A method and system of intrusion detection, which includes displaying sensing device output data as an image of a field of view of a sensing device. Through interaction with a GUI: a user input defines an image detection area in relation to the image of the field of view, the image detection area being correlated to a detection area to be monitored for intrusion detection. A user input defining a detection vector in the image detection area is received, specifying a predetermined minimum displacement and displacement direction in the field of view. A graphical representation of the vector may be displayed on the image detection area. A target object is detected and tracked through the detection area and it is determined whether the progressive displacement of the target object has a component exceeding the minimum displacement in the direction of the vector.

Video motion detection (VMD) is frequently used in the current security industry for detecting intruders entering a site, with predetermined scenes of interest. VMD is performed by computer software on a sequence of digital images captured by a video camera that is monitoring a particular scene of interest. Each image in the sequence is composed of an array of picture elements (pixels). Targets such as intruders typically show up in an image as a different intensity to the background scene in a captured image. VMD uses this in order to detect intruders in the sequence by looking for changes in pixel intensities that are consistent with a target moving through the scene. Groups of pixels associated with a target are also tracked from frame to frame to determine the direction of motion. If the scene is calibrated, the size of the target, the distance it has traveled, and the speed of its travel can be estimated from the tracked group of pixels. By ignoring targets that do not meet size, speed, and distance traveled criteria, the related security systems can be tuned to detect human and vehicle movement while rejecting small animal and foliage movement. Furthermore, a current VMD system is typically set up by defining which parts of the scene are to be sensitive to movement. By specifying large areas of the scene as sensitive, a highly effective detection system can be established in which intruders may be detected anywhere within those detection areas. Careful placement of these detection areas can also avoid false alarms from areas of no interest, such as car-parks or streets adjacent an area of interest.
One of the drawbacks of existing VMD systems is that existing systems are sensitive to all changes of intensity in the scene of interest. It is therefore possible to potentially detect the shadows and headlights of moving vehicles. If these shadows or headlight beams enter a detection area, and their movement meets the detection criteria, such movement will be wrongly detected as targets, even if the vehicles themselves are outside the detection area. This type of false alarm commonly occurs when vehicles travel down a road that is outside of, but runs parallel to, the boundary of an area being protected.
In more recent VMD systems, trigger lines have been adopted to reduce false alarms. With these systems the target has to cross the trigger line to cause an alarm, which reduces the likelihood of a false alarm by the specificity of the line placement. However, this detection method may also be undesirable because the trigger line must be carefully placed to ensure that all possible real target trajectories will cross the trigger line. Furthermore, in non-ideal conditions, it is possible that the target track will be lost and restarted as the target moves through the scene. If the target crosses the trigger line while not being tracked, no alarm will be raised. To reduce the effect of this possibility multiple, parallel trigger lines are often needed. Irrespective, the use of single or multiple trigger lines also does not prevent false alarms caused by shadows and headlight beams because these target tracks may still cross the necessary trigger lines due to the way the beams or shadow changes as the vehicle passes adjacent to the area of interest.
Reference to any prior art in the specification is not an acknowledgment or suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in any jurisdiction or that this prior art could reasonably be expected to be understood, regarded as relevant, and/or combined with other pieces of prior art by a skilled person in the art.

Intrusion detection with directional sensing


A method for developing machine-learning (ML) based tool including initializing an input dataset, which is pre-processed by a first model to harmonize the dataset. Historical data similar to the input data set is fetched from a historical database. Based thereupon a controller recommends a method and a control-setting associated with the identified model for the visual inspection process to a user. Thereafter, the dataset is annotated by a second model to define a labelled data set. A plurality of features are extracted with respect to the data set through a feature extractor. A machine-learning classifier operates upon the extracted features and classifies the dataset with respect to one or more labels. A meta controller communicates with one or more of the first model, the second model, the feature extractor and the selected classifier for assessing a performance of at least one of first model and the feature extractor.

Of late, it is getting increasingly necessary to achieve artificial intelligence driven solutions and programs such as AI driven visual-inspection mechanisms to be more easily accessible and faster to develop. This demand at least stems from strain and constraints associated with manpower resources during project based development. As shown in the FIG. 1A, a typical process-flow involves receipt of project-request and deputation of engineer or professional. Thereafter, the AI visual inspection model is developed and resulting code is deployed.
At every stage of the project development, there lies at least a constraint of time inefficiency. An operator has to explore every method to choose a method and setting with respect to operation of each stage. Given the diversity of the options, exploration of options at every stage proves time inefficient.
As shown in FIG. 1B, development of customized-solution of an example AI visual inspection development activity is performed under diverse phases of a project. The diverse phases correspond to modules that are sequentially linked, i.e. initialization of input dataset, annotation of data set, alignment of input data set, feature extraction, ML training, etc. As indicated in FIG. 1A, based on separate timelines associated with each module, a typical time duration expended to render AI algorithm is 2-3 months.
At least a reason as may be attributed to such long timeline is nature of customization. In absence of any unified and universal source code, a final developed AI model becomes diversified as it undergoes various stages of development in the pipeline as depicted in FIG. 1B. Accordingly, the overall development through the pipeline is substantially slow going by the current industry standards, which in turn constrains the manpower by maintaining them engaged over the same tasks for a long period of time and in turn adversely affects the organization's growth and expansion plans.
At least in order to offset the aforesaid time constraint posed by state of the art and achieve a better time efficiency, machine learning expert needs to be deployed that may select the right options at the right stage based on their intellect and past experiences. However, given the shortage of skilled manpower the same itself is a challenging as well as cost ineffective approach.
There lies at least a need to improvise the process at modular level by at least detecting the historical behavior of the pipeline corresponding to various-stages and thereby aid the user or operator with respect to every ML stage during the project development.
There lies at least a need to expedite the process at the granular level in the pipeline to achieve an overall time efficiency and an optimized allocation of workforce to execute the AI model development.
There lies at least a need to assist even a non-expert operator with respect to every ML stage during the project development.
Alternatively, there lies a need for enabling a regular engineer to creating and generating an AI model which otherwise requires specific techniques, expertise, and know how to fine tune and adjust the parameters to have AI model with high quality.

Method for developing machine-learning based tool

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A storage unit management method for managing a plurality of physical units in a rewritable non-volatile memory module is provided, wherein the physical units are at least grouped into a data area and a spare area. The method includes configuring a plurality of logical units for mapping to the physical units belonging to the data area, and determining whether the rewritable non-volatile memory module contains cold data. The method further includes performing a first wear-leveling procedure on the physical units if it is determined that the rewritable non-volatile memory module does not contain any cold data, and performing a second wear-leveling procedure on the physical units if it is determined that the rewritable non-volatile memory module contains the cold data.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a storage unit management method of a memory storage device. Particularly, the invention relates to a method for recognizing cold data for managing storage units, and a memory controller and a memory storage device using the same.
2. Related Art
A rewritable non-volatile memory has characteristics of data non-volatile, power-saving, small size and non-mechanical structure, etc., so that it is widely used in various electronic devices. Generally, the rewritable non-volatile memory has a plurality of memory blocks, and each of the memory blocks includes a plurality of pages. Memory block is the smallest unit for erasing data, and page is the smallest unit for writing data. Although the rewritable non-volatile memory has the aforementioned advantages, erase count of each of the memory blocks is limited. For example, the memory block is worn after being erased for ten thousand times, when a part of storage capacity losses or device performance is obviously degraded due to wearing of the memory blocks, it may cause loss of data stored by the user or failure in data storage.
Wearing of the memory blocks is determined by programming or erase count of each of the memory blocks. Namely, if one memory block is only programmed (or written) for once, and is not programmed again thereafter, wearing of such memory block is relatively low. Comparatively, if one memory block is repeatedly programmed and erased, wearing of such memory block is relatively high. For example, when a host that accesses the memory blocks repeatedly uses a same logical block address to write data, the memory block of the same physical address in the rewritable non-volatile memory is repeatedly written and erased.
When some memory blocks are worn and some other memory blocks are not worn, existence of the worn memory blocks may degrade performance of the rewritable non-volatile memory. Besides degradation of the worn memory block itself, the whole performance of the rewritable non-volatile memory is also degraded. Namely, when the number of the worn memory blocks of the rewritable non-volatile memory exceeds a threshold, even if there are still other unworn memory blocks, the rewritable non-volatile memory is still judged to be useless. When the unworn memory blocks are regarded as useless, it is actually a waste of resources.
In order to increase a service life of the rewritable non-volatile memory, the memory blocks therein are averagely used as far as possible. Generally, the memory blocks of the rewritable non-volatile memory are grouped into a data area and a spare area, and a conventional wear-leveling method is to exchange the memory blocks in the data area with the memory blocks in the spare area after the rewritable non-volatile memory operates for a fixed period of time, so that the memory block with less erase count in the data area is exchanged to the spare area for programming (or writing).
When the memory block with less erase count in the data area is exchanged to the spare area, the memory block with higher erase count in the spare area is generally exchanged to the data area. However, if data stored in such memory block is frequently updated data, such memory block is probably again associated to the spare area during data updating. However, when wear-leveling is executed for the next time, since the memory block again associated to the spare area has the erase count higher than other memory blocks, it has a higher chance to be exchanged to the data area compared to other memory blocks.
Nothing herein should be construed as an admission of knowledge in the prior art of any portion of the present invention. Furthermore, citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention, or that any reference forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art.

