A synchronization system and method for databases by which the immediacy of synchronization between the databases can be assured without dialup connection and the power supply to an information terminal need not always be on to keep the information terminal in a standby state is disclosed. The database synchronization system synchronizes data of databases of an application server and an information terminal connected to each other through a network. A first database information update notification section provided in the application server extracts only differential information of the database of the application server and issues a notification of the differential information to the information terminal. A second database information update notification section provided in the information terminal extracts only differential information of the database of the information terminal and issues a notification of the differential information to the application server. A data buffer receives the differential information transmitted from the first database information update notification section, temporarily stores the received differential information and transfers the stored differential information to the information terminal. A power supply control section controls a power supply for the information terminal when the differential information from the first database information update notification section is stored into the data buffer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a synchronization system and method for databases, and more particularly to a system and a method for synchronizing a database of an information terminal connected to the Internet through a packet communication line and another database of an application server connected normally to the Internet with each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a synchronization system and method for databases of the type described, if it is tried to start synchronization from the information terminal side, then it is necessary for the information terminal to perform dialup connection to a service provider on the Internet to establish a connection between applications and communicate data with the database of the application server to establish synchronism.
Also when it is tried to establish synchronism from the application server side normally connected to the Internet, the application server performs dialup connection to a telephone circuit connected to the information terminal through the service provider to establish a connection to the information terminal to establish a connection between the applications to establish synchronism.
Recently, such a new service as described below has become available. In particular, referring to FIG. 11, a mail server 1 on the service provider side and a personal computer 2 of the user side are connected to an ISDN network 5 through terminal adapters 3 and 4 provided therefor, respectively. According to the new service, if an electronic mail destined for the user arrives at the mail server 1 of the service provider, then the termination information is transmitted to the terminal adapter 4 of the user side using a D channel packet of the ISDN network.
The conventional system, however, has the following disadvantages.
The first disadvantage resides in that, in order to establish synchronism between the database of the application server and the database of the information terminal, dialup connection by a telephone circuit is required. For the immediacy of synchronization between the databases, dialup connection must be performed every time data of the databases are updated, and this requires a corresponding cost. On the other hand, in order to suppress the cost, synchronism is established after data are updated several times, and this makes the updating period long.
The second disadvantage resides in that the power supply to the information terminal is normally on. This is because, although the power supply to the information terminal must be on naturally when an operation for synchronization is performed from the information terminal side, also when it is tried to establish synchronism from the application server side, the information terminal must accept dialup connection, and therefore, when an operation for synchronization is to be performed, the information terminal must always be in a standby state with the power supply thereto kept on.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-76218 discloses a synchronization system which allows synchronization between databases with a firewall interposed therebetween. The synchronization system includes an internal database server including an internal database and provided in a firewall, and an external database server including an external database and provided outside the firewall. The internal database server includes an internal differential data extraction section for extracting internal differential data updated within a predetermined period as internal data from among data possessed by the external database. Meanwhile, the external database server includes an external differential data extraction section for extracting external differential data updated within a predetermined period as external data from data possessed by the external database. The internal database server further includes an internal time storage section for storing a start time of a predetermined period with regard to the internal differential data, and an internal data updating confirmation section for confirming whether or not the external database has been updated with the internal differential data. Meanwhile, the external database server further includes an external time storage section for storing a start time of a predetermined period with regard to the external differential data, and an external data updating confirmation section for conforming whether or not the internal database has been updated with the external differential data. If the internal data updating confirmation section confirms that the external database has been updated with the internal differential data, then the internal time storage section updates the start time with regard to the internal differential data. Meanwhile, if the external data updating confirmation section confirms that the internal database has been updated with the external differential data, then the external time storage section updates the start time with regard to the external differential data.
However, also with the synchronization system just described, the power supply to the internal database server must always be on.

Database synchronization system and method


A semiconductor structure comprising a light emitting layer disposed between an n-type region and a p-type region is formed. A portion of the light emitting layer and the p-type region are removed to expose a portion of the n-type region. A first metal contact is formed on an exposed portion of the n-type region and a second metal contact is formed on a remaining portion of the p-type region. The first and second metal contacts are formed on a same side of the semiconductor structure. A dielectric material is disposed between the first and second metal contacts. The dielectric material is in direct contact with a portion of the semiconductor structure, a portion of the first metal contact, and a portion of the second metal contact. A surface of the device is then planarized by removing a portion of at least one of the first metal contact, the second metal contact, and the dielectric material.

Semiconductor light emitting devices such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) are among the most efficient light sources currently available. Material systems currently of interest in the manufacture of high brightness LEDs capable of operation across the visible spectrum include group III-V semiconductors, particularly binary, ternary, and quaternary alloys of gallium, aluminum, indium, and nitrogen, also referred to as III-nitride materials; and binary, ternary, and quaternary alloys of gallium, aluminum, indium, arsenic, and phosphorus. Often III-nitride devices are epitaxially grown on sapphire, silicon carbide, or III-nitride substrates and III-phosphide devices are epitaxially grown on gallium arsenide by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), or other epitaxial techniques. Often, an n-type region is deposited on the substrate, then a light emitting or active region is deposited on the n-type region, then a p-type region is deposited on the active region. The order of the layers may be reversed such that the p-type region is adjacent to the substrate.
FIG. 1 illustrates a semiconductor device 30 described in more detail in US 2008/0081397, which is incorporated herein by reference. Device 30 includes an epitaxial structure 32. The epitaxial structure 32 includes an n-type region 36, which is grown on the substrate 34. The epitaxial structure 32 further includes a light emitting region 38, grown on the n-type region 36, and a p-type region 40, which is grown on the light emitting region 38. In general the n-type region 36, the p-type region 40, and the light emitting region 38 may each include a plurality of layers of different composition and dopant concentration. In one embodiment, where it is desired to remove the substrate 34 after processing, the n-type region 36 may include a release layer (not shown) located between the n-type region and the substrate, for facilitating release of the substrate from the epitaxial structure 32.
A p-metal layer 44, which generally comprises a highly reflective metal, is formed in electrical contact with the p-type region 40. An optional guard layer 46 may be deposited over the p-metal layer 44. The guard layer 46 may be used, for example, when the p-metal layer 44 comprises silver, in which case the guard layer is included to prevent silver from migrating to other parts of the epitaxial structure 32. The guard layer 46 is in electrical contact with the p-metal layer 44. One or more p-electrode metal layers 48 may be deposited over the guard layer 46 and in electrical connection therewith. In the case of a dielectric guard layer, a via hole may be etched through the guard layer to facilitate contact between p-electrode metal layers 48 and p-metal layer 44.
The epitaxial structure 32 further includes one or more voids 50. The voids 50 facilitate electrical connection to the n-type region 36. A dielectric layer 52 is deposited over the guard metal layers 46 and side wall surfaces of the voids 50. The epitaxial structure 32 also includes an n-electrode metal layer 56 deposited over the dielectric layer 52 and the bottom surface of void 50. The n-electrode layer 56 at the bottom of the void 50 is in electrical connection with the n-type region 36, and provides an electrical connection thereto. The dielectric layer 52 electrically insulates the n-electrodes 56 from the p-electrode 48, the guard metal layer 46, and the p-type region 40.
The voids 50 may further include a trench which is operable to electrically insulate the p-electrode 48 from the n-electrodes 56. The voids 50 weaken the semiconductor structure 30, making the structure susceptible to damage during mounting and/or operation. A support material 110 substantially fills the voids 50. The support material 110 is sufficiently solidified to support the semiconductor structure 30 during mounting and/or operation. In one embodiment the support material 110 has a glass transition temperature greater than the operating temperature of the semiconductor light emitting structure 30, such that the support material remains sufficiently rigid to support the semiconductor structure when operating to generate light.
In the embodiment shown the support material 110 overfills the voids 50 and covers at least a portion of an upper surface 112 of the epitaxial structure 32. The support material 110 may be deposited by spin coating a wafer (not shown) including a plurality of semiconductor structures 30. Spin coating involves depositing more than a sufficient quantity of a fluid support material 110, and then spinning the wafer to cause the fluid to form a thin coating over the wafer. Spinning continues until the coating has sufficiently cured through evaporation of solvents, for example. The support material 110 may then be further cured by baking the wafer in an oven to raise the temperature above the support material cure temperature to solidify the support material sufficiently to support the semiconductor structure 30.
Referring to FIG. 2, the process continues by planarizing the wafer. Planarizing may involve mechanical process steps such as lapping the wafer to abrade away excess support material 110. In one embodiment lapping may remove a portion of the n-electrode layer 56 and the p-electrode 48, to provide a substantially flat mounting surface. Mechanical lapping may also be combined with chemical etching.

