store. A valid system user may have encrypted, or more commonly, compressed, information stored on a computer system. However, the examination of entropy does provide an excellent filter for this significant data reduction problem. Entropy is a measurement that can be used to determine if a stream of data is random, provided it is comprised of a defined set of data values. There are drawbacks to using entropy across a block of data, though. Entropy is a global measurement across a data set, returning a single value across that set. This means that a data block could return a low entropy measurement when in fact small sections of that same data could contain very high entropy. This scenario could be true even if the majority of the data block has low entropy. This may be noteworthy, depending on the expectation of the contents of the data. For example, if an attacker has placed an encrypted copy of malware inside of a more structured set of data, the variance of entropy across that otherwise structured data may be a clear indicator of malware. Thus, there is a need in the art for a technique to derive a robust measurement of entropy in order to detect the presence of malware in a computer system while reducing the number of false positives generated during the detection process.

System and method for determining data entropy to identify malware


The present invention provides: a freeze-dried composition which comprises (a) a monovalent metal alginate and (b) a salt selected from a monovalent metal salt and an ammonium salt; and a method of producing a freeze-dried monovalent metal alginate composition which comprises the steps of freezing an aqueous solution formed by dissolving at least the component (a) and the component (b), performing first drying, and then performing second drying as desired to reduce a water content to 3% by mass or less. This is a freeze-dried monovalent metal alginate composition with suppressed viscosity decrease with the lapse of time.

It is known to inject a cartilage defect portion in an articular cartilage with an aqueous solution formed by dissolving a freeze-dried monovalent metal alginate composition such as a freeze-dried sodium alginate composition in water, thereby regenerating and treating the cartilage (Patent Literature 1).
Meanwhile, industrial sodium alginate contains sodium chloride, sodium sulfate, sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, and the like as impurity electrolytes. It has been investigated that the impurity electrolytes can be removed using a property of being extracted by an alcohol of about 40% or more and that properties such as viscosity, pH, structural viscosity, flow curve, and capillary action in the case of adding sodium chloride or sodium sulfate to the sodium alginate aqueous solution change (Non Patent Literatures 1 and 2).
In addition, a study was carried out on the viscosity decrease attributed to the heating of sodium alginate in the forms of powder and solution. As a result, it has been reported that although viscosity decreases due to heating in both cases, the solution form has a larger viscosity decrease rate (Non Patent Literatures 3 and 4).
However, it is not known so far that if a freeze-dried monovalent metal alginate composition is kept in storage, there arises a problem that the monovalent metal alginate in the freeze-dried composition is deteriorated over time and the viscosity decreases.


The present invention is directed to a system for and a method of a disbursement system which includes an input module configured to receive a disbursement request and an authorization module configured to apply predetermined rules to the disbursement request. Also included in the present invention is an accounting module configured to track available funds from which particular disbursements are to be made and an output module configured to process approved disbursement requests.

In addition to conventional wages, employers may compensate their employees using a variety of methods. Additional compensation and payments to employees may consist of bonuses, awards, reimbursements for incurred expenses, gifts, conference fees, convention fees, prepayment of expenses, or similar items. These additional forms of compensation and payments will be referred to herein as non-wage compensation or additional compensation. Typically, submission, processing and approval of these non-wage compensation requests are handled outside of the normal payroll process. These non-wage compensation requests are typically submitted, verified, validated, approved or disapproved through a process defined by the employer. Many employers use paper forms to request and track these non-wage compensation payments. For instance, a manager initiating an award of a bonus may complete and submit a bonus request form for approval. The completed bonus request form passes through an approval cycle and, when approved, may be sent to payroll for payment. Alternatively, an individual seeking reimbursement for a company related expense may complete and submit an expense reimbursement request which is processed through an approval cycle before payment is authorized. Once payment is authorized in connection with the reimbursement request, the form may be sent to the payroll department for payment. Each of these methods is time consuming, prone to error, and inefficient.
Employers may also allocate specific funds to be used for bonuses, awards, reimbursements, gifts, convention and conference fees, publication awards, or other types of non-wage compensation to their employees. If an employer has allocated funding in this manner, amounts approved for non-wage compensation to employees must be deducted from the allocated amounts in each category. The availability of these funds may also be queried prior to approving such a request. Typically a payroll department oversees these allocated funds.
The problems associated with paying and tracking non-wage compensation to employees is exasperated for multi-site employers. Multi-site employers may allocate financial resources to these expenses to the aforementioned categories or by site. Additionally, maintaining standard request, validation, and approval procedures across sites may be difficult for multi-site employers.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method of and system for processing and paying non-wage compensation requests and payments.