Storage unit management method, memory controller and memory storage device using the same


Lubricated surfaces, lubricant compositions for lubricating a surface, and methods for reducing friction coefficients in lubricants. The lubricated surface is provided by a lubricant composition containing a base oil of lubricating viscosity and an amount of at least one hydrocarbon soluble titanium compound effective to provide a reduction in the coefficient of friction of the lubricant composition greater than a reduction in the coefficient of friction of the lubricant composition devoid of the hydrocarbon soluble titanium compound.

Lubricating oils used in passenger cars and heavy duty diesel engines have changed over the years. Today's engines are designed to run hotter and harder than in the past. Various additives have been added to lubricant formulations in order to reduce friction between moving parts. One particularly common additive is the organo-molybdenum additive. While such molybdenum additives are particularly useful as friction modifiers, such molybdenum friction modifiers may have one or more of the following disadvantages: poor oil solubility; copper and/or lead corrosion; color darkening of the finished lubricant; and increased levels of sulfur and/or phosphorus in the finished lubricant.
Future generations of passenger car motor oils and heavy duty diesel engine oils require lower levels of phosphorus and sulfur in the finished oil in order to protect pollution control devices as it is well known that sulfur and phosphorus containing additives may poison or otherwise reduce the effectiveness of pollution control devices. For example, current GF-4 motor oil specifications require a finished oil to contain less than 0.08 wt % and 0.7 wt % phosphorus and sulfur, respectively, and PC-10 motor oil specifications, the next generation heavy duty diesel engine oil, requires oils to contain less than 0.12 wt % and 0.4 wt % phosphorus and sulfur, respectively, and 1.0 wt % sulfated ash. Certain molybdenum additives known in the industry contain phosphorus and sulfur at levels which reduce the effectiveness of pollution control devices.
Therefore, a need exists for lubricant additives and compositions that provide enhanced friction reducing properties and which are more compatible with pollution control devices used for automotive and diesel engines. A need also exists for such lubricant additives and compositions which are more compatible with such pollution control devices without adversely affecting oil solubility, corrosion, and/or darkening the color of the finished lubricant. Such additives may contain phosphorus and/or sulfur or may be substantially devoid of phosphorus and/or sulfur.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Additives and lubricant formulations for providing friction modification


A method is provided for contact opening definition for active element electrical connections. According to the method, a layer of BPSG is formed on a surface of an integrated circuit, and a transparent layer of nitride UV is formed above the layer of BPSG. Preferably, the transparent layer of nitride UV is formed by deposition using an HDP process and has a thickness of less than about 500 Å. In one embodiment, after forming a transparent layer of nitride UV, two overlapped layers of BARC and resist are formed on the surface of the integrated circuit. Also provided is a machine-readable medium encoded with a program for contact opening definition for active element electrical connections.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the fabrication of integrated circuits, and more particularly to a process for contact opening definition for the active element electrical connections.
2. Description of Related Art
The active elements of an integrated circuit are connected to other elements through contacts. The number of contacts in a typical integrated circuit can vary from hundreds of thousands to about ten million.
The dimension reduction of integrated circuits leads to the realization of contacts having smaller and smaller dimensions, and thus requiring more and more precise and delicate fabrication processes. Further, the possible presence of extraneous substances in the processing environment can alter and contaminate a fabrication process in progress.

Process for contact opening definition for active element electrical connections


A hollow tissue inosculation apparatus is to inosculate two hollow tissues to each other with a staple having a plurality of elastically deformable bent staple pins. The hollow tissue inosculation apparatus includes a staple holder to hold the staple, a curvature control mechanism to control curvature of the staple pins of the staple held in the staple holder, and a gap control mechanism to control gaps of the hollow tissues with respect to the staple holder. The curvature control mechanism substantially straightens the staple pins. The gap control mechanism reduces the gaps to cause the substantially straightened staple pins to penetrate through the hollow tissues. The hollow tissue inosculation apparatus also includes a detector to detect the staple pins of the staple that have penetrated through the hollow tissue.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hollow tissue inosculation apparatus to inosculate two hollow tissues to each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
A hollow tissue inosculation apparatus includes an anastomotic apparatus to anastomose blood vessels as hollow tissues in coronary-artery bypass surgery, for example.
For example, JP-A 2001-190557 (KOKAI) discloses an instrument to hold and fix a bypass blood vessel when inosculating the bypass blood vessel to a coronary artery. When this equipment is moved, e.g., pulled up, an inner cavity can be seen to confirm an inosculated state without directly touching the bypass blood vessel.
JP-A H6-47050 (KOKAI) discloses a tissue suture instrument having observing means provided to a tissue suture member. This tissue suture instrument allows a sutured state to be observed and confirmed in use of the observing means.


A control system for at least one vacuum interrupter gap in a high-voltage switching device includes at least one non-reactive control resistor disposed in parallel with the vacuum interrupter. The non-reactive control resistor merges concentrically onto the vacuum interrupter chamber and is mechanically and electrically coupled thereto.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a control system for at least one vacuum interrupter gap of a vacuum interrupter chamber. The invention may be used, for example, in high-voltage devices, the term "high-voltage" meaning that the voltage range is above 1000 V.
A high-voltage switching device with at least two vacuum interrupter chambers connected in series is disclosed in German Published, Non-Prosecuted Patent Application DE 199 12 022 A1, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,498,315 to Betz et al. Betz et al. state that the integration of the series configuration of two vacuum interrupter chambers requires a capacitive control system as the core piece of a high-voltage switching device, especially for use within a gas-insulating switchgear assembly. The background to this measure is the linearization of the voltage distribution over the series-connected vacuum interrupter chambers.

Control system for at least one vacuum interrupter gap


A smart card assembly with at least two chips. In some embodiments, the at least two chips are on the same major surface and define mutually-perpendicular, respective directions of insertion with respect to a standard reciprocating card reader. In some embodiments, the at least two chips are respectively mounted on opposite major surfaces of the smart card body.

"Smart cards" (that is, a generally credit card size and shape card bearing one or two computer readable chips) are known. As shown in FIG. 1, smart card system 100 includes: reciprocating card reader 102 and card assembly 130. Card reader 102 includes: frame 106; card recess 104; reader electronics sub-assembly 110; reader head sub-assembly 112; first side wall 114; rear wall 116; second side wall 118; and communications line 120. Card assembly 130 includes: card main body 132; and chip 134. Card main body 132 includes: first peripheral edge 132a; read edge 132b; and second peripheral edge 132c.
Card reader 102 is called a "reciprocating" card reader because a card is inserted in an insertion direction, and later removed from the card reader by actuating the card in a direction opposite to the insertion direction.
In order for card reader 102 to read card assembly 130, chip 134 should be in close proximity to head 112. The card main body and card hole of the card reader are sized and shaped so that the card assembly can be reliably seated in the card hole (by moving the card in the direction of arrow E) so that the chip on the card and head on the reader will be in close proximity and alignment when the card is fully seated in the reader. More specifically, edges 132a, 132b, and 132c, respectively engage walls 114, 116, and 118 of the reader. When this engagement exists, the chip will be in close proximity to the head, so that reliable data communication can take place between the chip and the head. In most chip and head designs, the head must actually physically contact the outer major surface of the chip in order for there to be data communication between the chip and the head. Moreover, this physical contact must occur at a fairly precise location with respect to the chip and the head. In addition to the side and rear walls 114, 116, and 118, frame 106 may include top and bottom walls to engage and guide the top and bottom major surfaces of the card. After the reader has read the card, the card is removed by pulling it out of the reader in the counter-E direction (that is, the direction opposite to the E direction).

International Business Machines Corporation


Disclosed is an impeller made from titanium or a titanium alloy. Desirably, the titanium or titanium alloy is cast into the impeller.

This invention relates to marine propulsion, and more particularly to an improved propeller or impeller.
Conventionally, impellers have been constructed of stainless steel. In order to obtain the necessary strength and ruggedness these impellers have relatively thick blades, varying from thick at the hub to thin at the edge and are relatively heavy. Stainless steel impellers typically weigh from about 3 to about 60 pounds. To increase speed, impeller manufacturers have tried using lighter stainless steel blades. Nonetheless, the impellers remain relatively heavy.
Since the commercial introduction of titanium and titanium alloys in the early 1950's, these materials rapidly became a staple material for components used in the aerospace, energy, and chemical industries. The combination of a high strength-to-weight ratio, excellent mechanical properties, and corrosion resistance makes titanium the best material for many critical applications.
However, titanium components are expensive and the cost of such components has limited the use of titanium to applications that justify the high cost of this material. The relatively high cost of titanium results from the high cost of separating the pure metal from its ores, intrinsic raw material cost of titanium and its fabricating costs.