Method of forming a dielectric layer on a semiconductor light emitting device


Proximity radar mounted in a vehicle determines the location of other vehicles. Other vehicles detect their own positions and broadcast those positions to all surrounding vehicles. Vehicle position data is plotted on a moving map so the driver can see the location of other vehicles, in some cases with an icon color which matches vehicle color(s). A driver can open a communication link with drivers who are projected to constitute a collision threat. A fixed radar unit can be positioned at blind intersections and broadcast vehicle location information for vehicles not equipped with the ability to track their own locations.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of collision avoidance systems, and, more particularly, to collision avoidance systems utilizing proximity radar on a vehicle and vehicle location radar located at blind intersections to prevent collisions.
2. Description of Related Art
The driver of an automobile is often deprived of information that would enhance his ability to operate the vehicle safely. Information concerning other vehicles in the immediate vicinity, which are those most relevant to the driver, is gleaned by visual inspection of those vehicles. Mirrors provide a means to locate and view vehicles behind and beside the driver's vehicle, but the view is obstructed by "blind-spots" and certain optical qualities of mirrors make other vehicles appear to be farther away then they actually are. The driver is able to gather even less information during poor weather conditions and during the night. Blind intersections, as the name implies, provide no information to the driver about approaching vehicles.
Moving map displays, common in rental automobiles in conjunction with global positioning satellite receivers, provide information to the driver about his location or about his location relative to his destination. In addition to helping the driver navigate, the information content of the display adds to the driver's ability to safely operate the vehicle. For example, the display allows the driver to plan lane changes in advance which helps prevent rapid, and sometimes reckless, lane changes in order to reach a desired exit ramp.
A type of radar termed micropower impulse radar or MIR, is known in the art. The radar is described in an article entitled "Radar on a Chip 101 Uses in Your Life: in the March 1995, issue of Popular Science. This publication is herein incorporated by reference and the radar unit is available commercially, e.g., Radio Shack retail stores.
The MIR is also discussed in an article at http://www-lasers.llne.gov/lasers/idp/mir/overview.html, the website for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The micropower impulse radar (MIR) is a fundamentally different type of radar that was invented at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It is a pulse radar, like other wide ultra-wide band radars, but it emits much shorter pulses than most and, it is built out of a small number of common electronic components, it is compact and inexpensive.
One unique feature of the MIR is the pulse generation circuitry, which, while small and inexpensive, has never before been considered in radar applications. Each pulse is less than a billionth of a second and each MIR emits about 2 million of these pulses per second. Actual pulse repetition rates are coded with random noise to reduce possibility of interference from other radars, while each is tend to itself. The same pulse is used for transmitting to send via the transmit as for sampling the receive signal.
Three direct advantages of the short pulse-width are:
1. The pulse is short, the MIR operates across a wider band of frequencies on a conventional radar, giving high resolution and accuracy, but almost making it less susceptible to interference from other radars. PA1 2. Since current is only drawn during this short pulse time and the pulses are infrequent, there are extremely low power requirements. One type of MIR unit can operate for years on a single AA battery. PA1 3. The microwaves emitted by the pulse are at exceedingly low and therefore mechanically safe levels (microwatts). Indeed, the MIR emits less than one millionth of the energy of the cellular telephone. An MIR radar can utilize range gating to selectively include or exclude signals from certain range intervals.
Currently, automobile occupants are limited in their ability to communicate with the occupants of other vehicles. Certain international signs and signals for happiness and displeasure can be issued, but conversation is only possible via CB or ham radio, both in use by limited, well-defined populations.
Global positioning satellite (GPS) receivers are known that can provide accurate information about the geographic location of the receiver and, by extension, the location of an object containing a GPS receiver.
Computational techniques are known that allow the determination of speed, acceleration, and direction of a moving GPS receiver that are based upon time interval interpretation of the GPS receiver's data points.
Radio broadcast of digital data is known. Self organizing communications protocols are known and were designed to assure accurate transmission of digital data even though there may be contention for a particular frequency. Such a protocol is preferably a carrier sense multiple access/collision detection (CSMA/CD) protocol.
Eyetracking devices are known particularly in conjunction with heads up displays in certain control applications in aircraft. An eyetracker device monitors the eyes of a user and calculates the direction in which the user is looking and, in some applications, the particular point in three dimensional space on which the user's eyes focus.
One commercial eyetracker is the Dual-Purkinje-Image (DPI) Eyetracker, manufactured by Forward Optical Technologies, Inc. of El Cajon, Calif. It determines the direction of gaze over a large two dimensional visual field with great accuracy and without any attachments to the eye. It operates with infra-red light which is invisible to the subject and does not interfere with normal vision. The eyetracker has a pointing accuracy on the order of one minute of arc and response time on the order of one millisecond. One can utilize the DPI Eyetracker with an infra-red optometer to allow a continuous measure of eye focus, producing a three dimensional eyetracker.
Touch screen displays, where the user indicates his choice by touching it on the display screen, are known.

System for displaying the characteristics, position, velocity and acceleration of nearby vehicles on a moving-map


There is provided a chemically immobilized heterogeneous single site polymerization catalyst represented by Formula I.

Several polymerization catalysts are known that are used for manufacture of polyolefin. Recently, group IV metals based FI catalysts (Fujita catalyst which is a phenoxy-imine based catalyst) with or without support are being widely used in the manufacture of polymers of different characteristics.
An FI catalyst is a heteroatom-coordinated early transition metal complex that combines a pair of non-symmetric phenoxy-imine [O−, N] chelating ligands with a group IV transition metal. The catalytically active species derived from FI catalysts is highly electrophilic and can assume up to five isomeric structures based on the coordination of the phenoxy-imine ligand. In addition, the accessibility of the ligands of the FI catalysts and their amenability to modification offers an opportunity for the design of diverse catalytic structures.
FI Catalysts when used in conjunction with suitable co-catalysts exhibit unique polymerization catalysis. Some of the distinct advantageous features of FI catalyst when used along with appropriate co-catalysts include precise control of product molecular weights, highly iso-specific and syndio-specific propylene polymerization, regio-irregular polymerization of higher α-olefins, highly controlled living polymerization of both ethylene and propylene at elevated temperatures, and precise control over polymer morphology. Many of the polymers that are available via the use of FI catalysts were previously inaccessible through other means of polymerization.
Polymerization of propylene or ethylene or copolymer of propylene and/or ethylene with other co monomers like conjugated diene in the presence of FI catalysts have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,995,229, U.S. Pat. No. 6,838,540, U.S. Pat. No. 6,875,718, U.S. Pat. No. 6,462,136 and EP0874005. The FI catalysts disclosed in these patents are of both types, unsupported as well as the supported ones. The supported FI catalysts disclosed in some of these patents are directly supported. However, none of the catalysts comprise a phenyl ring with 5 fluoro substitutions that is attached to the N— of imine.
Preparation of syndiotactic polypropylene or its copolymer with ethylene or copolymer of alpha-olefins and conjugated diene in presence of FI catalyst where —N of imine is attached to —C6F5 group is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,562,930, U.S. Pat. No. 6,787,624, U.S. Pat. No. 7,268,243 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,119,154. The FI catalysts disclosed in all these patents however are unsupported.
The hitherto known FI catalysts are either not immobilized or immobilized directly (physically) on the inorganic support which usually affects the catalyst efficiency.

Immobilization of single site catalyst on inorganic oxide support for preparation of UHMWPE

Abstract: wherein,        M is a Group IV transition metal;        R1 is

Abstract: or                a functionalized inorganic oxide support selected from the group consisting of

Abstract: such that R8 is a molecule having a carboxylic or sulphonic acid group;                R2-R5, are independently, H or a hydrocarbon;        R6 is t-butyl;        R7 is a functionalized inorganic oxide support selected from the group consisting of

Abstract: such that R8 is a molecule having a carboxylic or sulphonic acid group;and X1 and X2 are independently F, Cl, Br or I.

Abstract: There is also provided a method for the preparation of the chemically immobilized heterogeneous single site polymerization catalyst as represented by Formula I.


Embodiments relate to the emulation of circuits, and detecting an event in a plurality of signals in an emulated circuit. A host system incorporates global event detection logic into a design under test (DUT). An emulator emulates the DUT along with the incorporated global event detection logic. The global event detection logic divides one clock cycle of the DUT into multiple time periods. During each time period of the clock cycle, the emulator selects a different subset of signals from the plurality of signals of the DUT. The emulator determines whether an event occurred for a signal from the subset during the clock cycle. If an event is detected, the emulator generates an output indicating an event was detected among the plurality of signals.

