The present invention is directed to fibers of epitaxially grown single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and methods of making same. Such methods generally comprise the steps of: (a) providing a spun SWNT fiber; (b) cutting the fiber substantially perpendicular to the fiber axis to yield a cut fiber; (c) etching the cut fiber at its end with a plasma to yield an etched cut fiber; (d) depositing metal catalyst on the etched cut fiber end to form a continuous SWNT fiber precursor; and (e) introducing feedstock gases under SWNT growth conditions to grow the continuous SWNT fiber precursor into a continuous SWNT fiber.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), comprising multiple concentric shells and termed multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), were discovered by Iijima in 1991 [Iijima, Nature 1991, 354, 56-58]. Subsequent to this discovery, single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), comprising single graphene sheets rolled up on themselves to form cylindrical tubes with nanoscale diameters, were synthesized in an arc-discharge process using carbon electrodes doped with transition metals [Iijima et al., Nature 1993, 363, 603-605; and Bethune et al., Nature 1993, 363, 605-607]. These carbon nanotubes (especially SWNTs) possess unique mechanical, electrical, thermal and optical properties, and such properties make them attractive for a wide variety of applications. See Baughman et al., Science, 2002, 297, 787-792.
Whether a pristine SWNT conducts electrons as a quantum wire [Tans et al., Nature 1997, 386, 474; Kong et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 2001, 87, 106801; Liang et al., Nature 2001, 411, 665] or behaves as an exceptional semiconductor [Tans et al., Nature 1998, 393, 49; Javey et al., Nature 2003, 424, 654; Durkop et al., AIP Conference Proceedings 2002, 633, 242] is determined by its diameter and chiral angle, uniquely indexed with two integers (n,m) [Saito, R.; Dresselhaus, G.; Dresselhaus, M. S. Physical Properties of Carbon Nanotubes; Imperial College Press: London, 1998]. The wide variety of achievable diameters and chiral angles, and their associated properties, make it possible to select tubes of exactly the right kind for optimized performance; however, controlling their (n,m) structure during manufacturing is currently a grand challenge. Although SWNTs are produced with a variety of methods such as arc discharge [Bethune et al., Nature 1993, 363, 605; Journet et al., Nature 1997, 388, 756], laser ablation [Thess et al., Science 1996, 273, 483], and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) [Zhang et al., Appl. Phys. A: Mater. Sci. & Proc. 2002, 74, 325; Cheung et al., J. Phys. Chem. B 2002, 106, 2429; Li et al., J. Phys. Chem. B 2001, 105, 11424; Choi et al., J. Phys. Chem. B 2002, 106, 12361; An et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 13688; Liu et al., MRS Bulletin 2004, 29, 244; Murakami et al., Chem. Phys. Lett. 2004, 385, 298], none is capable of precisely controlling both the tube diameter and chirality [Liu et al., MRS Bulletin 2004, 29, 244]. In the case of CVD, the most frequently studied method of growth, SWNT diameters are often found to correlate strongly with the diameter of the metal particles from which they are nucleated [Zhang et al., Appl. Phys. A: Mater. Sci. & Proc. 2002, 74, 325; Cheung et al., J. Phys. Chem. B 2002, 106, 2429; Li et al., J. Phys. Chem. B 2001, 105, 11424; Choi et al., J. Phys. Chem. B 2002, 106, 12361; An et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 13688]. However, even starting with metal clusters of identical structure, the growths show no specific control over the chiral angles [An et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 13688].
As a result of the foregoing, a method for the continuous growth of SWNTs from existing SWNTs and/or SWNT seeds would be extremely useful, particularly wherein such methods permit growth of SWNTs with diameter and/or chirality that is identical to the SWNT seeds.

Fibers comprised of epitaxially grown single-wall carbon nanotubes, and a method for added catalyst and continuous growth at the tip


For making the production of hearing-aid eyeglasses using standard eyeglasses easier, a hearing aid device has a body that can be attached to an eyeglasses bow has a channel therein for acceptance of a flexible eyeglasses bow end piece, and the body is flexible in at least a region thereof. Standard eyeglasses thus do not have to be damaged for connection with the hearing aid device and they can be placed back into their original state in a simple manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a hearing aid device that can be attached to an eyeglasses earpiece.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Eyeglasses with a bow (earpiece) are known from German Utility Model 83 36 526. The eyeglasses bow typically is fashioned as a metal rod that has a flexible end piece for adaptation to the eyeglasses wearer. The needle-shaped end piece of the bow normally is formed of a metal or a metal alloy. In order to increase the bearing comfort, it is typical to provide a sheath (for example made of silicone rubber) that softly jackets the end piece of the bow that is pushed over the end piece of the bow.
Eyeglasses with a hearing device incorporated therein are known from German Utility Model 87 06 334, wherein the hearing device is divided into at least two units. One of the units is arranged in a connection element that connects a part of a bow that is hinged to the frame with an end piece of this bow that engages behind the ear. The other unit is arranged in this end piece. A disadvantage of such known hearing-aid eyeglasses is that the eyeglasses bow must be shortened for connection with the hearing device, and thus the eyeglasses can be used only in connection with the hearing device (i.e., they are non-standard if only vision correction is needed).
From WO 02/067627 A1, a hearing device is known for installation in a side bow of eyeglasses. The hearing device is provided with an elastically deformable, drawn out, thin pin that is inserted as a core into an ear-side end section of the eyeglasses bow, this pin provides reinforcement and simultaneously enables customized, wearer-dependent adaptation.

Hearing aid device attachable to an eyeglasses bow


An illuminating eraser is provided. The eraser includes a body and an insert. The insert is receivable within a hollow portion of the body and includes a power source and a light emitting source. The power source is activated by applying pressure to the insert thereby causing the light emitting device to illuminate.

Erasers are used by a variety of individuals for erasing marks, such as from pencils or pens, from substrates such as paper. Erasers traditionally have been incorporated onto the marking utensil and were small and could wear out quickly. Therefore, larger separate erasers were manufactured to last longer. Furthermore, children desired shaped erasers that could also be used as toys.
Additionally, these toy-like erasers have included additional features such as cartoon images and other features included thereon. However, additional features, such as lights which illuminate the eraser could also be enjoyed by the user as a toy and also as a functional light.


Methods and apparatuses for merging continuity check messages (CCMs) are described. Some embodiments determine multiplexer and de-multiplexer nodes in a network for multiplexing and de-multiplexing CCM traffic. One embodiment creates an optimization problem which when solved identifies nodes in the network that should be configured as multiplexer nodes to multiplex multiple CCMs into a group CCM and/or as de-multiplexer nodes to de-multiplex a group CCM into multiple CCMs. This embodiment uses the solution of the optimization problem to configure nodes in the network as multiplexer nodes and/or as de-multiplexer nodes. Another embodiment determines weights for different paths in the network that can be used for merging CCM traffic, and then merges the CCM traffic based on these weights.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to computer networking More specifically, this disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for optimizing and scaling control plane traffic in carrier Ethernet transport networks.
2. Related Art
Carrier Ethernet is being heralded as the next major innovation in transport and is being sought after in both the enterprise and the service provider worlds. Reliability and availability are key requirements for data services in a transport network. Achieving a reliability value of 99.999% and sub-50 ms restoration is critical for seamless operation of networks. Traditionally, SONET/SDH has been successful in meeting these requirements. Carrier Ethernet technologies are expected to dominate much of transport networks in the future. The primary differentiators between best-effort Ethernet transport and Carrier-class Ethernet transport are the evolution of the data-forwarding plane and the control plane that facilitate managed services. The data-plane relies on service level identifiers that facilitate forwarding of frames in a reliable, deterministic, fault-agnostic, service-differentiated manner. The control plane is responsible for setting up these identifiers (e.g., labels in MPLS-TP, tags in PBB-TE, etc.), configuring network elements, providing and provisioning the protection path and detecting failures.
In a SONET/SDH network, synchronization and overhead bytes within a frame along with the DCC (digital control channel) provides a dedicated failure detection mechanism. In contrast, Carrier Ethernet relies on a specific implementation of the ITU.T1731, ITU.T8031 and IEEE 802.1ag Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) standard that facilitates continuous exchange of heartbeat messages (called Connectivity Check Messages or CCMs) that enable a destination node to isolate service failure. The CFM standard provides for creation of Management End-Points (MEPs) at source and destinations for a particular service. These MEPs continuously communicate by sending CCM heartbeat messages from the source to the destination at periodic intervals.
The CCMs are usually generated per service, and when a destination does not receive three consecutive CCMs, the destination determines that a fault has occurred for the service and initiates a protection mechanism. Since CCMs are generated per service, there is a continuous exchange of CCM heartbeat messages across the network for every service provisioned in the network. This potentially leads to heavy traffic and can reduce the efficiency of the network. The problem of such a control plane is that for every active data-service, the control plane uses a separate, in-band control service that sends a continuous flow of CCMs. The amount of data generated by the control plane can create scalability issues at intermediate nodes, which can adversely impact network growth.
To illustrate the significance of the problem of control plane traffic, consider a network over which 1000 services are to be provisioned. If CCMs are generated per service (in compliance with the CFM standard), the total CCM traffic over the entire network will be about 1 Gbps (two bi-directional CCMs of 64 bytes each per service every 10 ms).

Method and apparatus for optimizing and scaling control plane traffic in carrier ethernet transport networks


A flow head for ventilators includes a tubular open-ended breath transmission passage, and a tubular open-ended inside tube mounted axially inside the breath transmission passage. The inside tube is mounted in the passage by a fixed annular partition, and the ends of the inside tube extend slightly beyond a pair of perpendicular outlet ports on opposite sides of the partition. The inside tube produces a constriction to bi-directional gas flow in the passage which produces a pressure drop across the outlet ports. A pressure sensor connected across the outlet ports measures the pressure drop and therefore produces a measurement of gas flow in the passage. Various sizes of patient gas delivery tubes, endotracheal tubes for ventilator therapy, or tubes for spirometry or anesthesia can be connected to the upstream end of the flow head for producing accurate measurements of gas flow. The inside diameter of the inside tube in the flow head is equal to or slightly less than the inside diameter of the endotracheal tube, within a range progressing from about zero to about one mm less, across a range of endotracheal tube sizes from about 2.5 mm to about 9 mm, which produces a surprisingly smooth gas flow through the flow head and resulting stable pressure drop measurements. The invention also reduces the dead volume within the system by requiring the smallest possible size of breath transmission tube compared to the size of the inside tube. A pressure sensor can be used to measure gas flow as an alternative to a flow rate sensor with a source of bias gas.

My U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,968 discloses a flow head for a spirometer having a breath transmission passage with opposite ends open to the atmosphere. A patient breathes through the breath transmission passage bi-directionally. An inside tube having a substantially smaller diameter than the breath transmission passage produces a restriction on air flow between the ends of the passage. Intermediate ports through the wall of the breath transmission passage are located near the restriction, i.e., near the ends of the inside tube where gas velocity is low and thus turbulence is small. Flexible tubing connections to the ports on the breath transmission passage lead to a flow rate sensor controlled by a source of bias gas. The sensor measures a pressure drop in the flow head produced by the bi-directional gas flow from a patient through the breath transmission passage. An external bridge circuit becomes unbalanced in response to the bi-directional flow of gas through the passage and this produces a measurement of gas flow.
In the flow head described in the '968 patent, the patient breathes through flexible tubing coupled to the upstream end of the flow head. Such patient gas delivery tubing can be an endotracheal tube adapted for releasable connection to the end of the breath transmission passage. There are different sizes of patient gas flow tubes depending upon patient breath flow rate. An endotracheal tube for pediatric use, for example, is much smaller in diameter than adult patient sizes. Such a gas flow head is typically used with a gas flow rate sensor using a supply of bias gas to produce accurate flow measurements. This flow head is not easily adaptable to use with a pressure sensor.
Flowmeters are used to measure patient gas volume in spirometry, in ventilators, or in metabolic studies where the amount of calories given to a patient can be determined if an accurate flowmeter is available. A challenging problem is to extend the range of flowmeter accuracy in the low flow area, such as in pediatric uses. Flowmeters could also be used for making critical gas flow measurements in anesthesia.
The flow head should be placed next to the patient's endotracheal tube in order to measure bi-directional gas flow at the patient. Most flowmeters are placed at the exhalation side and, therefore, they do not produce inhalation flow measurements. By knowing both inhalation and exhalation flows, metabolic studies can be performed and the amount of calories (effort) expended by the patient can be calculated. In addition, gas leakage can be calculated.
For pediatric use a patient gas delivery tube of 15 mm diameter or less is commonly used; a 22 mm gas delivery tube is commonly used for adult anesthesia and spirometry. For pediatric use there can be a large amount of dead volume in the flow head. This dead volume should be minimized to inhibit the baby from rebreathing exhaled breath. In one recently introduced monitor the dead volume is 1.4 cc. For an infant who breathes only a 5 cc volume, 1.4 cc is a large volume to rebreathe.
The present invention is based on a recognition that significant improvements in the accuracy of the output from the flow head sensor can be produced by designing the structure of the flow head to match certain sizes of patient breath delivery tubes. Flowmeters accurate in the low flow range for pediatric use can be produced. The invention also results in a less expensive flow head; it minimizes dead volume; and it can be used with a pressure sensor coupled to the flow head for measuring gas flow, which in many instances can be an advantage over a sensor that detects flow and requires a source of bias gas.


A new Hydrangea plant, which has abundant, rose-green or blue-green colored flowers and attractive foliage. The variety successfully propagates from softwood cuttings and is suitable for year round production in commercial glass houses as a flowering pot plant. This new and distinct variety has shown to be uniform and stable in the resulting generations from asexual propagation.

The present invention constitutes a new and distinct variety of Hydrangea plant, which was developed by artificially pollinating an unnamed seedling (not patent in the US) with an unnamed seedling (not patent in the US). The two parents were crossed in the spring of 2002 and the resulting seed was sown in September 2002, in a controlled glasshouse environment. Out of these seedlings one seedling was selected, as the new variety and named 'HYDone'. The new Hydrangea plant may be distinguished from its seed parent, an unnamed seedling, by the following combination of characteristics:                1. The unnamed seedling has a breeding background in unnamed seedlings.        2. 'HYDone' has medium dome-shaped inflorescences, while the unnamed seedling has large dome-shaped inflorescences.        3. 'HYDone' has rose-green or blue-green colored flowers, while the unnamed seedling has white flowers.
The new variety may distinguished from its pollen parent, an unnamed seedling created by the same inventor, by the following combination of characteristics:                1. The unnamed seedling has a breeding background in unnamed seedlings.        2. 'HYDone' has medium dome-shaped inflorescences, while the unnamed seedling has small flat inflorescences.        3. 'HYDone' has rose-green or blue-green flowers, while the unnamed seedling has red flowers.


A computer program debugger is disclosed which stores previous programs which have been debugged and the debug parameters which were considered when debugging. When a new computer program is to be debugged, the new debugger is invoked and it automatically compares the executing program to be debugged with the previous programs. When one or more of the debug parameters are so similar that it can be said that the computer program undergoing debugging matches a previously stored computer program, a user is given options to display the matching programs, the modules, the functions, the lines, and the debug parameters and to exchange debug parameters between the programs which can be used to mod4 the either or any of the programs. The user is further given the option to store the current program undergoing debugging as a new program to be considered in matching the next program to be debugged.