An electric device having a plurality of nanowires, in which at least one of the nanowires is cut or changed in its electric characteristics so as to have a desired characteristic value of the electric device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric device having nanowires, a method of manufacturing such electric device, and an electric device assembly. In particular, the present invention relates to an electric device such as a TFT device that uses nanowires as conductive channels, and a method of manufacturing such electric device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A thin film transistor (TFT) is a switching device used in various electronic devices. Known transistor devices that constitute the TFT include silicon-based transistors (single crystal, polycrystal, and amorphous), compound semiconductor transistors (III-V group, II-VI group, and IV-IV group), and organic transistors (low molecular, and polymer).
Of those, silicon-based transistors, which use silicon for a semiconductor layer, have the following characteristics:
1) Their material, silicon, is infinitely abundant on the surface of the earth.
2) Doping can be used to build p-type and n-type structures.
3) An oxide of silicon SiO2 can be used for forming a high quality dielectric film.
4) The carrier mobility is high (single crystal: up to 103 cm2/Vs, polycrystal: up to 102 cm2/Vs, amorphous: up to 1 cm2/Vs), which leads to excellent transistor performance.
However, silicon-based transistors need a large-scale manufacturing facility and a huge apparatus for film formation in the device fabrication process through chemical vapor deposition, or other similar film forming methods, at high temperature under vacuum. Accordingly, cost reduction and process simplification are problems to be solved.
Compound semiconductor transistors are transistors that use for a semiconductor layer a compound (GaAs, SiC or the like) formed of a plurality of elements. Compound semiconductor transistors have much higher carrier mobility than that of silicon-based transistors, and exhibit various characteristics including low-power drive in high-frequency bands, photoreactivity, and microwave emission, depending on what compound is employed. Despite those diversity of characteristics, compound semiconductor transistors have limited uses since their materials are expensive and their device fabrication process is a large-scale, complicated process comparable to that of silicon-based transistors described above.
Organic transistors are transistors that use for a semiconductor layer an organic substance (pentacene and the like as a low-molecular weight organic substance, PEDOT (polyethylene dioxythiophene) and the like as a polymer organic substance). Organic transistors, especially polymer organic transistors, be produced by a coating process in forming a film, and are adaptable to simple, low-cost fabrication of devices in mass quantities through ink jet or roll-to-roll processes. However, organic transistors are significantly low in carrier mobility (up to 0.1 cm2/Vs), which determines the performance of a transistor, compared to that of silicon-based transistors, and are said to require significant progress with regard to material and manufacture process for being applicable to various electronic devices.
As described, none of the prior art TFT devices has succeeded in having high transistor performance and in being obtainable by a simple, low-cost device fabrication process, and development of such a transistor has been desired. Nanowire TFTs are attracting attention as a next-generation TFT device that meets this demand.
Nanowire TFTs are TFTs that use nanowires having a high aspect ratio of a diameter of several nm to several hundreds nm and a length of several μm to one hundred μm, for a semiconductor layer, which connects a source electrode and a drain electrode in a transistor device. Nanowire TFTs that use nanowires of high crystallinity are expected to have high transistor performance. When the nanowire diameter is 5 nm or shorter, in particular, a quantum effect is brought about, so that higher performance such as a single electron transistor and high mobility can be expected. In addition, nanowire TFTs can be manufactured by a simple, low-cost device fabrication process since it merely requires orientation/arrangement control of nanowires on a substrate to build a TFT structure. Nanowire TFTs are therefore expected to embody a next-generation TFT having both a high transistor performance and being obtainable by a simple, low-cost device fabrication process, which has been unattainable with the conventional TFT technology.
Examples of channel materials to be used for field effect transistors using nanowires as a channel, which are at present under development, include: carbon nanotubes, Si nanowires, Ge nanowires; semiconductor materials including Group III-V compound semiconductors such as GaAs and InP, and Group II-VI compound semiconductors such as CdS.
A known nanowire synthesis method is, for example, the Vapor-Liquid-Solid (VLS) growth. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-106960, for example, discloses a silicon nanowire synthesis method. The first step of this method is to deposit gold onto a silicon wafer surface followed by heating in a silane gas atmosphere, thereby forming a molten alloy of silicon and gold on the silicon wafer surface. With the alloy working as a catalyst, the silane gas is decomposed and silicon nanowires grow.
The thus obtained silicon nanowires have significantly high crystallinity in the axial direction. The article on pages 274-278 of "Nature" vol. 425 issued Sep. 18, 2003 discloses that such nanowires, when used for a semiconductor layer in a TFT, give the TFT as high transistor performance as that of from polycrystalline silicon TFTs to single crystal silicon TFTs.
Also, as for a device fabrication method, nanowire TFTs can be manufactured by a coating method, in which nanowires are dispersed into a solution to be applied to a substrate. However, simply applying a nanowire solution to a substrate is not enough and has to be accompanied by orientation/arrangement control of each nanowire. The article on pages 274-278 of "Nature" vol. 425 issued Sep. 18, 2003 or U.S. Pat. No. 6,872,645 reports a technique of orienting/arranging nanowires by causing a nanowire solution to flow over a substrate. Forming nanowires by coating like this has process advantages such as being simple, low-cost, and fit for mass production.
In addition to the excellent TFT performance as described above, nanowire TFTs are characterized by being highly resistant against bending and by possibility of being manufactured by a normal pressure, normal temperature fabrication through a thoroughly liquid process. Accordingly, when formed on a plastic substrate such nanowire TFTs make it possible to form switching devices that have higher TFT performance than would ever be possible with conventional TFT technology as well as a sophisticated electrical processing circuit, on a flexible substrate through a low-cost process. For instance, in the case of TFT substrates for flat panel displays such as liquid crystal displays and organic EL displays, the silicon nanowire TFT technology makes it possible to fabricate a plurality of TFTs for each pixel and, furthermore, allows nanowire TFTs to constitute a driver circuit of a display peripheral circuit or the like. Flexible displays that have high image quality and can be driven at low power can thus be manufactured at low temperature.
Trimming is known as a method of modifying characteristics of electric devices. Trimming is commonly used in such electric devices as resistors, capacitors, and coils. A resistor is trimmed to reduce the width of the resistor or to change the effective length of the resistor, thereby raising the resistance value to a given level. A capacitor is trimmed to remove some of electrodes, thereby being capable of adjusting the capacitor by reducing the capacity.
Methods of trimming include, in addition to one that uses a laser beam, conventionally known methods such as sandblasting, one that uses a diamond rotary blade, electronic beam machining, ultrasonic machining, and anodization. Laser trimming, in particular, has the following advantages:
1) The lack of mechanical contact with an object to be worked on results in less contamination and damage to the object.
2) An object housed in a transparent package can be trimmed from outside of the package.
3) An object can be machined to have a minute width.
4) Resistors of high-density integrated circuits can be trimmed.
5) The precision and reproducibility are high.
6) A trimmed object causes little change with time.
Laser trimming is therefore suitable for trimming of electric devices, and the mainstream of electric device trimming is laser trimming using a YAG laser, a CO2 laser, or the like. Laser trimming cannot be performed on TFT devices since it only makes TFT devices physically unusable.
There are two types of trimming: element trimming and functional trimming. Functional trimming, in which a printed resistor is trimmed to have the optimum resistance value while the overall circuit function is observed, is widely employed at present.
The nanowire TFTs described above are arranged by a simple process of causing a solution in which nanowires are dispersed to flow over a substrate and thus depositing nanowire TFTs. On the other hand, the simple process allows nanowires to be arranged irregularly, which leads to characteristics fluctuations. Causes of the irregular arrangement of nanowires include a fluctuation in number of effectively working nanowires, a fluctuation in length of the nanowires between source and drain electrodes due to deviation of the angle between the nanowires and the electrodes from being perpendicular, and an overlap of nanowires. These fluctuations related to arrangement of nanowires can make nanowire characteristics depart from specification values.

Electric device having nanowires, manufacturing method thereof, and electric device assembly


A supply apparatus including: a supply member that contacts a print medium and feeds out the print medium; a drive transmission unit configured to transmit rotation of a drive shaft to the supply member; and an arm member that supports the supply member and the drive transmission unit and rotates around a predetermined axis, wherein a contacting position between the supply member and the print medium is switched to any position of an upstream side or a downstream side in the feeding-out direction depending on a rotating position of the arm member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a supply apparatus, a method for supplying print mediums and a printing apparatus, and, in particular, to a supply apparatus that appropriately supplies print mediums.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known that a printing apparatus that performs a print on a print medium is provided with a supply apparatus that separates loaded print mediums one by one and supplies the separated print medium to a printing location. The supply apparatus is provided with a feeding unit that uses a swing arm method in which a roller is supported on a front end of an arm rotating around a predetermined axis, and a separating unit that has a separation inclined surface at a predetermined angle to the loaded print medium.
As this type of supply apparatuses, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-46874 discloses a supply apparatus that is provided with two arms having different lengths to each other in a feeding-out direction of a print medium, and rotation of a drive shaft is transmitted to anyone of two rollers supported respectively on the two arms depending on a rotating direction of the drive shaft. In this supply apparatus, the two rollers are arranged in different positions in a direction (width direction of the print medium) crossing the feeding-out direction.
In the supply apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-46874, the rotation of the drive shaft is transmitted to the roller arranged in the downstream side in the feeding-out direction to rotate the roller, which prevents thin sheets from being fed out in a stacking state. In addition, the rotation of the drive shaft is transmitted to the roller arranged in the upstream side in the feeding-out direction to rotate the roller, which makes the print medium easily bent to prevent a thick sheet from being not fed out.
In the supply apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-46874, the roller rotated by transmission of the rotation of the drive shaft, as well as the roller to which the rotation of the drive shaft is not transmitted contact the print medium. Therefore a local load is applied on an area of the print medium, the area being interposed between two positions where the rollers contact. As a result, there is a case where creases or breaks are accrued on this area of the print medium.