1. Field of Art
The disclosure generally relates to the emulation of circuits, and more specifically to detecting whether at least one signal from a plurality of signals has changed its state in an emulated circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Emulators have been developed to assist circuit designers in designing and debugging highly complex integrated circuits. An emulator includes multiple reconfigurable components, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) that together can imitate the operations of a design under test (DUT). By using an emulator to imitate the operations of a DUT, designers can verify whether a DUT complies with various design requirements prior to a fabrication.
An aspect of emulation includes detecting among a plurality of traced signals whether at least one event has occurred (e.g., a change in a state of a signal). Detecting an event among the plurality of signals can be used, for example, to verify functionality of a DUT, estimate power consumption of a DUT, perform logic analysis, or control operations of the DUT.
For detecting an event among a plurality of signals, a conventional emulation environment implements numerous hardware resources including multiple registers, multiple XOR gates and at least one OR gate. A DUT may include billions of signals to be monitored, thus a great amount of hardware resources have to be implemented by the emulator for tracing a large number of signals. A first drawback of allocating a large amount of hardware resources for tracing signals is that these resources occupy equivalent spaces that could be used to implement the design, either logic gates in an FPGA or transistors in a specialized ASIC for emulation. A second drawback is a potential slowdown of the DUT.
Therefore, a conventional emulation environment is inefficient in terms of hardware resources for detecting that at least one event has occurred in a plurality of signals.


A stabilizer arrangement for a motor vehicle has a stabilizer (1), which is connected to the vehicle chassis and which is connected to a spring-mounted wheel carrier part on each side of the vehicle by a piston-cylinder unit (4; 4′) each. Each of the piston-cylinder units (4, 4′) is formed of at least one piston (8, 8′) arranged movably in a cylinder (7, 7′), and each is connected in an articulated manner, at one end, to one end of the stabilizer (1) and, at the other end, to a spring-mounted wheel carrier part. The piston-cylinder units (4, 4′) are connected to a hydraulic pump (20). A stop (13, 13′), against which the respective piston (8, 8′) can be moved, is assigned to each of the cylinders (7, 7′). By an arrangement of valves, it is made possible for the pistons (8, 8′) to move out of each position in a purposeful manner against the stop (13, 13′) and to hold there in a defined position in order to restore the stabilizer action in a purposeful manner and effectively from any position of the vehicle.

In modern motor vehicles, soft chassis springs are used for a high driving comfort. In combination with correspondingly designed shock absorbers, such an improved ground contact is guaranteed in case of road unevennesses. The unfavorable increase in the rolling angle in curves which occurs in this case is compensated by the use of stabilizers, whereby the stabilizers are attached to the vehicle chassis and are connected in an articulated manner at the ends to a spring-mounted wheel carrier part, e.g., a suspension arm or a rigid axle via a rocker pendulum each. However, the possible axle twisting is reduced by the use of stabilizers, since they restrict an inward deflection in the opposite direction of the wheels of an axle. Therefore, it is especially desirable for off-road vehicles, so-called SUVs, to make it possible to influence the stabilizer function during off-road driving. This can be guaranteed by the use of switchable components, such that the wheels of an axle can deflect from one another independently. In this way, all wheels of the vehicle hold contact with the ground and can transmit propulsive forces.
There is a possibility of using switchable components in the use of hydraulically length-variable adjusting elements, such as, e.g., piston-cylinder units, instead of fixed rocker pendulums, as this is disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,935. The length-variable piston-cylinder units arranged between the stabilizer and the motor vehicle chassis are connected to one another by hydraulic lines, whereby the cylinder chamber facing towards the stabilizer and the cylinder chamber facing away from the stabilizer are each connected to one another via a hydraulic line each. A valve, which can block or release both hydraulic lines at the same time, is inserted into these hydraulic lines. If the hydraulic lines are blocked, the pistons of the piston-cylinder units are blocked, so that the stabilizer is able to transmit rolling motions of the vehicle to the other side of the vehicle. By contrast, if the hydraulic line is released, the pistons are able to move freely in the cylinders in case of rolling motions of the vehicle, such that the rolling motions cannot be absorbed by the stabilizer. In this case, hydraulic fluid flows from one piston-cylinder unit into the other.
The drawback of this arrangement is that, when the hydraulic lines are blocked, the pistons are not located in a defined and determinable position in the cylinders. Therefore, the stabilizer may be located outside of the structural position or fitting position, such that the driving properties are affected negatively.
Another arrangement for switchable rocker pendulums is used in the off-road vehicle Nissan Patrol. A coupling, consisting of a spring-loaded bolt on a piston, whereby the bolt meshes with a hole of the piston and thus blocks the piston, acts in this system of a piston-cylinder unit. If the coupling is released, the piston can move freely in the cylinder. The drawback of this embodiment is that the bolt only meshes with the hole when the bolt and hole are aligned with one another. The user has no effect on this. In the worst case, the vehicle travels without any stabilizer action in spite of the coupling being actuated. The driver does not receive any feedback in this system as to whether the piston is blocked.

Stabilizer arrangement for a motor vehicle


The present invention provides improved heat-shrinkable electrofusion fittings and methods. The fittings are basically comprised of an electrically heatable tubular plastic outer member which is shrinkable when heated to a transition temperature, an electrically heatable tubular plastic inner member positioned within the outer member which has a fusion temperature higher than the transition temperature and an electrically activated induction coil for energizing the inner and outer members.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrofusion plastic fittings, and more particularly, to improved heat-shrinkable electrofusion fittings for sealingly connecting the ends of pipes or tubular fittings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of electrofusion plastic fittings have heretofore been developed and used for joining the ends of plastic pipes or other tubular plastic fittings such as tees, ells, crosses and the tubular connecting ends of plastic valves and the like which are adapted to be connected in plastic piping systems. Some of such electrofusion fittings include electric resistance heating coils disposed therein. When an electric current is applied to the coil of such a fitting, the plastic material making up the fitting adjacent to the coil is melted and the fitting is sealingly fused with one or more complimentary plastic fittings or pipes. Other electrofusion fittings have been developed and used which include particulate ferromagnetic and/or other conductive fillers. The fillers cause the entire fittings to be heated when the fillers are electrically energized.
In order to allow the easy assembly of an electrofusion fitting with a complementary plastic fitting, space must exist between the surfaces of the fittings to be fused. In the smaller sizes of fittings, the space is filled by the volumetric expansion of plastic material as it changes from the solid phase to the liquid phase. That is, in smaller fittings, a sufficiently large volume of plastic material undergoes a phase change to fill the space between the fittings during the heating cycle and still allow sufficient time for good bonding to take place before the end of the fusing process. In large diameter fittings, the space is larger and obtaining a good fused joint is more difficult. A further problem with large diameter fittings is the separation of the layers on either side of the interface between the fittings due to shrinkage of the molten region as it cools.
Electrofusion fittings have heretofore been heat-shrinkable so that when the fittings are heated, they advantageously shrink to a smaller size and exert clamping pressure on the complimentary fitting or fittings to be fused. While such heat-shrinkable fittings solve some of the above mentioned problems, in order to fuse such fittings they must be heated to above their melting temperatures which makes the fusing process difficult to control. In order to overcome those problems, inserts formed of lower temperature fusable plastic materials have been placed between the shrinkable fittings and the complimentary fittings to which they are to be fused. However, the inserts must be heated by heat from the shrinkable fittings which again makes the fusing process difficult to control.
Another problem which is common to all electrofusion fittings involves the oxidization of the surfaces of the complimentary fittings to be fused. After a plastic pipe or fitting is exposed to the atmosphere for a period of time, its outer surfaces become highly oxidized which inhibits the fusing process. That is, unless the outer surface of the complimentary fitting is thoroughly scraped before fusion, a good fused joint will very often not be obtained.
Thus, the prior art electrofusion fittings all suffer from one or more disadvantages, especially in obtaining good fused joints between the electrofusion fittings and complimentary pipes or fittings. Accordingly, there are continuing needs for improved electrofusion fittings and methods.

Heat-shrinkable electrofusion fittings and methods


A computer-implemented method, computer-readable media, and a computerized system to track and detect data hazards are provided. The computerized system includes processors configured to execute instructions associated with a multithreaded program. The computerized system allocates memory for the multithreaded program and creates threads for execution on the processors. The memory may include a reserved area for tracking information. The threads access the allocated memory in accordance with the multithreaded program and the memory including the tracking information is updated based on the threads' memory access. In turn, the processors generate notifications of data hazard based on the tracking information stored in the allocated memory.

Conventionally, parallel processing computers reduce the amount of time required to process instructions of a computer program. In the parallel processing computers, at least two processors simultaneously execute instructions. The conventional parallel processing computers may employ synchronization when executing to ensure proper execution of the computer program. Thus, conventional parallel processing computers are configured to handle race conditions.
For instance, if a consuming thread depends on data from a producing thread, the consuming thread must first wait until the producing thread has written the data in the memory shared by the threads. Similarly, if the consuming thread requires data before the producing thread overwrites the data, the overwrite requested by the producing thread must not occur until the data is read by the consuming thread. Special instructions, included by a developer or compiler, may be utilized by the processors to perform synchronization. The synchronization of the processors executing the threads may reduce the likelihood of these race conditions.
In some conventional parallel processing computers, static code analysis is performed to inform a developer of potential fault or race conditions. The processors parse the code to determine the existence of potential race conditions. The race conditions may include, among others, read-after-write (RAW) data hazards, write-after-write (WAW) data hazards, and write-after-read (WAR) data hazards. In turn, the developer may modify the code by reordering instructions of the computer program. The modified computer program is executed on the processors. During execution of the modified computer program, the processors avoid the previously identified race conditions. Unfortunately, static code analysis alone is unable to prevent race conditions because execution order of the modified computer program may vary during subsequent runs and the static code analysis may notify the user of false positives, e.g., identifying a race condition when one does not exist, or false negatives, e.g., not identifying a race condition when one does exist.