System for and method of web based non-wage compensation

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A system including asymmetric control of high-speed bidirectional signaling includes a slave device and a master device that is coupled to the slave device via a plurality of bidirectional data paths, for example. The master device may control data transfer between the master device and the slave device. More particularly, the master device may adaptively modify transmit characteristics subsequent to adaptively modifying receiver characteristics based upon information received from the slave device via one or more unidirectional data paths.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to communication links and, more particularly, to communication over bidirectional links.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many systems employ conventional high-speed bidirectional signaling schemes in which the work of controlling amplitude and phase of the signals sent over a channel may be divided equally between each end of a communication link. In such systems, the control of the link may be symmetric such that the transmitter and the receiver at each end of the link may include very similar functionality.
An example of such a system may be a memory system, where there may be a complex master device (e.g., memory controller) and simpler slave devices (e.g., memory devices). The bidirectional data transfers would correspond to write data when transferring to the slave and read data when transferring from the slave.
To allow transfers to occur at high data rates, a clock phase recovery function may be implemented in the receiver at each end of the bi-directional data bus. For channels with significant high frequency loss or reflections, the channel may be equalized to prevent data eye closure from the effect of inter-symbol interference (ISI). In addition, links that have high data transfer rates may have a significant likelihood of bit errors occurring. Thus, a means of error detection is typically implemented. As mentioned above, these functions may be conventionally implemented at both ends of the link. However, it may be desirable to simplify slave devices while maintaining control of the analog properties of the data waveforms that travel in both directions.

Asymmetric control of high-speed bidirectional signaling


A device is configured to perform a method for neck and shoulder detection. The method includes receiving an image that includes a face. The method also includes performing a neck localization operation on the image. The neck localization operation is performed using results from a pre-trained regression model. The method further includes performing a shoulder localization operation on the image. The method still further includes estimating a plurality of shoulder and neck keypoints using results of the neck localization operation and the shoulder localization operation.

Neck and shoulder landmark detection is a growing development in object detection and segmentation. Such technology can be applied in many applications including augmented reality and intelligent human-computer interaction in PCs, mobile devices, web applications, and the like. Some neck and shoulder landmark detection techniques are based on general image segmentation based on skin color or background and foreground subtraction; or learning-based methods like snake and graph cut algorithms, and the like. However, in many images, the neck is totally covered or partially covered by cloth. This renders the techniques based on general image segmentation rather unsuccessful. Moreover, visually cluttered environments may also cause bad image segmentation and bad edge detection results. In many cases, the detected shoulder line is not smooth or blended with other regions. Thus, it cannot be applied for high-level applications such as virtual cloth-fitting. In addition, the computational complexity in the existing techniques is high and limits their usage in real-time applications.

Apparatus and method for neck and shoulder landmark detection


Disclosed is a flip-chip device. The flip-chip device includes a die having a plurality of under bump metallizations (UBMs); and a package substrate having a plurality of bond pads. The plurality of UBMs include a first set of UBMs having a first size and a first minimum pitch and a second set of UBMs having a second size and a second minimum pitch. The first set of UBMs and the second set of UBMs are each electrically coupled to the package substrate by a bond-on-pad connection.

Integrated circuit technology has achieved great strides in advancing computing power through miniaturization of active components. The flip-chip devices can be found in many electronic devices, including processors, servers, radio frequency (RF) integrated circuits, etc. Flip-chip packaging technology becomes cost-effective in high pin count devices. The flip-chip bonding conventionally uses solder-on-pad (SOP) technology for flip-chip substrates. There are many solutions for the SOP technology and each has its advantages and disadvantages.
Additionally, conventional flip-chip design uses either a uniform bump size across the whole chip or in some designs may define the different bump size based on the die location in digital die designs. Recently more radio frequency (RF) products have moved to flip-chip designs. However, this transition of RF technology has made it difficult for conventional flip-chip designs to meet the bump density requirements for the flip-chip because the large number of bump keep-out-zones (KOZs).
Accordingly, there is a need for systems, apparatus, and methods that overcome the deficiencies of conventional flip-chip processes including the methods, system and apparatus provided herein.

Flip-chip flexible under bump metallization size


An encoder circuit, a task scheduler circuit and a decoder circuit. The encoder circuit may be configured to (i) generate one or more first status signals in response to one or more report signals and (ii) perform video encoding tasks based on available central processing unit (CPU) cycles and memory bandwidth. The task scheduler circuit may be configured to (i) generate a control signal and the one or more report signals in response to the one or more first status signals. The decoder circuit may be configured to (i) generate one or more second status signals and (ii) perform concurrent decoding while the encoder circuit performs adaptive video encoding tasks in response to the control signal.

Conventional hardware platforms sometimes support concurrent video encoding and decoding. To implement such concurrent video encoding and decoding, common resources need to be shared between encode and decode tasks. While supporting concurrent video encoding and decoding tasks on one hardware platform, a decoding process is typically defined for worse case conditions (i.e., a worst case bitstream), which is usually worse than a typical case. Defining a decoding process for worst case conditions is even more prominent in newer video standards, such as H.264/MPEG-4.
Conventional approaches provide concurrent encoding with a fixed cycle budget based on the worst case decoding. When decoding typical bitstreams, a relatively large amount of performance (i.e., CPU cycles and memory bandwidth) will be wasted if the encoder is designed to use a fixed cycle budget based on the worst case decoding.
It would be desirable to provide a method and/or apparatus to implement an adaptive video encoder to adapt to available CPU cycles and memory bandwidth for concurrent video encoding and decoding.