Supply apparatus, method for supplying print medium, and printing apparatus


An absorbent product comprising a liquid permeable surface sheet, a liquid nonpermeable back sheet and an absorbent layer located therebetween, wherein the absorbent layer comprises a water nonswellable synthetic fiber (a) and optionally cellulose fiber (b), and a water-absorbent resin (c), with the weight ratio of (a):(b) being (100 to 20):(0 to 80) and the percentage content of (c) based on the weight sum of (a), (b) and (c) is 25 to 75 weight %. The absorbent layer is treated with polyoxyalkylene-modified silicone surface active agent (d1) and/or a nonsilicone surface active agent having HLB of 8 to 14 (d2). Absorbent products of the present invention exhibit excellent shape retention in the moist state and good permeability and diffusibility for the absorbed liquid. Accordingly, they provide excellent surface dryness, reduced leakage and thus can be comfortably used for a long time and effectively applied to disposable diapers, sanitary napkins and incontinence pads.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to disposable absorbent products such as disposable diapers, sanitary napkins and incontinence pads. More specifically, it relates to absorbent products exhibiting excellent permeability and diffusibility of the absorbed liquid in the absorbent layer without leakage, thereby providing good dryness and comfort to the user.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hitherto, various proposals have been advocated for absorbent products' properties aimed at improving the absorption rate of urine or blood, improving the dryness after absorption, or reducing leakage.
Most of such proposals relate to improvement of the liquid permeable surface sheet or surface nonwoven fabric (as disclosed in the official gazette notice for JP-A-58-60068, the official gazette notice for JP-A-1-148879 and the official gazette notice for JP-A-2-169774), use of water-absorbent resins having a specific performance or property, disposition of an absorbent resin in the absorbent layer, use of a hydrophilic diffusion layer comprising a nonwoven fabric or a water-absorbent paper, and an embossing method for the absorbent layer. Thus few improvements concerning the absorbent layer itself containing an absorbent resin have been proposed so far. This is because conventional disposable diapers have an absorbent layer made of materials with a high hydrophilic property, such as fluff pulp, water absorbent paper and water absorbent resin.
These days, with the property improvement of absorbent products such as disposable diapers and sanitary napkins, such products tend to be used over a long time. Further, as to disposable diapers, as they become thinner, the ratio of water absorbent resin/fiber substrate therein tends to become greater. On the other hand, satisfactory shape retention or unity of the water absorbent resin/fiber substrate can not be obtained with an absorbent layer comprising a water-absorbent resin and a conventional cellulose fiber such as fluff pulp and water absorbent paper, regardless of the application of the water-absorbent resin, namely, whether in a method of sandwiching between pulp layers or water absorbent papers, or in a method of mixing with pulp. That is, hydrophilic cellulose fibers that absorb and retain liquid such as urine and blood by physical capillary action have problems such as susceptibility to deformation by an external force such as the wearer's movement during a period of water absorption or after water absorption to ruin the unity of the water absorbent resin/fiber substrate, which lead to leakage and deterioration of dryness.
Proposals to prevent deformation of absorbent layers in the wet state, that is, to provide resilience to enable restoration of the absorbent layer when an external force such as compression and distortion is applied thereto, have been made. For example, an attempt has been made to form an absorbent layer by sandwiching a water absorbent resin between sheets comprising a synthetic fiber. Although this method can improve shape retention in the wet state to some degree, it causes a problem in that when the amount of the water absorbent resin is sufficiently large, the water absorbent resin sandwiched between the fiber sheets forms a gel layer after absorption, and the gel layer can be displaced by an extenal force to ruin the unity between the water absorbent resin gel/fiber substrate and cause leakage. Further, since synthetic fibers are not hydrophilic, a problem or deterioration of the permeability and the diffusibility of the liquid occurs.
Moreover, a proposal has been made to improve shape retention of the absorbent layer by mixing and dispersing water-absorbent resin in a fiber substrate which is a combination of a heat-adhesive synthetic fiber and fluff pulp with heat treatment. However, although this method provides improvement of shape retention, since the hydrophilic property of the absorbent layer deteriorates as the ratio of the synthetic fiber increases, a problem of deterioration of the liquid's permeability or diffusibility occurs as compared with a conventional absorbent layer consisting of cellulose fiber.

Absorbent product including absorbent layer treated with surface active agent


The present invention is a venting cap (1) with a hole (4) and a semi-permeable membrane (7). The membrane is fitted in a housing (6) of particular dimensions which is in turn fitted in a protrusion (5) corresponding to the hole in the cap. The present invention further encompasses a process for the manufacture of the cap.

The problem of venting is well known in the art. Indeed, it is well known that certain liquid substances generate gases and that this may lead to the build up of pressure inside a container containing such liquid substances. Such substances are typically hydrogen peroxide or other bleaches as well as carbonated beverages.
Should no precautions be taken to cope with this pressure build up, the container containing the substance may be subjected to severe stress which usually causes bulging or stress cracking. Bulging refers to the deformation of the container, while stress cracking may cause leakage or even bursting. Thus to avoid these phenomena, it is necessary to vent the container, i.e. to provide means whereby the pressure build up inside the container may be relieved. In other words, it is necessary to provide means whereby the gas generated by the liquid substance can escape to the ambient, while leaktightness of the container is maintained.
One means of achieving this is by providing a cap with a hole, and a membrane inserted in the cap, covering the hole. The membrane is permeable to gases but not to liquids.
There are a number of problems associated with the use of semi permeable membranes.
A first problem is that semi permeable membranes are expensive materials. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a venting cap which uses as little membrane material as possible. This object implies not only using small membranes, but also providing a process for manufacturing such a cap which drastically reduces the amount of wasted membrane material, i.e. the amount of membrane material not used for manufacturing caps. This process should of course be compatible with high production speeds required by modern industry.
In the art, it is customary to design membranes which are force fitted in the cap receiving the membranes. This is a fairly simple process because it requires no particular arrangement for securing the membrane to the cap. But in that configuration, it is essential that the membrane is as big as the inside dimensions of the cap, whereas this is not required from the standpoint of venting performance. Also, it implies that a new membrane design has to be developed for each and every cap. It is thus also an object of the present invention to provide a venting means which provides maximum flexibility in that it is applicable to a great variety of caps.
Another flexibility required is flexibility in the membrane material. Indeed, there are many different applications which require venting, and each of those different applications may require different membrane materials.
Yet another problem encountered with membranes is that they are typically made out of delicate items, both because of the materials typically used to make them, and because they are typically very thin. Thus they can very easily be damaged during the process of their insertion into the cap. It is thus another object of the present invention to obviate the need for special precautions during said insertion process.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,499, an arrangement is proposed wherein a small membrane is fitted into a liner, the size of which corresponds to the inside diameter of the cap receiving the arrangement. This arrangement does not meet the objects of the present invention because it can only fit caps of a determined dimension, i.e. it does not provide the desired flexibility. Furthermore the arrangement in '499 cannot be obtained by a process meeting all of the above objects. Actually, '499 fails to disclose any suitable process at all.
In AU 9341259, a venting cap is disclosed wherein a small membrane is secured to the inner surface of the cap's top wall by ultrasonic welding. Because ultrasonic welding is an essential requirement for providing the arrangement, drastic limitations are imposed on suitable materials for that arrangement. i.e. one can only use materials which can be ultrasonically welded. The '259 arrangement thus does not provide the desired flexibility either.


A navigation system with resume logic and mode logic provides as an output an accurate navigation solution using multiple RF sensors. The resume logic determines which sensors are currently providing good data to the navigation system. The mode logic selects an operating mode of the navigation system and selects which data to use for calculating corrections to the navigation solution. The mode logic makes the selections based on the results of the resume logic. The resume logic continues to test data from the sensors. If a sensor that has previously provided erroneous data starts providing good data, the mode logic will automatically select that data for use in calculating the corrections to the navigation solution. The tracking of RF transmitters by the multiple RF sensors is controlled using a plurality of available inertial and non-inertial sensors.