Detecting memory hazards in parallel computing


A cover for a glove having a back, a wrist, a thumb, index fingers, a web, a sizing strap, and a hook and loop fastener, the cover incorporating a sheet having a flexible base and a loop attached to the base; a web arm attached to the flexible sheet and extending oppositely from the base; a wrist arm attached to the flexible sheet and extending oppositely from the base; a first hook and loop fastener attached to the web arm and adapted for, upon attaching the loop to the sizing strap, wrapping around the glove and engaging the glove's hook and loop fastener; and a second hook and loop fastener attached to the wrist arm and adapted for wrapping around the glove's wrist and engaging the glove's hook and loop fastener.

Common athletic gloves such as golf gloves tend to become prematurely worn, abraded, and torn at their palm covering areas. During golf club holding use and during a golf swing, the typically leather palm portion of a golfer's golf glove intensely frictionally contacts the golf club's handle. Such frictional contact undesirably causes thinning, wearing, and in extreme cases, tearing of the palm covering portion of the glove. Also, such frictional contact may undesirably interfere with proper handle motion within a golfer's non-dominant hand while executing a golf swing.
When a golf glove becomes torn through golf club swinging use, the glove is typically deemed unuseable and non-functional, and must be discarded and replaced. Golf gloves are typically expensive items of golfing equipment, and discarding and replacing such gloves due to usage and wear is undesirable.
The instant inventive glove cover solves or ameliorates the problems and deficiencies of common athletic gloves, golf gloves in particular, by providing a specially configured multiply armed flexible sheet which includes specialized fastening components for engagement with the golf glove and for covering of the palm portion of the glove during use. Such covering reverses wear of the underlying glove, and where the covering comprises a relatively low friction material such as vinyl, the covering advantageously lowers friction between a club handle and the golfer's hand.


A method of coding a moving picture is provided that reduces blocking artifacts. The method can include defining a plurality of defining pixels S0, S1, and S2, which are centered around a block boundary. If a default mode is selected then frequency information of the surroundings of the block boundary is obtained. A magnitude of a discontinuous component in a frequency domain belonging to the block boundary is adjusted based on a magnitude of a corresponding discontinuous component selected from a pixel contained entirely within a block adjacent the block boundary. The frequency domain adjustment is then applied to a spatial domain. Or, a DC offset mode can be selected to reduce blocking artifacts in smooth regions where there is little motion.

To efficiently compress a time variable video sequence, redundancy in the temporal domain as well as in the two dimensional spatial domain must be reduced. MPEG uses a discrete cosine transform (DCT) to reduce the redundancy in the two dimensional spatial domain and a motion compensation method to reduce the redundancy in the temporal domain.
The DCT is a method of reducing the correlatively between data through a two dimensional spatial transformation. Each block in a picture is spatially transformed using the DCT after the picture is divided into blocks. Data that has been spatially transformed tends to be driven to a certain direction. Only a group of the data driven in the certain direction is quantized and transmitted.
Pictures, which are consecutive in the temporal domain, form motions of a human being or an object at the center of the frame. This property is used to reduce the redundancy of the temporal domain in the motion compensation method. A volume of data to be transmitted can be minimized by taking out a similar region from the preceding picture to fill a corresponding region, which has not been changed (or has very little change), in the present picture. The operation of finding the most similar blocks between pictures is called a motion estimation. The displacement representing a degree of motion is called a motion vector. MPEG uses a motion compensation-DCT method so that the two methods combine.
When a compression technique is combined with a DCT algorithm, the DCT transform is usually performed after input data is sampled in a unit size of 8×8, and the transform coefficients are quantized with respect to a visual property using quantization values from a quantization table. Then, the data is compressed through a run length coding (RLC). The data processed with the DCT is converted from a spatial domain to a frequency domain and compressed through the quantization with respect to the visual property of human beings, not to be visually recognized. For example, since eyes of human beings are insensitive to a high frequency, a high frequency coefficient is quantized in a large step size. Thus, a quantization table is made according to external parameters, such as a display characteristic, watching distance, and noise, to perform an appropriate quantization.
For the quantized data, the data having a relatively high frequency is coded with a short code word. The quantized data having a low frequency is coded with a long code word. Thus, the data is finally compressed.
In processing a moving picture as discussed above, blocks are individually processed to maximize the compression ratio and coding efficiency. However, the individual process causes blocking artifacts that disturb the eyes of human beings at boundaries between blocks.
Accordingly, various methods for reducing a blocking artifact in a coding system, which individually processes blocks, are presented. For example, attempts to reduce the blocking artifact by changing processes of coding and decoding have been implemented. However, this method of changing the processes of coding and decoding increases the amount of bits to be transmitted.
Another method for reducing the blocking artifact is based on the theory of projection onto convex sets (POCS). However, this method is applied to only a still picture because of an iteration structure and convergence time.
The blocking artifact is a serious problem in a low transmit rate moving picture compression. Since a real-time operation is necessary in coding and decoding a moving picture, it is difficult to reduce the blocking artifact with a small operation capacity.
Consequently, the related art methods involve various problems and disadvantages when reducing a blocking artifact created in coding a moving picture. A calculation for performing an algorithm is complicated, and the calculation amount and time become correspondingly large. Further, the blocking artifacts are not reduced in either complex regions or smooth regions in a picture. In addition, the amount of bits to be transmitted increases.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.

Method of reducing a blocking artifact when coding moving picture


A bird feeder having an upstanding circular housing with a cone shaped floor, a plurality of openings arranged about a lower edge of the housing and a feed assembly, associated with each opening. The feed assembly comprises a collar mounting a spout and includes an extension arranged beneath the spout. The extension has a threaded bore which receives a threaded first end of a rod. The opposite end of the rod is vertically offset from the first end providing a perch. The rod is laterally adjustable by adjusting the position of the first end in the bore which positions the perch at variable distances horizontally of an outer end of the spout. The position of the perch relative to the spout determines the size birds the feeder may accommodate.

This invention is directed to a bird feeder which is constructed with the ability to be selective between the birds which can feed from it. The feeder is also constructed with multiple protections against squirrels feeding. The feeder includes apparatus for preventing food waste and for providing plural feed stations each associated with an individual food supply.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a sturdy, attractive bird feeder.
Another object of this invention is to provide a bird feeder capable of selective bird feeding.
Another object of the invention is a bird feeder with multiple and individual feed supply areas.
Another object of the invention is a bird feeder in which the roof is provided with sufficient overhang to protect the feed from becoming wet.
Another object of the invention is a bird feeder which includes waste preventing feed spouts.
Another object of the invention is the provision of feed spouts which also act to shield the feed from rain.
Another object of the invention is a bird feeder constructed with multiple squirrel guards.
Another object of the invention is a bird feeder mountable from above or below.


Parallel communication sessions can be established. A system receives an email communication from a user computer, and sends a reply to the user computer, wherein the reply includes a link allowing the user computer to establish a connection to a server; and wherein the link further includes an identifier. The system then receives from the user computer a connection request based on the link, said connection request including the identifier and specifying a first phone number associated with the user computer. The system then invokes an application for establishing a first voice connection with a first terminal identified by said first phone number, establishing a second voice connection with a second terminal identified by a second phone number indicated as associated with a computer terminal, and interconnecting the first and second voice connections to establish a voice call between the first and second terminals. The system also establishes a data connection with the user computer in response to the connection request, and establishes a data connection with the computer terminal, such that the user computer and the computer terminal can share a multimedia session, such that the voice call and the multimedia session are each associated with the identifier.

There is known, for example from EP-1940137A, a method of setting up a call between two parties from within a network. A service provider can have a clickable button on a webpage that can be accessed by a member of the public using a web browser in a user terminal. When the user clicks the button, a web server sets up a call, either between the user terminal and a remote endpoint, or between another terminal associated with the user and the remote endpoint.
There are also known, for example from U.S. Pat. No. 7,003,090, methods that enable document sharing using a web browser, allowing inputs generated by one user to be visible to another user.


The present invention provides a semiconductor laser excellent in the current injection efficiency. In an inner stripe type semiconductor laser according to the present invention, a p type cladding layer 309 has a superlattice structure composed of GaN layers and Al0.1Ga0.9N layers, which are alternately layered on each other. The p type cladding layer 309 has a portion of high dislocation density and a portion of low dislocation density. That is, the dislocation density is relatively low in a region directly above an opening of the current-confining region 308, whereas the dislocation density is relatively high in a region directly above a current-confining region 308.

