In an exposing aperture device having a pair of exposing diaphragms which are moved in opposite directions while being guided by guide members formed on a base plate, the guide members are each formed of a vertical rising part with a first contact protrusion coming into point contact with the diaphragms and a horizontal ledge part with a second contact protrusion being in point contact with the diaphragms. By projecting the first and second contact protrusions more than burrs which are inevitably left on the rising part and ledge part as the result of forming the base plate by a punching process or a resin molding process, the exposing diaphragms can be moved smoothly and stably to control exposure with a high accuracy without being affected by the burrs.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an exposing aperture device for controlling exposure by moving diaphragms in a video camera and so on, and more particular to a structure capable of warranting high accurate exposing operation of the elements constituting an exposing aperture without being affected by undesirable factors such as burrs and molding flashes which are inevitably formed on a base plate for supporting the diaphragms as a result of making the base plate by a punching or molding process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, an exposing aperture device for controlling exposure in a video camera and so forth, which is usually incorporated between lenses arranged along an optical axis in a lens tube and an image pick-up means such as a CCD image sensor, has a pair of exposing diaphragms movable in opposite directions relative to an exposing aperture formed around the optical axis in order to adjust quantity of light passing through the aperture.
As recent video cameras have come to enjoy remarkably improved properties, the exposing aperture devices incorporated in the video cameras are required to not only form an apposite aperture with a high accuracy, but also perform stable and smooth exposing operation instantaneously in response to the change of the quantity of light from a subject. Thus, the exposing diaphragms are desired to be made light and small in inertial mass and work accurately so as not to involve undesirable factors affecting the movement of the diaphragms.
In Japanese Patent Application Public Disclosures Nos. HEI 3-31831(A), HEI 3-145630(A), and HEI 7-295028(A), and Japanese Utility Model Appln. Public Discl. Nos. SHO 59-4524(A), and HEI 7-41532(A), exposing aperture devices of this type are disclosed.
The conventional exposing aperture device for use in a video camera, as typically disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Appln. Pub. Disclosure No. SHO 59-4524(A), comprises a base plate having an exposing aperture formed around the optical axis and pin-like diaphragm guide members, a pair of exposing diaphragms having guide slots which receive the guide members so as to be movable in opposite directions away from the exposing aperture, and a drive means for moving the exposing diaphragms.
The parallel movement of the diaphragms is ensured by a guiding structure composed of the guide members planted on the base plate and the guide slots or grooves formed in the diaphragms. By the guiding structure, the diaphragms can be stably moved to and fro relative to the exposing aperture without wobbling nor snaking.
The guiding structure in which the guide members such as pins are inserted into the guide slots as found in the aforementioned conventional exposing aperture device enjoys high operating performance and proves advantageous from the standpoint of a space factor in comparison with an aperture device disclosed in Japanese Patent Appln. Pub. Disclosure No. HEI 8-19239(A), in which the diaphragms are held between outside guide members.
The base plate is provided on its surface confronting the diaphragm with one or more longitudinal ribs so as to come into contact with the diaphragm as little as possible, thus to heighten the moving efficiency of the diaphragm.
In most cases, the base plate is generally produced by a punching method, a resin molding method or the like. In case where the base plate is punched out of sheet metal by using a punching press, serrate shaped burrs are inevitably left on the sheared edge of the base plate. The film-like light and thin diaphragm is caught and sensitively affected by the burrs on the edge of the base plate to no small extent when moving on the base plate, consequently to degrade the exposing accuracy of the camera. The base plate produced by the resin molding method might lead to the same problem.
To solve the matter, the burrs resulting from punching or molding may be removed by hand, but such a onerous handwork to remove the burrs consumes much time and labor and entails a decline in productivity of the exposing aperture device. Under these circumstances, there has been a great need for a high-performance aperture device in a field of optics, which can easily produced and stably and accurately operate without being affected by undesirable factors such as the burrs inevitably left on the base plate.


Display apparatuses and self-capacitance touch panels thereof are provided. A self-capacitance touch panel includes a touch wiring layer and a signal transmission wiring layer. The touch wiring layer includes a plurality of touch units arranged in an array, each of which includes a plurality of touch lines electrically connected. The signal transmission wiring layer includes a plurality of signal transmission lines extending in a row direction or a column direction, at least one of which is electrically connected with a corresponding one of the touch units and electrically insulated from the rest of the touch units in an extending direction thereof. At least a portion of an orthographic projection of the signal transmission line in a plane where the self-capacitance touch panel is located is misaligned with an orthographic projection of each of the touch lines of the touch units electrically insulated from the signal transmission line in the plane.

With the emergence and continuous development of OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display technology, flexible display has become the future development trend of display. Flexible screens that are bendable and rollable have been widely used in mobile phones and tablet computers, which require touch layers to have a bending performance. Therefore, the structure the current AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode) panel has been changed from an out-cell mutual-capacitance structure to an on-cell mutual-capacitance structure.
The on-cell mutual-capacitance structure is very close to a cathode of the AMOLED panel, and as the size of the panel becomes larger and the cover becomes thinner, a parasitic capacitance of the mutual-capacitance structure may become larger and the SNR (Signal Noise Ratio) of touch may become lower, which requires ICs to have a higher capability to detect a touch position of a finger. Since an on-cell self-capacitance structure has a different principle of touch-scanning from that of the mutual-capacitance structure, and thus can overcome defects of the mutual-capacitance structure, the current FMLOC (Flexible Metal-layer on cell) touch panel with a large size tends to use the on-cell self-capacitance structure.


Embodiments described herein provide approaches for improved circuit routing using a wide-edge pin. Specifically, provided is an integrated circuit (IC) device comprising a standard cell having a first metal layer (M1) pin coupled to a second metal layer (M2) wire at a via. The M1 pin has a width greater than a width of the via sufficient to satisfy an enclosure rule for the via, while the M1 pin extends vertically past the via a distance substantially equal to or greater than zero. This layout increases the number of available pin access points within the standard cell and thus improves routing efficiency and chip size.

Technical Field
This invention relates generally to integrated circuit (IC) cell design, and more particularly, to manufacturing approaches for enhanced circuit routing.
Related Art
Computer-aided cell-based design has been developed for designing large scale ICs such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and gate arrays. The cell is a circuit that has been pre-designed and pre-verified as a building block. Design technologies known as standard cell and gate array use different types of such building blocks. In a standard cell design, each distinct cell in a library may have unique geometries of active, gate, and metal levels. Examples of a standard cell or gate array cell include an inverter, a NAND gate, a NOR gate, a flip flop, and other similar logic circuits.
During the process of designing an IC, a designer may select particular cells from a library of cells and use them in a design. The library includes cells that have been designed for a given IC manufacturing process, such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication. The cells generally have a fixed height but a variable width, which enables the cells to be placed in rows. Cells typically do not change from one design to the next, but the way in which they are interconnected will, to achieve the desired function in a given design. By being able to select the cells from the library for use in the design, the designer can quickly implement a desired functionality without having to custom design the entire integrated circuit from scratch. Thus, the designer will have a certain level of confidence that the integrated circuit will work as intended when manufactured without having to worry about the details of the individual transistors that make up each cell.
Cells are normally designed so that routing connections between cells can be made as efficiently as possible. Routing in an IC design is accomplished through routing elements, such as wires in one or more metal layers. Each metal layer is separated from other metal layers by insulating layers, and vias connect one metal layer to another. These routing elements perform at least two functions: they connect individual transistors that make up a cell, and they connect cells to each other globally (i.e., on a chip-level) to implement the desired functionality of the integrated circuit. For example, clock signals, reset signals, test signals, and supply voltages may be carried through these routing elements. A well-designed cell layout minimizes congestion in routing global interconnections, which reduces the number of metal layers in or overall size of an integrated circuit layout.
Typically, the design layout is checked against a set of design rules in a design rule check (DRC). The created design layout must conform to a complex set of design rules in order, for example, to ensure a lower probability of fabrication defects. The design rules specify, for example, how far apart the geometries on various layers must be, or how large or small various aspects of the layout must be for successful fabrication, given the tolerances and other limitations of the fabrication process. A design rule may be a minimum spacing amount between geometries and is typically closely associated to the technology, fabrication process and design characteristics. For example, different minimum spacing amounts between geometries can be specified for different sizes of geometries. DRC is a time-consuming iterative process that often requires manual manipulation and interaction by the designer. The designer performs design layout and DRC iteratively, reshaping and moving design geometries to correct all layout errors and achieve a relatively DRC clean (violation free) design.
Most design technologies include via enclosure rules to ensure that both top and bottom metals enclose the via by a certain amount. In other words, such an enclosure rule ensures that each metal layer overlaps a via with a certain amount of extra metal to ensure that the via provides a good connection between the two metal layers once fabricated. The design rule specifying the extra amount of metal around each via may be referred to as a via enclosure rule.
As shown in the prior art standard cell 10 of FIGS. 1A-B, a standard cell architecture will have metal 1 (M1) pins 12A-B that are primarily on a vertical orientation and connected by horizontal metal 2 (M2) wire 14 (FIG. 1B). Standard cell 10 further includes a set of power rails 16A-B and a plurality of routing tracks 18A-D. Standard cell 10 further includes a plurality of pin access points 20A-D distributed between M1 pins 12A-B, as shown. In this case, standard cell 10 is limited to only two access points for each of M1 pins 12A and 12B, which causes a significant impact on routing efficiency and thus chip size.
Furthermore, M1 pins 12A-B have a width 'W', which is approximately the same as the width of via 1 (V1). However, M1 pin 12B extends below V1 and M2 wire 14 a distance 1′ to ensure V1 enclosure rules are satisfied. As a result, there is insufficient via enclosure for M1 pins 12A-B, e.g., in an area 'X' along routing tracks 18A and 18D.
One prior art solution to address this problem is shown by standard cell 30 in FIGS. 2A-B. Standard cell 30 provides an L-shaped pin formed by an M1 patch 32 that extends horizontally along M2 wire 34. As shown, standard cell 30 contains M1 pins 36A-B that are primarily on a vertical orientation and connected by M2 wire 34. Standard cell 30 further includes a plurality of pin access points 38A-D distributed between M1 pins 36A-B, as shown. In this case, V1 is positioned on M1 patch 32 to utilize the bottom pin access point of M1 pin 36B, e.g., along routing track 40D. Sufficient via enclosure is provided on both sides of V1, as represented by distances D1 (FIG. 2B). However, this architecture requires V1 to be positioned outside the boundaries of metal pin 36B, which increases the number of DRC errors, and is difficult to implement in reality. Therefore, what is needed is a solution to at least this deficiency of the prior art.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate resource scaling for inter-access point fairness in a wireless communication system. As described herein, an offered load of an access point can be determined based on one or more loading metrics relating to associated terminals, throughput, data rate, quality of service (QoS), or the like. Based on the determined offered load of an access point, resources used by the access point and/or power utilized for communication over those resources can be scaled based on a comparison of the offered load of the access point to a nominal or default offered load. Centralized techniques for resource scaling are described herein, wherein one or more centralized controllers coordinate resource scaling with respective access points via backhaul messaging. In addition, distributed techniques for resource scaling are described herein, wherein neighboring access points communicate with each other via over-the-air messaging to determine a local optimal resource apportionment.