A pilot receives information from many sources during take-off, flight, and landing of an aircraft. The aircraft includes avionic systems designed to collect data, perform calculations on the data, and present the data to the pilot. For example, the aircraft may include an inertial navigation system (INS), an Attitude Heading Reference System (AHRS), an air data computer, a roll-pitch-yaw computer, a mission computer, various displays, and other avionic systems. Some avionic systems may include one or more sensors that collect data, such as attitude, heading, altitude, and air speed. The same or other avionic systems may process this data. Avionic displays may present the data to the pilot in a usable format.
If one of the sensors becomes inoperable, the pilot may have to rely on the information he can obtain from other sensors to continue the flight and land the aircraft safely. For example, the INS and the AHRS systems may provide similar information to the pilot. Both systems may provide attitude and heading information to the pilot. If there was a problem with the INS, the pilot may obtain some of the same information from the AHRS. Additionally, it is important that the data that the pilot is receiving is accurate. So if the INS is providing data, but the data is erroneous, the pilot should use the data obtained from the AHRS and ignore the INS data.
Typically, when one of the sensors fails or provides erroneous data, the sensor and/or the associated avionic system is deactivated. For example, if the INS fails, the INS would be deactivated and the pilot would rely on data obtained from the AHRS. The pilot would not be able to use data from the INS again unless the pilot manually re-started the INS. Additionally, the pilot has no way of knowing if the INS has resumed providing reliable data until after re-starting the INS. Accordingly, a pilot will typically land the aircraft using the AHRS data and trouble shoot the INS once the aircraft is grounded.
While the previous example is presented using the INS and the AHRS, other avionic systems and/or sensors may provide an overlap of information such that if one fails, the pilot still has access to some data. This redundancy of information provides for safer flights.
Additionally, the redundancy of information may improve the accuracy of some avionic systems. For example, the aircraft may include both an INS and a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver, or other radio frequency (RF) ranging system, such as Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) and Galileo. Both the INS and the GPS receiver may provide estimates of the aircraft's position. In addition, the data from the GPS receiver may be used to calibrate the INS, while the GPS receiver may use the data from the INS to quickly re-establish tracking of a satellite in which the GPS receiver has temporarily lost contact. Thus, the integration of the INS and GPS receiver provides more accurate and robust data to the pilot.
The integration of the INS and the GPS receiver may be described as loosely, closely, tightly, or deeply coupled. A loosely coupled system may be described as a stand-alone GPS receiver integrated with a stand-alone INS. The GPS receiver passes position, velocity, and time (PVT) information obtained from four satellites to the INS. The INS uses the PVT information to correct inertial errors that are commonly associated with INS operation. However, the GPS data passed to the INS becomes unusable when less than four satellites are available to the GPS receiver.
A closely coupled system may be described as a stand-alone GPS receiver integrated with a stand-alone INS. However in a closely coupled system, in addition to the GPS receiver passing PVT information obtained from typically four satellites to the INS, the INS passes velocity, acceleration, and angular rate information to the GPS receiver. The GPS receiver can use this information when tracking satellites and to re-acquire a satellite signal that has been lost. However, as with the loosely coupled system, the GPS data passed to the INS becomes less usable when less than four satellites are available to the GPS receiver. For example, when only three satellites are available, GPS receivers typically continue to output horizontal position, but do not output valid altitude data.
In a tightly coupled system, the GPS receiver provides pseudorange and/or deltarange data to the INS. The GPS receiver contains tracking loops for tracking data from multiple satellites. The tracking loops provide pseudorange and deltarange measurements to the INS. The pseudorange measurements are an output of a delay lock loop, which is used for tracking code phase, while the deltarange measurements are an output of a phase lock loop, which is used for tracking carrier phase. The pseudorange and deltarange measurements are used by a Kalman filter in the INS to calculate errors, which sends correction data to a navigation computation.
In the tightly coupled system, the GPS receiver sends pseudorange and deltarange to the INS for all satellites that are being tracked. The INS may continue to use the data obtained from the GPS receiver even when fewer than four satellite signals are being tracked. The INS in a tightly coupled GPS/INS system can continue to use the GPS data with less than four available satellites because each pseudorange and deltarange measurement is an independent measurement.
A deeply coupled system includes a GPS function and an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). The GPS function may be defined as the processing associated with computing the GPS data, while the IMU is generally described as the inertial sensing component of the INS, providing data directly to a computer. In a deeply coupled system, a stand-alone GPS receiver may not exist. For example, the functions of the GPS receiver may be resident in a single processor, along with the INS function.
The computer performs the INS computations. However, in contrast with the tightly coupled system which uses pseudorange and deltarange data, measurements from all available satellites are processed by the Kalman filter using in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) signals, which are calculated in the GPS function. The Kalman filter calculates the errors and sends correction data to the navigation computation and to the GPS function. The information sent to the GPS function includes commands to replica code generators to enable the GPS function to track the GPS satellites. This capability eliminates the need for standalone tracking loops in the GPS function. By combining information from multiple satellites and the inertial sensors, the deeply coupled system is able to track the satellites under higher interference or jamming levels.
Accordingly, the more integrated the GPS/INS system becomes, the more robust the navigation system becomes. Additional benefits may be obtained by integrating data from other sensors. For example, data from the deeply integrated GPS/INS system may be used to calibrate the air data computer and a magnetometer. The air data computer and magnetometer may then be used as aids should GPS data become unavailable and the performance of the INS has degraded to a level where air data or magnetometer aiding will improve the accuracy of the navigation solution.
It would be beneficial to use a deeply integrated GPS/INS system in a navigation system that is operable to automatically resume using data from a sensor that resumes providing reliable data. Accordingly, the pilot may operate the aircraft using the best data available from the avionic sensors.

System and method for using multiple aiding sensors in a deeply integrated navigation system


The present invention discloses a staggered finger configuration comprising a plurality of first and second conducting wires alternately arranged on the substrate, wherein each of the first conducting wire connecting an inner and an outer fingers and each of the second conducting wire connecting an intermediate finger between the inner and the outer fingers, thereby forming a staggered configuration.

The present invention relates in general to a staggered finger configuration and more particularly to a staggered finger configuration for chips with staggered bonding pads.
As the efficiency and complexity of semiconductor chips increase, semiconductor packages provide increased efficiency.
In wire bonding, the arrangement of bonding pads on a chip is important. In a package process such as ball grid array (BGA), the pitch of conductive wires on a substrate can be very small due to photolithography technique. Nevertheless, the pitch of the bonding pads is confined by the design rule of wire bonding process, remaining unable to scale down to match the conductive wires. As a result, the arrangement of bonding pads has become a critical parameter in package efficiency.
Generally, the number and pattern of I/O connections between chips and outer circuits depend on the architecture and functions of a chip. Specifically, chips with more functions require more I/O connections.
Conventional bonding pads are arranged singly in-line and staggered. The single in-line arrangement cannot accommodate increased numbers of bonding pads, but the staggered arrangement can improve above fault, as illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.
FIG. 1 is a top view of bonding wire connections between a conventional chip with staggered bonding pads and fingers on a substrate. The bonding wire connection comprises a substrate 120, the upper surface of which bear a chip with staggered bonding pads disposed thereon, a plurality of fingers 126a and 126b and a conductive trace 160. A plurality of bonding pads 122a, 122b acting as I/O pads for signals are arranged alternately on the chip 110. Moreover, the bonding pads 122a and 122b connect fingers 126a and 126b by bonding wires 124a and 124b to electrically connect the conductive trace 160. FIG. 2 is a cross-section of FIG. 1 along line 2-2. A package body 150 is formed to encapsulate the chip 110, bonding wires 124a, 124b and the upper surface of the substrate 120 to complete the package 100.
As shown in FIG. 1, the bonding wire 124a connects the outer bonding pad 122a as a signal pad with the finger 126a closer to the chip 110 to electrically connect the conductive trace 160. The bonding wire 124b connects the inner bonding pad 122b as a signal pad with the finger 126b closer to the chip 110 to electrically connect the conductive trace 160. In this case, the number of bonding pads 122a, 122b exceeds the number of fingers 126a, 126b, such that the finger 126a closer to the chip 110 connects to the outer bonding pad 122a, and the finger 126b farthest from the chip 110 connects to the inner bonding pad 122b. As a result, bonding wires are tiered to retain the loop height of the bonding wire 124a lower than that of the bonding wire 124b to prevent shorts in the wire bonding process.
For reduced cost, a common substrate is currently popular in semiconductor chip packaging. With different arrangements of staggered bonding pads on the chip 110, however, it is necessary to rearrange the fingers on the substrate to prevent shorts in the wire bonding process, with more than one arrangements needed. As shown in FIG. 3, the arrangement of bonding pads 122a′, 122b′ is opposite to that in FIG. 1, and the finger 126a′ closer to the chip 110′ connects the inner bonding pad 122a′ and the finger 126b ′ farther from the chip 110 connects the outer bonding pad 122b′, making it different from them to be tiered. As a result, bonding wires 124a′ and 124b′ short easily.
Accordingly, what is needed is a common substrate suitable for a chip with different arrangements of bonding pads to reduce costs and provide more bonding pads on a chip to enhance chip efficiency.

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc.


A splitter for faucets includes a body in which a control unit is received. The control unit includes a collar in which a ceramic disk is received. The ceramic disk has a plurality of through holes and a number of the through holes is equal to a number of the outlets of the body. A ceramic plate is connected to the ceramic disk so as to cover some of the through holes in the ceramic disk. The ceramic disk is connected with a control shaft which has a resilient member on a radial portion thereof. An end member is mounted to radial portion and includes a plurality of gaps so that when the control shaft is rotated, the protrusion on the resilient member is removably engaged with one of the gaps so as to generate a sound.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a splitter for a faucet wherein a sound is generated when the knob of the splitter is rotated to a desired position.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
A conventional faucet generally includes a valve which controls the volume of hot water and cold water flowing from the faucet. The control can be done by operation of a knob or a control lever. A ball-shaped core is usually connected with the knob or the control lever so as to align passages in the ball-shaped core with the outlets of the hot water and the cold water. However, the volume of the hot water or cold water has to be measured by experience when operating the knob or the control lever. Water often wastes a lot during operation repeatedly of the knob or the control lever.
The present invention intends to provide a splitter wherein the knob is connected with a control shaft and the control shaft has a resilient member which is removably engaged with one of three gaps to set the desired aperture to be opened, when the resilient member is engaged with the gap, a click sound is generated so that the user is acknowledged a desired position is reached. By the special feature of the splitter, the user needs not to try multiple times to set a desired position of the control shaft.