Group III nitride semiconductors that are represented by gallium nitride have been attracting attention as materials for light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs) because blue-violet light emission with a high efficiency is obtained therewith. Among others, LDs are expected as light sources fit for large-capacity optical disk apparatus and recent years have seen aggressive development of high-output LDs as light sources for writing thereof.
A typical structure for a nitride-based blue-violet LD is illustrated in FIG. 1. In this structure, a ridge 101 is formed by dry etching. The upper part of the ridge is covered with an insulating film 102 having a stripe-shaped opening and a p type electrode 103 is provided in the opening. Current confinement is attained by using the stripe-shaped electrode, and the control of the transverse mode is achieved by adjusting ridge width and ridge height thereof.
However, such a ridge type semiconductor laser has had problems as described below. In applications to optical disks, in order to efficiently focus laser beams in spot form, it is necessary to adjust the pattern of the beams, and thus it is necessary to control the transverse mode thereof so that a far-field pattern of laser beams has a Gaussian type intensity profile. For this purpose, in a high-output blue LD, it is necessary to narrow the ridge width to such a narrow size as 1.7 μm. However, as the ridge width is narrowed, the area of the electrode provided thereon is narrowed, resulting in the increase of the contact resistance. In a high-output LD, because of a high operating current density, there are some cases where the deterioration of the device may be induced by a heat generated at the contact.
In view of such a problem, inner stripe type LDs in which AlN and (Al)GaN are employed to form the current-confining layer as shown in FIG. 2 have been proposed (JP 2001-15860 A1, JP 10-093192 A1, and JP 2003-78215 A1). Because a wide contact area can be employed in these inner stripe type LDs, a low contact resistance can be realized even in a high-output LD with a narrow stripe width. In particular, the inner stripe structure in which low-temperature grown AlN is used to form the current-confining layer (JP 2001-15860 A1) has the advantage that it is less influenced by damage during the formation of the opening of the current-confining layer and contamination with impurities, and hence it is laid a great hope to as a high-output LD capable of operating with a low-voltage.
On the other hand, there have been also examined such a trial that a superlattice structure is used to form a cladding layer in the upper part of an active layer (JP 2002-171028 A1). Because a carrier is induced to the interface of each layer composing the superlattice structure, the resistance in the thickness-direction of the layers decreases, and the carrier mobility in the in-plane direction of the layers increases. As a result of this, it becomes possible to efficiently utilize the carrier in the operation of the element and to substantially reduce the operating voltage.

Group III nitride semiconductor optical device


The present invention provides a multi-use golf club which allows a user to select a long or short shot without changing the dynamics of the user's golf swing. This is accomplished with a hand grip having at least two hand grip position designations located thereon, each hand grip designation defining a different set of golf club characteristics. During use, characteristics associated with a long shot are exhibited when the user's grip is positioned adjacent one hand grip designation, and characteristics associated with a short shot are exhibited when the users's grip is positioned adjacent the other hand grip designation. Additionally, the present invention implements a variable diameter golf club shaft which is uniquely calibrated for users having reduced club head speed swings such as junior and senior golfers. The solid core shaft of the present invention has a preselected taper portion and flex point adjustably located intermediate the top and bottom ends of the shaft. A wide range of shaft flexes are available with relatively short shaft lengths while maintaining an acceptable strength to flex ratio for use as a golf club.

During training, new golfers are taught the concept of "clubbing" whereby they learn the technique of choosing which club to swing in order to hit the golf ball a desired distance. Since a standard set of golf clubs consists of 14 clubs, choosing the appropriate club from the set to match the desired shot can be overwhelming and confusing, resulting in frustration for the beginning golfer. Training would be greatly improved if the number of clubs were reduced without adversely limiting the number of shot options typically available to a golfer with a standard set of clubs.
Alternatively, it is the desire of more experienced golfers to increase the shot options available to them by increasing the number of clubs rather than reducing or limiting them. However, according to regulations adopted by the United States Golf Association, there is a limit to the number of clubs which may be used during the play of golf. Presently, if a golfer wants to change or vary the performance of a golf club, such as the golf ball trajectory angle or the travel distance of the golf ball, the golfer must either adjust the dynamics of his or her swing, such as the energy applied to the swing, or select a different club having the desired set of performance characteristics. Greater options would be available to the experienced golfer if each golf club provided multiple shot options without changing the user's swing mechanics.
Finally, as is commonly known, the game of golf is physically wearing since it necessarily requires the player to transport a significant number of bulky clubs across a large area of land in order to adequately play a round of golf. In this respect, a single golf club which performs the function of two typical golf clubs would be of great value in reducing fatigue.
In the past, very little has been done on the proper fitting and design of golf clubs for users having reduced swing speeds such as junior and senior golfers and the like. It is well known that the design characteristics of the golf club shaft is one of the most influential factors in total golf club design. Despite this well known fact, current technology is lacking in the area of golf club shaft design for user's with below average swing speeds.
Presently, junior's between the ages of 5 and 18 are fitted for golf clubs by following well known guidelines and factors which are intended to provide a basis for determining the proper shaft length and flex of the golf club. More specifically, the length of the golf club shaft is primarily based upon the approximate height of the user. Consequently, golf club shafts designed for juniors are much shorter than standard clubs designed for the average adult.
The flexibility of the golf club shaft or shaft flex is primarily based upon the user's strength ability and speed with which the golf club head is normally swung. For example, the less strength or slower speed in which a golf club is swung, the more shaft flex is required for proper fitting. Typically, juniors of relatively young ages and seniors of relatively old ages do not have the normal strength of an average adult, and thus have reduced swing speeds which must be considered when designing the golf club shaft.
There is a direct relationship between shaft flex and the length of the golf shaft. For example, a given shaft flex tends to feel more flexible as the club is lengthened and more stiff as the club is shortened. Although a large number of different shaft types, flexes and material are available, this tension between shaft length and shaft flex has been a complicated problem for designers trying to fit golf clubs for user's having reduced swing speeds such as junior and senior golfers.
More particularly, a golfer playing with a club that has too stiff a shaft flex may compensate for or experience lower than normal ball trajectory, un-solid feeling at impact on all but the exact dead center hits, a "boardy" feeling, consistently pushing the ball to the right or slicing, and loss of distance. On the other hand, a golfer playing with a club which has too flexible a shaft may compensate for or experience higher than normal ball trajectory, poor directional control, excessive hooking resulting from the face closing before impact, whippy feeling, and loss of distance.
Some manufacturers of golf clubs have cut adult clubs down in length for use by juniors resulting in an incorrect shaft flex. Other manufacturers have tapered or reduced the diameter of the shaft so as to create a more flexible golf club, and as a result of the materials used, have been unsuccessful. More specifically, shafts made with relatively small diameters exhibit unacceptably low strength characteristics and are most likely to break during use when constructed with common shaft materials, such as steel or graphite. This required shaft manufacturers who varied diameters to produce "fat" shafts for proper strength to flex ratio, but these bulky shafts are decidedly stiff for shorter lengths and do not provide the feel most players want.
In addition to the low strength to flex ratio, current shaft designs which implement small diameters require that the core diameter of the hand grip be adjusted to fit the small diameter by the use of underpinnings, such as wood or excess two sided grip tape. These necessary adjustment devices add more weight to the golf club resulting in imbalances, increases in hand grip slippage resulting in inconsistency in golf shots and reduced safety for the golfer and the golfer's playing companions, and increases in overall manufacturing tolerances.
Currently, golf shaft designs using the standard technologies and materials cannot provide both the strength and the flexibility and are either significantly too stiff to be used as an adequate golf shaft for user's with reduced speed swings or have very low strength tolerances and are prone to breaking.


The invention can provide a detergent composition for dry cleaning which comprises a nonionic surfactant as the component (a), a cyclic polysiloxane as the component (b) and a polyether modified silicone having a HLB value of at most 6 as the component (c), wherein the content of the component (a) is 5 to 70% by weight based on the total weight of the components (a), (b) and (c), the content of the total of the components (b) and (c) is 30 to 95% by weight based on the same, and the ratio by weight of the component (b) to the component (c) {b/c} is 1/10 to 20/1 and a detergent liquid for dry cleaning using the above detergent composition. The detergent composition and detergent liquid are excellent in detergency, capability of preventing recontamination and solubilizing power in water, which is less prone to cause annular stain on clothes even when a pretreatment agent is used, which imparts favorable flexibility and conformability to an object to be cleaned and which has favorable stability with the lapse of time.