Performance adaptive video encoding with concurrent decoding


A system for allocating resources, including at least one user terminal operable to determine at least one resource needed by the user terminal and further operable to request a first allocation of the resource. A relaying apparatus is provided which is operable to determine the resource to be allocated and further operable to transmit the determined resource to the user terminal. The user terminal is operable to calculate a cost of the resource allocated by the relaying apparatus, compare the cost with a predetermined reference value based on a changed need for the resource, and further operable to request a second allocation of the resource to the relaying apparatus based on the changed need for the resource.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for allocating resources to a user terminal. More particularly, techniques for allocating resources by which a user terminal can control energy and performance thereof during an allocation of resources to the user terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless communications relate to technology using electric waves as transmission media of information. Wireless communication systems can easily transmit information regardless of positions of users and thus have gradually expanded their application ranges. Wireless terminals of the wireless communication systems are mobile, portable, and convenient.
Wireless communications can be classified into first generation and second generation. The first generation wireless communications relate to services used in analog wireless terminals in initial wireless communications. The second generation wireless communications relate to services used in digital wireless terminals following the analog wireless terminals. IMT-2000 services recently called next generation mobile communications are referred to as third generation wireless communications. Services providing high quality Internet services through one wireless terminal at a low cost after the third generation wireless communications are referred to as fourth generation wireless communications.
In the first and second generation wireless communications, concepts of fairness of throughput and energy of communication lines transmitting data are not considered. However, resource management algorithms are applied starting from the third generation wireless communications. The resource management algorithms introduce fairness of energy and provide a high transmission rate in the same bandwidth.
However, when the resource management algorithms are applied to third generation wireless communication systems, access points (APs) must know about utility functions of a plurality of wireless terminals, for example, types, protocols, and Quality of Service (QoS), in advance.
The fourth generation wireless communications after the third generation wireless communications relate to ubiquitous and heterogeneous mobile networks. In the fourth generation wireless communications, various types of wireless terminals or different types of networks are connected to one another to interact with one another. Thus, it is not easy to grasp the characteristics of the various types of wireless terminals and there are no methods for allocating resources considering the energy usage of the various types of wireless terminals.
Also, in the fourth generation wireless communications, users do not stay in one type of network but can select desired one of various types of network. Thus, it is difficult to secure compatibility among the various standards used by the respective networks.
As described above, wireless communications have been developed from first and second generation wireless communications to third and fourth generation wireless communications. However, attempts to reduce an amount of energy used by a plurality of wireless terminals result in deterioration of speeds of communication lines due to problems in managing resources of the plurality of wireless terminals. Also, the total amount of energy used increases with an increase in the speeds of the communication lines.

System and method for allocating resource and user terminal


A gas containment and delivery system that can be efficiently and cost-effectively adapted to a wide variety of gas delivery needs. The system has a gas containment box that can be efficiently adapted to provide double containment for sections of toxic gas lines having gas delivery components such as valves, regulators, and gauges. The system may be either floor-mounted or wall-mounted, and can be used in a wide variety of semiconductor fabrication facilities.

Toxic gases used for semiconductor processing and other industrial purposes must be stored and used in accordance with strict regulations. Laws recently enacted in most states require that toxic gases be stored and delivered in lines or vessels that have at least two levels, or layers, of containment. The second containment layer protects people from exposure to the toxic gases in the case of an accident or leak affecting the first containment layer. For example, gas lines carrying toxic gases commonly consist of co-axial tubing. The gas flows through the inner tubing; the outer tubing provides extra containment in case there is a leak in the inner tubing. Gas storage and delivery systems having two containment layers are commonly called "double containment" systems.
Semiconductor manufacturers have had difficulty complying with the new toxic gas containment laws in an efficient manner because semiconductor manufacturing facilities vary widely in size, configuration and purpose. A double containment system that works well in one fabrication facility may not be useful at all in another facility. Companies, therefore, have had to develop a wide variety of double containment gas storage and delivery systems customized to accommodate the unique requirements of the various semiconductor manufacturing facilities throughout the United States. Development of such custom double containment systems is costly, inefficient, and time consuming.
In this regard, prior to the development of the present invention, no standard product was available to provide double-containment for a wide variety of possible configurations of gas delivery components, such as valves, gas lines, regulators and gauges, used in toxic gas delivery systems. Double containment boxes enclosing such components had to be designed on a "one-off" basis to accommodate the particular gas delivery components and the number of gas lines required for each specific application. As a result, engineering and design efforts were duplicated every time a new containment box was needed. Moreover, prior art boxes generally were not designed to be modifiable or moveable in any way. Thus, if the user wanted to change a component or move the box, he was unable to utilize the existing box without extensive modifications.
Additionally, gas lines are commonly connected to each other and to other gas delivery components by welding the joints. Movement of gas containment boxes and/or replacement of gas delivery components, therefore, commonly requires welding. Welding inside a fabrication facility can cause contamination problems and is often difficult to accomplish when space is confined.
Finally, most conventional gas containment boxes are designed to be wall-mounted. In many cases, the size of the fabrication facility is limited and wall space could be better utilized. For this reason, it would be desirable to set the boxes in the floor to make better use of available wall space. Unfortunately, conventional wall-mounted boxes generally are not suitable to be set in the floor without extensive customization.
Many of the problems described above are also applicable to gas containment/delivery systems in which double containment is unnecessary. For example, while there is no need for double containment for containment/delivery systems for inert, nontoxic gases, such systems suffer from the same problems of difficult customization described above.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved gas containment and delivery systems that eliminate or reduce disadvantages associated with the prior art.