A system and method for communicating includes a transmitter that transmits a communication signal having a plurality of successive frames, with each frame formed with alternatively arranged N known data symbols and M unknown data symbols such that the N known data symbols as training symbols. The communications signals are received within a receiver. The N known data symbols are synchronized at the receiver by correlating and time averaging the N known data symbols.

Many RF communication systems introduce distortion into messages transmitted over the communications link and make it difficult to reproduce the original message at the receiver. This distortion can result from multipath reception, group delay distortion, noise amplitude distortion, interference, dispersive facing or the time-spread of the time response. As a result, many communication systems introduce an anti-distortion compensation scheme at the receiver.
Adaptive equalizers, i.e., recursive filters, are often used. In these systems, the characteristics of the channel are estimated, and the data subjected to a pre-distortion filter function based on the observed influence of the channel on the communications signals as they are received. Some systems adapt to the distortion introduced into the data and rely on unknown signal inputs. Other systems provide adaptive equalization to compensate time spread and frequency spread distortion. For example, a known signal is interleaved with segments of the original message at the transmitter to create alternating bursts of unknown data in a known signal spaced apart in time and transmitted to the receiver. Instead of using a time domain equalization approach, the distortion compensation equipment converts the received message signal and a known test signal into the frequency domain for processing to obtain an estimate of the transfer function of the communication link that is used to recreate the originally transmitted message signal. There is some delay factor involved in this type of system.
The use of adaptive equalizers is routine and usually (a) train-off the data, for example, a decision feedback equalizer, (b) train-off a prescribed preamble such as an IEEE 802.11 packet based systems, or (c) train-off embedded ambles contained within the data, such as used in cellular radio and in disclosed commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,365,338, the disclosure which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
In the incorporated by reference '338 patent, the signal transmission and data recovery devices use a selected transmission scenario and adaptive filtering process in which the transmitted message is assembled to contain alternately arranged known and unknown pluralities of data symbols. At the transmitter, the known data symbols are generated by a sequence generator, with an identical generator provided at the receiver for reproducing the known symbol sequences and enabling data recovery. At the receiver, a prescribed data recovery algorithm containing a transversal filter function and a data estimate refinement is applied to the communications signal. The algorithm uses a priori knowledge of data symbols of those portions of the transmitted message between which unknown data symbols are located. The transmitted message typically contains a plurality of successive frames, with each frame containing N known data symbols operative as training symbols, followed by M unknown data symbols or vice versa. Synchronization of the local pseudo noise (PN) sequence generator with the PN sequence of which the successive sets of N known data symbols are composed is achieved by using a prescribed tone sequence/initialization scheme.
The use of the powerful forward error correction codes in this type of modern digital transmission systems described above makes training any adaptive equalizer such as disclosed in the incorporated by reference '338 patent difficult at low signal/noise (Eb/No) ratio since the forward error correction (FEC) code exhibits a lower Eb/No performance threshold than the equalizer. Thus, it is desirable to improve the channel estimator performance and improve the signal-to-noise ratio performance of the equalizer training algorithm to an arbitrary low Eb/No value, including a value that is lower in value than the FEC code threshold.

System and method for communicating at low signal-to-noise ratio using injected training symbols


Provided are opioid receptor antagonists represented by the formula (I) where R, Y3, R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 are as defined herein.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to 4-arylpiperazine compounds. These compounds function as opioid receptor antagonists, and can be used to treat a variety of disease states.
2. Description of the Background
The opioid receptors, μ, δ, κ, and the opioid-like receptor ORL-1 belong to the super family of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) that possess seven helical trans-membrane spanning domains in their architecture.1 The majority of research efforts focused upon this group of proteins has been directed toward the μ receptor since it mediates the actions of both the opiate and opioid analgesics such as morphine and fentanyl, respectively.2 However, over the years it has become increasingly clear that the entire family of proteins is actively involved in a host of biological processes.2 Furthermore, the advent of selective antagonists has demonstrated that pharmacotherapeutic opportunities exist via both negative and positive modulation of this receptor family.3-8
The opioid receptor system has been extensively studied, and thousands of compounds have been synthesized and evaluated by in vitro binding and functional assays as well as by animal models.2 An integral part of the effort to characterize the opioid receptor system has been the discovery of potent, pure antagonists. Naloxone (1a) and naltrexone (1b), both competitive antagonists at μ, δ, and κ opioid receptors,9 have been extensively used as pharmacological tools to identify and characterize opioid systems (see FIG. 1 for structures). Additionally, naloxone is approved to treat heroin overdose and to reverse respiratory depression caused by morphine.9 Naltrexone is used to treat heroin and alcohol abuse.
In 1978, Zimmerman and co-workers reported the discovery of a structurally unique series of opioid receptor pure antagonists based on N-substituted analogues of 3,4-dimethyl-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)piperidine (2a, LY272922).10 Unlike naloxone (1a) and naltrexone (1b) where the antagonist activity is dependent on the N-allyl or N-cyclopropylmethyl substituent, all N-substituted trans-3,4-dimethyl-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)piperidines (2) including the N-methyl analogue 2b are opioid receptor pure antagonists.10-14 A few of the more interesting analogues include alvimopan (3), which is an FDA-approved drug for GI motility disorder,15 LY255,582 (2d),13,16 which was developed to treat obesity, and the selective κ opioid receptor antagonist JDTic (4),6-8,17 which shows activity in rat models of depression,18 anxiety,19 and stress-induced cocaine relapse.18 JDTic appears to be a promising therapeutic.
Komoto et al. reported structures like 6a-f in a paper entitled "New μ-Opioid Receptor Agonists with piperazine Moiety." They do not describe that the compounds have opioid receptor antagonistic efficacy.20 The compounds are synthesized by a route similar to that used to prepare 5a-j. At present, the opiate class, represented by naloxone (1a), naltrexone (1b), and the N-substituted 3,4-dimethyl-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)piperidines, represented by alvimopan, LY255,582, and JDTic, are the only two classes of nonpeptide pure opioid receptor antagonists known. The discovery that 3-[4-(substituted piperazine-yl)]phenols (5) as described herein are pure opioid receptor antagonists adds a third example of this important class of compounds.
Studies with selective κ opioid antagonists have shown that this system is intimately involved in brain processes that relate to stress, fear, and anxiety as well as reward-seeking behavior. Studies have shown that JDTic (4) and nor-BNI, another κ opioid selective antagonist, dose-dependently reduce fear and stress-induced responses in multiple behavioral paradigms with rodents (immobility in the forced-swim assay,18,21 reduction of exploratory behavior in the elevated plus maze, and fear-potentiated startle).19 Furthermore, selective κ antagonists have been shown to reduce stress-induced reinstatement of cocaine self-administration in rats,18 to block the stress-induced potentiation of cocaine place preference conditioning,22-24 to decrease dependence-induced ethanol self-administration,25 to diminish deprivation-induced eating in rats,26 and to prevent pre-pulse inhibition mediated by U50,488.27 These observations regarding the behavioral consequences of receptor blockade in several animal tests suggest that κ antagonists will be useful for treating anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, addiction, and eating disorders.
Previously reported non-selective opioid receptor antagonists such as LY255582 have been found to increase metabolic energy consumption and reduce the weight in obese rats while maintaining muscle mass. These reports suggest that opioid receptor antagonists may be useful in preventing, treating, and/or ameliorating the effect of obesity. Eli Lilly and Company has developed new classes of opioid receptor antagonists that interact with the μ, δ, and κ receptors (termed non-selective) as potential pharmacotherapies to treat obesity and related diseases.28,29 The Lilly patents suggest that such compounds will be useful for the treatment and/or prophylaxis of obesity and related diseases including eating disorders (bulimia, anorexia nervosa, etc.), diabetes, diabetic complications, diabetic retinopathy, sexual/reproductive disorders, depression, anxiety, epileptic seizure, hypertension, cerebral hemorrhage, congestive heart failure, sleeping disorders, atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, stroke, hyperlipidemia, hypertriglycemia, hyperglycemia, hyperlipoproteinemia, substance abuse, drug overdose, compulsive behavior disorders (such as paw licking in dog), and addictive behaviors such as for example gambling and alcoholism.

Arylpiperazine opioid receptor antagonists


A wireless video and audio transmission device is provided that comprises a transmitter, a receiver and a TV. The transmitter has a 2.4 GHz transmission module that modulates the video signals, audio signals from a microphone that have been amplified by the amplifying circuit, and signals from a detector The transmitter transmits those signals from a 2.4 GHz transmission antenna, and after reception by the receiver, the signals will be demodulated and processed into regular A/V signals. The A/V signals are coupled to the TV, and the detected signals are coupled to a buzzer to sound an alarm. A UHF transmitter of the receiver modulates the audio signals from a microphone that have been amplified by an amplifying circuit, and transmits them from a UHF transmission antenna. After the signals have been received by a UHF reception antenna, they are transmitted to a UHF reception circuit to be demodulated, amplified and processed into regular audio signals The audio signals are output to a speaker.