I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to techniques for scheduling resources in a wireless communication system.
II. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various communication services; for instance, voice, video, packet data, broadcast, and messaging services can be provided via such wireless communication systems. These systems can be multiple-access systems that are capable of supporting communication for multiple terminals by sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems.
Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless terminals. In such a system, each terminal can communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the terminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from the terminals to the base stations. This communication link can be established via a single-in-single-out (SISO), multiple-in-signal-out (MISO), or a multiple-in-multiple-out (MIMO) system.
Wireless communication networks, such as cellular networks, can be constructed as an ad hoc network of one or more wireless terminals and one or more wireless access points, each of which can be fixed or mobile. In the event that multiple access points are located in a common local area (e.g., within the communication range of a common terminal), signals communicated by a serving access point for a terminal can be subject to interference from signals communicated by other access points in the local area. In turn, this interference can lower the quality of service (QoS) associated with signals communicated to the terminal.
Traditionally, QoS requirements for a wireless communication network are enforced through resource scheduling mechanisms at respective access points. For example, resource scheduling can be conducted at an access point by randomly selecting resources to be utilized by the access point at a given time. However, it would be desirable to implement one or more resource control mechanisms for a wireless communication network that provide at least further reduced interference and/or increased QoS for multiple access points located in a common local area.

Resource scaling in wireless communication systems


The present disclosure provides for an above-ground mobile storage tank that can be used in a variety of different commercial applications. In one embodiment, the storage tank may comprise a tank shell, wherein the tank shell further comprises at least one floor wall, at least one top wall, and at least four side walls. The side walls may each be affixed to the floor wall and the top wall to from an interior tank space. Each of the wall panels may comprise a copolymer polypropylene material. The storage tank may also comprise a plurality of steel reinforcements, wherein each reinforcement is configured to encapsulate the tank shell. Each reinforcement may be affixed to a trailer, which is configured to transport the tank shell. The storage tank may also comprise a plurality of slip plates located on the trailer to enable the tank shell to “float” above the trailer.

Large scale mobile storage tanks are used in a variety of different commercial applications including oil and gas (for hydraulic fracturing, "fracing"), environmental, municipal, industrial, and waste water treatment and removal. Currently, these storage tanks are constructed from materials such as carbon steel or stainless steel. Due to the chemicals used in various industrial processes including fracing, these steel storage tanks are prone to corrosion, breakdown, and decay. In the case of carbon steel storage tanks, efforts have been made to coat the tanks with materials such as an industrial paint (for example, a carboline paint) or rubber. Applying these coatings results in a storage tank that is not homogenous (the coating and the underlying steel tank). These coated storage tanks are unable to withstand the use of corrosive chemicals, causing the coatings to wear and breakdown, leading to corrosion of the tank shell. These coated storage tanks also do not allow for the expansion and contraction of the tank shell itself. Stainless steel tanks are not coated at all, and corrosion of the tank due to exposure to chemicals is inevitable.
There exists a need for a corrosion-resistant storage tank that is capable of withstanding the use of these chemicals. The storage tank of the present disclosure overcomes the limitations of the prior art by providing a, corrosion-resistant mobile storage tank constructed from a copolymer polypropylene. Constructing the storage tank using a copolymer polypropylene also provides for a storage tank that is lighter, lower cost, and more flexible than current tank designs.
Currently, steel storage tanks are designed with a straight-line mid-mixing pipeline. In such design, if a valve external to the storage tank is left open, is faulty, or is degraded, there is a risk that the contents of the entire storage tank, including potentially harmful chemicals used in the industrial processes, will drain out. It would be advantageous if the corrosion-resistant storage tank could also incorporate a safety feature into its pipeline to prevent the emptying of the entire tank. The storage tank of the present disclosure may also overcome the limitations of the prior art by providing a "u" shaped mid-mixing pipeline.
Currently, storage tanks are configured with an apex "v" shaped bottom, but a flat top. Because storage tanks are used in a variety of different climates, including those with harsh winters, these flat tops present the risk of accumulating large amounts of rain water and snow. It would be advantageous if the corrosion-resistant storage tank was also designed to prevent the accumulation of rain and snow. Because commercial applications often require the use of a large number of storage tanks, it would also be advantageous if the corrosion-resistant storage tank also maintained the general geometry of storage tanks currently being used, namely rectangular, closed-top tanks. This would enable integration of the superior storage tanks into the industry while maintaining continuity among the size and shape of the various storage tanks. The storage tank of the present disclosure overcomes the limitations of the prior art by providing a tank design with both an apex "v" shaped top and bottom.

Closed top, corrosion-resistant mobile storage tank


There is disclosed a rotatable orifice tip holder for use in airless spraying which has an orifice tip member mounted in a transverse through bore of the holder. The through bore has a major portion of a first, large diameter and a lesser portion of a substantially lesser diameter. The orifice tip member is press fitted into the through bore with its hemispherical head received within the lesser diameter portion of the through bore and a sealing plug is permanently seated, by a press fit into the major portion of the through bore. The sealing plug has a through passageway of a small diameter and a counter bore of greater diameter but lesser length and is oriented in the through bore of the holder with the counter bore adjacent the inlet face of the orifice tip member. The volume of the counterbore is maintained at a minimal volume which provides adequate diffusion of the spray jet during the cleaning operation yet which exhibits minimal frictional pressure loss during spraying. Further, the reduced diameter of the through bore in the spray tip turret member provides a maximum seal area while in the cleaning position, and avoids leaks during the cleaning of the tip.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a spray tip for airless spraying and, in particular, to an improved mounting of an orifice tip in a spray tip head.
2. Brief Statement of the Prior Art
The field of airless spraying and equipment used has been well established over many decades of use. Typically, paints, stains, lacquers, etc., are sprayed at high pressures, usually from 2,000 to 5,000 psi, through a minute orifice having a shape and configuration which imparts a desired spray pattern to the discharge. Because of the abrasive nature of the liquid and the relatively high pressures employed, parts which are subjected to highly abrasive conditions, such as the orifice tip member, are formed of very high wear-resistant material, e.g., tungsten carbide and the like.
The small diameter orifice of the orifice tip member unavoidably clogs during painting and a universal design has been to mount the carbide tip member in a holder which can be rotated to reverse the carbide tip member between spraying and cleaning positions. In this manner, any clogs in the orifice can be blown out with the high pressure liquid supplied to the spray head.
Because the liquid will discharge as a jet under relatively high pressures when blowing clogs out of the orifice, safety concerns have resulted in the design of spray tip heads with spray guards to prevent placing one's finger adjacent the orifice tip. Another innovation which has been used commercially comprises stepping the diameter of the passageway communicating with the orifice tip member to provide a small diameter orifice in the cleaning position. It has been found that this disrupts the liquid stream and causes atomization and dispersion of the liquid. Other techniques which have been used for a similar result include positioning a diffuser pin (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,268) or other obstruction to break up a coherent liquid jet and cause the liquid to atomize into a safe, dispersed spray.
A difficulty with the aforementioned techniques is that they create an undesirable frictional pressure loss that decreases the efficiency of the spraying operation. Also some leakage occurs during cleaning operations as the rotatable member has a reduced sealing surface when it is in the cleaning position. As a consequence, most of the spray tip heads will leak or dribble paint when operated in the cleaning position. This is an inconvenience and annoyance to the spray operator.
Another trend in the airless spray industry is to provide rotatable orifice tip holders which can be operated with finger or hand pressure without the use of wrenches or other tools. This tendency has exacerbated the aforementioned sealing problems as leaks cannot be avoided by increasing the compressive pressure on the seals as such increased pressure would seize the holder and prevent its facile rotation.