This invention relates to engineered CH2 domain molecules containing amino acids in the framework regions that confer enhanced stability and/or solubility. In particular, the invention provides engineered CH2 domain molecules containing amino acid residues that differ from a wild type CH2 domain or a template CH2 domain molecule within one or more framework regions and that result in improved stability and/or solubility.

Immunoglobulins (antibodies) in adult humans are categorized into five different isotypes: IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG, and IgM. The heavy chains in IgG, IgA, and IgD each have a variable domain (VH) at one end followed by three constant domains: CH1, CH2, and CH3. The heavy chains in IgM and IgE each have a variable domain (VH) at one end followed by four constant domains: CH1, CH2, CH3, and CH4. Sequences of the variable domains vary, but the constant domains are generally conserved among all antibodies in the same isotype. The Fab region of immunoglobulins contains the variable (V) domain and the CH1 domain; the Fc region of immunoglobulins contains the hinge region and the remaining constant domains, either CH2 and CH3 in IgG, IgA, and IgD, or CH2, CH3, and CH4 in IgM and IgE.
Target antigen specificity of the immunoglobulins is conferred by the paratope in the Fab region. Effector functions (e.g., complement activation, interaction with Fc receptors such as pro-inflammatory Fcγ receptors, binding to various immune cells such as phagocytes, lymphocytes, platelets, mast cells, and the like) of the immunoglobulins are conferred by the Fc region. The Fc region is also important for maintaining serum half-life. Serum (blood) half-life of an immunoglobulin is mediated by the binding of the Fc region to the neonatal Fc receptor FcRn. The alpha domain is the portion of FcRn that interacts with the CH2 domain and CH3 domain interface of IgG, and possibly IgA, and IgD or with the CH3 domain and CH4 domain of IgM and IgE.
The CH2 domain (or the equivalent CH3 domain of IgM or IgE) also has binding sites for complement. The CH2/CH3 domain's retention of functional characteristics of the antibody from which it is derived (e.g., interaction with Fcγ receptors, binding sites for complement, solubility, stability/half-life, etc.) is discussed in Dimitrov (2009) mAbs 1:1-3 and Dimitrov (2009) mAbs 1:26-28.
Isolated CH2 molecules (also referred to as "nanobodies") have been described in the art (Dimitrov (2009) mAbs 1:26-28). CH2 molecules can be made into binding proteins (e.g., binding to another molecule) by altering one or more of their loop regions through mutagenesis or CDR ("Complementarity Determining Region") grafting. CH2 molecules distribute in the body differently from antibodies due to their small size and retention of FcRn binding. To improve stability, CH2 molecules have been modified to include additional disulfide bonds, deletion of N-terminal amino acids, and/or deletion of C-terminal amino acids. Prior to the present disclosure, no attempt has been made to alter framework residues of an isolated CH2 domain to enhance stability, reduce immunogenicity, or reduce the likelihood of aggregation.


A high-profile air sleep system having a pair of air posturizing sleep surfaces which may be individually inclined and air adjusted comprises an air posturing module having an outer module mattress case. A first case section extends medially along a length of said mattress case to define a first movable posturing section, and a second case section extends along a length of said mattress case to define a second movable posturing section. A third fixed module case section is included in said mattress case below the first and second posturing sections. A first air chamber is carried in the first and third case sections, and a second air chamber is carried in the second and third module sections to provide first and second posturizing module sections with individually elevatable posturizing sleep surfaces.

This invention is directed to air support sleep systems, and particularly to a multi-compartment high-profile mattress having a base support module and an upper air posturizing module wherein a pair of individually elevatable air posturizing module sections provide posturizing support in a variety of sleeping and inclined positions.
In the past, air sleep systems have been provided in which one or more air chambers is enclosed in a single module with foam blocks constituting the sidewalls of the unit to prevent sagging such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,546. A thin foam overlay is usually placed over the air chambers. While providing a good sleep surface, complete edge-to-edge adjustability using air is not provided because the foam block sidewalls usually occupy about a six inch space on the sides, or about 12″ at overall width. The construction normally results in a mattress about 6″ to 8″ high when the foam overlay is placed over the air chambers. In an attempt to meet the increasing popularity of thicker, high-profile mattresses, additional layers of foam have been stacked upon the air chambers within the mattress casing. However, this has resulted in what is known as "hammocking." Hammocking occurs when the cushioning overly deflates or compresses so that the body assumes a hammock position which strains the lower back. Because the air chambers are now further below the foam layers, the posturizing affect of the adjustable air chambers is less, becoming negligible. In addition, the taller sides of the high-profile mattress casing results in the sides of the mattress sagging and bowing out. The foam and other mattress layers are no longer encased in position and become wobbly resulting in an overall unstable mattress support. The softer and more plush foam cushioning above the air chambers eventually loses its resilience and ability to properly support the person. Posturizing, which is the support of the back in its proper position, has not been reliably achieved in the prior air sleep systems, particularly the high-profile system. Basically, the idea of posturizing is to remove all gaps between the person's body and the sleeping surface without hammocking. Therefore, the need to provide a high-profile mattress, i.e., one that is about 15″ in height, using adjustable air chambers is a problem requiring much attention.
Examples of other prior air mattress structure include U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,152 B1 which shows a variable firmness mattress structure in a single module which includes a plurality of longitudinally spaced, transversely extending air bladders whose firmness may be selected individually. U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,209 B1 discloses an air mattress structure wherein an inflatable bladder is positioned upon a plurality of longitudinally spaced foam blocks which are independently moveable relative to one another. U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,718 B1 discloses an air mattress structure which includes a plurality of inflatable air bladders tethered together. U.S. Pat. No. 6,430,763 B2 discloses an air mattress having an approved side bolster system.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an air support sleep system wherein proper sleep and other posture support is provided using a pair of individually movable posturizing module sections.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an air posturing module and base module which may be used with a power base to incline the modules to provide an air posturing support surface for sleeping as well as reading, watching television, and the like.
Another object of the invention is to provide an air support sleep system having an overall high-profile design wherein an upper, low-profile air posturizing module is supported on an integral, lower mattress base module.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an air support sleep system having a multi-compartment mattress case which includes an upper low-profile fabric encasement and a lower base support encasement wherein an air posturizing assembly is enclosed in the upper encasement and a base foundation assembly enclosed in the lower fabric encasement to provide a high-profile mattress design.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an air support sleep system which may be set up and taken down for transportation and storage having an upper mattress air posturizing module enclosed in an upper fabric encasement with two individually moveable module sections, and a lower mattress base module enclosed in a lower fabric encasement having two individually moveable base module sections corresponding to and supporting said posturizing module sections.

Air sleep system with dual elevating air posturizing sleep surfaces


An object-based storage may employ a transactional interface and a copy on write protocol. The inode for the file (which is identified by the I-number and indicates one or more blocks storing the file data) may be copied to a working copy of the inode, and the working copy may be updated to indicate the newly allocated blocks. In response to a file commit (e.g. a file close or a file synchronization command), the working copy of the inode may be atomically written to a non-volatile storage. In this manner, the updates performed during the transaction may be atomically committed to the file. The inode itself may be stored in a file (referred to as the inode file), and the storage may perform updates to the inode file atomically as well. The inode file may be modified using the copy on write protocol described above, and the master inode (mapping the blocks of the inode file) may be atomically written to non-volatile storage to atomically update the inode file. In one particular embodiment, the storage employs a journal technique for updates to the inode file.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to a network of computer systems and, more particularly, to reliable storage in the network and efficient access to the storage by client computer systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Frequently, computer systems are deployed in a networked environment. In the networked environment, one or more client computer systems running user applications may be connected to one or more file servers which provide networked access to files used by the applications. Such a networked environment is referred to as a distributed file system.
An important feature of distributed file systems is high reliability of the file system. More particularly, it is important that the file system be as immune as possible to any system failures (crashes, power failures, etc.). If a system failure occurs, a less reliable file system may experience file corruption (e.g. if the failure occurred while the file was in the process of being updated). Repairing file corruption may be a complex and time consuming process, and may result in the loss of data. The lost data may result in a subsequent loss of productivity for the user who updated the file, and may even result in permanent loss if the lost data cannot be easily recreated by the user.

Object-based storage device with improved reliability and fast crash recovery


A tool for installing and removing MIG welding gun contact tips, the contact tips being substantially cylindrical, having substantially circular cross-sectional shapes and having cross-sectional diameters; the tool consisting of a tube having an outer peripheral surface, having a forward, having a rearward end, and having a conical bore, the conical bore of the tube having a forward end and a rearward end, the forward end of the conical bore having a diameter greater than the cross-sectional diameters of the contact tips and the rearward end of the conical bore having a diameter less than the cross-sectional diameters of the contact tips; and `T` handle means fixedly attached to or homogeneously fused with the outer peripheral surface of the tube.

A typical MIG welding gun has a nozzle for directing a flow of inert gas such as argon over an area in which welding takes place. Such nozzles typically annularly surround an electrically conductive welding contact tip, and are typically attached to the MIG welding gun by means of an electrical insulating plastic sleeve. Where such a nozzle is removed from a MIG welding gun, threadedly mounted contact tips are easily removed through torsional application of pliers to the exterior surface of the contact tip, turning the contact tip in a counter-clockwise motion. In order to install such a contact tip, the contact tip is turned clockwise. Such contact tips typically are composed of a copper alloy and are cylindrical in shape, having a circular cross-section. Where pliers are used for installation or removal, a protective cloth may be utilized to prevent the jaws of the pliers from gouging the brass surfaces of the contact tip.
Through the long-term effects of heat and accumulation of weld spatter, MIG welding gun nozzles commonly become fused with their insulating sleeves which connect the nozzle to the gun. Where such fusion occurs, the nozzle is difficult to remove, and upon removal of a fused nozzle, the insulating sleeve commonly is damaged or destroyed. Without removal of such a nozzle, pliers cannot be utilized for removal and installation of the contact tip. Also, due to the typical circular cylindrical shape of the contact tips, a common socket wrench cannot be utilized for such installation and removal. MIG welding gun contact tips are necessarily changed whenever a differently gauged welding wire is used; and it is undesirable to remove the nozzle whenever the contact tip is changed. Thus, it is desireable to provide a tool capable of such contact tip removal and installation without the requirement of removal of the nozzle. The instant invention provides an economically constructed hand held tool which performs such function.

MIG welding gun contact tip changing tool


The present invention is a silver halide photographic element which includes a support, at least one light sensitive silver halide emulsion layer, and an antihalation undercoat layer interposed between the at least one light sensitive silver halide layer and the support. The antihalation undercoat layer includes a hydrophilic binder and an ultraviolet ray absorbing polymer particle having a mean size of greater than 0.01 .mu.m. The ultraviolet ray absorbing polymer particle includes an ultraviolet ray absorber and a polymer derived from monomer A and less than 10 weight % of monomer B, wherein monomer A represents ethylenically unsaturated monomers which form substantially water insoluble homopolymers, and monomer B represents ethylenically unsaturated monomers capable of forming water soluble homopolymers.

An image element, and in particular a silver halide photographic element in general contains an antihalation undercoat layer between the support and the light sensitive silver halide emulsion layer to eliminate or to diminish incident radiation or reflection (halation) exposure on the emulsion layer. An ultraviolet ray absorber is incorporated into such a layer to remove ultraviolet light which can derive from incident reflection or static discharge. Static discharge can occur when the surfaces of the photographic element come into contact during production or treatment processes. Electric charges are generated by friction of separation. When accumulation of static electricity by charging reaches a certain limiting value, atmospheric discharge occurs at a particular moment and a discharge spark fires at the same time. When the photographic element is exposed to light by discharging, static marks appear after development.
Different methods for incorporating an ultraviolet ray absorber into a photographic element have been described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,739,888, 3,215,530, 3,352,681, and 3,707,375, where an oil soluble absorber is dissolved in a high boiling organic solvent, and mixed under high shear or turbulence in an aqueous medium, which may also contain a surfactant, in order to break the organic phase into submicron particles dispersed in the continuous aqueous phase. However, when such dispersions are used in the antihalation undercoat, the layer becomes soft, the cohesion strength of the layer is lowered, and the adhesion between the support and light sensitive emulsion layer becomes poor. Furthermore, even if no high boiling solvent is used, many dyes themselves are liquid, and they therefore can have a detrimental effect on the mechanical properties of the layer and adhesion with the adjacent layer. In order to prevent these problems, a large amount of gelatin must be used in the layer containing ultraviolet ray absorbers.
The reduced adhesion between the support and the emulsion layer or lowered cohesion strength of the antihalation layer due to the presence of ultraviolet ray absorber/high boiling organic solvent dispersions have caused manufacturing difficulties during photographic film finishing and cutting operations. For example, the delaminated emulsion layer generates large pieces of dirt attached physically to the surface of the photographic elements, resulting in the degradation of image quality.
It is known to use in a silver halide photographic element ultraviolet ray absorbing polymer particles obtained by polymerization of ultraviolet ray absorbing monomers. Disadvantages of using such polymer particles are their high cost and poor light stability.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a silver halide photographic element with an antihalation undercoat layer comprising an ultraviolet ray absorber with improved adhesion and cohesion strength, and therefore resistance to dirt generation during manufacturing processes.

Antihalation undercoat layer with improved adhesion and reduced finishing dirt


An electronic cylinder includes a knob; a cylinder core connected with the knob; a motor having a protrusion block; a clutch unit; a coupler including a chamber receiving the clutch unit and a front portion having a front end face with an opening constituted by an injection channel indented inwardly from the end face and extending from a first point of a periphery confining the end face, an recess indented inwardly from a bottom surface of the injection channel and an outflow channel indented inwardly from the end face and extending from a second point of the periphery, the bottom of the recess being formed with a hole permitting extension of an axle for engaging the clutch unit, a preventing block in a depth of the opening such that after assembly, the end face abuts against the motor; and a waterproof filler hermetically filling the recess.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electronic cylinder and more particularly to an electronic cylinder having waterproof structure between a motor and other component so as to provide waterproof effect.
2. The Prior Arts
The advance of electronic technology results in development of electronic locks having precise and complicated means for identifying or verifying individual identifications, such as input pins, chip sensors, fingerprint recognition, iris diaphragm recognition, thereby tremendously increasing safety personal belongings. The majority of conventional mechanical locks are gradually replaced by digital or electronic locks. Under such circumstances, it is the ultimate goal of the manufacturers to produce electronic locks to meet or fulfill the demand or requirement of the consumers.
The primary object of using an electronic lock is to prevent theft. In addition to verifying precisely and definitely individual identifications, the electronic lock itself should possess durable wearing or corrosion, lesser damage and malfunction are some major factors what the consumers consider generally when purchasing or selecting the electronic locks. The lesser the malfunction, the more the durability increases, the electronic lock provide the more safety to the users. The lesser malfunction of electronic lock depends on materials from which the components are fabricated, such as aging and fatigue of plastic substances, service life of electronic elements, motor durability, waterproof, fire-proof and moisture-proof of battery or circuit design play important role and affect the usage span of the electronic lock. In case the electronic lock one uses malfunctions often and hence cannot provide safety measures to his belongings, which in turn may hinder the user to go out safely or enter his house conveniently.
Generally, in addition to verifying and sensing elements, the motor disposed within electronic cylinder for activating a latch assembly so as to lock and unlock a door is the most important element in an electronic lock. Presently available electronic cylinders in the markets are not provided with anti-moisture or waterproof effects. Taiwan being located in sub-tropical area (rainy and humid environment), moisture can easily penetrate through the lock heart or other parts via gaps connecting the components. Especially since the electronic lock is usually provided on the external door, which adds moisture as rain or splashing water infiltration, resulting in malfunction of internal components in the electronic lock. Therefore, it is highly desired to find a way to protect the invasion of moisture into the motor while strengthening the structure of waterproof function in other parts to enhance waterproof effects of the electronic cylinder, thereby decreasing malfunction of the electronic lock.

Electronic cylinder with waterproof structure


Embodiments of the present invention provide an index establishment method and device. The method can include determining, according to index status information of a column in a database within a preset time threshold, whether an index is to be established for the column; determining an index type according to the data information of the column; and establishing the index for the column according to the index type based on the determination that the index is to be established for the column.

An index is a structure for sorting values in one or more columns in a database table. Information in the database table can be rapidly accessed by using an index. Indexes provide pointers pointing to data values stored in columns of the table. These pointers are then sorted according to a sorting order specified by a user. An index can be searched to find a specific value, and a row including the value can be determined according to a pointer.
With the continuous development of Internet technology, a massive amount of data is generated from people's daily activities on the Internet. How to rapidly find required data from the stored massive amount of data becomes a major concern for technical personnel. A user can specify an index type for an index in a conventional database. However, for a same index type, different types of data can have different lengths of query time. As a result, if an index type is inappropriately set, a user may spend an excessively long period of time to make a query in a database, resulting in a poor user experience.
Conventionally, existing index types are limited and lead to poor query performance in some scenarios.
Index types of conventional data are limited and are dominated by B-Tree indexes. B-Tree indexes are not suitable for all data features. For example, search speeds are very slow for the Key-Value mode. In Structured Query Language (SQL) with joins, multiple searches will be performed for one SQL. The performance of SQL with joins can be severely affected if a B-Tree is used for searching.
Furthermore, conventionally, logs are manually analyzed to optimize indexes, resulting in poor operability and maintainability.
Indexes bring very high maintenance costs for a conventional database having a large amount of data. Consequently, user access logs can be viewed every night to decide which columns require new indexes, which columns do not need indexes, and which columns are to be combined to establish a combined index. Such automatic adjustment of index types by using history statistics (e.g., history-based optimization (HBO)) is completely manual, resulting in very poor operability and maintainability.
Therefore, how to combine the usage of a database to establish suitable indexes for columns in the database to improve data retrieval efficiency and save operation and maintenance resources becomes a technical problem.


A urinal having a smell release function, comprising: a bowl unit including a drain trap provided at the bottom thereof; a urinal shell unit for surrounding the bowl unit with an air space being interposed between the bowl unit and the shell unit itself; and smell inlets through which the air space communicates with at least one of an interior of the bowl unit and a lower external surface of the urinal. In this urinal the air space communicates with a secondary side of the drain trap, and a fan for blowing the air within the air space towards the secondary side of the drain trap is provided in the vicinity of the drain trap.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a urinal incorporating a smell release function capable of releasing an offensive smell from an interior or peripheral portions of the urinal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Urinals constructed to release the smell from the interior or peripheral portion of the urinal have hitherto been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 68245/1989 (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 12978/1991) and Japanese Patent Application No. 68246/1989 (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 12979/1991).
Each of those urinals having the smell release function includes a urine gathering wall for receiving the urine and a urinal shell unit which surrounds the urine gathering wall. An air space is formed between the urine gathering wall and the shell unit.
In those urinals, an introduction port for the offensive smell is formed in a bowl or the lower part of the urinal. A smell release port is provided in a rear surface of the urinal, thereby releasing the smell sucked in the above-mentioned air space into a duct connected to the smell release port.
In those urinals each having the smell release function, the smells in the bowl and emitted from urine splashed over and adhered to the lower part of the urinal are immediately released through the air space. Exhibited is a remarkably good effect of releasing the smell in the whole toilet room.
In the urinals disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Nos. 68245/1989 and 68246/1989, a dedicated smell release duct is required to be laid.


The present invention discloses a feedback method and device for header compression feedback information: After RN is introduced in LTE-A system, user data transmitted at Un interface possesses a complex header structure with nesting double-IP containing GTP. Through application of the technical solution put forward by the embodiments of the present invention, different types of header compression feedback information carried in control PDU can be analyzed and processed with corresponding strategies according to the information in control PDU, thus effectively realizing separate compression and feedback for double headers and improving data transmission efficiency at Un interface.

In ROHC (Robust Header Compression) put forward by RFC3095 protocol, header compression is described as the interaction between two state machines (compression and decompression state machine). Compression gain is obtained through establishing context at both ends of the link, namely a set of static and dynamic header fields. Context must be synchronized during operation of compression and decompressor. ROHC adds CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) in compression packet and ensures context is updated timely and correctly through feeding back ACK/NACK (Acknowledgement/Negative Acknowledgement).
Compressor is in one of the three statuses: IR (Initialize Refresh) status, FO (First Order) status and SO (Second Order) status, which represents the degree of available header compression.
Decompressor is also in one of the three statuses: NC (No Context), SC (Static Context) and FC (Full Context) status, which represents the ability of decompressor to decompress corresponding data packet header, thus the status corresponds to the performance of header compression. Mutual transition can be conducted among statuses.
ROHC supports three operation modes: U (unidirectional) mode, O (bi-directional optimization) mode and R (bi-directional reliable) mode. Inter-conversion can be conducted among the three modes. Each mode stipulates the methods and frequency of information interaction, for example, whether feedback is widely used. If reliable mode is converted timely, more feedback information such as status, special field, etc. will be interacted to ensure consistence of receiver and sender's context as much as possible, thus improving the probability of correct decompression in high compression ratio status.
When RFC3095 protocol stipulates that CRC of decompressor is conducted successfully, ACK is fed back if it refers to updated packet, namely IR/DYN package at present. Compression and decompressor work in U mode initially. Decompressor will be in O or R mode and feed back ACK to compressor after it successfully decompresses an updated packet, thus triggering compressor to be converted into O or R mode. Later the two ends will work in O or R mode. If decompressor continuously detects successful CRC, status transition from NC, SC to FC will be conducted and ACK (O mode) will be fed back to convert R mode to O mode. If decompressor continuously detects CRC failure, the status will be degraded by converting O mode to R mode and NACK (R mode) will be fed back. According to feedback information, compressor operates corresponding actions to coordinate the synchronization of context status.
After LTE-A (Long Term Evolution Advanced) system introduces Relay, network architecture diagram is determined preliminarily as shown in FIG. 1. The node includes:
Donor-eNB (Donor Evolved Node B, DeNB): eNB wirelessly connected to RN;
Relay-Node (Relay node, RN): the entity between DeNB and UE (User Equipment);
Relay-UE (R-UE): UE which performs data interaction with RN, and it can be LTE UE;
Macro UE: UE which performs direct data interaction with DeNB, and it has nothing to do with RN.
The interface includes:
Un interface: the interface between RN and DeNB
Uu interface: the interface between UE and RN
Such network architecture makes user data transmitted at Un interface have complex head construction with nesting IP (Internet Protocol) and GTP (GPRS Tunnelling Protocol, GPRS: General Packet Radio Service) as shown in FIG. 2, which is a diagram of data packet structure of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) at Un interface. Explanation is given below by taking voice service as the example:
Outer IP/UDP (User Datagram Protocol) header corresponds to IP address carrying RN, GTP header carries UE-related service-bearing tunnel information, and inner IP/UDP/RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) corresponds to IP address and service information of UE. For outer and inner IP, headers such as UDP and RTP can be compressed with existing compression profiles in PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol).
In the present PDCP, the format and information of PDU (Packet Data Unit) transmitting compression feedback are shown in FIG. 3.
Herein, the meaning of field information value in D/C field and PDU Type field is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively.
TABLE 1Meaning of Field Information Value in D/C FieldBitDescription0Control PDU1Data PDU
TABLE 2Meaning of Field Information Value in PDU Type FieldBitDescription000PDCP status report001Interspersed ROHC feedback packet010-111Reserved
In course of implementing the present invention, the inventor finds out there are at least the problems below in the present technology:
There is no scheme for the whole IP/UDP+GTP+IP/UDP/RTP header compression in the present compression profiles, which can only process outer IP header (such as IP/UDP or IP/TCP) and inner IP header (such as IP/UDP/RTP or IP/TCP), without including GTP.
In the present PDCP, only one ROHC feedback format is supported. That is to say the feedback of outer and inner header can not be effectively differentiated with the scheme for respective compression of outer and inner IP header, thus compression profiles cannot be correctly implemented, which greatly affects compression efficiency.

Feedback method and device for header compression feedback information

China Academy of Telecommunications Technology