The subject invention relates to a wireless video transmission device, particularly to a device that will integrate the applications of radio communication, a detector and a CCD monitor camera.
Conventionally, a regular CCD monitor camera is not equipped with a radio communication transmission function, it has only a video output for monitoring, and is not equipped with a two-way audio transmission function
Therefore, a device that integrates the application of radio communications, a CCD monitor camera and a detector is provided.

Wireless video and audio transmission device


In order to protect the user security data, provided is a memory card capable of preventing the data leakage to a third party not having the access authority by imposing the limitation on the number of password authentications and automatically erasing the data. In a system comprised of a multimedia card and a host machine electrically connected to the multimedia card and controlling the operations of the multimedia card, a retry counter for storing the number of password authentication failures is provided and the upper limit of the number of failures is registered in a register. When passwords are repeatedly entered once, twice, . . . and n times and the retry counter which counts the entries reaches the upper limit of the number of failures, the data is automatically erased so as not to leave the data in the flash memory.

According to the examination by the inventors of the present invention, the following techniques are known for the memory card.
For example, as the external storage devices of the personal computer and the mobile device, a memory card such as a multimedia card (registered trademark) standardized by the MMCA (MultiMediaCard Association), the standardization body, is widely known, and the multimedia card is used for the static image recording on a digital video camera, the data recording on a mobile phone, and the sound recording on a mobile audio player.
In the multimedia card mentioned above, various operations to a flash memory in the card such as data read, write, and erase are controlled by the various commands issued from such host machines as the personal computer and the mobile device. For example, the Lock_Unlock command standardized in pp. 32 to 34 of MultiMediaCard System Specification Version 3.1 by the MMCA (official release June 2001) can execute the password set/password clear/lock_unlock/erase, and the protection of the user data stored in the flash memory can be achieved by this command.


Described herein are methods and compositions for the treatment of cancer. Aspects include administering (1) an agent that inhibits activity of a CBM signalosome complex, or (2) a cell engineered to have reduced CBM signalosome complex levels to a subject having cancer. In various embodiment, the methods further comprise administering second therapeutic, for example, a checkpoint inhibitor or anti-cancer therapy, to the subject.

Solid tumors are infiltrated by effector T cells (Teff) with the potential to control or reject them, as well as by regulatory T cells (Treg) that restrict the function of Teff and thereby promote tumor growth1. The anti-tumor activity of Teff can be therapeutically unleashed and is now being exploited for the treatment of some select forms of human cancer. However, weak tumor-associated inflammatory responses and low interferon (IFN)-γ secretion as well as the immune-suppressive function of Treg remain major hurdles to broader effectiveness of tumor immunotherapy2.

Targeting the CBM signalosome complex induces regulatory T cells to inflame the tumor microenvironment


The invention provides a heat-resistant, low-dielectric polymeric material that is preferably a copolymer in which a non-polar xcex1-olefin base polymer segment and a vinyl aromatic copolymer segment are chemically combined with each other, and that is a thermoplastic resin showing a multi-phase structure in which a dispersion phase formed by one segment is finely dispersed in a continuous phase formed by another segment. It is thus possible to achieve a polymeric material that is excellent in heat resistance, has high strength, and has a low dielectric constant and a reduced dielectric loss, and so is suitable for an electrical insulating material for high-frequency purposes.

1. Art Field
The present invention relates generally to a novel heat-resistant, low-dielectric polymeric material, and films, substrates, electronic parts and heat-resistant resin formed articles obtained by use of the same. Specifically, the present invention is concerned with a low-dielectric-constant polymeric material that has a low dielectric constant and a low dielectric loss tangent, is excellent in heat resistance in a high-temperature range and close contact with or adhesion to metals and metal foils as well, and is capable of injection molding, press molding, transfer molding and extrusion molding. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a substrate or the like that is prepared by thermal fusion and lamination of films obtainable from the low-dielectric-constant polymeric material itself.
2. Background Art
To meet recent sharp increases in the quantity of information communications, there are growing demands for size and weight reductions, and fast operation of communications equipment and, hence, low-dielectric electrical insulating materials capable of meeting such demands are now in urgent need. In particular, the frequencies of radio waves used for hand-portable mobile communications such as earphones and digital portable phones, and satellite communications are in high-frequency bands covering from the MHz to GHz bands. Size reductions, and high-density packing of housings, substrates and elements are attempted on account of the rapid progress of communications equipment used as these communications means. For achieving size and weight reductions of communications equipment used in the high-frequency band region covering from the MHz to GHz bands, it is now required to develop an electrical insulating material with excellent high-frequency transmission characteristics combined with suitable low dielectric characteristics. In other words, a device circuit undergoes energy losses in the transmission process, which are called dielectric losses. The energy losses are not preferable because they are consumed as thermal energy in the device circuit, and discharged in the form of heat. In a low-frequency region the energy losses occur due to a dipole field change caused by dielectric polarization, and in a high-frequency region they occur due to ionic polarization and electronic polarization. The ratio between the energy consumed in a dielectric material and the energy built up in the dielectric material per cycle of an alternating field is referred to as a dielectric loss tangent, represented by tan xcex4. A dielectric loss is proportional to the product of a relative dielectric constant ∈ and the dielectric loss tangent of material. Consequently, tan xcex4 increases with increasing frequency in the high-frequency region. In addition, the quantity of heat generated per unit area increases due to the high-density packing of electronic elements. To reduce the dielectric loss of a dielectric material as much as possible, therefore, it is required to use a material having a small value for tan xcex4. By use of a low-dielectric polymeric material having a reduced dielectric loss, the dielectric loss and the generation of heat due to electrical resistance are reduced so that the risk of signal malfunctions can be reduced. Materials having reduced transmission losses (energy losses) are thus strongly desired in the field of high-frequency communications. For materials electrically characterized by electrical insulation and a low-dielectric constant, it has been proposed so far in the art to use a diversity of materials such as thermoplastic resins, e.g., polyolefin, vinyl chloride resin and fluorine base resin, and thermosetting resins, e.g., unsaturated polyester resin, polyimide resin, epoxy resin, vinyltriazine resin (BT resin), crosslinkable polyphenylene oxide, and curable polyphenylene ether.
When materials having a low-dielectric constant are used as an electronic part (element) material, however, polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene, like those set forth in JP-B 52-31272, have a grave disadvantage that their heat resistance is low although they have excellent insulation resistance as electrical properties. This is because they have a covalent bond such as a Cxe2x80x94C bond, and are free of a large polar group. For this reason, their electrical properties (dielectric loss, dielectric constant, etc.) become worse when they are used at high temperatures. Thus, such polyolefins are not preferable for use as an insulating film (layer) for capacitors, etc. The polyethylene and polypropylene, once they have been formed into film, are coated and bonded onto a conductive material using an adhesive agent. However, this method does not only involve a complicated process but also offers some problems in view of coating, for instance, because it is very difficult to make the thickness of the film thin.
The vinyl chloride resin has high insulation resistance and excellent chemical resistance and fire retardance, but it has the demerits of lacking heat resistance as in the case of polyolefins, and having large dielectric losses as well.
Polymers containing a fluorine atom in their molecular chains, like vinylidene fluoride resin, trifluoroethylene resin, and perfluoroethylene resin, are excellent in terms of electrical properties (low dielectric constant, low-dielectric loss), heat resistance and chemical stability. However, one difficulty with such polymers is that, unlike thermoplastic resins, they cannot be heat-treated into formed articles or films due to their poor formability, and their poor ability to form coatings. Another disadvantage is that some added cost is needed for forming the polymers into devices. Yet another disadvantage is that the field to which the polymers are applicable is limited due to their low transparency. Such low-dielectric polymeric materials for general purpose use as mentioned above are all insufficient in terms of heat resistance because their allowable maximum temperature is below 130xc2x0 C. and, hence, they are classified as an insulating material for electrical equipment into heat resistance class B or lower according to JIS-C4003.
On the other hand, the thermosetting resins such as epoxy resin, polyphenylene ether (PPE), unsaturated polyester resin, and phenolic resin are mentioned for resins having relatively good heat resistance. As disclosed in JP-A 6-192392, the epoxy resin conforms to performance requirements regarding insulation resistance, dielectric breakdown strength, and heat-resistant temperature. However, no satisfactory properties are obtained because of a relatively high dielectric constant of 3 or greater. The epoxy resin has another demerit of being poor in the ability to form thin films. In addition, a curable modified PPO resin composition is known, which composition is obtained by blending polyphenylene oxide resin (PPO) with polyfunctional cyanic acid ester resins and other resins, and adding a radical polymerization initiator to the blend for preliminary reactions. However, this resin, too, fail to reduce the dielectric constant to a satisfactory level.
With a view to improving the epoxy resin having poor heat resistance, combinations of the epoxy resin with, for instance, phenol-novolak resin, and vinyltriazine resin have been under investigation. However, a grave problem with these combinations is some significant drop of the dynamic properties of the resulting films.
For the purposes of solving the above problems while the electrical properties are maintained, and specifically introducing improvements in the processability on heating, and close contact with or adhesion to copper or other metal conductors (layers), proposals have been put forward for copolymers of branched cyclo-ring amorphous fluoropolymer, and perfluoroethylene monomer with other monomers. However, although these copolymers may satisfy electrical properties such as dielectric constant, and dielectric loss tangent, yet their heat resistance remains worse under the influence of a methylene chain present in the high-molecular main chain. Never until now, thus, is there obtained any resin that can come in close contact with device substrates.
Among performance requirements for a low-dielectric-constant material excellent in dielectric properties and insulation resistance, there is heat resistance. That is, such a material can stand up well to a 120-second heating at a temperature of at least 260xc2x0 C. because a soldering step is always incorporated in a device fabrication process. Stated otherwise, the material should also be excellent in heat resistance, chemical stability such as alkali resistance, humidity resistance, and mechanical properties. Thus, the range of high-molecular materials capable of meeting such requirements is further limited. For instance, polyimide, polyether sulfone, polyphenylene sulfide, polysulfone, thermosetting polyphenylene ether (PPE), and polyethylene terephthalate are only known in the art. While these high-molecular materials are capable of forming thin films and coming in close contact with substrates, it is found that they are somewhat awkward. In a process of fabricating an insulating element film by, e.g., spin coating, the aforesaid high-molecular material is dissolved in an organic solvent to form a dilute solution. Then, the solution is spin coated, followed by evaporation of the solvent, yielding an insulating film. Solvents such as dimethylacetamide, and N-methylpyrrolidone that are good solvents for polyimide, and polysulfone are likely to remain partially in the insulating film because they are a polar yet high-boiling solvent and so have a low evaporation speed. It is also difficult to place the surface smoothness and consistency of thin films under control. Epoxy-modified polyphenylene ether resin or polyphenylene ether resin, too, is poor in workability and adhesion and, hence, reliability. In addition, much skill is required to form a uniform yet smooth film from a polymer solution because the polymer solution has a relatively high viscosity.
One object of the present invention is to provide a low-dielectric-constant polymeric material which has heat resistance, and is excellent in close contact with or adhesion to a metal conductor layer, capable of forming a thin film, low in terms of dielectric constant and dielectric loss, and excellent in insulating properties, and weather resistance and processability as well.
Another object of the invention is to provide a film which is obtained from the low-dielectric-constant polymeric material itself, and which has a low-dielectric constant, and is improved in terms of insulating properties, heat resistance, weather resistance, and processabilities such as formability. Yet another object of the invention is to provide a substrate which is obtained by lamination of two or more such films, and which has a low-dielectric constant and is improved in terms of insulating properties, heat resistance, weather resistance and processabilities such as formability. Still yet another object of the invention is to provide an electronic part which is obtained from the low-dielectric-constant polymeric material, and which is suitable for use in a high-frequency region. A further object of the invention is to provide a heat-resistant resin formed article improved in terms of heat resistance and formability.
Such objects are achieved by the inventions defined below as (1) to (14).
(1) A heat-resistant, low-dielectric polymeric material that is a resin composition comprising one or two or more resins having a weight-average absolute molecular weight of at least 1,000, wherein the sum of carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms in said composition is at least 99%, and some or all resin molecules have a chemical bond therebetween.
(2) The heat-resistant, low-dielectric polymeric material according to (1), wherein said chemical bond is at least one bond selected from crosslinking, block polymerization, and graft polymerization.
(3) The heat-resistant, low-dielectric polymeric material according to (1), wherein said resin composition is a copolymer in which a non-polar xcex1-olefin base polymer segment and/or a non-polar conjugated diene base polymer segment are chemically combined with a vinyl aromatic polymer segment, and which shows a multi-phase structure wherein a dispersion phase formed by one segment is finely dispersed in a continuous phase formed by another segment.
(4) The heat-resistant, low-dielectric polymeric material according to (3), which is a copolymer with said xcex1-olefin base polymer segment chemically combined with said vinyl aromatic polymer segment.
(5) The heat-resistant, low-dielectric polymeric material according to (3), wherein said vinyl aromatic polymer segment is a vinyl aromatic copolymer segment containing a monomer of divinylbenzene.
(6) The heat-resistant, low-dielectric polymeric material according to (4), which is a copolymer chemically bonded by graft polymerization.
(7) A heat-resistant, low-dielectric polymeric material, wherein a non-polar xcex1-olefin base polymer containing a monomer of 4-methylpentene-1 is added to the resin composition according to (1).
(8) The heat-resistant, low-dielectric polymeric material according to (1), which is used in a high-frequency band of at least 1 MHz.
(9) A film of at least 50 xcexcm in thickness, which is obtained using the heat-resistant, low-dielectric polymeric material according to (1).
(10) A substrate obtained by lamination of films, each according to (9).
(11) The film according to (9), which is used in a high-frequency band of at least 1 MHz.
(12) The substrate according to (10), which is used in a high-frequency band of at least 1 MHz.
(13) An electronic part, which is obtained using the heat-resistant, low-dielectric polymeric material according to (1) and used in a high-frequency band of at least 1 MHz.
(14) A heat-resistant resin article obtained by forming the heat-resistant, low-dielectric polymeric material according to (1) into a given shape.

Heat resistant, low dielectric polymers, and films, substrates, electronic parts and heat resistant resin molded parts using the same


An image forming apparatus, including: a polygon mirror; a first optical sensor; a second optical sensor; and a controller configured to (a) determine a second-beam exposure standby time which is a time period from a timing when the first beam deflected by a first surface of the polygon mirror has been detected by the first sensor to a timing when scanning exposure of the second beam deflected by a second surface of the polygon mirror is started, based on a measured time which is a time period from the timing of detection by the first sensor to a timing of detection of the second beam by the second sensor and (b) start the scanning exposure of the second beam deflected by the second surface when the second-beam exposure standby time elapses after the first beam deflected by the first surface has been detected by the first optical sensor.

Technical Field
The following disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus having a beam scanning device configured to scan and expose a photoconductor using a polygon mirror and a method of controlling the beam scanning device.
Description of Related Art
There is known an image forming apparatus equipped with a beam scanning device including: first and second light beam sources; a polygon mirror configured to reflect first and second beams respectively emitted from the first and second light beam sources; a first scanning optical system disposed on one side of the polygon mirror for focusing the first beam on a first photoconductor; and a second scanning optical system disposed on another side of the polygon mirror for focusing the second beam on a second photoconductor. In the known apparatus, an optical sensor is provided upstream of the first scanning optical system in a scanning direction of the first beam for detecting the first beam, whereas no optical sensors are provided for the second scanning optical system.
In the known apparatus, scanning exposure of the first beam is started when a predetermined first-beam exposure standby time elapses after detection of the first beam by the one optical sensor, and scanning exposure of the second beam is started when a predetermined second-beam exposure standby time elapses after the detection of the first beam. (Here, the first-beam exposure standby time is defined as a time period from a timing of detection of the first beam to a timing of start of the scanning exposure of the first beam, and the second-beam exposure standby time is defined as a time period from the timing of detection of the first beam to a timing of start of the scanning exposure of the second beam.) Further, the known apparatus determines the second-beam exposure standby time based on time intervals at which the one optical sensor detects the first beam, in consideration of an error in surface division accuracy of the polygon mirror, namely, in consideration of an error in the angle among different mirror surfaces of the polygon mirror. Thus, a position of an image formed by the first beam and a position of an image formed by the second beam are aligned in a width direction of a sheet.

Image forming apparatus and method of controlling beam scanning device


A method is taught of introducing an alternating voltage between a first electrode and a second electrode in a mixture comprising a depolarizing agent. The method then alternates between forming hydrogen gas at the first electrode while simultaneously oxidizing a depolarizing agent at the second electrode and forming hydrogen gas at the second electrode while simultaneously oxidizing the depolarizing agent at the first electrode.

Hydrogen production has become a priority in many refinery operations, especially when trying to produce lower sulfur gasoline and diesel fuels. Along with increased hydrogen consumption for deeper hydrotreating, additional hydrogen is typically needed for processing heavier and higher sulfur crude slates. New safe and reliable sources of hydrogen for refineries and clean fuels are now required to meet the needs of the future transportation fuel market and the drive towards higher refinery profitability.
One method of hydrogen production is electrochemical reforming, also known as anode depolarized electrolysis, using a constant cell voltage. Hydrogen production by electrochemical reforming is conceptually simple: two electrical leads are inserted into a mixture of a depolarizing agent and water, an electric potential is applied between the leads, and two different chemical reactions take place, one at each electrode. At the cathode, water is electrochemically-reduced to form hydrogen gas. At the anode, the depolarizing agent is electrochemically oxidized. By utilizing small voltages, electrochemical reforming avoids the production, of oxygen gas, an inherent product in conventional water electrolysis. Because hydrogen is produced in the absence of oxygen, there is a reduced explosion hazard associated with membraneless operation, relieving the need for gas-separating technology.
One common problem with standard electrochemical reforming is electrode deactivation. Regardless of the various reaction parameters, that can be optimized such as temperature, pH, voltage, or the electrochemical reforming medium, the rate of the overall electrochemical reforming process deteriorates rapidly following the initiation of the process. Over a matter of minutes the deactivation of the electrodes will significantly diminish the reaction kinetics, and for some depolarizing agents the reaction will die completely.

Alternating voltage electrochemical reforming