Airless spray head with improved orifice tip mounting


This invention relates to the use of heteroarenesulfonyl groups as protecting groups for amino groups, particularly the amino groups of amino acids, and specifically to nitrogen-protected (N-protected) amino acid reagents, which are particularly well-suited for use in peptide syntheses. In particular, the N-protected amino acid reagent is an N-heteroarenesulfonyl-protected amino acid halide. The heteroarenesulfonyl protecting groups are readily removed under relatively mild conditions.

The rational synthesis of peptides has been a challenging task that has been solved only in the past few decades. The principal reaction in peptides synthesis is acylation of the amino group of one amino acid by the carboxyl group of another amino acid to form an amide bond. Since each amino acid has both an amino group and a carboxyl group, a direct approach leads to the formation of many different peptides. A general method that has been developed to avoid these difficulties involves the use of protecting (or blocking) groups, i.e., the use of certain groups to attach to the amino group or the carboxyl group of the amino acid and render the amino group or carboxyl group unreactive while still permitting the desired reaction to take place. Thus, the successful formation of the desired amide bond requires activation of the functional groups that participate in the bond forming reaction and protection of those that are not involved. Both amino and carboxyl protecting (or blocking) groups have been developed.
The carboxyl groups of amino acids are normally protected by conversion to an ester. Since esters are hydrolyzed more easily than amides, the protecting group can be removed readily by alkaline hydrolysis. Although simple methyl or ethyl esters have been used, benzyl and tert-butyl are most commonly employed because each of the latter can be removed under a variety of conditions. For example, the benzyl ester can be removed not only by alkaline hydrolysis but also by catalytic hydrogenation, Li/NH.sub.3 reduction, or HBr/AcOH. The teft-butyl ester is significantly more stable to base and nucleophiles, but it can be readily cleaved under acidic conditions, such as with trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) alone or in organic solvents.
Protection of the amino group is a much more challenging task. Early efforts used the p-toluenesulfonyl (tosyl or Ts) group as the protecting group (E. Fischer, Chem. Ber., 48 (1915) 93). Sodium in liquid ammonia, for example, was used to cleave the Ts group (du Vigneaud et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 76 (1954), 3313). These methods are associated with a number of problems and find little use in modern peptide synthesis. Later efforts used alkoxycarbonyl protecting groups, e.g., the benzyloxycarbonyl (Cbz) and the t-butoxycarbonyl (Boc) groups. The Cbz group is readily introduced, and can be removed under a number of mild conditions, such as hydrogenolysis, Na/NH.sub.3 reduction, etc. The Boc group is also readily introduced and can be cleaved with HCl in organic solvents, neat TFA or TFA in organic solvents. Still more recently, 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) group has found widespread applications in both solid-phase and solution peptide synthesis. The Fmoc group is remarkably stable to acidic conditions, but can be readily cleaved with secondary amines via a .alpha.-elimination mechanism. A problem with the use of the Fmoc group, however, is its high cost and large molecular weight which limits its use for large scale application.
To activate the N-acylamino acids for peptide coupling, they are converted to acid chlorides. A problem with acid chlorides derived from N-acylamino acids is that racemization is observed in the peptide coupling step because they undergo facile cyclization to the easily racemized oxazolinones. Although nitrogen protection using the alkoxycarbonyl protecting groups improves amino acid chloride stability in comparison to other acyl groups (e.g., formyl, acetyl, benzoyl), they can still cyclize to oxazolinones, especially if tertiary amines are present. Nonetheless, the Cbz, Boc and Fmoc groups remain the most popular amino protecting groups in peptide synthesis. Due to the success of alkoxycarbonyl protecting groups, sulfur- and phosphorus-based protecting groups have not been widely employed, although the use of arenesulfonamides as amine protective groups was recognized long ago (see, E. Fischer, supra). The known cleavage procedures suffer from harsh conditions and poor generality, and arenesulfonamide cleavage in the amino acid series has been difficult (see, e.g., Horner et al., Chem. Ber. 98 (1965) 3462; Kovas etal. J. Org. Chem. 31 (1996) 119; Rudinger et al., Helv. Chim. 56 (1973) 2216; Kestemont, Tetrahedron Lett. 32 (1991) 1425). Amino acid-derived benzenesulfonamides can be deprotected, but racemization occurs to the extent of 1.5-2.5% with typical amino acids (5% for phenylglycine). Kemp et al., Synthesis, 32 (1988), report the use of anthracene sulfonyl chloride as a protecting group for .beta.-amino acids. The reported reaction involves the actual synthesis of the desired .beta.-amino acid. Fukuyama et al., Tet. Lett. 36 (1995) 6373 report the use of p-nitrobenzenesulfonyl chloride as a protecting agent.
While the alkoxycarbonyl groups arguably possess very desired properties as an amine protecting group (i.e., ready introduction, crystallinity, stability under coupling conditions and multiple methods of removal), the racemization problem seems to be inherent in the alkoxylcarbonyl groups because the possibility of oxazolinone formation is always present. Oxazolinone derivatives are much more prone to racemization, especially in the presence of an amine base, which is often used as an additive. At the same time, sulfur-based protecting groups have met with limited success, and further, racemization can also occur. Despite recognition and study of various aspects of the problem, the prior art has produced very little in way of the introduction of a readily removable amine protective group in which removal can occur in relatively mild conditions and without racemization, i.e., an N-protected amino acid halide that does not participate in oxazolinone formation.

N-heteroarenesulfonyl-protected amino acid reagents for peptide synthesis


The functional chair includes a backrest support, a backrest, a rotation axis, two rotation plates, an operation rod, a massage roller, and an armrest. The backrest is fixed to the backrest support and has a plurality of operation holes perforated at both sides of the front surface in a zigzag pattern, the rotation axis is fixed to a center of the rear surface of the backrest. The two rotation plates have multiple finger-like extensions formed at horizontally the same location as the operation holes and face while not interfering with each other so as to allow each of the finger-like extensions to rotate on the rotation axis through a rotation sleeve. The operation rod is fixed to the opposite side of each finger-like extension on each of the rotation sleeves and emerges to the front direction of the backrest through each operation hole when each rotation plate rotates.

Generally, chairs are being used as a required necessity for human life for a long time. Also, time to use a chair increases as society is modernizing. Accordingly, the shape and kind of chairs are also being developed in various ways according to the purpose and place of the use.
Recently, a chair with a backrest formed into two divided parts is suggested and being widely used to prevent and correct spinal deformity. In addition, chairs that massage or acupressure shoulders and spinal areas by disposing an electric motor on the inner side of the backrest and operating a massage member by the electric motor are being variously suggested.
However, a typical chair for spinal correction is equipped with a backrest merely divided into two parts, but unable to implement an additional acupressure or massage function. A typical electric motor massage chair is not only expensive but also requiring a separate power. Accordingly, there is a limitation in that the chair could not be used regardless of place.
Taking the limitation into consideration, a chair is disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-0981318 own by the present applicant. The chair includes a backrest comprising two parts each disposed separately rotatable and formed with a massage piece such that the chair can massage a user with the massage piece being in contact with the user's back when the user pushes back the backrest. Since the chair is very complex in structure and performs massage in response to physical movement of a user, massaging area was very limited. Particularly, there is a limitation in that the chair could not be used as an ordinary chair at usual time but used merely for massage.
Taking the limitation into consideration, a "chair having two piece back panel with massager" is disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-1003756. The chair includes two support members concentrically rotating between two backrests rotatably fixed on a separate pivot axis and massagers configured to massage a user's back and spinal area when stopping protrusions formed on each backrest and each support member rotate in engagement with each other in compliance with a user's motion to fold the backrests back.
However, a chair having two piece back panel with massager according to the embodiment of Patent No. 10-1003756 is also very complex in structure. The chair has a limitation in that a user has to push back his/her back and arm area in a big motion for spinal and back massages. There is a possibility that a user suffers a pain and an injury when his/her clothes or skin gets caught between stopping protrusions during the engaged rotation of a backrest stopping protrusions and a support member's protrusions. Even though the chair has some massaging effect since each protrusion massages from the center of spine toward outer side complying with pushing back action on each backrest by the user, the chair does not perform corrective action to gather spinal area to the center.