In general, for the cleaning of clothes, there are available wet cleaning in which cleaning is carried out with a neutral detergent using water as the medium, laundry cleaning in which cleaning is carried out with an alkaline detergent using water as the medium and dry cleaning in which an organic solvent is used as the medium. Clothes made of wool fabric such as suits and sweater, when cleaned by a method using water as the medium, are likely to shrink and/or lose original trim appearance. In addition, clothes made of silk fabric such as necktie and scarf, when cleaned by a method using water as the medium, are likely to lose surface gloss. For the reasons mentioned above in the majority of instances, clothes made of any of wool fabric and silk fabric are cleaned by means of dry cleaning which is less prone to cause a problem of shrinkage and the like.
There are available as an organic solvent to be used in dry cleaning, halogen base solvents such as tetrachloroethylene; 1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane; 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and alternative solvents to flon (chlorofluorocarbon) exemplified by 1,3-dichloro-1,2,2,3,3-pentafluoropropane, 1,1-dichloro-1-monofluoroethane and the like in addition to a petroleum base solvent. In recent years however, there have been pointed out a variety of problems on the above-mentioned solvents from the viewpoint of influences on global environment and the ecosystem. That is to say, a petroleum base solvent, which is a substance responsible for air pollution, involves such a problem as dermal injury due to the residence thereof in the case of insufficiently dried clothes. Moreover, carcinogenicity of tetrachloroethylene is pointed out, whereby curtailment of an amount thereof to be used is required. Further, it has been decided since 1996 to entirely abolish the production of 1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane and 1,1,1-trichloroethane each as an ozonosphere-depleting substance. Furthermore, it is decided to entirely abolish in 2020, the production of 1,3-dichloro-1,2,2,3,3-pentafluoropropane because of its concern for being a prospective ozonosphere-depleting substance.
On the other hand, accompanying improved standard of living in recent years, high grade-oriented clothes are enhanced, resulting in advanced diversification thereof. As a consequence, conventional dry cleaning system elutes the dyeing of clothes and/or impairs decorations such as buttons as the case may be. For the reasons mentioned above, attention has been paid to a silicone base solvent as a solvent for dry cleaning which never impairs diversified clothes and exerts less influence on the global environment and the ecosystem.
However a silicone base solvent, when used alone for cleaning, is not sufficient in detergency for dirt due to oil and fat and water-soluble dirt, and brings about the likelihood that the dirt once removed from clothes again sticks thereto. In addition, the silicone base solvent is inferior in detergency for water-soluble dirt such as sweat stain and spot stuck to trousers, skirts, collars of suits and the like. Even when there is used a pretreatment agent in which a surfactant is blended with water and an alcohol for the purpose of removing sweat stain and spot prior to dry cleaning, the silicone base solvent is prone to give rise to such a clothes trouble as annular stain on clothes owing to lack of its sufficient solubilizing power in water and at the same time, to impair softness and conformability of clothes after cleaning.
Such being the case, there is eagerly desired the development of a detergent composition which is used for dry cleaning and which brings about excellent properties in detergency, capability of preventing recontamination, solubilizing power in water and softness and conformability of clothes after cleaning by being added to a silicone base solvent.
There are disclosed a composition which is blended with a polyether modified silicone having a molecular weight of at most 3500 and a nonionic surfactant in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59395/1993 (Hei 5); a composition which is blended with a cyclic polysiloxane and a nonionic surfactant of polyoxyalkylene series having a HLB value in the range of 2 to 10 in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 13095/1997 (Hei 9); and a composition which is blended with a cyclic polysiloxane, a surfactant and a hydrophilic solvent in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 176697/1997 (Hei 9). Nevertheless in the case where dry cleaning is carried out by adding any of the above-mentioned compositions in a silicone base solvent, a problem still remains unsolved in that capability of preventing recontamination and solubilizing power in water are insufficient, thus causing deterioration in softness and conformability of clothes and clothes trouble of annular stain after cleaning.

Detergent composition for dry cleaning comprising a cyclic polysiloxane and a polyether modified silicone


A method for generating a phrase table for a target domain includes receiving a source corpus for a target domain and, for each of a set of comparative domain phrase tables, computing a measure of similarity between the source corpus and the comparative domain phrase table. Based on the computed similarity measures, a subset of the comparative domain phrase tables may be identified from the set of comparative domain phrase tables, and/or weights for combining them, and a phrase table is generated for the target domain based on the at least a subset of phrase tables.

The exemplary embodiment relates to phrase-based statistical machine translation (SMT) and finds particular application in connection with a system and method for generating a phrase table for a target domain where there a lack of parallel data for generating the phrase table for the specific target domain.
Statistical machine translation systems use a translation scoring function for scoring candidate translations of a source language text string, such as a sentence. Parameters of the scoring function are generally trained on a parallel development corpus containing pairs of source and target sentences which are assumed to be a translation of each other, in at least the source to target direction. In a phrase-based system, the parameters serve as weights for features of the candidate translation, some of which are derived from a phrase table. The phrase table stores corpus statistics for a set of biphrases found in a parallel training corpus. These statistics include phrasal and lexical probabilities that represent the probability that a given source phrase (or its constituent words, in the case of lexical probability) in a biphrase is translated to the corresponding target phrase, or vice versa. In addition to translation model features that are based on such phrasal and lexical probabilities, the translation scoring function may also incorporate parameters of a language model, which focuses only on the target side probabilities of the translation, and parameters of a reordering model, which takes into account the extent to which the words of the translation are reordered when compared with the order of the aligned words of the source sentence. For a new source sentence to be translated, the SMT scoring function is used to evaluate candidate translations formed by combining biphrases from the phrase table which cover the source sentence, where each source word is covered by no more than one biphrase. The respective corpus statistics of these biphrases are retrieved from the phrase table and corresponding features of the scoring function are computed based thereon which aggregate the probabilities for each of the biphrases being used. The scoring function features are weighted by the scoring function parameters in a log-linear combination to determine an optimal set of the biphrases, from which a translation is generated.
One problem which arises in machine translation is that the values of the phrase table features, and also the parameters of the translation scoring function, can vary from one domain to another. The overall quality of translation is thus dependent, in part, on how well suited the phrase table is to the domain of interest. Thus, there is considerable interest in generating machine translation systems that are adapted to the particular domain of the text to be translated.
To provide broad coverage, SMT systems are often trained on a large corpus of documents which may not be well suited to the particular domain of interest. For example, generic SMT systems may be trained on the Europarl corpus of government documents which may make it more likely that the word "bank" in English is translated in its financial sense, rather than as the bank of a river, which would be more appropriate for translations in the agricultural science domain. It is therefore often desirable to tailor a machine translation system to a specific domain of interest, which is known as domain adaptation. One approach for tailoring an MT system to a specific domain is to train a domain-adapted multi-model that combines a set of trained phrase tables from various domains. However, this approach requires parallel training data in the domain of interest. In many cases, however, there may be insufficient training data in the specific domain. For example, some source language documents may be made available, but since translations are costly to produce, corresponding target language documents may be unavailable. The approach is also computationally intensive if there is a large library of phrase tables of various domains from which to choose.
Several metrics have been used to compute similarity between domains, such as Cross Entropy (Rico Sennrich, "Perplexity minimization for translation model domain adaptation in statistical machine translation," Proc. 13th Conf. of the European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (EACL '12), pp. 539-549 (2012), hereinafter, "Sennrich 2012"), but this method requires a parallel in-domain corpus. The metric Source LM perplexity can also be used as a measure to score and rank translation models. The Source LM perplexity measure requires only a mono-lingual corpus for computation of similarity with a source domain. However, it assumes the existence of a library of source language models (LMs).
There remains a need for a system and method for retrieving a subset of phrase tables similar to the domain of interest using only a mono-lingual source corpus which can be used to build a multi-model in a time-efficient manner.

Retrieval of domain relevant phrase tables


Based on information from a controller scheduling data traffic in a processing arrangement, a super capacitor unit is activated, whereby reactive power is fed to a system bus of said power system. The controller is configured to have information at time t(n) about the data traffic workload of the processing arrangement at time t(n+1). By triggering discharge of the super capacitor unit based on super capacitor data at time t(n+1), transients on a system bus voltage are, at least in part, smoothed out at time t(n+1), which reduces the need for reactive power of the power system, where said transients are related to the data traffic workload of the processing arrangement. The power efficiency of the power system can be improved by 3-4% by the reduction of the need for reactive power from a power grid, for which reason the electrical bill of an operator is reduced.