An important aspect of the design and development of a computer program is debugging which is intended to locate and identify errors in a computer program under development. Typically, a programmer uses another computer program commonly known as a "debugger" to debug a program under development. Conventional debuggers typically support two primary operations to assist a computer programmer. A first operation supported by conventional debuggers is a step function which permits a computer programmer to process instructions, also known as statements, one at a time in a computer program and see the results of each instruction upon completion. While the step operation provides a programmer with a large amount of information about a program during its execution, stepping through hundreds or thousands of program instructions is tedious and time consuming. The programmer may be required to step through many program instructions that are already known to be error-free before a set of instructions to be analyzed are executed.
To address this difficulty, a second operation supported by conventional debuggers is the breakpoint operation which permits a computer programmer to identify a breakpoint as a precise instruction at which execution of a computer program is halted. As a computer program is executed by a debugger, the program executes in a normal fashion until a breakpoint is reached, the program stops execution and the debugger displays the results of the computer program to the programmer for analysis.
Step operations and breakpoints are typically used together to simplify the debugging process. Specifically, a user during a common debugging operation will set a breakpoint at the beginning of a desired set of instructions to be analyzed and then begin execution of the program undergoing debugging. Execution halts at a breakpoint and the programmer then steps through the desired set of instructions line-by-line using the step operation. Consequently, a programmer is able to quickly isolate and analyze a particular set of instructions without having to step through irrelevant portions of a computer program.
Most breakpoints supported by conventional debuggers are unconditional meaning that once such a breakpoint is reached, execution of the program is always halted. Some debuggers, however, also support the use of conditional breakpoints which only halt execution of a program when a variable used by the program is set to a predetermined value at the time such a breakpoint is reached. One significant drawback to conventional breakpoints results from the fact that some instructions in a computer program are executed fairly often for different purposes and may result in many needless stoppages before a desired stoppage is encountered. This problem is especially pronounced in object-oriented programming (OOP) and other highly modular languages where a single general purpose portion of a computer program may be executed in many different situations for different purposes.
With an object-oriented programming language, for example, a program is constructed from a number of "objects," each of which includes data and/or one or more sets of instructions, often referred to as routines or methods that define specific operations that can be performed on the data. A large number of objects may be used to build a computer program with each object interacting with other objects in the computer program to perform desired operations. When one object invokes a particular routine in another object, the former object is often said to be calling the routine in the latter object. Some general purpose objects in a computer program may support basic operations, e.g., displaying information to a user, printing information on a printer, storing or retrieving information from a database, etc. Particularly, these generic type of objects are called by many different objects so that placing a conventional breakpoint in a routine of one of these common generic objects will result in hundreds of unwanted stoppages prior to occurrence of a desired stoppage. Thus, context sensitive breakpoints can be set in certain debuggers to retrieve the sequence of routines in the computer program that are called just prior to reaching the breakpoint, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,312 entitled "Apparatus, Program Product and Method of Debugging Utilizing a Context Sensitive Breakpoint" issued Jun. 20, 2000, commonly owned by the assignee and herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Context sensitive breakpoints locate the specific calls in other objects that relate to the desired stoppage in a particular object. This eliminates the extremely time consuming and tedious task of setting each breakpoint and eliminates the risk that not all relevant calls are located so not all desired circumstances for inducing stoppages may be recognized during debugging.
But, setting breakpoints and halting execution of a program undergoing debugging is still onerous. Significant time is spent going through the breakpoints, whether the breakpoints are general or are context specific, as above. Merely watching breakpoints, moreover, does not solve the problem of determining the dynamics of an executing program in which variables and other expressions stored in a memory location may constantly change. These changing variables, moreover, may have either a direct or an indirect impact on other variables and other computer expressions.
As an example, if a user sets a breakpoint at line 12 in procedure A, she/he almost always sets a breakpoint at line 40 in some procedure B also because this is where some particular data she/he is interested in is processed. In fact, this occurrence is so common that one of the most popular features of debuggers today is to allow users to save their debug environment and restore it the next time they start debugging. While this is helpful to those users who start debugging one problem and have to stop and resume debugging later, it seldom helps the user to debug a similar problem the next time and the user must establish the same breakpoints and program variable monitors again. How a user got to a particular environment is not at all obvious; there may be different codes acting on different structures. Once a user sets breakpoints, moreover, the breakpoints must be managed meaningfully.
In addition, contemporary debuggers usually associate an environment instance with a specific program. While this works in some situations, it is of little help in others, especially where the same objects are called in other programs. Similarly, if a user would like to debug a specific process or job on a target machine, but doesn't know the program name on that machine, it may be difficult, if not impossible, to restore a debugging environment from the previous debug session.
There is thus a significant need in the industry to help programmers establish important breakpoint and monitor scenarios and to be able to recall these scenarios across different programs that are debugged.

Method and apparatus to create and compare debug scenarios of a computer process

International Business Machines Corporation


The embodiments herein relate generally to subterranean formation operations and, more particularly, to surfactant flowback aids for use in subterranean formation operations. The surfactant flowback aid composition may comprise an aqueous phase comprising an aqueous base fluid, a surfactant blend, and a demulsifier. The surfactant blend may comprise a C8-C18 alcohol ethoxy-late; a fatty acid alkanolamide; and optionally, a surfactant selected from the group consisting of a non-ionic surfactant, an anionic surfactant, a cationic surfactant, an amphoteric surfactant, and any combination thereof. The demulsifier may be selected from the group consisting of a desalter agent to separate water from crude oil, a treater agent to flocculate submicron particulates from crude oil, and any combination thereof.

The embodiments herein relate generally to subterranean formation operations and, more particularly, to surfactant flowback aids for use in subterranean formation operations.
During certain subterranean formation operations (e.g., stimulation operations, such as hydraulic fracturing), treatment fluids penetrate a particular radius within the subterranean formation. The term "treatment fluid," as used herein, refers generally to any fluid that may be used in a subterranean application in conjunction with a desired function and/or for a desired purpose. The term "treatment fluid" does not imply any particular action by the fluid or any component thereof. A portion of the desirable oil and/or gas hydrocarbons and/or treatment fluid may remain trapped in the pore spaces of the subterranean formation, thereby reducing or prohibiting production of the hydrocarbons. For example, oil hydrocarbon droplets may be too large relative to the pore throats of the formation, causing the hydrocarbons to be trapped and unable to be produced.
Flowback aids may be used to recover trapped hydrocarbons and introduced treatment fluids from subterranean formations. Such flowback aids may be used to reduce damage to a formation due to imbibed fluids in the formation and propped fractures, increase permeability of a formation and effective flow area, enhance recovery of produced hydrocarbons, and the like. Surfactants may be used as flowback aids to increase the drainage speed (i.e., de-watering) of introduced hydrocarbons and/or treatment fluids from a formation. Surfactants (alone or in combination with other compounds) may be used to demulsify various emulsions (e.g., oil-in-water or water-in-oil emulsions) to separate crude oil from the aqueous phase of an emulsion. Demulsification may be important, for example during stimulation (e.g., hydraulic fracturing) operations because the presence of emulsions may increase the viscosity of fracturing fluids or produced fluids, decreasing the effective permeability thereof, and thus have a negative impact on overall production.

Surfactant flowback aids for use in subterranean formation operations


A axle extension assembly is rotatably mounted to an axle of a wheel hub and includes a base member mounted to the axle with a nut threadedly engaged to the axle, a ring member rotatably mounted to the base member and a tube fixedly connected to the base member. The base member has an outer threaded periphery defined in a first end thereof so as to threadedly connect the tube and a protrusion portion extending radially and outwardly from a second end of the base member. A plain section is defined between the outer threaded periphery and the protrusion portion so that the ring member is rotatably mounted thereon.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a axle extension assembly for a bicycle and, more particularly, to a axle extension assembly rotatably mounted to an axle of a front wheel hub and/or the rear wheel hub.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Referring to FIG. 1 and 2, pegs 50 are popular accessories for a bicycle, which are tubular members and securely and respectively mounted to both ends of an axle 11 of a front wheel hub 10 and/or a rear wheel hub 10' of the bicycle so that a rider can skillfully utilize the peg(s) 50 of the bicycle to slide on a ramp 60 or the like. The axle 11 of the front wheel hub 10, extends from both ends of the front wheel hub 10 and into a first end of the corresponding peg 50 to engage with a nut 52 so that both ends of the axle 11 extending from the front wheel hub 10 have the corresponding peg 50 fixedly connected thereto. Each of the pegs 50 has an outer serrated peripheral surface which is designed for the rider to step thereon when performing a special stunt. However, the outer serrated peripheral surface of the pegs 50 will be come worn out if the pegs are slid on the ramp 60 frequently, and this may perhaps result in a slipping of the rider's feet from the pegs 60.
The present invention intends to provide an improved axle extension assembly which is rotatably mounted to at least one of two ends of the axle of the wheel hubs so as to mitigate and/or obviate the above-mentioned problems.


An information device has a camera cover unit that is fixed to an upper edge in the outside of a display device in a back cover. The camera cover unit includes a cover case that is fixed to the upper edge and a cover body that is housed in the cover case and is slidable between a first position and a second position. The cover body includes an end that is placed in the first position to cover the front of the camera and placed in the second position to avoid the front of the camera, and a leaf spring that is elastically deformable inward and outward of the frame of the upper edge.

Some of the portable information devices, such as notebook personal computers (laptop PCs), tablet computers (tablet PCs), or multifunctional mobile phones (smartphones), are each equipped with a camera. The camera is located beside a display, for example in a display housing.
The camera provided on a display surface is generally oriented toward a user, and the user may be concerned that unintended shooting may be taking place even when the camera is not operating. For that reason, the user may provide a means for covering the camera in some cases. As the means for covering the camera, a mechanical cover in which the cover body is manually slid as in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-28157 could be considered.
The device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-28157 includes a frame surrounding a display and a camera provided in an upper frame of the frame, wherein a cover body is slidable between a first position and a second position along the upper frame. Furthermore, the camera is covered when the cover body is in the first position, while the camera is exposed when the cover body is in the second position.

Information device and method of assembling the same


The present invention provides a technique for improving the reliability of a semiconductor device where spreading of cracking that occurs at the time of dicing to a seal ring can be restricted even in a semiconductor device with a low-k film used as an interlayer insulating film. Dummy vias are formed in each layer on a dicing region side. The dummy vias are formed at the same intervals in a matrix as viewed in a top view. Even in the case where cracking occurs at the time of dicing, the cracking can be prevented from spreading to a seal ring by the dummy vias. As a result, resistance to moisture absorbed in a circuit formation region can be improved, and deterioration in reliability can be prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seal ring which is a protective structure for a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Background Art
A protective structure called a seal ring, a die edge seal or a guard ring is provided on an inside of a dicing line, i.e., in the vicinity of an edge of a chip (die) in order to protect a circuit formation region of a semiconductor device from influence due to moisture and ions in outer atmosphere. The seal ring is formed of an interconnecting layer and a contact which are the same as those in the circuit formation region and is formed so as to surround the circuit formation region of the semiconductor device.
The circuit formation region of the semiconductor device can be protected from the influence due to moisture and ions in outer atmosphere by the existence of the seal ring, so that characteristics of this semiconductor device can be stabilized for a long period of time.
In addition, the seal ring has the function of suppressing the occurrence of cracking in the circuit formation region at the time of dicing in a dicing region. At the time of dicing, cracking may occur in the dicing region in some cases; however, such cracking can be prevented from reaching the circuit formation region by the existence of the seal ring between the dicing region and the circuit formation region.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-208676 discloses the following technique. A seal ring is formed and a plurality of dummy patterns are provided in a circuit formation region. Then, the flatness in a chip edge can be improved in a flattening process in accordance with a CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) method.
In recent years, reduction in resistance of a interconnecting has become more important as miniaturization and increase in integration of a structure of a semiconductor device and increase in speed of an operation have advanced. Accompanying this, Cu (copper) having a comparatively small resistance has become widely used as an interconnecting material. More specifically, the number of cases where copper is utilized in the above-mentioned seal ring structure is increasing. In addition, a so-called low-k film (k<3.0) having a low specific dielectric constant k has become widely used as an interlayer insulating film.
In the case where such a low-k film is used as an interlayer insulating film, a problem arises where cracking that occurs at the time of dicing easily exceeds the seal ring and reaches the circuit formation region, so that the circuit formation region is negatively affected. In addition, in the case where cracking does not reach the circuit formation region but reaches the seal ring, a problem arises where resistance to absorbed moisture of the semiconductor device deteriorates.


A sports shoe includes a shell having a rear quarter. The quarter is provided, in a downward position and to the rear, with a recess. The sports shoe includes a flap which is articulated to the shell and affects the recess; the flap is provided with a projection for engaging the quarter at the recess providing a rear support of the quarter. The flap can be disengaged from the quarter by the user by pressing the projection or the flap in the direction of the leg.

The present invention relates to a sports shoe.
Currently, for example in the manufacture of ski boots, it is known to articulate, at a shell, at least one quarter which embraces the rear region of the user's leg and must allow for an easy fit of the foot and the support of the leg of the user during sports practice.
This means that on one hand, the quarter has to rotate as much as possible for opening the boot to facilitate the insertion of the foot in the shell and on the other hand, the quarter must support the leg when the leg leans on the back of the quarter.
On this subject, French patent no. 71.2195, claiming Japanese priority no. 49.858/1970 of Jun. 11, 1970 and no. 131.142/1970 of Dec. 23, 1970, discloses a sports shoe comprising a rear quarter which is articulated to a shell and wherein a device for interconnecting the shell and the front quarter provides the rear support. The front quarter is in fact rigidly coupled to the rear quarter by means of adapted levers.
This solution has considerable disadvantages: on one hand, both the shell and the front quarter must be appropriately strengthened in order to withstand the stresses imparted thereto by the interconnection device and, on the other hand, the rear support can be achieved only by acting at two separate levers connecting the front quarter with the rear quarter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,356 filed on Oct. 15, 1976, discloses a sports shoe which comprises a rear quarter having a recess at which it is possible to arrange a flap which is articulated to a shell: however, in this known solution the flap only allows a wider opening of the front quarter with respect to the rear one, thus facilitating the insertion of the skier's foot, but has no effect on the rear support, because the support is ensured exclusively by the interconnection between the rear quarter and the front quarter and with optional means for adjusting the mutual position of the front quarter and of the shell, interposed between these last.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,973, filed on Apr. 9, 1987, discloses a sports shoe comprising a shell to which a quarter is pivoted. The quarter is provided, at the rear, with a recess at which it is possible to arrange a cuff which embraces the heel region and is in turn articulated laterally to the shell.
Connecting means are interposed between the cuff and the quarter. A lever is associated with the cuff and selectively interacts with a tooth which protrudes to the rear of the shell.
This known solution allows, upon activation of the lever, to disengage the lever from the tooth and open the quarter by virtue of the articulation of said quarter to said upper quarter.
However, this solution has problems, since it is structurally complicated and difficult to industrialize, thus requiring numerous manufacturing steps due to the means used and to their placement at the quarter and the cuff, and all this increases its production costs.
Also, the user has to act on two distinct elements, such as the lever and the connecting means.
Finally, when the quarter is opened there is a considerable deformation imposed at a flap which is associated with the shell and protrudes to the rear of said shell.


The invention relates to a method for positioning webs of film of a packaging device, according to which goods are introduced into a first web of film in troughs, a second web of film is withdrawn from a supply of web against the resistance of a brake and is placed on the first web of film and interlinked with the same, the advance of the second web downstream of the supply of web being detected by a first optical recognition means. In order to exactly position the two films one on the other, a second recognition means is provided that detects any dimensional errors, thereby changing the position of the first recognition means relative to the direction of conveyance of the second web of film.

The invention relates to a method for positioning webs of film of a packaging device, according to which goods are introduced in a first web of film moving in the advance direction in troughs in this first web of film and then a second web of film is withdrawn from a supply of web against the resistance of a brake and is placed on the first web of film and bound with the same with the advance of the second web of film downstream of the supply of web being detected by a recognition means and set by varying the brake force of the brake in dependence on the signal from the recognition means so that in each case a repeat as a defined area of the second web of film comes to lie on the troughs in the first web of film. In addition, the invention relates to a packaging device for the performance of this method.
A method of this kind or a packaging device of this nature is generally known. Here, the first web of film is provided with the troughs into which the goods to be packed are introduced. Then, the second web of film is placed on this first web of film provided with the goods and welded thereto, either using vacuum technology or with inclusion of air, for example in a sealing station. Subsequently, the individual troughs with the surrounding area of film are separated from each other and in this way individual items of goods packages are produced. This packaging method is frequently used for foodstuffs, but may also be used for other goods. For the inscription of the packaging, generally the second web of film is imprinted, with this frequently taking place completely so that, for example, the packed goods may be protected against UV light. The imprint is divided into repeats according to the packaging length so that one repeat comes to lie over each trough.
For purposes of appearance and to guarantee an airtight welding, the top, second web of film is preferably under tension so that no folds occur during the later packaging. For this, the second web of film is withdrawn from a supply, which may, for example, be formed from a roll, against the restraining force of an adjustable brake. The second web of film, which is under tension, is then placed on the first web of film by means of guides and then welded, whereby adjustment of the brake force may be used to set the position and extension of the flexible web of film. In practice, for example, the imprint should be performed so the desired image only appears after a certain pretension of the second web of film.
The position of the individual repeats is detected by a recognition means, whereby a regulator may be used to set the brake force so that the rate of advance of the second web of film may be matched to that of the first web of film.

Device for positioning a web of film of a packaging device


A bottom package substrate is provided that includes a plurality of metal posts that electrically couple through a die-side redistribution layer to a plurality of die interconnects. The metal posts and the die interconnects are plated onto a seed layer on the bottom package substrate.

Organic substrates are commonly used in package-on-package architectures because of their low cost. For example, a flip-chip die such as a micro-processor may be coupled to a first surface of an organic substrate for a bottom package through a plurality of solder bumps or copper pillars. To support a coupling or interconnection to a top package substrate, the bottom package substrate has a footprint large enough such that there is perimeter about the bottom package die on the first surface of the bottom package substrate. That perimeter may then support solder ball interconnections to the top package. Although the resulting package-on-package architecture is quite popular due to its low cost, organic substrates are often not suitable for modern fine-pitch dies because an organic substrate accommodates only a relatively coarse interconnect pitch. The interconnect pitch is the separation between the substrate-to-die interconnections such as micro-bumps or copper pillars as well as the bottom-package-to-top-package interconnections such as solder balls.
Because of the interconnect pitch limitations for organic substrates, the bottom package substrate for modern fine-pitch dies typically comprises a glass or semiconductor interposer. In contrast to an organic substrate, a glass or semiconductor interposer supports fine-pitch interconnections. It is thus conventional to mount fine-pitch dies onto an interposer because a glass or silicon interposer enables the necessary fine-pitch interconnections. Multiple fine-pitch dies such as a first processor die and a second processor die may be mounted on the same interposer. The interposer receives the fine-pitch interconnects such as micro-bumps or copper pillars from each die through a redistribution layer (RDL) that enables each die to communicate with the other die(s) through the RDL. Although the resulting interposer package is thus advantageous in that it accommodates the necessary fine-pitch interconnections, it is conventional to interface processors with associated external memories such as a DRAM die using a package-on-package (PoP) construction. But the footprint of the interposer is already somewhat large as it must have the necessary surface area to support the fine-pitch dies.
If such an interposer also includes a perimeter around the fine-pitch dies to provide space for conventional PoP solder ball interconnections to an upper memory package substrate, the interposer footprint becomes excessive. For example, it is conventional to encase the dies on the interposer and the solder ball interconnections with mold compound during manufacture of the bottom package. The encased solder balls must then be exposed such as through the use of laser drilling of the mold compound. The heat from the laser requires a certain keep-out distance between the solder balls and the dies. The resulting interposer for the bottom package thus requires a relatively large footprint to support not only the dies and the solder balls but also the keep out distance between the solder balls and the dies. In addition, the solder balls must be relatively large to couple to the upper package. Such a relatively large interconnect size requires a correspondingly large interconnect pitch. The interposer footprint thus must be large enough to support both the solder balls with their requisite pitch as well as the associated keep-out area between the solder balls and the die, which decreases density and is expensive. As an alternative, the interposer may include a perimeter that supports an interconnect bar such as a printed circuit bar or a silicon or glass interconnect bar. The interconnect bar includes a number of plated vias as opposed to solder balls. But the manufacture of the plated vias in the interconnect bar also require a certain distance or keep out area with regard to the interconnect bar outer perimeter. Thus, regardless of whether a conventional interposer includes solder balls or interconnect bars, the interposer footprint must be relatively large.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for bottom package substrates such as interposers with reduced footprints.

Bottom package with metal post interconnections


An improved MEMS thermal actuator has a cantilevered beam and a conductive circuit having two driving arms, an inner arm adjacent to the cantilevered beam, and an outer arm adjacent to the inner arm. Current flows through the inner and outer arms to heat the conductive circuit, causing it to expand relative to the cantilevered beam. A tether ties the conductive circuit to the cantilevered beam, so that upon expansion, the conductive circuit causes the cantilevered beam to deflect about its anchor point. However, only the inner arm of the driving beam is coupled to the cantilevered beam. Since the outer arm of the conductive circuit is not coupled to the cantilevered beam, the overall stiffness of the actuator may be decreased. In addition, serpentines may be placed in the outer arm of the conductive circuit, in order to further decrease the stiffness of this beam. The actuator may therefore be made more efficient, in that the deflection of the cantilevered beam may be increased for a given input current.

This invention relates to a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) thermal device, and its method of manufacture. More particularly this invention relates to a MEMS thermal switch for switching electrical signals.
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are very small moveable structures made on a substrate using lithographic processing techniques, such as those used to manufacture semiconductor devices. MEMS devices may be moveable actuators, valves, pistons, or switches, for example, with characteristic dimensions of a few microns to hundreds of microns. A moveable MEMS switch, for example, may be used to connect one or more input terminals to one or more output terminals, all microfabricated on a substrate. The actuation means for the moveable switch may be thermal, piezoelectric, electrostatic, or magnetic, for example.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a prior art thermal switch, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,036,312, to Menard, et al. The thermal switch 10 includes two cantilevers, 100 and 200. Each cantilever 100 and 200 contains a passive cantilevered beam 110 and 210, respectively. A conductive circuit 120 and 220, is coupled to each cantilevered beam 110 and 210 by a plurality of dielectric tethers 150 and 250, respectively. When a voltage is applied between terminals 130 and 140, a current is driven through conductive circuit 120. The Joule heating generated by the current causes the circuit 120 to expand relative to the unheated cantilevered beam 110. Since the circuit is coupled to the cantilevered beam 110 by the dielectric tether 150, the expanding conductive circuit drives the cantilevered beam in the upward direction 165.
Applying a voltage between terminals 230 and 240 causes heat to be generated in circuit 220, which then drives cantilevered beam 210 in the direction 265 shown in FIG. 1. Therefore, one beam 100 moves in direction 165 and the other beam 200 moves in direction 265. These movements may be used to open and close a set of contacts located on contact flanges 170 and 270, each in turn located on tip members 160 and 260, respectively. For example, driving cantilever 100 in direction 165, then driving cantilever 200 in direction 265, relaxing cantilever 100 and then relaxing cantilever 200 may serve to close the switch, by engaging contact flanges 170 and 270. In this position, contact between the faces of contact flanges 170 and 270 provides an electrical connection between cantilevers 100 and 200, such that in FIG. 2d, the electrical switch is closed. Opening the electrical switch is accomplished by reversing the movements in the steps described above.

Singly attached MEMS thermal device and method of manufacture


A processing system and method for connecting to a remote USB device automatically. The processing system and method provide a user computer to be connected to or disconnected from a USB device via a network system and a USB server connected to the USB device. In the beginning, the user computer finds a USB device for the user computer from the USB server via the network system; when detecting that the user computer issues request messages, the USB server connects the user computer with the USB device, and the USB device executes corresponding services according to the request messages issued by the user computer; in the last, after detecting that the USB device has finished the corresponding services according to the request messages issued by the user computer, the USB server is enabled to disconnect the user computer from the USB device.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a processing system and method for connecting a remote USB device automatically, and more particularly, to a processing system and method for connecting a remote USB device automatically, by using a USB over IP technique to connect/disconnect a user computer to/from a USB device.
2. Description of Related Art
With the rapid development of computer technologies, a variety of computer peripheral devices come to the market. In order for the various devices to communicate with each other and have a high enough transmission speed, the computer peripheral devices are connected through the use of a USB technique. For example, a USB device, such as a printer, fax machine or business machine, may be connected to a computer via a USB and used for the computer. Accordingly, with the development of a network technique and the demand for sharing a USB device, a USB over LP technique comes with the tide of fashion.
The USB over IP technique connects a plurality of computers via a network with a relay server, and the relay server is connected to a USB device via a USB port. The computers are connected to the USB device only when they are using the USB device. In other words, though the computers may be connected to the USB device via the network and a transmission line, the USB device is not connected to any one of the computers unless some of the computers propose connection requests. The remaining computers that do not propose the connection requests may not obtain services. Although the USB over IP technique may realize a plurality of computers sharing a common USB device via a network, since the computers are connected to the USB device via the relay server and USB connection, if the computers that propose the connection requests and are connected to the USB device are still connected to the USB device even after the USB device have provided the services, the other computers may not be connected to the USB device. In practice, the other computers that plan to use the USB device may not propose their connection requests to the USB device unless the computers that are connected to the USB device are disconnected from the USB device. Accordingly, users have to keep watching a connection status of a remote USB device. Therefore, it is inconvenient to use the current USB over IP technique to connect the computers to a remote USB device.
FIG. 1 illustrates a user operating interface having manual connection tools 30 provided by a remote USB device connection system according to the prior art. The manual connection tools 30 provide connecting and disconnecting functions. However, these two functions allow a user to manually connect or disconnect a remote USB device. The operating interface only lists available devices for the user's selection. Accordingly, the user has to select a USB device to which he wants to connect personally. The current remote USB device connection system merely allows a user to manually connect a USB device, and the user has to manually connect or disconnect the USB device, which is inconvenient for the user's operation.
Therefore, how to make a USB device be connected to a plurality of computers and provide services, and solve the problem that a computer that is connected to the USB device is still connected to the USB device even after the computer has obtained the service provided by the USB device, is becoming one of the most urgent issues in the art.

Processing system and method for connecting a remote USB device automatically


A fluid purifying apparatus that includes a manifold that includes a first branch and a second branch, a first check valve coupled to the first branch of the manifold, and a purifier unit that includes a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is coupled to the second branch of the manifold. Also, a fluid purifying apparatus that includes a vessel that includes a first interior compartment for containing a purifier material and a second interior compartment for containment of a fluid containing impurities, wherein the first interior compartment is separated from the second interior compartment by a fluid permeable support, and a rupturable seal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of fluid purification, and to the purification of inert, non-reactive and reactive fluids. Furthermore, the invention relates to methods and materials for selectively removing trace amounts of impurities from inert, non-reactive and reactive fluids.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The provision of high purity fluid streams is critically important in a wide variety of industrial and research applications. The rapid expansion of vapor-phase processing techniques, e.g., chemical vapor deposition, in the semiconductor industry has been associated with the deployment and use of manufacturing equipment that is totally reliant on the delivery of high purity process fluids at the point of use in the semiconductor manufacturing facility.
Considering the impurities which are present in fluid streams involved in semiconductor manufacturing, it is to be noted that the growth of high quality thin film electronic and optoelectronic cells by chemical vapor deposition or other vapor-based techniques is inhibited by a variety of low-level process impurities. These impurities can cause defects that reduce yields by increasing the number of rejects, which can be very expensive. These impurities may be particulate or chemical contaminants.
Chemical impurities may originate in the production of the source fluid itself, as well as in its subsequent packaging, shipment, storage, and handling. Although source fluid manufacturers typically provide analyses of source gas materials delivered to the semiconductor manufacturing facility, the purity of the fluids may change because of leakage into or outgassing of the containers, e.g., gas cylinders, in which gases are packaged. Impurity contamination may also result from improper fluid containers changes, leaks into downstream processing equipment, or outgassing of such downstream equipment.
In semiconductor manufacturing processes, for example, removal of impurities helps to ensure the production of high-quality, high-performance semiconductor chips. Such impurities, when introduced onto the semiconductor chip during its manufacture, tend to render the chip deficient or even useless for its intended purpose. Thus, a growing number of industries are now requiring fluids having impurity concentrations that do not exceed about 10 parts-per-billion (ppb) levels.
For example, in the manufacture of III-V semiconductor devices using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), Group IIIA organometallic source gases, such as tri-methyl aluminum, tri-methyl indium and tri-methyl gallium may be purified by fractional distillation and/or sublimation to remove impurities. These organometallic compounds are highly reactive with oxygen, and form oxygenated impurities that can significantly degrade the performance of III-V semiconductor devices.
There remains a need in the art for a reagent that removes contaminants such as oxygen and water from inert, non-reactive and reactive fluids. Further, there remains a need for purification methods and apparatuses that provide relatively fast equilibration between fluid and purifier to ensure adequate concentrations of purified fluid can be provided at the point of use. Also, a need exists for purifier materials that remove oxygen and oxygenated species and other impurities from inert, non-reactive and reactive fluids without concurrently emitting contaminants such as moisture into the purified fluid stream.

Method and system for supplying high purity fluid


Decoder reconstruction error is estimated so as to provide compensation at the encoder which equalizes the errors over different frames, since the errors created by some frames are lower than those created by other frames. The compensation is provided by means of temporal weighting applied in the form of temporal bands each associated with specific numbered frames within a frame group. The technique can be applied to a logarithmic temporal decimation frame structure in which one frame within a group of 2.sup.n frames is an `I` frame and the remaining frames are `B` frames.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to video compression methods and apparatus, in particular to video compression methods involving compensation for errors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A number of digital video compression standards are known, one group, known as MPEG, having been devised by and named after the Motion Picture Experts Group of the International Standards Organisation (ISO). In one form, known as MPEG1, early versions of the draft standard made use of forward prediction between past and current frames of a video signal. In later forms of MPEG1 and another known as MPEG2, the standard additionally makes use of bidirectional prediction which is a combination of forward and backward prediction with the prediction made as an average of the forward and backward predictive frames.
Further background information on MPEG coding can be found, for example, in ISO/IEC 11172-2:1993(E) "Information Technology--Coding of Moving Pictures and Associated Audio for Digital Storage Media at up to about 1.5 Mbit/s".
Tests on picture sequences, for example MPEG picture sequences, have shown that the errors introduced by the quantizer/unquantizer function did not show a uniform distribution. In particular, the distribution of quantization errors is uneven over both spatial and temporal bands. This mean that errors created by some frames are lower than other frames.

Method for video compression using temporal weighting


A storage device, a data arrangement method and a computer program are disclosed, in which the redundancy is maintained even if a cache module runs out of order, and the deterioration of the write processing performance is prevented at the time of failure of the cache memory module. When cache 0 fails while cache 0 and cache 1 possess duplicate data that is not stored in disks, data of cache 0 is copied onto data of cache 4 that is synchronized with the disks.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a technique for preventing loss of redundancy and performance deterioration of a writing process in a storage device having a plurality of cache memory modules.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional storage device, a method is available to guarantee redundancy by a complete mirroring technique for a cache module.
A disk array device includes a plurality of disk modules for storing data, a plurality of memory modules for temporarily storing data at the time of writing or reading the data to and from the disk modules, and a plurality of director modules for controlling write or read operations, wherein the first and third memory modules are paired and so are the second and fourth memory modules. Upon occurrence of a fault in any one of the first to fourth memory modules, the first write data is written in paired one of the remaining memory modules by the director modules. Further, a cache management area is set in the two of the remaining memory modules. For the disk array device, therefore, a technique has been proposed in which the data write process is executed at high speed while at the same time avoiding data loss (Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-134487).
The conventional method poses a problem, however, that once any one of the cache modules fails, the redundancy is lost and the performance greatly deteriorates.
Specifically, in FIG. 1, in the case where cache 0 fails, cache data 0 in cache 1 becomes non-redundant. Next, in order to prevent the loss of cache data 0 at the time of failure of cache 1, the operation of cache 1 is suspended after writing cache data 0 into a disk.
As a result, only caches 2 and 3 are available for use, thereby greatly lowering both the read and write performance.

Storage device, data arrangement method and program


Compositions and methods for treating infections, especially bacterial infections, are provided. Indolicidin peptide analogues containing at least two basic amino acids are prepared. The analogues are administered as modified peptides, preferably containing photo-oxidized solubilizer.

For most healthy individuals, infections are irritating, but not generally life-threatening. Many infections are successfully combated by the immune system of the individual. Treatment is an adjunct and is generally readily available in developed countries. However, infectious diseases are a serious concern in developing countries and in immunocompromised individuals.
In developing countries, the lack of adequate sanitation and consequent poor hygiene provide an environment that fosters bacterial, parasitic, fungal and viral infections. Poor hygiene and nutritional deficiencies may diminish the effectiveness of natural barriers, such as skin and mucous membranes, to invasion by infectious agents or the ability of the immune system to clear the agents. As well, a constant onslaught of pathogens may stress the immune system defenses of antibody production and phagocytic cells (e.g., polymorphic neutrophils) to subnormal levels. A breakdown of host defenses can also occur due to conditions such as circulatory disturbances, mechanical obstruction, fatigue, smoking, excessive drinking, genetic defects, AIDS, bone marrow transplant, cancer, and diabetes. An increasingly prevalent problem in the world is opportunistic infections in individuals who are HIV positive.
Although vaccines may be available to protect against some of these organisms, vaccinations are not always feasible, due to factors such as inadequate delivery mechanisms and economic poverty, or effective, due to factors such as delivery too late in the infection, inability of the patient to mount an immune response to the vaccine, or evolution of the pathogen. For other pathogenic agents, no vaccines are available. When protection against infection is not possible, treatment of infection is generally pursued. The major weapon in the arsenal of treatments is antibiotics. While antibiotics have proved effective against many bacteria and thus saved countless lives, they are not a panacea. The overuse of antibiotics in certain situations has promoted the spread of resistant bacterial strains. And of great importance, antibacterials are useless against viral infections.
A variety of organisms make cationic (positively charged) peptides, molecules used as part of a non-specific defense mechanism against microorganisms. When isolated, these peptides are toxic to a wide variety of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, and certain enveloped viruses. One cationic peptide found in neutrophils is indolicidin. While indolicidin acts against many pathogens, notable exceptions and varying degrees of toxicity exist.
Although cationic peptides show efficacy in vitro against a variety of pathogenic cells including gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, and fungi, these peptides are generally toxic to mammals when injected, and therapeutic indices are usually quite small. Approaches to reducing toxicity have included development of a derivative or delivery system that masks structural elements involved in the toxic response or that improves the efficacy at lower doses. Other approaches under evaluation include liposomes and micellular systems to improve the clinical effects of peptides, proteins, and hydrophobic drugs, and cyclodextrins to sequester hydrophobic surfaces during administration in aqueous media. For example, attachment of polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymers, most often by modification of amino groups, improves the medicinal value of some proteins such as asparaginase and adenosine deaminase, and increases circulatory half-lives of peptides such as interleukins.
None of these approaches are shown to improve administration of cationic peptides. For example, methods for the stepwise synthesis of polysorbate derivatives that can modify peptides by acylation reactions have been developed, but acylation alters the charge of a modified cationic peptide and frequently reduces or eliminates the antimicrobial activity of the compound. Thus, for delivery of cationic peptides, as well as other peptides and proteins, there is a need for a system combining the properties of increased circulatory half-lives with the ability to form a micellular structure.
The present invention discloses analogues of indolicidin, designed to broaden its range and effectiveness, and further provide other related advantages. The present invention also provides methods and compositions for modifying peptides, proteins, antibiotics and the like to reduce toxicity, as well as providing other advantages.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Compositions and methods for treating infections using analogues of indolicidin


An interactive type automatic programming method which facilitates the detection of errors in a part program and permits only a required portion of the modified/edited part program to be re-executed. First, part program statements are displayed on a screen, and every time the operator inputs a one statement execution command (S4) a programming system executes one program statement and displays the result of the execution on the screen (S6, S7). When an executed part program statement is found to be erroneous, the operator inputs a modification command (S5), moves the cursor to specify the program statement to be modified, inputs a program modification command (S13, S15), and then corrects the program statement. In response to an operator's input of a re-execution command (S18), the programming system re-executes only a required portion of the part program beginning with the modified part program statement and ending with a part program statement to be executed next (S19).

It is conventionally known to execute a part program by means of an NC automatic programming system to automatically prepare an NC program. A conventional programming system is arranged to execute a part program from the beginning to the program end for NC program preparation, in response to manual input of an execution command. The NC program thus prepared, i.e., the result of execution of the part program, is checked by an operator, and if an error exists in the part program, the erroneous portion of the part program is modified/edited by the operator. Then, the modified/edited part program is executed again by the programming system from the beginning to the end of the program.
According to the conventional method described above, it is difficult to learn the result of the execution of each of program statements constituting the part program, and much effort is required to find an erroneous portion of the part program. Moreover, since the modified/edited part program is re-executed from the beginning to the end thereof, the execution time of the part program is long, and therefore, much time is required for the preparation of an NC program.

Interactive type automatic programming method including automatic re-execution of program statements


This invention concerns a method for forming ionomers by treatment with ammonium carbonate of copolymers having a substantially fluorinated, but not perfluorinated, polyethylene backbone having pendant groups of fluoroalkoxy sulfonyl fluoride. Ionomers derived therefrom by ion exchange are useful in electrochemical applications such as batteries, fuel cells, electrolysis cells, ion exchange membranes, sensors, electrochemical capacitors, and modified electrodes.

Copolymers of vinylidene fluoride (VDF) with vinyl alkoxy sulfonyl halides are known in the art.
The disclosures in Ezzell et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,525) encompass copolymers of VDF with vinyl ethoxy sulfonyl fluorides containing one ether linkage. Disclosed is a process for emulsion polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) with the vinyl ethoxy comonomer.
Banerjee et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,672,438) disclose copolymers of VDF with vinyl alkoxy sulfonyl fluorides containing more than one ether linkage.
Connolly et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,282,875) disclose the terpolymer of VDF with perfluorosulfonyl fluoride ethoxy propyl vinyl ether (PSEPVE) and hexafluoropropylene (HFP). They broadly teach an emulsion polymerization process said to be applicable to copolymerization of vinyl ethers with any ethylenically unsaturated comonomer, with greatest applicability to fluorinated monomers.
Barnes et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,676) disclose "substantially fluorinated" copolymers of a vinyl ether cation exchange group-containing monomer with a "substantially fluorinated" alkene. The copolymer is produced by controlled addition of the alkene in emulsion polymerization, followed by hydrolysis in NaOH. PSEPVE/TFE copolymers are exemplified.
Hietala et al., J. Mater. Chem. Volume 7 pages 721–726, 1997, disclose a porous poly(vinylidene fluoride) on to which styrene is grafted by exposing the PVDF to irradiation. The styrene functionality is subsequently functionalized to sulfonic acid by exposure of the polymer to chlorosulfonic acid. The resultant acid polymer, in combination with water, provides a proton-conducting membrane.
Formation of ionomers and acid copolymers by hydrolysis of the sulfonyl fluoride functionality in copolymers of TFE and fluoro alkoxy sulfonyl fluorides is well known in the art. The art teaches exposure of the copolymer to strongly basic conditions.
See for example, Ezzell et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,525, wherein is used 25 wt % NaOH(aq) for 16 hours at 80–90° C.; Banerjee et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,672,438, wherein is used 25 wt % NaOH for 16 hours at 90° C., or, in the alternative, an aqueous solution of 6–20% alkali metal hydroxide and 5–40% polar organic liquid (e.g., DMSO) for 5 minutes at 50–100° C.; Ezzell et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,545 wherein is used 0.05N NaOH for 30 minutes for 50° C.; Ezzell et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,654, wherein is used 95% boiling ethanol for 30 minutes followed by addition of equal volume of 30% NaOH (aq) with heating continued for 1 hour; Marshall et al. EP 0345964 A1, wherein is used 32 wt % NaOH (aq) and methanol for 16 hours at 70° C., or, in the alternative, an aqueous solution of 11 wt % KOH and 30 wt % DMSO for 1 hour at 90° C.; and, Barnes et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,676, wherein is used 20 wt % NaOH (aq) for 17 hours at 90° C.
Because of its high dielectric constant, high electrochemical stability, and desirable swelling properties, poly(vinylidene fluoride) is known in the art of lithium batteries as a highly desirable material for use as a membrane separator. For example Gozdz et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,418,091) disclose porous PVDF homopolymer and copolymer containing solutions of lithium carbonates in aprotic solvents useful as separators in lithium batteries.
Porous membranes of the type described by Gozdz, however, conduct both the cation and the anion back and forth across the separator, and are thus subject to concentration polarization during use, which degrades the performance of the battery in which it is used. So-called single ion conducting polymeric membranes, wherein the ionic carbonate is attached to the polymer backbone, thereby immobilizing either the cation or the anion, offer a solution to the concentration polarization problem, and are known in the art. One particularly well-known such single ion conducting polymer is Nafion® Perfluoroionomer Resin and Membranes available from DuPont, Wilmington, Del. Nafion is a copolymer of TFE and perfluoro(3,6-dioxa-4-methyl-7-octenesulfonyl fluoride) which has been hydrolyzed by treatment with an alkali metal hydroxide according to the teachings of the art as hereinabove described.
It is further known in the art, and hereinbelow shown, that PVDF homopolymers and copolymers are subject to attack by strong bases such as the alkali metal hydroxides taught in the art hereinabove cited. Of particular importance is that the attack of basic nucleophiles on a copolymer of VDF and perfluorovinyl ethers results in the removal of the vinyl ether moiety from the polymer, see W. W. Schmiegel in Die Angewandte Makromolekulare Chemie, 76/77 pp 39ff, 1979. Since the highly preferred monomer species taught in the art, and exemplified by DuPont's Nafion and similar products, for imparting ionomeric character to various polymers is a vinyl ether terminated by a sulfonyl halide functionality, the sensitivity to base attack of the VDF copolymer formed therewith has prevented the development of a single-ion conducting ionomer based upon VDF. There simply is no means taught in the art for making the ionomer.
Doyle et al, U.S. Pat. No. 6,025,092, discloses ionomers formed with vinylidene fluoride copolymers by subjecting sulfonyl fluoride containing precursors to hydrolysis with alkali and alkaline earth metal carbonates, such as lithium carbonate, under mildly basic conditions. The method of Doyle et al, however is limited in that any excess over stoichiometric amounts of the hydrolyzing agent results in attack on the VDF backbone, causing polymer degradation. Thus the method of Doyle et al is limited in industrial applicability.
Barton et al, WO 0052085A1, discloses melt processible compositions comprising alkali metal ionomers having vinylidene fluoride monomer units, and liquids imbibed therewithin. The ionomers of Barton et al are not melt processible without incorporation of the liquids.


A concealed roof vent has a base member having a primary aperture, a top panel coupled to the rear side of the base member and extending to the front side of the base member at an increasing angle, the top panel sized so as to shield the primary aperture; the top panel being coupled to the front side of the base member using one or more support legs; and at least one secondary aperture on the front side between the panel and the base member. Air from the attic passes through the primary aperture to the secondary aperture, through channels on the underside of roofing tiles, and to the atmosphere.

The need to vent the attic of a building is well known and has been done in the prior art for years. For example, Gable vents and dormer type passive ventilation systems are common. However, these systems are clearly visible and reduce the aesthetics of the structure. Further, passive vents have been marketed and used for some time, including what are referred to as "camouflage" vents—or those that are meant to blend into the appearance of the roof. However, these camouflage vents have had several shortcomings, such as the ability of driven rain or snow to enter the vent, or the lack of the vent to be properly camouflaged into the surrounding roof tiles. The venting systems on the market directly expose a portion of the vent. As such, the prior art has yet to create a vent that is completely concealed while remaining effective. Therefore, there remains a need for a roof vent that not only is concealed, but that can adequately provide for ventilation of the attic, while at the same time restricting the entry of various types of moisture or other unwanted items.
Further, there exists a need for a vent that can solve not only the above problems, but one that can also be used with various tiles, such as flat tiles, Spanish S-tiles, Double Roman tiles, and others. The present invention seeks to solve these, and other, problems.


A laser guided work device including a work board having a work surface, a line producing laser projecting a line on the work surface, and a linear motion device engaging the laser to the work board. The linear motion device translates the laser relative to the work surface along at least one dimension. The line is oriented perpendicular to the at least one dimension such that the line moves relative to the work surface when the linear motion device translates the laser along the at least one dimension.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a work device that provides a work surface on which the user can write directly or position a paper for writing thereon.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are several situations in which free-hand writing is necessary or desired. For instance, free-hand writing is typically desired when writing a personal letter on personal stationary, preparing a personalized greeting card, and/or addressing an envelope. In addition, teachers, professors and other instructors must often write in free-hand when writing on a classroom chalkboard or dry erase board. Finally, the art of calligraphy also typically requires the writer to write in free-hand. Unfortunately, when writing free-hand, it is very difficult to write in a straight line. Quite often the writing moves up and/or down on the writing surface thereby resulting in an unattractive written product, which uses more writing surface space than necessary and/or may be difficult to read.
To solve this problem, many writers have resorted to drawing a straight line on the writing surface using a pencil and then erasing the pencil line after the writing is completed. Unfortunately, this method can leave unsightly eraser marks or leftover pencil marks. In addition, the eraser may smear the writing. In the classroom setting, some chalkboards have been provided with lines to guide the writer. However, these lines are permanent and their size and location cannot be adjusted according to the writer's needs. Similar problems arise in engraving, sign-making and other like activities. For instance, it is difficult for an engraver to engrave in a straight line without the guide of a line. It is also difficult for a sign-maker or graphic artist to position letters, characters or other objects on a sign, shirt, plaque or other article.
Accordingly, a need remains for a device that provides a work surface capable of guiding the user in writing in a straight line.


The model of the present invention incorporates incompressibility constraints to infer 3-D motion. Discrete, projected 2-D motion information from two different views of an object are input into the system. A model is realized via the tessellation component, and the material property of incompressibility is imposed on model movement. The output of the system is a continuous 3-D motion model which has interpolated the projected 2-D data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to recovering the 3-D motion of a thick-walled ellipsoid given 2-D projected movement in the ellipsoid. The third component of motion is inferred via the material constraint of incompressibility. Due to the inherent instability associated with imposing material constraints, the thick-walled ellipsoid is realized with a unique geodesic-based tessellation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Park, Metaxas and Young developed a thick ellipsoidal model for recovering 3-D cardiac motion from tagged-MR data in "Deformable Models With Parameter Functions: Application To Heart Wall Modeling", Proceedings of the IEEE CVPR, Seattle, Wash., pages 437-442, 1994. Their model formulation differs from the model formulation of the present invention in that their model assumes a dense motion information acquisition and therefore makes no use of "regularizing" constraints such as incompressibility and does not employ a geodesic tessellation.
O'Donnell, Gupta, and Boult presented a thick superelliptic model, the HVV in "The Hybrid Volumetric Ventriculoid: A Model For MR-SPAMM 3-D Analysis", Proceedings of Computers in Cardiology, IEEE, 1995. Their model fitting was influenced via an inter-nodal stretching penalty as opposed to current incompressibility constraint of the present invention. And was tessellated in a simplistic manner.
Finally, T. Denny and J. Prince in "3D Displacement Field Reconstruction From Planar Tagged Cardiac MR Images", Proceedings of the IEEE Workshop on Biomedical Image Analysis, pages 51-60, 1994, employed a multidimensional stochastic model for measuring cardiac motion from tagged-MR images. They used the Fisher estimation framework to approximate the movement of the Left Ventricle (LV) from sparse displacement measurements with incompressibility constraints.

Incompressibility constraints for inferring 3-D motion from 2-D projected displacements in a thick-walled ellipsoid with a geodesic-based tessellation


An industrial robot includes a manipulator, a sensor which is provided on the manipulator, and a power source for supplying electric power to the sensor. A reference potential point is provided between the sensor and the power source.

The present invention relates to an industrial robot in which a power source for sensors is incorporated.
In recent industrial robots, a controller and a manipulator are provided separately from each other in most cases. Meanwhile, the controller is provided with sensors for feeding back to the controller signals on position and angle or velocity of the manipulator.
Generally, a conventional industrial robot of this kind has such an arrangement as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The known industrial robot includes a controller 1, a manipulator 2, sensors 4 mounted on motors 3 of the manipulators 2, respectively and a cable 5 for transmitting feedback signals of the sensors 4 to the controller 1.
In the known industrial robot of the above described arrangement, a power source 6 for supplying electric power to the sensors 4 is incorporated in the controller 1.
Meanwhile, after the power source 6 has been turned off, a battery for effecting backup of current position of the manipulator 2 is required to be connected to the sensors 4. Furthermore, a function of resetting backup values of the manipulator 2 may be furnished for maintenance purposes. When the backup values of the manipulator 2 are reset, resetting cables of the sensors 4 are usually short-circuited to a power cable.
In this prior art industrial robot in which the power source 6 for the sensors 4 is incorporated in the controller 1, length of the cable 5 for connecting the controller 1 and the manipulator 2 is limited. Namely, potential difference is produced between the power source 6 and the motors 3 by product of electric current flowing through the cable 5 to the sensors 4 and resistance of the cable 5 and may lead to a risk that the feedback signals from the sensors 4 are erroneously received by the controller 1.
Furthermore, since the cable 5 is exposed outwardly, noise may penetrate into the cable 5 in an environment having much noise, in which the industrial robot is installed, and there is a risk that accurate detection cannot be performed by the sensors 4. Therefore, in order to obviate this risk, a noise quieting filter has been required to be provided.
Meanwhile, even if the power source 6 for the sensors 4 are provided on the manipulator 2 in the known industrial robot, the power source 6 is caused to branch to the motors 3 of respective axes of the manipulator 2 and thus, the above mentioned problems of potential difference between the power source 6 and the motors 3 and noise cannot be solved. Furthermore, in this case, since the power source 6 is caused to branch to the motors 3 of the manipulator 2, an inconvenience is also incurred since branch portions 7 of the cable become complicated.
In addition, in case the earlier mentioned resetting cables for resetting the backup values of the manipulator 2 are provided for maintenance of the sensors 4, a phenomenon associated with the resetting cables may happen as follows. Since the backup values of the manipulator 2 are erroneously reset due to noise referred to above, the resetting cables should be shortened and thus, each resetting cable is required to be terminated at a connector 8 provided on the manipulator 2 as shown in FIG. 4. Therefore, since each resetting cable is confined to a short interval between the sensor 4 and the connector 8, it is difficult to perform an operation for resetting the backup values of the manipulator 2 at the time of maintenance of the sensors 4.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A support structure and a hair accessory utilizing the support structure are disclosed. The support structure is configured to engage and surround substantially only a rear portion of a user's head, and according to an embodiment the support structure includes a crown segment, a central support member, a crossing member, and a plurality of side segments. The hair accessory includes a plurality of hair strand retention members attached to and extending across the support structure and a plurality of hair strands extending from each hair strand retention member.

This invention relates generally to hair accessories and, more particularly, to a partial or half cap hair accessory that supplements the natural hair of a user.
Users supplement their natural hair to allow a wider variety of hair styles to be imparted to the user's hair. Additionally, when users are endowed with relatively little hair, the users can supplement their hair to create the impression of a fuller head of hair. Known hair pieces provide for these objectives by attaching a cap that completely covers the natural hair of the user. However, the user may wish to wear a hair accessory to supplement the user's natural hair without covering all of their natural hair.

Celebrity Signatures International, Inc.