A display controller (20) includes an information acquisition unit configured to obtain input data of attentional resources of an occupant of a mobile object such as traveling time, occupant status information, driving environment information or display image history and a display-image generation unit configured to generate, in a mode determined based on the input data, a display image to be displayed by a display device (10) provided for the mobile object. The mobile object is for instance a vehicle comprising a head-up display.

Vehicle-installed display devices are known in the art that display various kinds of vehicle-related information that can be obtained from a vehicle such as the vehicle speed, the remaining fuel, the operative position of a shift lever, the total mileage, the sectional mileage, the state of a direction indicator, and the water temperature, and provide such various kinds of vehicle-related information to the occupant of a mobile object such as a driver. The occupant of the vehicle as an example of the mobile object can check such various kinds of vehicle-related information at any time even while he or she is driving the vehicle.
Currently, an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) that assists the driving operation of a vehicle is in common use. For example, various kinds of sensors such as a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) device and a camera are installed in a vehicle. The display device displays, for example, the data detected by a sensor, the status of various kinds of controls that is determined based on the data obtained by the sensor, and the desirable operations performed by the occupant of the vehicle. Accordingly, the occupant of the vehicle can check the control state or perform driving operation upon viewing such kinds of information.
Moreover, the display device can display the information obtained from an external device. For example, the traffic congestion information that is received by a vehicle information communication system (VICS, registered trademark) receiver or accident information can be displayed by the display device.
Further, a system is becoming commercialized in which occupant status information is detected from the occupant of the vehicle to estimate, for example, the physical and mental state of the occupant of the vehicle and a display device displays, for example, information encouraging to take a rest. Moreover, technologies are known in the art to change the way of presenting the information about the vehicle depending on the physical and mental state of the occupant of the vehicle (see, for example, PTL 1). PTL 1 discloses an information presenting device that presents the physical and mental state of the driver in an easy-to-understand format by changing the way of presenting the icon of the vehicle according to the live-subject information of the driver.

Display controller, display device, display system, mobile object, image generation method, and carrier means


A method of manufacturing a flash memory device which an etch-prevention layer, first and second interlayer insulating layers, and first, second and third hard mask layers are sequentially formed on a semiconductor substrate. The third hard mask layer is etched to expose a portion of a region on the second hard mask layer. A photoresist pattern of a line shape is formed on the entire surface such that the photoresist pattern is exposed to be narrower than the region through which the second hard mask layer is exposed. The second hard mask layer is etched using the photoresist pattern as a mask. The first hard mask layer is etched using the photoresist pattern as a mask, and the second and first interlayer insulating layers are then etched using the remaining third and second hard mask layers as masks, thus forming a drain contact hole having a square shape. The etch-prevention layer is etched using the remaining second and first hard mask layers as masks, thereby exposing a predetermined region of the semiconductor substrate and opening the drain contact hole. It is thus possible to improve a bridge occurring between the contacts.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates, in general, to flash memory devices and, more particularly, to a method of manufacturing a flash memory device, in which a contact hole of a square shape is formed through a dual mask process of a line fashion employing a hard mask layer, thus improving a bridge occurring between contacts.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In the formation method of the drain contact hole of a flash memory device, if an exposure process using ArF having a low wavelength as a light source in order to form micro patterns of 70 nm or less is performed using a photoresist (PR), Contact Edge Roughness (CER) of the patterns is degraded. Accordingly, spacer margin between patterns is reduced when the micro patterns are formed, causing a bridge between the patterns.
More particularly, since the space width between the contact holes on the layout is small, the etch selectivity is lowered when the drain contact hole is formed. Areas between the contacts are attached and thus collapse, thereby generating a bridge between the contacts.
During the process of forming an elliptical drain contact hole, if the size of the contact hole is set small in order to secure a space width between the contact holes due to the characteristic of the exposure process, the size of the contact hole in a long-axis direction is increased to reduce bridge margin between a drain select line (DSL) and a drain select line (DSL). It reduces the size of the contact hole and thus makes it difficult to secure the bridge margin between the contacts.
The occurrence of the bridge between the drain contacts results in global column FAILURE. Accordingly, the loss of the yield, which is incurred by one drain contact bridge, is very high.

Method of manufacturing flash memory device


A data reproducing method reproducing data recorded in a super resolution information storage medium in a form of marks having magnitudes less than a resolving power of an incident light beam, and an apparatus thereof. The data reproducing method includes irradiating a first beam having a resolving power causing a super resolution phenomenon and a second beam having a resolving power not causing a super resolution phenomenon into different places on the information storage medium, detecting a first reproduction signal based on the first beam and a second reproduction signal based on the second beam, and compensating for and calculating a temporal delay between the first reproduction signal and the second reproduction signal. Therefore, a signal reflected from a peripheral area of a reproduction beam spot other than a super resolution area can be excluded, thereby improving reproduction signal characteristics.

1. Field of the Invention
An aspect of the present invention relates to a method and apparatus of reproducing data recorded on a super-resolution information storage medium, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus of reproducing data recorded on a super-resolution information storage medium which can improve characteristics of a reproduced signal by removing inter-symbolic interference (ISI) from the super-resolution information storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical recording medium is used as an information storage medium of an optical pickup device for recording and/or reproducing information in a non-contact type. With the progress of the industrial development, information recording media having greater recording density are highly in demanded. Accordingly, development of optical recording media capable of reproducing recording marks having a spot diameter less than a laser beam spot using a super resolution phenomenon is under way.
In general, when a wavelength of light for reproducing data recorded on a recording medium is λ, and a numerical aperture of an objective lens is NA, the limit of reproducible resolution becomes λ/4NA. In other words, since light emitted from a light source is unable to distinguish recording marks having a diameter smaller than λ/4NA from others, it is very often that such data is not reproducible.
However, a recording mark exceeding such a resolving power limit may be reproduced, which is referred to as a super resolution phenomenon. Nowadays, investigation of causes of the super resolution phenomenon and research and development into the super resolution phenomenon are under way. Since super resolution enables reproduction of a recording mark exceeding a resolving power limit, a super resolution information storage medium can markedly realize demands for high density and large storage capacity.
Requirements for commercial use of super-resolution information storage media are that the information storage media satisfy basic recording and reproducing features as storage media. In particular, super resolution information storage media utilize recording beams and reproduction beams having relatively high power compared to conventional information storage media. Furthermore, super resolution information storage media have major issues with reproduction signal characteristics, such as carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR), jitter or RF signal, and with the realization of stable reproduction signals. In order to place super resolution information storage medium into practice, it is a prerequisite for the super resolution information storage medium to satisfy reproduction signal characteristics.
An area of a reproduction beam spot on a super resolution information recording medium where super resolution phenomenon occurs will now be described with reference to FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, marks 110 are recorded on a track 100 of a super resolution information storage medium, and a change in the temperature distribution or optical property occurs within a beam spot 120 landing on a super resolution layer due to a difference in local light intensity. Thus, marks 110 beyond a resolving power limit may also be reproduced. In other words, a change in the temperature distribution or optical characteristic occurs at a partial region of the beam spot 120, and no changes occur at a peripheral area 140 of the partial region. The partial region where such a change occurs, which will be referred to as a super resolution area 130 hereinafter, may be a central portion, as shown in FIG. 1. Such areas where a change in optical characteristics occurs may be consecutive or alternate.
Actually, there are many reports indicating that a CNR large enough to be applied to a practical medium was obtained from marks of the same lengths that are smaller than a resolving power by super resolution reproducing operations using various super-resolution materials. However, actual optical recording is executed not by recording marks of the same lengths at regular intervals but by recording marks of the same lengths at irregular intervals (i.e., a mark position detecting method) or by recording marks of different lengths at irregular intervals (i.e., a mark length detection method). Particularly, in CDs or DVDs, marks of various lengths ranging between 3T and 11T (where T denotes a clock frequency) are complexly recorded. However, none of the above-described super resolution techniques has yet succeeded in reproducing such a complex signal, because signals reflected from an optical recording medium contain not only signals reflected from the area of the beam spot where optical characteristics change but also signals reflected from a peripheral area of the area where optical characteristics change. If there is no signal from the peripheral area, the size of an effective beam spot is substantially reduced, so that a complex signal can be reproduced. However, in the above-described super resolution techniques, a difference between the area where optical characteristics change and the peripheral area is used, and since the difference is small, signals reflected from the peripheral area serve as an obstacle to the spot size reduction. This results in ISI (Inter Symbolic Interference) that occurs when a series of marks are reproduced, so that a complex signal cannot be reproduced with a high resolution.
FIG. 2A illustrates a recording pattern of marks recorded on an information storage medium, and FIG. 2B illustrates an RF signal corresponding to reproduced marks of the recording pattern shown in FIG. 2A. When a wavelength of a laser beam is 405 nm, an NA thereof is 0.85, and a resolving power thereof is approximately 75 nm, the recording pattern is based on a combination of a mark of approximately 75 nm, which is smaller than a resolving power, a mark of approximately 300 nm, which is greater than the resolving power, and a space between the two marks. In the reproduction signal shown in FIG. 2B, when a 300 nm long mark or space is present around a beam spot, a 75 nm long mark is affected by the 300 nm long mark and space so that it is not possible to clearly detect the 75 nm long mark. Areas having 75 nm long marks are indicated by A, B, C, D, E, and F. Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, levels of the reproduction signal for the areas A, B, C, D, E, and F are different according to the numbers of 75 nm long marks and spaces. Further, each of the levels of the reproduction signal for the areas A, B, C, D, E, and F is not constant but variable depending on the surrounding conditions of the 75 nm long mark.
The above-stated problems are caused due to ISI of signals from the peripheral area 140 of the beam spot.