Current technology in power systems used for 5th generation wireless systems (5G) radio/new radio (NR) and distributed cloud infrastructure fails to consider the power system behavior on the system bus voltage of said power systems. Also, in similar energy feed arrangements the behavior on the system bus voltage is not considered.
Due to radio resource allocation for mobile data transport and different power saving features, 5G radio/NR units typically have a transient behavior that affects the power system bus voltage.
Transients on the power system bus voltage create a need for reactive power, for which reason a power loss is generated. The need for reactive power is generated at an input of the power system, which input is connected to a power grid, typically an alternating current (AC) grid. This increase in reactive power need generates an increased bill in kilo-Watt-hours (kWh) addressed to a network operator.
In a cloud infrastructure, a cloud orchestrator can dedicate and allocate compute and store resources at the infrastructure. Transients are here generated on power system infrastructure, when, for instance, elastic random access networks (ERAN) distribute data to allocate resources in a distributed cloud to another location. By moving data to other locations, transients are typically also generated on distributed cloud infrastructure equipment.
Radio systems at 5G and NR sites operating at relatively high radio frequency bands apply different power saving and data control functions, can apply discontinuous transmission (DTX) in the range of 100 ms and lower. Such DTX typically generate transients on the system bus voltage of their power systems.
Moreover, data traffic in the radio access network (RAN) increasingly requires efficient wireless channel access in further radio frequency bands for mobile data transmission. This channel access and frequency allocation generates transients on the infrastructure, especially on system bus voltage, which transients are currently not handled in current power system for 5G radio/NR.
Hence, transients on the system bus voltage impact power supply units (PSUs), such that reactive power behavior of the PSU input from the power grid is affected. This affected reactive power behavior gives rise to power losses on the power systems.
When the need of reactive power increases from the power grid (AC grid), such as when using a PSU for 5G radio/NR applications, the reactive demand of the PSU will increase the electrical bill accordingly for the operator using the power system of the 5G radio/NR site. The power factor (PF) of the PSU will hence also be affected by the transient behavior of the power system voltage.
Thus, in a cloud environment, data allocation behavior similar to the one of 5G radio/NR, can be identified, when compute and store resources are allocated for incoming data.
FIG. 1 schematically presents a power system architecture according to prior art. The architecture comprises a power system 18, a digital unit (DU)/Baseband (BB) and a remote radio unit (RRU). The power system 18 comprises one or more power system units (PSUs) 12 and a power distribution unit (PDU) 13. From a power grid 11 alternating current (AC) power is provided to said one or more power system units (PSU) 12 of the power system. From said one or more PSUs 12 power is delivered on a system bus voltage to the PDU 13. From the PDU 13 power is further delivered to the RRU 16. Feedback signaling is provided between the DU/BB 15 and the RRU 16, as well as between the DU/BB 15 and the PDU 13. Also, feedback signaling is also provided between the DU/BB 15 and said one or more PSUs 12. In FIG. 1, even a standard capacitor may be used to feed reactive power to the system bus voltage between said one or more PSUs 12 and the PDU 13. Power may be delivered by a capacitor within this architecture.
A drawback with such a technique is the lack of information about when transients occur, and hence when there is a need to deliver power to the system bus voltage.
There is hence a need for an improved power control in current power systems.


A Vertical Reconfigurable Field Effect Transistor (VRFET) has a substrate and a vertical channel. The vertical channel is in contact with a top silicide region that forms a lower Schottky junction with the vertical channel and a top silicide region that forms an upper Schottky junction with the vertical channel. The lower silicide region and the upper silicide region each form a source/drain (S/D) of the device. A lower gate stack surrounds the vertical channel and has a lower overlap that encompasses the lower Schottky junction. An upper gate stack surrounds the vertical channel and has an upper overlap that encompasses the upper Schottky junction. The lower gate stack is electrically insulated from the upper gate stack. The lower gate stack can electrically control the lower Schottky junction (S/D). The upper gate stack can electrically control the upper Schottky junction (S/D). The control of the lower Schottky junction (S/D) is independent and separate from the control of the upper Schottky junction (S/D). The upper gate stack is stacked above the lower gate stack enabling a reduced device footprint.

The present invention relates to Reconfigurable Field Effect Transistors (RFETs). More specifically, the invention relates to vertical RFETs with a reduced footprint.
A Reconfigurable Field Effect Transistor (RFET) is a FET (Field Effect Transistor) with gated Schottky junctions used as the source and drain (S/D) of the FET. The voltage applied to the gated S/D contacts determines whether the FET behaves as a n-FET or p-FET.
Advantages of RFETs include: i. reducing transistor count (e.g. by an approximate factor of 2 for logic gates), ii. enabling design of reconfigurable logic gates, and iii. enabling doping-free transistors.
However, current RFETs have shortcomings that limit their use. Current RFETs have large footprints that occupy large areas on substrate surfaces and therefore reduce device density in fabricated semiconductor chips.
There is a need for RFETs with small footprints.

Vertical reconfigurable field effect transistor

International Business Machines Corporation


It has been unexpectedly found that certain neodymium catalyst systems can be used to copolymerize isoprene and 1,3-butadiene to produce random isoprene-butadiene copolymer rubbers which are not tapered. These random isoprene-butadiene copolymer rubbers have properties which are beneficial for use in rubber formulations for manufacturing a wide variety of rubber products, such as tires, hoses, conveyor belts, power transmission belts, and shoe soles. These random isoprene-butadiene rubbers are synthesized by copolymerizing (a) isoprene monomer or a substituted isoprene monomer and (b) 1,3-butadiene monomer in the presence of a neodymium catalyst system, wherein the neodymium catalyst system is prepared by (1) reacting a neodymium carboxylate with an organoaluminum compound in the presence of a conjugated diolefin monomer to produce neodymium-aluminum catalyst component, and (2) subsequently reacting the neodymium-aluminum catalyst component with an alkyl aluminum chloride to produce the neodymium catalyst system.