Method and apparatus for reproducing data of super resolution information storage medium


A disc collator includes a series of collating trays for collating multiple discs. A disc can be deposited in any one of a number of trays according to where a user desires the disc to be placed, allowing prompt and timely retrieval of CDs. Motion of the disc collating system picker arm may be along only one axis.

Compact discs are used as a storage medium for digital information. The data is stored on the compact disc by varying the optical characteristics of the disc. This digital information can be any type of data, such as, but not limed to, audio, image, photo and/or video information. In other words, the digital data stored on a compact disc can vary from disc to disc. Different types of compact discs can be provided, a traditional type of compact disc is manufactured using a plastic mold operation. Each compact disc manufactured using the same mold contains the same digital information. As such, large production runs of compact discs which contain the same information, such as a musical composition, are manufactured in an economical manner by using a molding process.
A different type of compact disc which is commercially available is a recordable compact disc. This type of disc is manufactured such that it does not contain data thereon, but can be programmed after it is manufactured. The optical characteristics, therefore, of the compact disc are modified after it is fabricated depending upon the data that is stored on the disc. In the context of the present invention, it is to be understood that reference to a compact disc (CD) includes and encompasses Compact Disc Recordable "CD-R", Compact Disc Readable "CD-RW", CD-ROM, CD-PROM, Digital Versatile Disc "DVD", DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, or any disc for data storage.
To identify the data stored on a compact disc, a label is often printed on one side of the compact disc. For large manufacturing runs of a common compact disc, a silk screen process is often used to apply the label to the compact disc. For small production runs of compact discs, such as those using recordable compact discs, a silk screen operation may not be economical. A custom printing operation, therefore, can be employed to print a custom label on each compact disc. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,734,629 entitled "CD Transporter" issued Mar. 31, 1988 for a description of a compact disc transporter which can be used to move a compact disc between a data recorder and a printer, and which allows for automated processing of recordable compact discs. This transporter moves a single compact disc at a time between stations and places completed compact discs in a stack.
While organization of printed and recorded CDs has been addressed before, a quick and easy system for organization of multiple versions of CDs or of different CDs remains a labor intensive task, requiring a user to sort through a stack of discs, or to examine multiple trays that must be opened and examined.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a system that increases the ability of a user to quickly retrieve printed CDs, and to automatically sort CDs according to a predefined structure.


A picture generating apparatus (1) is provided with: a drawing application processor (11) for instructing a drawing device (13) to generate a 3D image; and a graphics library (12). The drawing application processor is provided with a drawing object information generation device for generating drawing object information to generate an image; and a coordinate transformation information generation device for generating coordinate transformation information. The drawing device generates the 3D image by applying the coordinate transformation information to the drawing object information. Consequently, this ensures the high-speed generation of the image and the ability of replacement of the drawing device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image generating apparatus for and an image generating method of generating a three-dimensional (3D) image on the basis of three-dimensional coordinate information, which is applied to a navigation system or the like, and a computer program to perform the image generating method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, the research development of an electronic control for controlling a drive of a car and the spread of a navigation system for supporting a drive are remarkable. In general, the navigation system is basically designed so as to have various databases and to display map information, current position information, various guidance information, etc. on a display unit. Moreover, such a navigation system is typically designed so as to search for a drive route in accordance with an input condition. It is further designed so as to display the searched drive route and a current position based on a GPS (Global Positioning System) measurement or a self-contained measurement on a map and carry out guidance (navigation) to a destination.
Moreover, in some types of navigation systems, a view on a front side from a currently driving point in addition to the drive route is displayed on a display unit. In addition, an indication of a driving lane, a direction to be curved at a crossing, a distance to a crossing, a distance to a destination, an arrival expectation time and the like are displayed. In such navigation systems, the forward view is displayed as a 3D image in perspective, which is a technique for drawing a 3D image on a plane on the basis of view point of a viewer.
Furthermore, some types of navigation systems is designated to change the forward view displayed as a 3D image according to an advance of a car in order to reproduce the change of the actual view that a driver watches in the car through the front window of the car while driving.
By the way, in order to display a 3D image that continuously changes, it is required to calculate enormous map data containing three-dimensional coordinate information at a high speed, input the data obtained by calculating to a drawing device one after another, and generate many 3D images in a shot time. In response to such a requirement, the technique that a single sequence of data is generated by mixing drawing object information indicating objects to be drawn such as a road, a building and so on and the coordinate transformation information indicating a view point, a field of view, a light source and so on, and a 3D image is generated at a time by using the single sequence of data. For example, the display list of OpenGL developed by Silicon Graphics Inc. has such a construction (Incidentally, OpenGL is a trademark of Silicon Graphics Inc.). However, the coordinate transformation information depends upon a type of drawing device. Because of this, if the coordinate transformation information is mixed with the drawing object information and the particular sequence of data is generated, the sequence of data cannot be used by a type of drawing device which cannot execute this sequence. Therefore, it is difficult to replace the drawing device. Moreover, in this case, there is a technique that the CPU carries out the so-called emulation on the sequence of data and converts it into executable sequence of data. However, since the emulation or conversion takes a long time, it is difficult to increase the speed of the image generating process.
In particular, the new type of drawing device is successively developed. If the current drawing device is replaced with the new type of drawing device, it is required to replace a device for generating the sequence of data for generating the 3D image. If the device for generating the sequence of data is an integrated device containing a function of generating the drawing object information, a function of generating the coordinate transformation information and a function of mixing these two kinds of information, it is required to replace all the functions, so that the replacement becomes on a large scale. Finally, the reconstruction of the whole of the apparatus is required. This prevents the apparatus from being efficiently or effectively generated by replacing only the drawing device. That is, the coordinate transformation that is the important element in the image generating process is operated as a state machine having a status therein. Hence, the function of the drawing device in this coordinate transformation can not cope with it only by replacing a single function, such as a library absorbing a typical device dependence.

Image generating apparatus, image generating method, and computer program


A solid cleansing composition comprising a) soap, b) moisture, c) from about 0.5 to about 5 wt. % TSPP, and d) free fatty acid in a quantity such that a pH above about 9.5 is present when he pH of a 1 wt. % soap bar in water solution is measured.

Tetrasodium pyrophosphate (TSPP) is known for establishing structural properties in soap bars. It is also generally known that the presence of free-fatty acids can significantly reduce the structurant properties of soap bars, i.e. make them softer and more amenable to high wear rate. However, the presence of free-fatty acids increases the lather and skin feel. Therefore, its presence is considered to be an overall positive in soap bars.
It has now been found that certain quantities of free-fatty acid can be incorporated into a soap bar having structurant affecting quantities of TSPP while essentially retaining the structuring affect of the TSPP.

Solid cleansing composition comprising tetrasodium pyrophosphate


A control device for controlling at least one LED module includes: a power supply module arranged to receive power over Ethernet to generate a first supply power; and an illumination controlling module coupled to the power supply module for receiving a communication signal from the Ethernet to generate a serial bus signal to control an illumination of the at least one LED module; wherein the illumination controlling module is powered by the first supply power.

Conventionally, in the field of lighting system, the operation of an illumination control device is either controlled by wireless communication method or wired communication method. For example, the wireless communication method may be the technique of WIFI (Wireless Fidelity), BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy, or Zigbee. The wired communication method may be the technique of DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface), 0-10V, or DMX512. However, when an illumination control device is controlled by the above mentioned communication methods, a power adaptor may be used to externally couple to the illumination control device for providing the suitable supply power. The complex connection between the power adaptor and the illumination control device may increase the design complexity and the cost of the illumination control device. Therefore, there is a need to provide a novel illumination control device with relatively low complexity to solve the above problems.

Illumination control device and related illumination control system


A plurality of piezomaterial bodies, such as panels or slices, are merged together to form a larger piezomaterial body. For example, a 0.75xc3x9722 cm polycrystalline piezomaterial body is formed, where the distances are along lateral or footprint dimensions. The thickness of the piezomaterial body is substantially less than either of the distances along first and second lateral dimensions that define the footprint. Preferably, each piezomaterial body has a panel shape, and a plurality of panels are merged to form a large multi-panel.

This invention relates to ultrasound array transducers and methods for making such transducers. In particular, large transducers or transducers with large footprints are discussed below.
Transducers for medical ultrasound include a plurality of layers, such as an acoustic backing material layer, electrode layers, a layer of piezomaterial, an acoustic matching layer or layers, and a lens. The size of the largest manufacturable transducer is typically limited by the piezomaterial that is commercially available. The piezomaterial, such as polycrystalline PZT, is pressed and sintered or otherwise formed into a billet. The billet is sliced, and each slice is ground to a final thickness. The size of the ground slices is restricted by the fragility characteristics of piezomaterial as well as by the billet itself. As the slice size increases, the fragility characteristics lead to more manufacturing yield loss due to cracking and even destruction during use.
To prevent destruction of piezomaterial from handling and manufacturing, the ground slice of piezomaterial may be subjected to a compositing process. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,148 to Klicker et al., the piezomaterial therein is formed or diced into isolated strips or posts, and the intervening gaps are filled with a polymer. The composited piezomaterial forms a flexible mat from the otherwise rigid billet or slice. However, the size of a composited piezomaterial is still limited by the size of the piezomaterial billet.
Other types of piezomaterials, such as monocrystalline PZT or PZN, often require further restriction of the size of the piezomaterial layer or slice. Monocrystalline PZT provides improved bandwidth for harmonic performance, but monocrystalline piezomaterials are made at present in single crystal billets of a much smaller size than pressed and sintered polycrystalline PZT powder (e.g. a maximum of xcx9c1 cmxc3x971 cm). Furthermore, monocrystalline piezomaterials are more prone to fracture during manufacture and use than polycrystalline materials. While compositing and other manufacturing processes, such as sintering, may result in more durable monocrystalline piezomaterials, the maximum available crystal size is still limited.
The piezomaterials discussed above are used to create an array of piezoelements for medical ultrasound image. Another use of piezomaterials is for non-destructive testing (NDT). It is known to create a crude mosaic of piezomaterials on a non-attenuative block, such as a metallic material, for allowing transmission of acoustic energy through the block into a workpiece under inspection. The block is placed against the material to be tested. Acoustic waves are generated by the piezomaterial and propagate through the nonattenuative block and into the material for testing. One prior art NDT transducer of this type has one mosaic xe2x80x9cpanelxe2x80x9d of PZT per piezoelement and just a few elements in total. An attenuative backer is not used, but instead the sound beam is fired through the nonattenuative standoffxe2x80x94usually without any matching layer(s).
The present invention is defined by the following claims, and nothing in this section should be taken as a limitation on those claims. By way of introduction, the preferred embodiment described below includes a medical ultrasound transducer and a method for manufacturing the transducer.
A plurality of piezomaterial bodies, such as billets, slices or monocrystals, are merged together to form a larger piezomaterial body. For example, a 2 cm widthxc3x9716 cm length footprint piezomaterial body is formed, from 8 2xc3x972 cm subsections. The thickness, t, of the cojoined piezomaterial body is substantially less than either of the distances along first and second lateral dimensions, w and 1, that define the footprint. t is usually chosen to be approximately xc2xc wavelength of the transducers center frequency and may typically be on the order of 1 mm or a fraction thereof. Preferably, each piezomaterial body or subsection has a panel shape, and a plurality of such panels may be merged to form a large multi-panel such as the 2xc3x9716 cm multipanel of 8 2xc3x972 cm subsections.
Since the cost of laterally small bodies of piezomaterial is less per unit area, a large piezomaterial body may be constructed for a lesser cost by merging a plurality of small panels. The panels are merged prior to or during manufacture and lamination of the transducer.
In one aspect, a plurality of panels are merged to form a whole-breast transducer. In this embodiment, each panel comprises a polycrystalline piezomaterial body. Monocrystalline panels or paneling of polycrystals having differing frequency constants may also be employed in order to improve acoustic harmonic performance or for other reasons.
In one embodiment, two piezomaterial bodies are placed adjacent each other along lateral edges. The resulting larger piezomaterial body has the same thickness as the two individual piezomaterial bodies but a larger footprint area than either of the two piezomaterial bodies.
In another embodiment, a medical ultrasound transducer includes a backing block and at least one matching layer. A multi-panel of piezomaterial comprises at least first and second abutted panels. The multi-panel also includes a backing material side and a matching layer side. The backing material side comprises first and second abutted panel sides of the first and second panels, respectively. The matching layer side comprises third and fourth abutted panel sides of the first and second panels, respectively.
In yet another embodiment, a medical ultrasound transducer is made by providing at least first and second panels of piezomaterial. The two panels are abutted to form an elongated multi-panel. The elongated multi-panel is stacked with at least the backing material and a matching layer.
Further aspects and advantages of the invention are discussed below in conjunction with the preferred embodiments.

Medical diagnostic ultrasound transducer and method of manufacture


An organic light emitting display (OLED) panel has a plurality of organic light emitting diodes. The organic light emitting diodes are electrically connected to a plurality of segment lines and a plurality of common lines in a matrix structure. The organic light emitting diodes electrically connected to the same common lines are divided into a first group and a second group. Driving currents are separately supplied to the organic light emitting diodes of the first group and the second group according to a first pulse width modulation (PWM) manner and a second PWM manner. The first PWM manner and the second PWM manner have complementary waveforms in a period.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method for driving an organic light emitting display (OLED) panel. More particularly, the present invention relates to a pulse width modulation method for driving an OLED panel.
2. Description of Related Art
Flat panel displays are generally classified into inorganic devices and organic devices according to the display materials used in the flat panel displays. The inorganic devices include plasma display panels, field emission displays and the like; the organic devices include liquid crystal displays, organic light emitting displays (OLED) and the like. The OLED is in the spotlight because of its operating speed being faster than that of the liquid crystal display by thirty thousand times. In addition, the OLED has advantages of wide viewing angle and high brightness due to emitting light by itself.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional OLED 100. An OLED panel 110 has a plurality of organic light emitting diodes 112, which are driven by a segment driver 120 and a common driver 130 through segment lines 122 and common lines 132. Particularly, the organic light emitting diodes 112 are electrically connected to the segment lines 122 and common lines 132 in a matrix structure. In the prior art, a pulse width modulation (PWM) manner is provided to supply driving currents to the organic light emitting diodes 112. The driving currents of the PWM manner may have different pulse widths. The pulse width determines the intensity of the light emitted from the organic light emitting diode 112.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of waveforms provided by a conventional PWM manner, in which the waveforms GS1 to GS4 of 2-bit grayscales are illustrated as an example. In a period, the pulse widths of the waveforms GS1 to GS4 are altered in accordance with different grayscales. However, the rising edges of the waveforms corresponding to different grayscales are all positioned at a starting time t0 of the period T. The coherent rising of the waveforms GS1 to GS4 causes a peak current to be generated at the starting time t0 of the period T. The peak current increases the required Vcc of the segment driver 120 (as illustrated in FIG. 1), and the power consumption of the OLED 100 is thus raised.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of waveforms provided by another conventional PWM manner, in which the waveforms GS1 to GS4 of 2-bit grayscales are illustrated as an example. In this PWM manner, the rising edges of the waveforms GS1 to GS4 corresponding to different grayscales are changed from the starting time t0 to other times (e.g. t1 and t3) of the period T. The peak current caused by the coherent rising of different grayscale waveforms GS1 to GS4 is therefore decreased. Nevertheless, if the organic light emitting diodes 112 electrically connected to the same common line 132 (as illustrated in FIG. 1) are simultaneously represented by the same grayscale, the driving currents having the same waveform are supplied at the same time. Consequently, the peak current issue still remains.

Pulse width modulation method for driving an OLED panel


In various embodiments methods are provided for identifying a mammal having an elevated risk for an adverse cardiac event (e.g. an MI) and/or determining the prognosis for the mammal. In certain embodiments the methods comprise determining, or causing to be determined, the presence and/or level of antibodies that bind a malondialdehyde acetaldehyde adduct (MAA adduct) in a biological sample from the mammal, where an elevated level of anti-MAA adduct antibodies, as compared to the level found in a normal healthy mammal is an indicator that that said mammal has one or more atherosclerotic lesions and/or is at elevated risk for a myocardial infarction.

Atherosclerotic sequelae, such as peripheral arterial occlusion disease, coronary artery disease as well as the apoplectic cerebral insultus, are still among the main causes of death in the United States, Europe, and in large parts of Asia. In particular, coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of mortality in the U.S., and the cause of death for one in 2.7 Americans.
The development of the atherosclerosis is considered to be a chronic progressive inflammation of the arterial vessel wall which is characterized by a complex interaction of growth factors, cytokines and cell interactions. In general, LDLs and other proteins become oxidized, bind and activate endothelial cells and then move into the tissue surrounding the vasculature. Macrophages bind to the activated endothelial cells and infiltrate into the area. Scavenger receptors (SRs) on macrophages and endothelial cells bind and internalize these materials forming "foam cells". Lipid peroxidation occurs and more LDLs and proteins are oxidized that bind to the endothelial macrophages. The expression of endothelial adhesion molecules such as selectins, integrins, ICMA-1, VCAM-1 and platelet-endothelial-cell adhesion molecule-1, and the like, mediate adhesion of monocytes and T-lymphocytes in the lumen and inflammatory cytokines/chemokines (e.g., IL-6, CRP, TNF, IL-1, etc.) are released. Eventually substantial cellular apoptosis/necrosis occurs. The plaque becomes unstable and ultimately the cap is destroyed.
Importantly, 70% of individuals who are 40 years of age and older have CAD, however, it is subclinical with no physical symptoms. As well, there is no currently available non-invasive testing that is able to identify these CAD individuals. Invasive testing (e.g., cardiac catheterization) of these patients to determine the presence of non-obstructive and subclinical CAD is contraindicated. Non-invasive imaging including computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) coronary angiography (CTA and MRA) are not reliable in the detecting these CAD lesions.

Kit for detecting coronary artery disease comprising an MAA protein adduct and reagents that bind to antibodies

Board of Regents of The University Of Nebraska


Razors cartridges including a guard, a cap, and at least two blades with parallel sharpened edges located between the guard and cap are provided. A first blade defines a blade edge nearest the guard and a second blade defines a blade edge nearest the cap. The first blade has a cutter force less than the cutter force of the second blade.

In shaving, it is desirable to achieve a close shave, while also providing good shaving comfort. Factors that affect shaving performance include the frictional resistance between the blade edge and the skin and the cutter force applied by the blade to the hair.
It is desirable to provide a razor cartridge having a plurality of razor blades contained therein each of which has a sharpened edge. The sharpened edge reduces the cutter force of the blade as it engages the hair thereby improving shaving comfort. However, it has been found that when using blades with low cutter force in a cartridge and arranged to have a progressive geometry such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,777, the overall shaving experience becomes uncomfortable. It is believed that this is due to the fact that there is an overall acceptable shaving pressure level that may be applied against the skin. If the shaving pressure is too high, the skin will be irritated. In a razor cartridge with progressive geometry, the last blade having a positive exposure will lead to an unacceptable shaving pressure if the cutter force is too low.
It is desirable to provide a razor cartridge having blades with sharpened edges that does not produce an unacceptable shaving pressure applied to the skin of the user.


A system, method, and program product for re-parameterizing one or more three-dimensional Catmull-Clark models is disclosed. Each of the models has one or more surfaces and one or more extraordinary vertices. One or more adjacent iso-parameter lines of the model have a spacing between them that increases as the iso-parameter lines approach the extraordinary vertex. A re-parameterization process that re-parameterizes the model so that one or more of the extraordinary vertices have adjacent iso-parameter lines with spacing that does not increase as the lines approach the extraordinary vertex.

Subdivision surfaces are emerging as a powerful representation for shape design. Their simplicity and potential to overcome difficulties associated with traditional spline-based modeling has made them a popular choice for several applications, including industrial modeling, movie production, and games.
Subdivision defines a smooth surface recursively, as the limit of a sequence of meshes. A finer mesh is obtained from a coarse mesh by applying a set of fixed refinement rules, for example the Catmull-Clark rules (see Catmull, E. and Clark, J., Recusively Generated B-Spline Surfaces on Arbitrary Topological Meshes, CAD 10 (6), pp. 350-355, 1978). The initial, coarsest mesh is also known as the base mesh. FIG. 2 shows a prior art example of a base mesh and a sequence of refinements that lead to a smooth surface. A subdivision surface (FIG. 2E) is generated from an initial control polyhedron (FIG. 2A) by repeated subdivision (FIGS. 2B-2D). Control meshes obtained at several intermediate subdivision steps are shown in the middle (FIGS. 2B-2D). In this example, the Catmull-Clark subdivision scheme was applied.
The initial coarsest mesh serves as a base domain over which the resulting surface is naturally parameterized. See FIG. 3. Intuitively, the correspondence between control points on a given subdivision level and points in the base domain can be illustrated using two copies of the base mesh and applying in parallel midpoint subdivision on one copy (FIG. 3A) and Catmull-Clark subdivision on the other (FIG. 3B), as illustrated in FIG. 3. This ability to cast subdivision surfaces as parametric surfaces over a domain is crucial for many operations on this type of representation.
Some formal background on the definition and properties of natural parameterizations is now provided. A review of existing methods for exact evaluation at arbitrary parameter values is also included.
Throughout this disclosure, we use the term control point (or simply point) to refer to points computed by subdivision. We also use the term vertex to designate vertices of the polyhedron that serves as a base domain, as well as vertices added to it by midpoint subdivision. We also make use of the concepts of valence and extraordinary vertex/point. The valence of a vertex is an integer number equal to the number of faces incident to that vertex. A vertex is termed boundary vertex if it lies on the boundary of an open mesh. A vertex which is not a boundary vertex is called an interior vertex. For Catmull-Clark meshes, an interior vertex of the base mesh which has a valence different than four or a boundary vertex with valence different than two is deemed extraordinary (see vertex marked with circle 210 in FIG. 2A). The concepts of 1-ring and 2-ring around a vertex allow us to refer to the mesh neighborhood around that vertex. The 1-ring around a vertex is defined as the set of vertices belonging to faces adjacent to that vertex. The 2-ring around a vertex is defined as the set formed by the union of its 1-ring and the 1-rings of the vertices in the 1-ring different from the vertex itself. Parallel definitions can be obtained from the definitions above by replacing the word "vertex" with the word "point" to define the concepts of boundary point, interior point, extraordinary point, and 1-ring and 2-ring around a point.
More formally, let D denote the subset of R3 corresponding to the base domain. Repeated subdivision generates a sequence of piecewise linear maps defined over the common domain, D. When this sequence converges uniformly (as it is the case for the Catmull-Clark scheme), the limit map ƒ: D→R3 defines the limit surface of subdivision. For the Catmull-Clark scheme, the limit surface around an extraordinary point is completely defined by the set of points in the 2-ring around the extraordinary point. This set is called a control set. Let ƒ[p] denote the limit surface generated by subdivision from the control set p. For converging subdivision schemes, the limit function of subdivision can be decomposed into a sum of basis functions:
                                          f                                      [              p              ]                                                      (                          u              ,              v                        )                          =                              ∑            i                                                        a              i                                                                  f                i                                                          (                                  u                  ,                  v                                )                                                                        (        1        )
These so-called eigenbasis functions are the limit functions generated by the eigenvectors of the subdivision matrix S: ƒi:=ƒ[xi], where xi is the eigenvector of the subdivision matrix S corresponding to the eigenvalue λi: Sxi=λixi. It has been shown in Zorin, D. Subdivision and Multiresolution Surface Representations. Pd.D. Thesis, Caltech, 1997 that the eigenbasis functions satisfy the following scaling relation:
                                          f            i                                          (                                          u                2                            ,                              v                2                                      )                          =                              λ            i                                                        f              i                                                  (                              u                ,                v                            )                                                          (        2        )
It is possible to directly evaluate subdivision surfaces and their derivatives up to any order at arbitrary parameter values without the need for explicit subdivision, as proposed in Stam, J., Exact Evaluation of Catmull-Clark Subdivision Surfaces at Arbitrary Parameter Values, Proceedings of Siggraph 98, pp. 395-404, 1998 and in Zorin, D. and Kristjansson, D., Evaluation of Piecewise Smooth Subdivision Surfaces, Visual Computer, 2002.
The evaluation algorithm described in Zorin, D. and Kristjansson, D., Evaluation of Piecewise Smooth Subdivision Surfaces, Visual Computer, 2002 is now reviewed in the context of the Catmull-Clark subdivision scheme.
The evaluation problem can be stated as follows: "Given a quadrilateral face j of the base mesh parameterized over the unit square [0,1]×[0,1] and parametric coordinates (u, v) within this face, find the value of the subdivision surface ƒ(u, v, j)∈R3 at this parameter value."
If the given quadrilateral face contains no extraordinary vertices, the surface can be evaluated as a bi-cubic spline patch defined by the control vertices of the face after an additional subdivision step. If the face contains extraordinary vertices, we can assume without restricting the generality of the problem, that it has a single extraordinary vertex (otherwise the problem can be reduced to this case after one subdivision step).
Let y=(u, v, j) be a point in the domain of the surface different from an extraordinary vertex. An important observation is that there exists a sufficiently fine subdivision level m such that y is located ina quadrilateral  on level m and the control mesh of  does not contain any extraordinary vertices. This means that the surface over  is polynomial and can be evaluated explicitly (including at pointy) using bi-cubic spline evaluation. Obviously, for points closer to the extraordinary vertex, the level m is higher than for points farther away. This interpretation leads to a conceptual decomposition of the neighborhood around an extraordinary vertex into concentric layers. These layers correspond to the number of subdivision steps required to isolate the location being evaluated from the extraordinary vertex. Formally, if S denotes the subdivision matrix, the control meshes of quadrilaterals on level m can be computed from the initial control mesh by a multiplication with the m-th power of the subdivision matrix: Sm. These observations lead to a direct evaluation algorithm as outlined in the pseudo-code of Algorithm 1 and as illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 5.
Problems with the Prior Art
By definition, a surface ƒ: D→R3 is C1-continuous if for any point x∈D there is a neighborhood of x, Ux⊂D and a regular parameterization of ƒ(Ux) over the unit disk in the plane. Intuitively, this means that a surface is smooth around a given point if it behaves like a plane in its immediate vicinity.
According to this definition, the proof that the limit surface generated by a subdivision scheme is C1-continuous around an extraordinary point amounts to showing that a regular parameterization as required in the definition exists at that point. It has been shown that, in the case of Catmull-Clark surfaces, such a parameterization exists and hence, they are C1-continuous (see below also). However, it turns out that at the extraordinary points, the natural parameterization discussed above, do not satisfy the regularity requirement for valences greater than 4. To prove that this is the case, consider the neighborhood around an extraordinary vertex and expressions (1) and (2). For simplicity, we assume that the extraordinary vertex is situated at the origin (i.e., ai=0).
If we derivate expression (1) with respect to u, we obtain:
            ∂              ∂        u                        f                    [        p        ]                        (              u        ,        v            )        =            ∑      i                          a        i                          ∂                  ∂          u                                            f          i                                  (                      u            ,            v                    )
The expression of the derivative with respect to v is similar and omitted for brevity. From (2), we have:
            ∂              ∂        u                                f        i                          (                              u            2                    ,                      v            2                          )              =            (              2                          λ          i                    )                  ∂              ∂        u                                f        i                          (                  u          ,          v                )            and by induction,
                                          ∂                          ∂              u                                                                    f              i                                                  (                                                u                                      2                    m                                                  ,                                  v                                      2                    m                                                              )                                      =                                            (                              2                                                  λ                  i                                            )                        m                                          ∂                          ∂              u                                                                    f              i                                                  (                              u                ,                v                            )                                                          (        3        )
From (3), it follows that for m→∞ the value
      ∂          ∂      u                    f      i                  (              0        ,        0            )      is unbounded if (2λi)>1. For the Catmull-Clark scheme, the subdominant eigenvalue is larger than ½ for valences greater than 4, which proves our claim that derivatives computed based on the natural parameterization diverge around extraordinary points corresponding to extraordinary vertices of valence greater than 4. Using the same argument, if (2λi)<1 the value of
      ∂          ∂      u                    f      i                  (              0        ,        0            )      is zero for m→∞. This is the case for extraordinary points corresponding to extraordinary vertices of valence 3. FIG. 4 illustrates the behavior of the iso-parameter lines around extraordinary vertices of valence 3 (FIG. 4A), 5 (FIG. 4B), and 13 (FIG. 4C), respectively. Intuitively, the behavior of the derivatives can be observed by examining the spacing between iso-parameter lines. For valences greater than 4, the spacing between consecutive lines increases as they approach the extraordinary point as the derivatives diverge. For valence 3 the spacing between iso-parameter lines decreases as the derivatives converge to zero.
All references cited above are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Aspects of the Invention
An aspect of the invention is an improved system and method for general three-dimensional surface modeling.
An aspect of the invention is an improved system and method for re-parameterizing three-dimensional models represented as Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces.
An aspect of the invention is an improved system and method for surface evaluation in solid modeling.

System, method, and program product for re-parameterizing three dimensional models represented as Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces

International Business Machines Corporation


Data requested from a disk drive by a host is read continuously from sectors in tracks on a rotating disk and is temporarily stored in buffer memory within the disk drive. Before releasing the sectors for host access, each sector is checked for errors, and if errors are identified, error correction is attempted in a correction engine, using a selected error correction facility. If the errors are not corrected using the first selected correction facility, the bad sector is held in the buffer memory until the correction engine is idle. The correction engine is idle, for example, when good sectors (which have no errors) are read and are immediately released for host access. This idle time in the correction engine is used to attempt error correction using one or more different correction facilities. If the errors are corrected using the correction engine's idle time, it is not necessary to re-read the sector.

In a conventional disk drive, data is written to and read from a rotating magnetic medium (disk) by a write head and a read head mounted on a head slider. The disk drive writes and reads data in response to commands from a host, such as a personal computer.
In a disk drive, data is written to the disk on concentric tracks, in sectors defined within the tracks. When the disk drive receives a request for data from its host, the disk drive moves the read head to the first track having requested data, reads the relevant sector or sectors from the disk, and repeats that process until all of the requested data has been retrieved.
As the data is read, it is temporarily stored in an internal memory in the disk drive, while it is checked for errors. In the absence of errors, the data is released for access by the host. If errors are detected in a sector, though, an error correction engine attempts to correct them, using one or more algorithms. If the errors in the bad sector are not corrected, the data is typically re-read from the disk, which requires an additional rotation of the disk over the bad sector. This is inefficient, and increases the time required to correct the errors and release the data for host access. Thus, there is a need for methods and apparatus for correcting such data errors which are more efficient, and reduce or eliminate the need for re-reading data from the disk during the error correction process.
Accordingly, one object of this invention is to provide new and improved methods and apparatus for correcting errors in data read from a disk drive.
Another object is to provide new and improved error correction methods and apparatus that reduce the time required for error correction.

Methods and apparatus for correcting errors in data read from a disk drive


Embodiments of the present invention provide an information transmission method, including: determining, by a user equipment (UE), a first subframe; configuring the UE to send a first uplink signal in the first subframe; determining, by the UE, that the first uplink signal is a first type of uplink signal, where the first type of uplink signal occupies a first part of symbols of the first subframe, and the number of symbols included in the first part of symbols is less than the number of symbols included in the first subframe; and detecting, by the UE, a downlink control channel on a second part of symbols in the first subframe, where the first part of symbols and the second part of symbols do not overlap in time domain.

A duplex mode of a radio communications system includes time division duplex (TDD, Time Division Duplex) and frequency division duplex (FDD, Frequency Division Duplex). On one TDD carrier, a UE cannot receive and send information at the same time, which means that either uplink transmission or downlink transmission is allowed at a given point of time. FDD systems may also be classified into full-duplex FDD and half-duplex FDD, both of which have a pair of carriers, namely, one uplink carrier and one downlink carrier. In the full-duplex FDD, a UE can separately receive and send information on the pair of uplink and downlink carriers at the same time; however, in the half-duplex FDD, a UE can only use a carrier of one direction at a given point of time, which means that either the downlink carrier or the uplink carrier is used.
In a radio communications system, a carrier aggregation technology may be used to improve a peak rate of a user equipment (UE, User Equipment), to be specific, multiple carriers may be configured together for one UE to use. The multiple carriers may be multiple FDD carriers or multiple TDD carriers, and if the multiple carriers are multiple TDD carriers, uplink-downlink configurations on the multiple TDD carriers are the same.
A dynamic TDD carrier technology may be introduced into an evolved radio communications system in the future. Specifically, in the existing TDD carrier technology, both uplink and downlink subframes on a TDD carrier are configured by using broadcast signaling, and switch between uplink and downlink subframes is slow or even does not occur at all. However, in the dynamic TDD carrier technology, directions of some or all subframes on a dynamic TDD carrier may be dynamically determined by a base station according to a service requirement of a UE, that is, one subframe may be dynamically changed to an uplink subframe or a downlink subframe. Apparently, the UE still cannot receive or send information at the same time.
A carrier aggregation technology in which uplink-downlink configurations of carriers are different may also be introduced into an evolved radio communications system in the future. Specifically, for example, two TDD carriers may be configured for a UE, and TDD uplink-downlink configurations of the two TDD carriers are different. In another example, one FDD carrier and one TDD carrier may be aggregated, and uplink-downlink configurations of the two carriers are also different. In this case, a conflicted subframe exists in some subframes, that is to say, the conflicted subframe is an uplink subframe on one TDD carrier, and the conflicted subframe is a downlink subframe on another TDD carrier at the same time. Therefore, in the conflicted subframe, a UE that does not support simultaneous transmission and reception on two carriers, namely, a half-duplex UE, either sends information in the conflicted subframe on one carrier or receives information in the conflicted subframe on another carrier.
The foregoing problem in which a half-duplex UE cannot perform simultaneous reception and transmission may occur in scenarios of the foregoing dynamic TDD carrier and aggregation of carriers with different uplink-downlink configurations, and compromises resource utilization. The present invention is directed at solving a problem about how to improve resource utilization by a half-duplex UE in the foregoing scenarios.

Information transmission method, user equipment, and base station