It has been known for decades that neodymium salts which are activated with aluminum alkyl co-catalysts can be used to catalyze the polymerization of conjugated diene monomers. To date, many papers and patents have been published which describe variations and improvements to the original systems (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,297,667, 3,676,441, and 3,794,604). Much of this work was driven by the eventual commercialization of high cis-polybutadiene in the 1980s for the use in tire applications (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,242,232, 4,260,707, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,699,960, and 4,444,903).
The type of catalyst system employed and the method of its preparation are essential to the success of the polymerization. Traditionally, there are two main types of catalyst systems, the first is a ternary system based on soluble neodymium carboxylates in conjunction with an alkylaluminum co-catalyst and a halogen source (see R. P. Quirk, A. M. Kells, K. Yunlu, J.-P. Cuif, Polymer 41, 5903 (2000) and A. Pross, P. Marquardt, K. H. Reichert, W. Nentwig, T. Knauf, Angew. Makromol. Chem. 211, 89 (1993)). The second system is a binary catalyst comprising of an insoluble neodymium halide complexed with three equivalence of a Lewis base such as an alcohol, amine, or phosphonate and an alkylaluminum activator (see H. Iovu, G. Hubca, E. Simionescu, E. Badea, J. S. Hurst, Eur. Polymer J. 33, 811 (1997); H. Iovu, G. Hubca, D. Racoti, J. S. Hurst, Eur. Polymer J. 35, 335 (1999); and J. H. Yang, M. Tsutsui, Z. Chen, D. Bergbreiter, Macromolecules 15, 230 (1982)).
In general, the two systems exhibit similar behavior; however, the ternary system appears to have gained acceptance commercially in the production of polybutadiene (see D. J. Wilson, J. Polym. Sci., Part A. 33, 2505 (1995)). Typically, the most active ternary systems consist of treating a branched long chain neodymium carboxylate with branched trialkyl-aluminum or dialkylaluminum hydrides, in an Al/Nd ratio between 10-40/1, and the use of 2-3 equivalents of a halide source, such as diethylaluminum chloride or tert-butylchloride.
The active catalyst is typically prepared in one of two ways. The simplest method is to generate the catalyst in-situ by sequentially introducing the catalyst components to the polymerization solution. It is usually most effective to introduce the aluminum alkyl components first, thereby scavenging impurities from the premix prior to contact with the neodymium salt. The other method for catalyst preparation is to preform the catalyst components prior to introducing them into the polymerization vessel. The most common practice involves sequentially treating the catalyst components in the presence of at least a few equivalents of monomer followed by an aging period. For example U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,604 discloses an improved preforming technique which is carried out in the presence of a small portion of a conjugated diene.
Aging the catalyst components with a diene prior to polymerization results in a more active catalyst then when the conjugated diene is absent. The disclosed technique for catalyst formation is to age after all of the components have been mixed together. U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,089 also teaches the use of a diolefin during catalyst formation and states that the particular procedure which is followed has no bearing on the polymerization run. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,883 discloses that the use of a conjugated diene in the catalyst make-up is preferable for improving the activity of the catalyst. In this example, the diene is mixed with the catalyst components at any time in the preforming step with aging occurring after all components are mixed together.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,711 teaches the practice of adding the catalyst components together first followed by the addition of a small amount of diene and then aging the preformed catalyst. This patent states that the diene is not essential in the make-up but it does serve to increase catalyst activity. U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,405 continues to teach the use of conjugated dienes as components in preformed catalysts. It goes on to state that soluble catalysts result when diolefins are present in the make-up while insoluble catalysts frequently result when no diene is present. This patent teaches a process where aging of the catalyst occurs after the reagents are added.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,126 again practices the use of a diene in the preformed catalyst make-up and again states that it is preferred to age the catalyst after the labile halogen compound is added. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,101 the use of a diolefin in conjunction with a boron derived halogen source results in a preformed catalyst that partially forms a solid precipitate in aliphatic solvents.
When silicone halides are used, as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,371, aging in the presence of a diene again is performed after the addition of all the catalyst components. U.S. Pat. No. 6,136,931 discloses an improved boron halide dependent preformed catalyst that has excellent solubility in non-polar solvents. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,255,416 also practice preformed catalyst generation in the presence of a small amount of diene. Aging in this case again occurs after all of the catalyst components are mixed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,405 discloses that conjugated diolefin monomers can be polymerized with a catalyst system which is comprised of (1) an organoaluminum compound, (2) an organometallic compound which contains a metal from Group III-B of the Periodic System, such as lanthanides and actinides, and (3) at least one compound which contains at least one labile halogen atom. U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,405 also discloses that the molecular weight of the polymers made with such catalyst systems can be reduced by conducting the polymerization in the presence of a vinyl halide. However, its teachings do not specifically disclose copolymerizations of isoprene with butadiene and do not provide any technique for making the isoprene monomer polymerize at a rate that is similar to that of the butadiene monomer. Thus, its teachings do not provide a technique for synthesizing random, non-tapered isoprene-butadiene rubbers with catalyst systems which are comprised of (1) an organoaluminum compound, (2) an organometallic compound which contains a metal from Group III-B of the Periodic System, such as lanthanides and actinides, and (3) at least one compound which contains at least one labile halogen atom.
The technological advantage of a completely soluble preformed catalyst has previously been appreciated. As U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,883 teaches, a heterogeneous system is a disadvantage in an industrial setting. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 6,136,931 states that the use of heterogeneous catalyst systems containing suspended particles usually produces gel. This patent also states a heterogeneous system, compared to a homogenous one, is more difficult to control the exact amount of catalyst added during the polymerization. Similarly, we have found that catalyst prepared without the first aging period results in a catalyst suspension of a fine precipitate. This suspension settles upon standing into two phases. If the resulting supernate, or top layer, is used to polymerize a conjugated diene, extremely inefficient catalyst activity results. Catalyst activity can be restored in these systems only after agitation of the by-phasic mixtures. This allows for the introduction of a heterogeneous catalyst suspension to the monomer to be polymerized. However, it is now possible to ensure consistent and highly active soluble preformed catalyst formation by utilizing the appropriate two step aging technique. This is of obvious technological advantage, since there would be no need to use a stirred tank catalyst storage tank or other engineering constraints to ensure consistent catalyst suspensions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,815 discloses a process or preparing a catalyst system which is particularly useful for copolymerizing isoprene and 1,3-butadiene monomers into rubbers which comprises the sequential steps of (1) mixing (a) an organoaluminum hydride, (b) a member selected from the group consisting of aliphatic alcohols, cycloaliphatic alcohols, aliphatic thiols, cycloaliphatic thiols, trialkyl silanols, and triaryl silanols, and (c) optionally, 1,3-butadiene in an organic solvent to produce a modified organoaluminum catalyst component; (2) adding an organometallic compound which contains a metal from Group III-B of the Periodic System to the modified organoaluminum catalyst component to produce a Group III-B metal containing catalyst component; (3) adding a compound which contains at least one labile halogen atom to the Group III-B metal containing catalyst component; and (4) aging the catalyst system after the compound which contains at least one labile halogen atom is added to the modified Group III-B metal containing catalyst component for a period of 10 minutes to 6 hours, wherein the catalyst system is aged at a temperature which is within the range of about 30° C. to about 85° C.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,780,948 discloses a process for the synthesis of polyisoprene rubber which comprises polymerizing isoprene monomer in the presence of a neodymium catalyst system, wherein the neodymium catalyst system is prepared by (1) reacting a neodymium carboxylate with an organoaluminum compound in the presence of isoprene for a period of about 10 minutes to about 30 minutes to produce neodymium-aluminum catalyst component, and (2) subsequently reacting the neodymium-aluminum catalyst component with a dialkyl aluminum chloride for a period of at least 30 minutes to produce the neodymium catalyst system.
In the copolymerization of 1,3-butadiene and isoprene with unmodified neodymium catalysts, the 1,3-butadiene polymerizes about 19 times faster than the isoprene. For this reason, such copolymers do not have a random distribution of monomers. One end of the polymer chains contain mostly repeat units which are derived from butadiene (which polymerized faster) and the other end of the polymer chains contain mostly repeat units which are derived from isoprene (which polymerized slower). As the polymerization proceeds, the availability of butadiene monomer for polymerization diminishes leaving more and more isoprene to polymerize subsequently. This causes such isoprene-butadiene rubbers to be tapered.

Synthesis of isoprene-butadiene copolymer rubbers


A paper shredder, particularly a small paper shredder, includes a shell-like lower housing part which includes the cutting rollers with their bearing plates at the end faces and the stripping elements, and an upper housing part which is provided with a material inlet slot and can be placed on the lower housing part. The bearing plate on the drive side for the cutting rollers simultaneously forms the single-piece bottom of an also shell-like gear housing which can be closed by means of a cover. The entire cutting mechanism including gear housing, cutting rollers and stripping elements is mounted in the area of the bearing plates on the end faces through vibration-damping elements in the lower housing part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper shredder, particularly a small paper shredder. The paper shredder includes a shell-like lower housing part which includes the cutting rollers with their bearing plates at the end faces and the stripping elements, and an upper housing part which is provided with a material inlet slot and can be placed on the lower housing part.
2. Description of the Related Art
Small paper shredding apparatus of the above-described type are known, for example, from DE 40 08 654 A1 and include a two-part injection-molded housing of synthetic material in which, in addition, the usually web-shaped stripping elements including the cutting roller bearings are integrated in the housing during injection molding. Although this apparatus can be easily assembled, there is the disadvantage that these known apparatus do not run smoothly and are loud during operation because all drive and work noises are transmitted as vibrations to the housing which additionally acts as an amplifying sound board.


A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, which enables miniaturization and reduction of defect, is provided. It includes forming an oxide semiconductor layer, and source and drain electrodes in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer, over an insulating surface; forming insulating layers over the source electrode and the drain electrode; forming a gate insulating layer over the oxide semiconductor layer, the source and drain electrodes, and the insulating layer; forming a conductive layer over the gate insulating layer; forming an insulating film covering the conductive layer; processing the insulating film so that at least part of a region of the conductive layer, which overlaps with the source electrode or the drain electrode, is exposed; and etching the exposed region of the conductive layer to form a gate electrode overlapping with at least part of the region sandwiched between the source electrode and the drain electrode, in a self-aligned manner.

There are a wide variety of metal oxides and such metal oxides are used for various applications. Indium oxide is a well-known material and has been used for transparent electrodes required in liquid crystal display devices or the like.
Some metal oxides have semiconductor characteristics. The examples of such metal oxides having semiconductor characteristics are, for example, tungsten oxide, tin oxide, indium oxide, and zinc oxide. Thin film transistors in which channel formation regions are formed using such metal oxides are already known (for example, see Patent Documents 1 to 4, Non-Patent Document 1, and the like).
As metal oxides, not only single-component oxides but also multi-component oxides are known. For example, InGaO3(ZnO)m (m: natural number) having a homologous phase is known as a multi-component oxide semiconductor containing In, Ga, and Zn (for example, see Non-Patent Documents 2 to 4 and the like).
Furthermore, it is confirmed that an oxide semiconductor containing such an In—Ga—Zn-based oxide is also applicable to a channel formation region of a thin film transistor (for example, see Patent Document 5, Non-Patent Documents 5 and 6, and the like).

Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


An underwater diving light with efficient waterproof performance includes a top cover, a bottom cover, a light-emitting assembly and a special-shaped light-transmitting seal. A first installation groove is formed in the top cover. A second installation groove is formed in the bottom cover. The special-shaped light-transmitting seal includes a light-transmitting waterproof part, a first installation part and a second installation part. The first installation part, the light-transmitting waterproof part and the second installation part are all annular and connected in sequence. The top cover and the bottom cover are movably connected to form a light housing. The light-emitting assembly is arranged in the light housing. The underwater diving light has the advantages of strong waterproof and moisture-proof performance, diversified luminous forms and a dazzling effect.

Underwater lamps, which refer to lights installed under the water, are small, delicate and elegant in appearance, and may emit light under the water to enhance an ambient atmosphere and improve people's sense of pleasure.
Commonly used underwater lights need to work underwater, so they have certain requirements for waterproof performance. Generally, the water is prevented from entering the lights through housings of the underwater lights, so as to avoid damage to parts inside the underwater lights. After long-term use, the water still leaks into the underwater lights. Usually, waterproof rings are arranged at the joints of the housings to prevent the water from leaking into the underwater lights from the joints.
However, the underwater lights installed with the waterproof rings currently have the following problems: when the housings of the underwater lights are tightened, the waterproof rings will be driven and then extruded and deformed, and the water will seep into wrinkled positions of the waterproof rings to cause water leakage. In addition, the existing underwater lights have a single luminous form and may not achieve a dazzling effect.
In view of the above-mentioned related technologies, the inventors of the present disclosure provide modifications and improvements to the existing underwater lamps.

Diving lamp with efficient waterproof performance

SHENZHEN XIANGYU OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD