A receiver has an oscillator for generating an oscillating signal at an oscillating frequency in accordance with an oscillation control signal, and receives a radio signal at a tuning frequency corresponding to the oscillating signal to demodulate the received radio signal. The receiver further includes a first frequency control loop system for generating a first control signal indicative of the difference in phase between a comparison signal generated by dividing the oscillating signal on the basis of the information on a channel selection frequency and a reference signal, and a second frequency control loop system for generating a second control signal indicative of a frequency difference between the oscillating frequency of the oscillating signal and the channel selection frequency. Either the first control signal or the second control signal is selectively supplied to the oscillator as an oscillation control signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a receiver which can tune a reception frequency to a desired frequency, and more particularly to a receiver which reduces a period of time required by the reception frequency to stabilize at the desired frequency when the reception frequency is changed.
2. Description of the Related Background Art
A receiver for receiving modulated broadcast waves such as FM broadcast waves and AM broadcast waves, which can vary a tuning frequency, or a reception frequency by changing an oscillating frequency of a local oscillator arranged therein, tunes to a frequency of a desired broadcasting station, demodulates a modulated signal from a received radio signal, and outputs the demodulated signal. The local oscillator is provided for control setting the tuning frequency at a frequency of a broadcasting station to be selected. Generally, a frequency synthesizer using a PLL (Phase Locked Loop) circuit is known as the local oscillator.
In the frequency synthesizer, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a signal having a reference frequency fr and an output signal of a programmable divider 104 are supplied to a phase comparator 101. The phase comparator 101 detects the difference in phase between both the input signals and outputs an error pulse Eo indicative of the phase difference. The error pulse Eo output from the phase comparator 101 is smoothed by a low pass filter (LPF) 102 and then supplied to a voltage controlled oscillator (hereinafter abbreviated as "VCO") 103. The VCO 103 generates an oscillating signal having an oscillating frequency fo according to an output voltage VD of the LPF 102. The oscillating signal is output and then supplied to the programmable divider 104. The programmable divider 104 divides the oscillating signal from the VCO 103 by a frequency division ratio 1/Mi, and outputs the divided signal with frequency fv to the phase comparator 101. These components 101 to 104 form a loop. Therefore, the oscillating frequency fo by the VCO 103 is controlled by the error pulse Eo from the phase comparator 101, so that the oscillating frequency by the VCO 103 converges to a frequency to be set and then is maintained.
A frequency division value Mi in the programmable divider 104 is changed by a program input from a controller, not shown, in accordance with the frequency to be set when a reception frequency is changed, such that the oscillating frequency of the VCO 103 can be arbitrarily changed by changing the frequency division value Mi.
In the frequency synthesizer as mentioned above, the oscillating frequency fo of the VCO converges to an integer multiple of the reference frequency fr in principle. Therefore, tuning stability of a receiver adapted to receive broadcast waves at a tuning frequency based on the oscillating frequency fo is determined by the accuracy of the reference frequency fr.
Since the frequency synthesizer using a PLL circuit is required to satisfy several contradictory requirements such as stable operation of a loop system, a short time until phase lock is achieved (lock up time), less noise in the loop system when the phase is locked, and so on, a loop constant of the PLL circuit set by laying emphasis only on the lock up time would cause unstable operations of the loop system and result in an unpracticable frequency synthesizer.
For this reason, since conventional frequency synthesizers using a PLL circuit set a loop constant so as to satisfy the above-mentioned several requirements in a practically tolerable range, it is difficult to significantly reduce the lock up time. For changing a reception frequency, a demodulated output is attenuated by muting.

Receiver with improved lock-up time and high tuning stability


A method of transporting a magnetic fluid (104) or at least one magnetic particle (509, 510). The method comprises the steps of: providing a magnetic layer (102) with an asymmetric re-magnetization property; placing the magnetic fluid (104) or the magnetic particle(s) (509, 510) in the vicinity of the magnetic layer (102) so that they can magnetically interact with the magnetic layer (102); and applying an external magnetic field.

Many different techniques to sort, position, and transport microscopic particles exist currently. For example, particles can be trapped in a high-intensity optical field and transported by moving that field as is disclosed in Mio, C. et al. Rev. Sci. Instrum., 2000, 71, 2196. Other known methods employ electric fields, see e.g. Velev O. et al., Langmuir 1999, 15, 3693. While such methods in general are used for transport across relatively small distances, it is also known to apply holographic maps to transport particles across larger distances, see Liesner J. et al., Opt. Comm. 2000, 185, 77.
From Yellen, B. B. et al., J. Appl. Phys. 2003, 93, 7331, a concept of using topographic magnetic patterns for the transport of individual magnetic or non-magnetic particles is known. The patterns can for example be ellipses or rectangles and the particles are transported by means of superposition of the stray fields of these patterns with external homogeneous or inhomogeneous fields. The known topographic patterns are fabricated from a ferromagnetic material and the shape anisotropy of the patterns induces a defined easy magnetization axis along which the pattern magnetization can be easily switched by low external magnetic fields. In this concept, single superparamagnetic particles may be transported from one topographic pattern to the next. Moreover, as disclosed in Halverson, D. et al., J. Appl. Phys. 2006, 99, 08P504, non-magnetic particles may be transported by exploiting variations in the density of a ferrofluid in a combination of a local stray field and an external field. Since in these concepts usually the size of a magnetic pattern is close to the dimension of the particle to be transported, in some cases this may be too large to transport biomolecules in living cells.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,760,529 B2 a system for the transport of paramagnetic particles is disclosed, which comprises a magnetic garnet film having a plurality of magnetic domain walls, and a liquid solution on a surface of the magnetic garnet film, wherein the liquid solution includes a plurality of paramagnetic particles. The garnet film is provided with a natural domain pattern, the domain magnetization being perpendicular to the plane of the film. An external field is applied to transport at least a portion of the paramagnetic particles from one magnetic domain wall to another.
The transport of biomolecules by means of superparamagnetic particles to which they are attached is an active field of research. For example, the detection of such particles by magnetoresistive sensors appears promising in biotechnological applications. Baselt D. R. et al. in Biosensors Bioelectron. 1998, 13, 731 used a BARC (bead array counter) sensor to analyze DNA through a defined coupling of beads (functionalized with a receptor molecule) to DNA fragments immobilized on the surface of a sample. Subsequently several different concepts for biosensors based on spin valves (see e.g. Edelstein R. L. et al., Biosensors Bioelectron. 2000, 14, 805), Hall sensors (see e.g. Ejsing L. et al., J. Magn. Magn. Mat. 2005, 293, 677) or magnetoresistive sensors (see Wang. S. et al. J. Magn. Magn. Mat. 2005, 293, 731, 21), as well as some concepts for a guided movement of magnetic particles (see e.g. Gunnarsson K. et al., Adv. Matter, 2005, 17, 1730) have been tested. The inhomogeneous magnetic fields necessary for the transport of the particles have been created by macroscopic external coils and yokes as e.g. disclosed in Bausch A. R. et al., Biophys. J. 1999, 76, 573 or via currents through strip lines as e.g. disclosed in Ferreira H. A. et al., J. Appl. Phys. 2003, 93, 7281. The use of currents in strip lines enabled the control of local inhomogeneous magnetic fields, through which a particle transport may be controlled and a particle positioning achieved.
Schotter J. et al. in IEEE Trans. Mag. 2002, 38, 3365 have disclosed a biosensor chip based on the detection of functionalized magnetic nanoparticles via a magneto resistive sensor. This sensor consists of a spiral sensor strip, extending over a circular area of 75 μm diameter. The area corresponds to the typical area covered by droplets of pen spotted or ink jetted solutions used in modern techniques of biotechnology. Fundamental experiments have also been carried out to manipulate magnetic nanoparticles by currents through strip lines (see e.g. Breszka M., M. et al., J. Biotechnol. 2004, 112, 25) and they have shown that the sensitivity of magneto resistive detection is superior to that of optical detection using fluorescence markers (see also Schotter J. et al., Biosensors Bioelectr. 2004, 19, 1149). It has been shown that the magnetic force exerted on the superparamagnetic particles by currents through strip lines may be used for extremely sensitive bond force measurements of ligand receptor pairs.
Extremely low loading rates have been realized being superior to those in pulling experiments by atomic force microscopes, see Panhorst M. et al., Biosens. Bioact. 2005, 20, 1685. These experiments demonstrate nicely the possibility to integrate magnetic gradient field driven transport with sensing by magnetoresistive sensors.

Method and apparatus for transporting magnetic fluids and particles


Novel DNA constructs and host cells comprising the same are disclosed. DNA constructs comprise a transcription unit (e.g. operon) comprising DNA sequences encoding for ribonucleotide reductase and thioredoxin or a uridine kinase gene and/or a dCTP deaminase gene. In preferred embodiments the constructs comprising DNA sequences encoding for ribonucleotide reductase and thioredoxin further comprise DNA sequences encoding for thymidylate synthase and/or transcription units comprising sequences encoding for uridine kinase preferably together with dCTP deaminase. In particularly preferred embodiments, the host cells comprise constructs having all of the above characteristics wherein the host cell displays repressed or no uracil DNA glycosylase activity. This may be achieved by removal of the host cell ung gene. Use of host cells in the manufacture of pyrimidine deoxyribonucleotides e.g. thymidine is also disclosed.

Thymidine is useful as a pharmaceutical intermediate, particularly for the chemical synthesis of azidothymidine ("AZT," sold under the trademark ZIDOVUDINE). Although ZIDOVUDINE-type AZT was one of the first therapies developed for HIV/AIDS, it continues to have important and expanded use (Langreth, R., The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 21, 1995, pp B12). ZIDOVUDINE-type AZT is valuable particularly when used in combination therapies such as a combination with lamivudine (also known as 3TC), sold under the trademark EPIVIR. This lamvudine and 3TC combination is sold under the trademark COMBIVIR. Although the HIV virus can mutate to form resistance to either AZT or 3TC, COMBIVIR-type nucleotide-analog combination is particularly effective because the reverse transcriptase apparently cannot be resistant to both nucleoside analogues at the same time (Larder, B. A. et al., Science 269: 696-699, 1995). ZIDOVUDINE-type AZT is also useful in conjunction with HIV protease inhibitor type drugs (Waldholz, M., The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 30, 1996, pp B1), and in the treatment of HIV infected pregnant women in order to reduce the frequency of infection of the fetus at birth. In 1997 about 600,000 children died of AIDS contracted from their mothers at birth. ZIDOVUDINE-type AZT taken for several months prior to birth can reduce the transmission of the virus to infants by two-thirds. Thymidine produced by chemical synthesis used in the manufacture of AZT is a very significant cost.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,972 (McCandliss & Anderson, hereinafter "the '972 patent"), the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference and to which the reader is specifically referred, a process for the production of pyrimidine deoxyribonucleoside (PdN) is disclosed (see in particular examples 7 to 14 of the '972 patent). A replicatable microorganism comprising and expressing a DNA sequence encoding a pyrimidine deoxyribonucleotide phosphohydrolase that converts a PdN monophosphate to a pyrimidine deoxyribonucleoside is taught. More particularly, McCandliss & Anderson, supra, describe a fermentation method that can be used to produce thymidine that involves the expression of deoxythymidylate phosphohydrolase (dTMPase) from the Bacillus bacteriophage PBS1. This type of enzyme has been found in nature expressed by bacteriophages that do not contain thymidine in their DNA, but instead incorporates compounds like deoxyuridine or hydroxymethyldeoxyuridine.
In the thymidine fermentation described in the '972 patent, the enzymes that degrade thymidine (thymidine phosphorylase and uridine phosphorylase) have been removed by mutation so that thymidine accumulates. Thus, the use of the dTMPase enzyme helps create the pathway to allow thymidine synthesis. An expression of dTMPase alone, however, may not assure a commercially viable level of thymidine production. Accordingly, there is a continuing need to enhance the production of thymidine by cells expressing dTMPase in order to make thymidine production by fermentation commercially viable, by lowering the production cost relative to the current chemical synthesis methods.
The biochemical pathway for pyrimidine deoxynucleotide production, for example, in E. coli is highly regulated at the levels of transcription and translation as well as at the protein level by mechanisms including attenuation, feedback inhibition and enzyme activation. Neuhard, J. and R. A. Kelln, Biosynthesis and Conversion of Pyrimidines, Chapter 35 [In] Neidhardt, F. C. et al. [eds] "Escherichia coli and Salmonella Cellular and Molecular Biology", Second Edition, Vol. I, pp580-599, ASM Press, Washington D.C., 1996. The expression of dTMPase and elimination of thymidine breakdown by mutations in the deoA (thymidine phosphorylase), udp (uridine phosphorylase) and tdk (thymidine kinase) genes and therefore resulting expression products results in thymidine synthesis in E. coli but not at a commerically viable level.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Vectors, cells and processes for pyrimidine deoxyribonucleosides production


The present invention provides for validating an association between computing devices using a succession of human-perceptible stimuli such as sounds, lights colors or shapes. Commands are sent from the initiating device to the responding device in encrypted messages. Human-perceptible stimuli are formed at the responding device in response to at least some of the commands. The responder searches for messages that the responder is unable to decrypt and that are received in a time interval before messages that the responder is able to decrypt. The succession of human-perceptible stimuli may be harmonized, in which case, an association between the initiating device and the responding device is validated when the human-perceptible stimuli formed by the initiating device and the human-perceptible stimuli formed by the responding device are harmonized together.

Ubiquitous computing refers to a trend in which computing devices are becoming increasingly more prevalent and useful in everyday activities. For example, persons are more frequently carrying computing devices with them as they go about their daily activities. Often, such devices are most useful when they interact with other devices. Thus, an important aspect of ubiquitous computing is spontaneous device association. Examples of possible spontaneous associations include: a person sending a photograph taken using a camera-telephone to a digital picture frame at the home of another person; two teenagers who encounter one another in a shopping mall play a wireless video game together; or two colleagues who meet at a conference and transfer a document from one's PDA (personal digital assistant) to another's laptop computer.
Such interactions preferably occur spontaneously, given the circumstances and current activity of the person or persons involved, and require minimal effort to set up. In addition, because spontaneous interactions are expected to occur in untrustworthy environments, some security as to the interactions is also important. In the example above in which a person transfers a photograph within someone's home, if the transfer is performed wirelessly and in absence of appropriate security measures, a third party in a nearby home may be able to also receive the photograph. And, in the example of two colleagues exchanging a document at a conference, the document may contain sensitive business information while the conference may also be attended by business rivals. Thus, some degree of security is desired to prevent a third party from eavesdropping on a communication.
One type of security attack is known as "man-in-the-middle." In this attack, two parties attempt to communicate directly with each other. However, messages intended to be exchanged between them are instead intercepted by third party. The third party emulates each party from the perspective of the other so that the two parties are unaware of the presence of the third party or "man-in-the-middle."
Further, in environments having multiple devices, a pair of devices may attempt to associate with each other near in time that another pair of devices attempts to associate with each other. It may then occur that a member of each pair becomes mistakenly associated with a member of the other pair.
To address these problems, it is known to use a physically constrained channel, such that only devices in a certain physical context may transmit or receive a message via the channel. Examples of physically constrained channels include direct electrical contact, a human body in contact with the devices, infrared beacons, combinations of ultrasound and radio propagation, laser beams, 60 GHz radio and audio. However, none of these physically constrained channels provides guarantees against unauthorized parties sending or receiving messages due to such factors as refraction, reflection and sensitive receivers that can detect faint signals.
Therefore, what is needed is an improved technique that may be used to secure communications between computing devices. What is further needed is such a technique that has an ability to counter a "man-in-the-middle" attack and to avoid unintended associations. It is toward these ends that the present invention is directed.

Validation for secure device associations

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A color comparator system is described which avoids the use of liquid reference standards and glass vials. In a preferred embodiment the system includes (a) a clear lens piece including a plurality of lens sections equal to the desired number of color steps or intensities to be measured or observed; (b) background color for visually separating the lens sections and providing a controlled background color for samples between lens sections; and (c) at least one lens color means positioned behind the lens piece. The visual perception when using this comparator system is the same as viewing a series of glass tubes filled with colored liquid. Ambient light passes through each lens and is then reflected back toward the viewer.

Chemical test kits which utilize various calorimetric methods for the determination of any of several different chemical species have long been used. In calorimetric testing, the concentration of a particular chemical substance is determined by measuring the color intensity of the sample. In some cases the color in the sample is due to the species of interest while in most cases one or more chemicals are added to the sample to react with the species of interest so as to develop a color whose intensity is in proportion to the concentration of the species being determined. In some rare cases, color is bleached from samples in proportion to an analyte concentration.
Mathematically, the amount of light passing through a colored material is inversely proportional to the concentration of the colored species and the path length of the light passing through the material When using similar sample cells, the light passing through a sample is inversely proportional to the analyte concentration. In other words, the color of the sample is proportional to the analyte concentration, except for bleaching reactions.
Visual detection of color intensity is limited by several physiological factors. The human eye's color perception is not directly proportional to light intensity and color perception varies considerably between individuals. Even for one person, several factors limit the color perception. Instruments can use a narrow band of light wavelength and quantify the light intensity consistently. The human eye detects all wavelengths simultaneously and perceives a combined signal. Besides the inherent difficulties in basic color perception, differences in shape of objects, gloss, texture, light source and background variations also complicate color differentiation comparison of similar colors.
Several methods have been used to provide reference colors or standards for visual comparison of between unknown samples and references for calorimetric determinations. One of the most common has been to provide colored liquids in sealed glass tubes similar to the tubes used for samples. This method has the advantage of being the most visually similar to samples, but is relatively complicated and expensive to prepare, and the tubes of standards are fragile. If the tubes are dropped, they may break and the color reference is lost, making testing impossible. Complications in production include: (1) actual test chemistry may not produce a suitably stable color, and (2) other materials used to provide the color must provide similar color perception for both hue and intensity in a wide variety of ambient light conditions (dyes commonly have different absorption spectrums than found in chemical tests and may be perceived correctly using the one light source and be obviously different with another light source), and (3) some desirable color dyes and solutions are hazardous.
Other methods of providing reference colors have included: (1) colors printed on a variety of materials, (2) colored transparent glass or plastic pieces, and more recently, (3) color pieces of varying depth which provide the perception of different intensities of the same hue all from one material (e.g., Hach color cubes and color discs). This approach eliminated much of the expense in preparing the reference colors and the fragility problem, but increased difficulties due to change in shape, texture, gloss and backgrounds.
There has not heretofore been provided a color comparator having the features and advantages provided by the present invention.


A snap-lock bushing is provided for use with prepacked screens for monitoring wells. The bushing has an inner bore for sliding over a tubular well casing member and a raised lip protruding from the inner bore for engaging corresponding grooves at each end of the well casing member. The raised lip includes a plurality of lip segments with gaps or slots formed between the lip segments, which allow the raised lip to flex outward during assembly. A prepacked screen is assembled using a snap-lock bushing at each end of the well casing member. A mesh screen is placed in a concentric relationship around the well casing member with the ends of the mesh screen secured over the outer cylindrical surfaces of the bushings. A filter pack of granular material is placed in the concentric space between the well casing member and the screen member during assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices for installing wells. In particular, the present invention relates to devices for assembling and installing groundwater-monitoring wells and other wells having prepacked screens.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional groundwater monitoring wells are typically constructed through hollow stem augers or probe rods by lowering slotted PVC pipe (screen) to depth on the leading end of a string of threaded PVC riser pipe. A filter pack is then installed by pouring clean sand or other granular material of known particle size through the tool string annulus until the slotted section of the PVC pipe is sufficiently covered.
Installing the entire filter pack through the tool string annulus becomes a delicate and time-consuming process when performed with small-diameter, direct push tooling. Granular material must be poured very slowly to avoid bridging between the riser pipe and surrounding probe rod. When bridging does occur, considerable time can be lost in attempting to dislodge the granular material or possibly pulling the tool string and starting over.
Prepacked screens have been developed to improve the monitoring well installation process. An example of a conventional prepacked screen assembly 50 is shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional monitoring well with a prepacked screen assembly 50 can be installed using direct push tooling having an expendable point 60 at the lower end, a PVC plug 61 at the bottom of the screen assembly 50, a PVC riser 62 above the screen assembly 50, and a locking plug 63 with a padlock 64 at the upper end of the PVC riser 62. After placement in the soil bore, the prepacked screen assembly 50 is covered by a grout barrier 65, a Bentonite well seal 66 above the grout barrier 65, and a neat cement grout barrier 67 above the Bentonite well seal 66. A concrete pad 68 and a flush mount well cover 69 are placed over the well at the soil surface 70 to complete the installation.
The prepacked screen assembly 50 in the conventional monitoring well typically includes a standard, slotted PVC well casing 51 surrounded by a stainless steel mesh 52. Granular material S is packed between the slotted PVC well casing 51 and the stainless steel mesh 52 by the manufacturer before the product is delivered to the consumer. Since the granular material S is packed around the slotted PVC well casing 51 before it is installed, the use of prepacked screen assemblies 50 guarantees that granular material S will be located directly around the well casing 51, and that the slotted PVC well casing 51 will be concentrically located in the granular material S. This makes well installation quicker and more efficient than conventional methods. It has been shown that the quality of samples obtained from wells installed with prepacked screen assemblies 50 correlates well with samples obtained from conventionally installed wells, but at less cost.
Prepacked screen assemblies 50 greatly decrease the amount of time, cuttings and loose sand or other granular material required for well installation as each screen assembly includes the necessary filter pack. Granular material must still be delivered through the casing annulus to provide a minimum 2-foot grout barrier, but this volume is significantly less than for the entire screened interval.
A common method for building prepacked screen assemblies 50 involves using a smooth-bored PVC bushing 53, held axially in place on the slotted pipe 51 by a stainless steel clamp 54, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Although quite common, this method has limitations, most notably with respect to the time to assemble, as well as the permanence of the fastening. Considerable time is spent in assuring that the bushing 53 is correctly located along the length of the slotted pipe 51. The bushing 53 is then secured by placing and crimping the stainless steel clamp 54 on the slotted pipe 51 behind the bushing 53 to act as a shoulder, preventing it from moving axially in one direction. The stainless steel band 54 does not prevent the bushing 53 from moving in the other direction, nor is the bushing 53 fastened so securely that it cannot be made to slide out of position. The stainless steel mesh 52 is secured at each of its ends to the outer surfaces of the respective bushings 53 using stainless steel clamps 55.
Thus, there is a need in the industry for an improved device for assembling prepacked screens for monitoring wells.


A seamless handle grip assembly mounted on a single pulling rod of luggage is provided. The assembly comprises a tube a top grip section, a spring depressible push button a hollow, cylindrical left member inserted into a left portion of the tube, a hollow, cylindrical right member inserted into a right portion of the tube to matingly couple to the left member, a bottom grip section threadedly secured to the top grip section with the tube fastened therebetween, and a rod inserted upwardly through the bottom grip section into the tube and the spring to fixedly couple to the push button.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to handle grip of luggage and more particularly to a seamless handle grip mounted in a single pulling rod of luggage case.
2. Description of Related Art
Some types of luggage (e.g., wheeled luggage) have only a single pulling rod. For a handle grip formed on top of such pulling rod, it typically comprises an upper portion, an equal lower portion, and a push button on the upper portion. A seam is formed between a joining edge of the portions. Such seam can adversely affect a degree of comfort while holding the handle grip due to its sharp edge. A solution to the above is to improve the molds so as to substantially eliminate the seam in the manufacturing process. However, it may greatly increase the manufacturing cost. Thus, it is desirable to provide a seamless handle grip in order to overcome the above drawback of the prior art.


A printed wiring board includes: a multilayer core substrate including first and second insulation layers and a double-sided board between the first and second insulation layers. The core substrate has a cylindrical through-hole structure including a cylindrical conductor through the insulation layers and the board, a resin filler filling inside the cylindrical conductor and covering circuits covering the filler at the ends of the cylindrical conductor, respectively. The core substrate includes a conductive layer including a through-hole land around end of the structure such that the land is directly connected to the cylindrical conductor, the land includes a first electroless film, a first electrolytic film, a second electroless film and a second electrolytic film, and the cylindrical conductor includes the second electroless and electrolytic films such that the second electroless film is in contact with the side walls of the first electroless and electrolytic films.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayer core substrate having a via conductor and a through-hole conductor, to a printed wiring board having the multilayer core substrate, and to a method for manufacturing the multilayer core substrate.
Description of Background Art
In Laid-open Japanese Patent Publication 2001-127434, an interlayer resin insulation layer is formed on surfaces of a core substrate, penetrating holes for through-hole conductors are formed in the core substrate and interlayer resin insulation layers laminated on both surfaces of the core substrate, then openings for via conductors are formed in the interlayer insulation layers laminated on both surfaces of the core substrate, and subsequently plated film is formed simultaneously in openings for through-hole conductors and openings for via conductors. Resin is filled in via conductors. The entire contents of this publication are incorporated herein by reference.

Printed wiring board having buildup layers and multilayer core substrate with double-sided board


A method of manufacturing a nitride-based semiconductor laser diode that can minimize optical absorption on a cavity mirror plane and improve the surface roughness of the cavity mirror plane is provided. The method includes the steps of: forming on a (0001) GaN (gallium nitride) substrate having at least two masks spaced apart by a distance equal to a laser cavity length in stripes that extend along the <11-20> direction; growing an n-GaN layer on the GaN substrate between the masks so that two (1-100) edges of the n-GaN layer are thicker than the remaining regions thereof; sequentially stacking an n-clad layer, an active layer, and a p-clad layer on the n-GaN layer to form an edge-emitting laser cavity structure in which laser light generated in the active layer passes through a region of the n-clad layer aligned laterally with the active layer and is output; and etching a (1-100) plane of the laser cavity structure to form a cavity mirror plane.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a method of fabricating a nitride-based semiconductor laser diode, and more particularly, to a method of manufacturing a nitride-based semiconductor laser diode that can minimize optical absorption on a cavity mirror plane and improve the surface roughness of the cavity mirror plane.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an edge-emitting semiconductor laser diode, when laser light emerges from an exit surface, the semiconductor crystalline structure on the exit surface is distorted due to high photon density and Joule heating, thereby increasing optical absorption and laser threshold current. An increased laser threshold current may degrade the thermal characteristics of the laser diode, thus increasing the optical absorption on an exit surface. The degradation in optical characteristics occurs exponentially and becomes a major factor leading to an abrupt shortening of the life span of a semiconductor laser diode. This is called a 'catastrophic optical damage' (COD).
A quality factor (Q) indicating laser cavity efficiency is one of primary factors influencing the characteristics of a semiconductor laser diode. The roughness of a cavity facet is one of the most important factors in determining the quality factor Q. As the roughness of the cavity facet is closer to zero, the quality factor Q increases, thus improving the laser characteristics. A cavity mirror plane is formed using notch and cleaving during the manufacturing of a nitride-based semiconductor laser. As widely known in the art, it is difficult to form a cavity mirror plane having a roughness close to that of an atomically single plane using this technique.
Thus, there is an urgent need to develop a process of manufacturing a semiconductor laser diode that can minimize optical absorption on a cavity mirror plane by forming a cavity mirror plane with an improved roughness close to that of an atomically single plane.

Method of fabricating nitride-based semiconductor laser diode


An organic solar cell which includes an anode and a cathode that are arranged to face each other, a photoactive layer that is disposed between the anode and the cathode and contains a hole acceptor and an electron acceptor in mixture, and a metal oxide nano thin film layer that is disposed between the cathode and the photoactive layer and contains a metal oxide having an average particle size of 10 nm or less and having a particle size distribution such that 90% by number or more of the particles relative to the total number of the metal oxide particles has a particle size in the range of ±4 nm with respect to the average particle size, and a method for producing an organic solar cell. The organic solar cell has improved efficiency, and increased service life.

Organic solar cells are solar cells having a structure which utilizes conjugated polymers in which double bonds are alternately arranged, such as polyparaphenylenevinylene (PPV), photosensitive low molecular weight compounds such as CuPc, perylene and pentacene, and organic semiconductor materials such as (6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). The organic semiconductor materials described above can be designed as desired and can be synthesized into various derivatives, so that the organic solar cells have a potential for limitless advancement.
Organic solar cells fundamentally have a thin film type structure, and mainly use a transparent electrode made of indium tin oxide (ITO) as a cathode, and a metal electrode made of aluminum (Al) or the like, which has a low work function, as a cathode. The photoactive layer has a thickness of about 100 nm and has a bulk heterojunction structure in which a hole acceptor and an electron acceptor are co-present.
As the hole acceptor, a conjugated polymer having electric conductivity, such as PPV, is used, while fullerene is used as the electron acceptor. At this time, in order to collect without loss the electrons generated by light into the aluminum electrode through fullerene, a sufficient amount of fullerene must be mixed into the conjugated polymer. Therefore, a fullerene derivative such as PCBM described above can be used so that fullerene can be well mixed with the conjugated polymer.
When the conjugated polymer absorbs light, bound electron-hole pairs (excitons) are generated, and the electrons and holes thus generated are collected at the cathode and the cathode, respectively, via fullerene and the conjugated polymer.
The organic solar cells can be mass produced at low cost with easy processability, and have an advantage that since thin film production can be achieved by a roll-to-roll system, manufacture of large-sized electronic devices having flexibility is feasible.
However, in spite of such technical and economical advantages as described above, there are difficulties in the application of the organic solar cells into practical use because of their low efficiency. Therefore, active research for an improvement of efficiency is underway in the field of organic solar cells. So far, efficiency-related research has been focused on the selection of raw materials or the design of production process for the photoactive layer for effective utilization of absorbed light, or for the electron transport layer and the hole transport layer; the shape and structure of organic thin films intended to overcome low charge mobility; an increase in crystallinity, and the like.

Organic solar cell and method for producing the same


An input device for operating a musical instrument having musical behavior of string instruments, which comprises a key plate unit containing a set of input keys to be pressed by a player, in order to generate a first set of electric input signals, which emulate a combination of pressed keys of a musical instrument or a combination of pressed strings; a stick unit with variable tension of displacement including a stick to be moved by the player between predetermined discrete positions, which emulate a combination of strummed strings of a musical instrument.

Music is the most comprehensive communication mean, which can connect players all around the world. Musical instruments have been developed over the years of human development. However, no standard musical instrument is adapted to players with physical disabilities.
Learning to play music is a complex task, especially for players with physical and motoric disabilities, such as cerebral palsy. Most of the musical instruments, such as a guitar or a piano require full control and coordination of both hands, which are complex and difficult even for capable players. Also, different types of movements are concurrently required from each hand. For example, while playing guitar, the player uses one hand for strumming and the other hand for pressing the strings, in order to generate a desired chord. One player's hand is in charge of executing chord finger positions on the guitar neck, such that the player's fingers press on guitar strings at different fret locations (fixed positions on the neck) to produce different tones. Strumming the guitar strings with the other hand produces a musical chord. When moving from one chord position to another one, in order to eliminate the generation of tones outside the intended harmony, the player usually mutes unintended strings from continuing to vibrate by changing finger positions, covering strings or dampening strings with his fingers.
Music playing is a controlled physical activity over a period of time. An average song is about 3:30 minutes. During musical activity, be it a lesson, solo practice or with a band, the player usually plays in constant time and with controlled velocity. As opposed to professional musicians, novice players play with less accurate "time" or rhythm, and a wider, less-controlled range of velocity. Involuntary movements (such as jerks and muscle spasm) can be extremely frustrating when trying to control a traditional instrument like a piano or guitar, making the instrument unplayable. Such involuntary movements should therefore be detected and filtered.
With traditional music instruments such as a piano or guitar, the sound produced by the instrument is heard immediately on activation of the string or key. For example, when a guitar string is plucked, the sound and acoustics of the vibrating string travels at the speed of sound to the players ear (in less than one millisecond) thus creating immediate feedback for the musician that the string was plucked.
With digital instruments, there is an inherited feedback delay due to additional digital processing that is needed to: read input->process and analyze data->generate sound. This delay is referred to as "Latency".                Latency above 10 ms creates enough delay to render the instrument unplayable by musicians        Latency below 6 ms can rarely be detected by most humans        Latency between 6-10 ms makes it very difficult to play accurately, and causes fatigue over even a short period of playing timeSuch latency should therefore be minimized.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an input device with a variable tensioned joystick with travel distance for operating a musical instrument.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an input device with a combination of a variable tensioned joystick with travel distance and a set of keys for operating a musical instrument, which is suitable to be used by handicapped players.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an input device with a combination of a variable tensioned joystick with travel distance and a set of keys for operating a musical instrument, which is suitable to generate multiple tones and chords using minimal movements.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an input device with a combination of a variable tensioned joystick with travel distance and a set of keys for operating a musical instrument, which allows each player to develop a unique playing style or unique way of the players' musical expression.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

Input device with a variable tensioned joystick with travel distance for operating a musical instrument, and a method of use thereof


A display system for use with headgear of a user includes a visor display mounted to the headgear so as to define a cavity between the head of the user and an inner surface of the visor display. The visor display has at least one partially reflective aspheric surface section directed inward to the user. The partially reflective aspheric surface is at a position which intercepts a forward line of sight of at least one eye of the user and which is at a tilt angle with respect to a plane that is substantially transverse to the forward line of sight. A shallow packaged image source is positioned above an eye within the cavity at a predetermined angle with the plane which is substantially transverse with a forward line of sight. A fiber optic faceplate having a first and second end section is coupled to the image source at the first end section. The second end section has an aspherically shaped surface so as to project an image from the image source on the aspheric surface section of the visor display for reflection of the image to the eye of the user. The shape of the aspheric surface section being determined by a shape of the partially reflective aspheric surface, the tilt angle and the predetermined angle.

Head or helmet mounted display systems find utility in many areas, such as training, machine control or entertainment. In recent years, such devices have found particular utility in military applications where information must be supplied to vehicle operators and weapons controllers. Aircraft operators find such devices useful to furnish information relating to aircraft operation, radar presentations, maps, weapons aiming and other things, such as symbols, that would be useful or desirable in their mission.
In prior devices, images from a variety of sources, including cathode ray tubes (CRTs) have been used to project images which are superimposed on a surface in the user's line of sight. Helmet mounted systems for displaying images are well known in the art. Several systems have been described in which the optics may be head mounted with a cathode ray tube and heavy collimating lenses being placed in a cylinder and mounted on either the right or left side of a pilot's helmet. This weight placement is a considerable disadvantage to the pilot.
U.S. Pat. No. Reg. 28,847 to Vizenor, presently assigned to Honeywell Inc., described a display where the helmet was provided with a paraboloidal visor with a partial reflective coating on the inner surface as the primary optical element in transmitting the image from the generating device to the eye of the observer. A light source image or a virtual image is positioned at the focal point of the inside surface of the visor.
A substantially more complex helmet display system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,384 to Bosserman. This system combines a thin film flat panel display and a wafer diode image intensifier tube. A plurality of semi-transparent optical elements including a fiber optic faceplate, direct the image from the flat panel display by reflection from a visor into the eye of an observer where it can be superimposed over the images received from an exterior scene. The observer thus views the exterior scene through both the visor and by way of the flat panel display images. The visor, for reflecting purposes, can be holographic, toric, aspherical or spheric.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,056 to Evans et al., describes a display apparatus which includes a combination visor adapted to be attached to the headgear of a user. The visor has a viewing area segment positioned in the line of sight of the user of the headgear. An optical display generates an image and the image is reflected by a parabolic mirror in the optical path from the optical display to the visor viewing area segment. A fold mirror is positioned to receive the image from the parabolic mirror and direct the image to the visor viewing area segment. This apparently minimizes the size and curvature of the visor without affecting transmission of the image.
As is known, the ideal situation for a visor display system would include an infinitesimal image source directly in front of the eye and positioned as close as possible to the focal point of the visor leading to total reflection of an image from the image source to the visor and back to the eye. As the image sources are moved away from the ideal situation, aberrations are introduced into the system which require correction. Various systems correct for such aberrations by means of lenses in front of CRTs for refraction therethrough or as in Evans, a plurality of mirrors for improving the optical transmission and performance.
Various holographic elements which are deposited on visors of display systems have been used to correct for certain aberrations of display systems. However, as with lenses which use refraction to perfect the image, such solutions raise additional aberration problems, especially when utilized in conjunction with color image sources. Utilization of lenses to provide for aberration correction prohibit the various colors of a color image to reach desired destinations at equivalent times and with equivalent intensities. Holographic films on visors are also problematic with color images as the holographic films bend the various color components of the image at different angles.
In addition, the availability of helmet mounted display devices which are of light weight and small size is also a problem. Because the helmet of the display must be worn by an individual with many complex tasks to perform, usually under great stress and with little time in which to accomplish the tasks, the helmet should be as light and compact as possible while still providing superior optical performance. Specifically, bulky and large helmets cause their wearers to tire rapidly, thus shortening the effectiveness to the wearer. Similarly, poor images cause miscalculation as well as hinder the wearer's decision and reaction capabilities. Therefore, there is a need for further reduction in the size and weight of visor display systems. In addition, such a system should provide superior optical performance of not only a monochromatic image but also for color images.

Visor display with fiber optic faceplate correction


An image-processing device includes: a color conversion unit that converts an input image data expressed by a combination of light's primary colors into an intermediate image data in which a color of each pixel is expressed by a combination of basic printing colors; a density correction unit that corrects the intermediate image data so that density of a pixel of the intermediate image data corresponds to that of a corresponding pixel of the input image data; an identifying unit that identifies an area in which the density is close to a prescribed value by analyzing the intermediate image data; and an output unit that corrects a density distribution in a pixel of the intermediate image data contained in the area in accordance with a prescribed distribution function and outputs the result.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a technique for converting an image having pixels whose colors are expressed based on light's three primary colors to an image having pixels whose colors are expressed based on basic printer colors.
2. Related Art
With the recent rapid increase in popularity of digital cameras, users have turned to a convenient technique referred to as "photo-printing" for obtaining output copies of their images. According to this technique, an electrophotographic image forming device such as a printer is used for recording an image on a recording medium, such as a paper.
Electrophotographic image forming devices have been generally used for outputting text images or line drawing images. However, different to such images, those taken by digital cameras contain delicately varying hues that impart a so-called "natural" quality to an image to produce a "natural image". It is known that, when an electrophotographic image forming device prints out a "natural image", pseudo or false contours (hereafter, "tone jumps") may appear, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. This effect is pronounced when an image recording medium is a printing paper for photo-printing use. FIG. 8B, which is a cyan color image of the image shown in FIG. 8A, shows prominent tone jumps.
There have heretofore been proposed a number of techniques for avoiding generation of tone jumps.

Image-processing device, image-processing method, and recording medium


An adjustable mobile base includes a closed loop frame which has a plurality of angled members and a plurality of tubular connectors interconnecting the angled members. Each of the angled members is formed with a corner and has two tube sections. Each of the tube sections is formed with a plurality of spaced first engaging through holes which extends in the direction of a longitudinal axis of the tube section. Each of the angled members further has a triangular support plate secured on the corner. Each of the tubular connectors has two ends slidably inserted into a respective one of the tube sections of the angled members. Each of the tubular connectors is formed with a plurality of spaced second engaging through holes which are aligned with the first engaging through holes. A plurality of locking bolt units respectively extend through the aligned first and second through holes so as to join the tubular connectors and the angled members. Adjustments in the size of the mobile base can be achieved by varying the degree of insertion of the tube connectors in the tube sections of the angled members, thereby permitting the mobile base to fit machines of different sizes.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a mobile base, more particularly to an adjustable mobile base which can be adjusted so as to fit machines of different sizes.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is common practice to provide a cushioning member on each of the legs of a table or chair so as to prevent direct contact between the legs and the ground, which contact may cause wearing of the legs. Some household appliances, such as refrigerators, are provided on top of a support so as to prevent direct contact between the base of the refrigerator and the ground, which contact may facilitate corrosion of the refrigerator housing. Other household appliances, such as stoves, are provided on top of a heat insulator so as to prevent the heat generated from damaging a table.
It has thus been shown that most objects require a partition to prevent direct contact between the objects and the ground or table surface, therefore preventing damage to the objects or to the table surface. This is also true for machining equipments. Machineries are available in different shapes and sizes and are often fitted with a mobile base.
The disadvantages of conventional mobile bases are as follows:
1. The sizes of the conventional mobile bases are not adjustable. Each mobile base is built to fit a specific type of machine. Mobile bases of different sizes should therefore be manufactured so as to fit different machines.
2. The space occupied by conventional mobile bases is relatively large, making them inconvenient to store and transport.

Hsi-Jung Tsun, Ta-Li Hsiang, Taichung Hsien


A collision prevention method for motor vehicles is provided, in which method obstacles in front of the vehicle are detected by an on-board positioning system, a collision probability is calculated from the position data, and one or more responses to prevent a collision are triggered as a function of the collision probability. At least one of the responses is a preparatory measure accelerating the implementation of a command, which may be output later, to decelerate the vehicle, without the preparatory measure itself having any significant decelerating effect on the vehicle.

A collision-prevention method, in particular for use in combination with a system for adaptive cruise control in motor vehicles, is described in the publication "Adaptive Cruise Control System—Aspects and Development Trends" by Winner, Witte, Uhler and Lichtenberg, Robert Bosch GmbH, in SAE Technical Paper Series 961010, International Congress & Exposition, Detroit, Feb. 26–29, 1996. The Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system described in this publication is based on a distance sensor, for example, a multi-target-capable radar sensor mounted on the front of the vehicle to measure distances and relative speeds of other vehicles driving in front. The speed of one's own vehicle is regulated as a function of the measured data from this radar sensor so as to maintain a desired preset distance from the vehicle driving directly in front, and the driver is able to preselect this desired preset distance in the form of a setpoint time window. If there is no vehicle traveling in front within the range of the radar, the speed is regulated at a desired speed set by the driver.
This system normally intervenes in the drive system of the vehicle via a throttle valve, for example, so that the vehicle speed is regulated on the basis of the driving torque of the engine. However, when greater deceleration of the vehicle is required, e.g., on a downward slope or due to the distance from the vehicle in front, and the engine drag is not enough to achieve adequate deceleration of the vehicle, then the system intervenes in the brake system of the vehicle.
Published German patent document DE 36 37 165 describes a control method in which the relative speed of approach of the object which is the source of the collision risk, the theoretical period of time until impact in the absence of response, and the vehicle deceleration required at that instant to reliably prevent the collision are calculated from the position data compiled and an adequate safety distance is determined, taking into account the possible braking deceleration of the vehicle. The extent to which the actual distance is less than this safety distance is a measure of the collision probability. Subsequently, the system responds in three stages as a function of the collision probability thus determined. In stage 1, just an acoustic or visual warning signal is output for the driver. In stage 2, there is automatic intervention in the brake system at a braking force calculated in advance. Finally, in stage 3, a braking operation at maximum braking force is triggered.
In these methods, however, there are problems in determining the criteria for triggering of stage 2 because of the unavoidable uncertainty in estimating the collision risk. If the threshold for triggering of this stage is set too high, collisions cannot be reliably prevented. However, if this threshold is lowered, it results in unnecessary braking maneuvers, because of an incorrect appraisal of the collision risk; the unnecessary braking may also have a negative effect on the comfort and feeling of safety of the occupants of the vehicle, while irritating the following traffic or even becoming the cause of rear-end collisions in the following traffic.
The object of the present invention is to reduce the frequency of unnecessary vehicle decelerations while maintaining a high collision safety.

Method for preventing collisions involving motor vehicles


A memory device responsive to standby mode commands for reducing internal operational power on a memory device is disclosed. The memory device includes a circuit for reducing power during a standby mode with the circuit including a reference with at least first and second reference signals. The circuit also includes a switching device for switching between the first and second reference signals in response to the standby mode command and further controls an internal operational power regulator to adjust between normal and low-power outputs for further reducing the power to portions of the memory device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to integrated circuits and, more specifically, to reducing power usage in dynamic random access memory devices during standby periods.
2. State of the Art
Portable electronic devices require data storage, such as a memory device, for providing large storage capacity and low power consumption. To reduce power consumption and extend available power supplies, such as batteries, the memory device typically operates in a low-power mode when stored data is not being accessed. In the low-power mode, supply voltages within the memory device are typically reduced to lower the power consumption of the components. While the supply voltages are varied to reduce power consumption in the low-power mode, data stored within the memory devices must be retained.
In typical electronic devices, large storage capacities are generally desirable. Accordingly, a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which has a relatively large storage capacity over other types of memories, is frequently utilized. In a DRAM, the data is "dynamic" because the data stored within the memory cells of the memory device must be periodically recharged or "refreshed" to maintain an adequate charge to signify a specific data bit state. By way of example, a conventional DRAM device includes a plurality of memory cells arranged in rows and columns with each memory cell further including an access transistor and a storage capacitor connected in series between a digital line and a reference voltage generally equivalent to VCC/2.
The data stored in the memory cell in the form of voltage across the capacitor must be periodically refreshed. Generally, once the data is stored in the form of a voltage across the capacitor and the access transistor is deactivated, leakage currents result in this stored voltage which change over time and, if not refreshed, may result in a different binary state of data being stored in the memory cell. Those of ordinary skill in the art appreciate that in a conventional DRAM memory cell, the storage capacitor is recharged each time the memory cell is read as the reading operation refreshes or recharges the memory cell to an adequate voltage level to retain the corresponding logic information stored therein.
It should be appreciated that since the charge stored within the storage capacitor depletes, the refreshing operation must be performed at a specified rate in order to retain the logic stored within the memory cells. The rate at which the data stored in the memory cells must be periodically refreshed is known as the "refresh rate" of the memory cells and is a function of a number of different parameters including the operating temperature of the DRAM, the number of rows of memory cells in the array and the value of the supply voltage VCC applied to the DRAM, to name a few. As the supply voltage VCC decreases, the refresh rate increases due, for example, to a reduced voltage being stored across the storage capacitors and the need to refresh this voltage more frequently to ensure the stored voltage does not decay to an insufficient level due to the leakage currents. The refresh rate also must increase as the supply voltage VCC decreases to minimize the possibility of restoring incorrect data into the memory cell.
Where the memory cell is contained in a DRAM, a memory controller typically reads data from the desired memory cells in response to requests from a microprocessor or other control unit causing each accessed memory cell to be automatically refreshed as described. However, the data stored in all the memory cells must be periodically refreshed and, as a result, a periodic refresh command to the DRAM containing the memory cells must be issued thereby causing the control circuitry to access each memory cell. Even when the memory controller is not accessing the DRAM, the memory cells must still be periodically refreshed. To refresh the memory cells under such conditions, the memory controller issues a self-refresh command to the DRAM placing the DRAM in a self-refresh mode of operation during which circuitry internal to the DRAM periodically refreshes the memory cell.
The issuance of a self-refresh command to a DRAM by a microprocessor, for example, signifies that the microprocessor or other controlling circuitry is preoccupied with other functionality and is not in need of imminent data from the DRAM.
While some progress has been made at reducing power consumed by a DRAM when in various standby-like modes, additional improvements are highly desirable. Therefore, there is a need for an improved approach for further minimizing the power consumed by a DRAM.

Circuit and method for reducing power in a memory device during standby modes


Isolated polynucleotides and polypeptides encoded thereby are described, together with the use of those products for making transgenic plants with increased nitrogen use efficiency. The present invention further relates to nucleotide sequences and the use of those nucleotide sequences in the genetic-engineering of plants to display enhanced nitrogen assimilatory and utilization capacities, grow larger, more efficiently or rapidly, and/or have enriched nitrogen contents in vegetative and/or reproductive plant parts and/or increased biomass. More particularly, this invention relates to producing transgenic plants engineered to have altered expression of key components in the nitrogen assimilation and utilization pathways. The engineered plants may be productively cultivated under conditions of low nitrogen fertilizer input or in nitrogen poor soils. Alternatively, the engineered plants may be used to achieve faster growing or maturing crops, higher crop yields and/or more nutritious products under ideal cultivation conditions.

Nitrogen is often the rate-limiting element in plant growth, and all field crops have a fundamental dependence on exogenous nitrogen sources. Nitrogenous fertilizer, which is usually supplied as ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, or urea, typically accounts for 40% of the costs associated with crops, such as corn and wheat in intensive agriculture. Increased efficiency of nitrogen use by plants should enable the production of higher yields with existing fertilizer inputs and/or enable existing yields of crops to be obtained with lower fertilizer input, or better yields on soils of poorer quality. Also, higher amounts of proteins in the crops could also be produced more cost-effectively.
Plants have a number of means to cope with nutrient deficiencies, such as poor nitrogen availability. They constantly sense nitrogen availability in the soil and respond accordingly by modulating gene expression. Although more is being discovered about nitrogen and the components involved in regulating its uptake and utilization, much is still unknown about many of these complex interactions. For this reason, it is interesting when a gene of known or unknown function is shown to have a nitrogen response, as it opens up new possibilities and insights into nitrogen utilization and nitrogen use efficiency in a competitive environment (i.e. low and/or high nitrogen).
Plants have a number of means to cope with nutrient deficiencies. One of the most important mechanisms for doing this is to sequester or store nitrogen in times of abundance to be used later. A class of proteins likely to be involved in this process is peptide transporters. There are few published reports about plant peptide transporters indicating that they play an unexplored role in plant growth and development. Peptide transporters are carrier-mediated, energy dependent transporters. Peptides, which have been internalized to the cell, are broken down into amino acids, which are in turn are used as sources of nitrogen and carbon. Over-expression of a peptide transporter may better provide nitrogen to a plant, thus giving it an advantage in competitive nitrogen (N) environments. Use of a nitrogen assimilation inhibitor as a representation of this competitive environment provides a useful screen for candidates which have better nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). This screen provides a clear-cut method to identify N candidates in that it eliminates the subjective nature of limiting N screens based on slight increases in size and greenness.

Nucleotide sequences and polypeptides encoded thereby useful for modifying nitrogen use efficiency characteristics in plants


An InfiniBand managed storage environment is made up of processor nodes containing HCAs and managed storage devices containing TCAs and exposing a plurality of LUNs and volumes. For each InfiniBand channel between a specific HCA and a specific TCA, the paths between the HCA and any LUN or volume exposed by the TCA are grouped into a set. Occurrence of failures on specific paths of specific sets on specific channels are determined, for example by registering for callbacks or polling for occurrence of events which adversely affect communication between endpoints. Also, I/O operations executed by processor nodes are tracked and failures thereof are detected. When the occurrence of a failure on a specific path of a set is determined, all I/O operations on all paths of the set are proactively rerouted to a separate set on a separate channel that connects the same processor node and storage device.

Storage management products provide useful features for managing computer storage, such as logical volume management, journaling file systems, multi-path input/output (I/O) functionality, data volume replication, etc. The storage is typically implemented with multiple underlying physical storage devices, which are managed by the storage system so as to appear as a single storage device to accessing nodes. The multiple physical storage media can be grouped into a single logical unit which is referred to as a LUN (for "logical unit number"), and appears as a single storage device to an accessing node.
The management of underlying physical storage devices can also involve software level logical volume management, in which multiple physical storage devices are made to appear as a single logical volume to accessing nodes. A logical volume can be constructed from multiple physical storage devices directly, or on top of a LUN, which is in turn logically constructed from multiple physical storage devices. A volume manager can concatenate, stripe together or otherwise combine underlying physical partitions into larger, virtual ones.
Storage management is often combined with clustering systems. Clusters are groups of computers that use groups of redundant computing resources in order to provide continued service when individual system components fail. More specifically, clusters eliminate single points of failure by providing multiple servers, multiple network connections, redundant data storage, etc.
Where a cluster is implemented in conjunction with a storage management environment, the computer systems (nodes) of the cluster can access shared storage, such that the shared storage looks the same to each node. Additionally, a cluster volume manager can extend volume management across the multiple nodes of a cluster, such that each node recognizes the same logical volume layout, and the same state of all volume resources at all nodes.
In a storage management environment (or a combined clustering and storage management system), when an I/O operation targeting a given I/O endpoint fails, the host level multi-path component analyzes the I/O error, and routes the I/O to an alternate path. This mechanism has two potential shortcomings. First of all, in a storage environment with a large number of I/O paths such as a cluster, a single failure of a link, port, switch, peripheral device, etc., anywhere between the source node and the target storage device can cause a large number of I/O errors, each of which has to be detected and rerouted. Secondly, even as failed I/Os are being rerouted on alternate paths, new incoming I/Os may be scheduled on one or more path(s) which will fail, but have not yet returned an I/O error, thus resulting in the need for yet more I/O rerouting. This drains computing resources at the host and causes I/O performance degradation.
It would be desirable to address these issues.

Efficient I/O error analysis and proactive I/O failover to alternate paths for InfiniBand channel


A system detects the presence of a living being within a vehicle and triggers an alarm should the temperature rise above or fall below a predetermined threshold limit. The system uses a carbon dioxide monitor to determine for the living being's presence, which is backed up by one or more subsystems that include a motion sensor that senses motion, a sound sensor that senses sounds, especially those made by distressed living beings, and a camera that uses facial recognition software to detect a face within the vehicle. The alarm can be staged so that a lower level of alarm is triggered when the hazardous temperature is approaching, but has not yet reached critical levels, and one of the subsystems has detected a living being within the vehicle, but the others have not yet activated, and a higher level alarm once critical temperatures have been reached.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system whereby an unattended vehicle passenger, such as an infant or a toddler or even a pet, is detected prior to harm befalling the passenger from temperature extremes.
2. Background of the Prior Art
As hard as it is for many to fathom, the number of small children left unattended in vehicles is quite alarming. While most such incidents of leaving a small child or even a pet unattended, terminate without any undue harm, on some occasions, the passenger can suffer serious injury or death, typically from hyperthermia, but also from hypothermia for wintertime unattandance.
When a body's core temperature reaches about 104 degrees Fahrenheit, heat stroke sets in as the body's thermoregulatory system starts to become overwhelmed. Once the body's core temperature reaches about 107 degrees Fahrenheit, death occurs as cells are severely damaged and organs fail. On a sunny day, the interior temperature of a vehicle can rise 30 degrees or more above the ambient temperature in about 20 minutes, with cracking of the window having almost no effect on the temperature rate of increase. A body, especially a young body of an infant or toddler, can quickly succumb to the heat effects within the interior of an unattended car.
Leaving a passenger unattended typically happens in one of three ways. Sometimes, a parent or guardian intends to make a quick stop, such as the grocery store, and wants to run in, get a few items and return to the vehicle. The parent or guardian may not want to go through the trouble of unbuckling the child from his or her car seat and thereafter buckle the child back up; or the parent or guardian may not want to disturb a sleeping child. In either case, the adult either gets distracted from the original task and spends more time away from the vehicle, or simply does not appreciate how quickly the temperature can rise (or fall) in the unattended vehicle.
The second type of situation involves the parent or guardian who simply forgets that they are transporting a child in the vehicle and leaves the child in the vehicle unattended, often for hours. This latter situation is responsible for the majority of child deaths from being left unattended.
A third type of situation involving children who have died from heat stroke in a vehicle is when a child gains access to an unattended vehicle and is thereafter unable to extricate himself or herself from the vehicle.
While leaving a child unattended in a vehicle for any amount of time is unthinkable to most rational people, such neglect does happen, resulting in dozens of child deaths each year, and countless pet deaths as well. In all cases, the death of the child is both tragic and avoidable.
In order to address this problem, systems have been developed that deal with an unattended passenger within a vehicle. Such systems, which range from the very simple to the very complex, come in a multitude of architectures relying on various methods for passenger detection and work with varying degrees of success. However, prior art systems suffer from certain drawbacks.
Some systems are exceedingly complex in design and/or installation, often requiring a factory trained professional to install the device and integrate the device into the vehicle's computer system. Not only are such systems cost-prohibitive, many automotive manufacturers are reluctant to assist in such device installations. Other devices simply have too many false detections. While rescuing a child from a hot unattended vehicle is desirable, improperly rolling down the windows and possibly even starting the vehicle due to a false detection may not prove acceptable to a vehicle owner, especially if an opportunistic thief happens upon the vehicle prior to the owner or law enforcement arriving on scene.
What is needed is a system that is able to detect the presence of an unattended passenger within a vehicle while addressing the above mentioned shortcomings found in the art. Such a system must be able to detect the presence of an unattended passenger within a vehicle, wherein the temperature of the interior of the vehicle is approaching or has exceeded a threshold temperature (either too hot or too cold) and issues an appropriate alarm, while substantially decreasing the possibility of false detections which lead to inappropriate alarms. The system must be operable as a standalone system, yet should be able to integrate with certain subsystems of the vehicle without the need to hardwire the system to the vehicle's computer.

Unattended vehicle passenger detection system


An exercise barbell comprises a pair of rings connected by a pair of curved bars. The rings rotatably support handle members. Extensions of the bar on the exterior of the two rings support crescent-shaped weights which conform to the outer diameter of the ring and to one another. The weights are relatively flat so the entire apparatus lies in a single plane. A straight bar connecting the opposed sides of the two rings supports a sliding weight which may be moved to one side of the bar or the other to allow asymmetrical exercises.

Barbells are commonly used to perform a variety of exercises including curling and weightlifting, and it has been proposed to provide rotating handgrips for use in such apparatus so that the user's grip may be accommodated in any position and is not restricted to an angle parallel to the axis of the device. In particular, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,384,370; 4,618,183; 4,629,184; 5,334,113; 6,022,300 and Re. 33,218 all disclose barbell arrangements having handgrips which are rotatably supported so that their angle relative to the bar may be adjusted.
One problem associated with prior art barbells resides in the fact that if the bar is to resist the bending forces imposed when the bar is lifted with weights on the end, it must be formed of a strong and relatively heavy material. The weight of this bar imposes a minimum weight on the exercise apparatus even without any end weights. Another problem is that the use of disk-like end weights creates problems in storage and transportation of a barbell with the associated weights.
Another problem associated with conventional barbells, with or without rotatable handgrips, is that it is inconvenient and awkward to provide a greater weight on one end than the other in order to impose asymmetrical stresses on the user's muscles during exercise.


Systems, methods and structures for combining virtual reality and real-time environment by combining captured real-time video data and real-time 3D environment renderings to create a fused, that is, combined environment, including capturing video imagery in RGB or HSV/HSV color coordinate systems and processing it to determine which areas should be made transparent, or have other color modifications made, based on sensed cultural features, electromagnetic spectrum values, and/or sensor line-of-sight, wherein the sensed features can also include electromagnetic radiation characteristics such as color, infra-red, ultra-violet light values, cultural features can include patterns of these characteristics, such as object recognition using edge detection, and whereby the processed image is then overlaid on, and fused into a 3D environment to combine the two data sources into a single scene to thereby create an effect whereby a user can look through predesignated areas or “windows” in the video image to see into a 3D simulated world, and/or see other enhanced or reprocessed features of the captured image.

As the power and speed of computers has grown, so has the ability to provide computer-generated artificial and virtual environments. Such virtual environments have proven popular for training systems, such as for driver training, pilot training and even training in performing delicate medical and surgical procedures. These systems typically involve combining prerecorded or computer generated visual information with a real world environment to provide the perception of a desired environment. For example, a driver's training simulator may include a physical representation of the driver's seat of an automobile with a video or computer generated image of a road and traffic projected on what would be the windshield of the simulator car of a student driver. The image is made to be reactive to the actions of the driver, by changing speeds and perspectives in response to acceleration, braking and steering by the driver. Similarly, sophisticated flight simulators include a physical cockpit and projected flight environments that present real world situations to the pilot via a display.
In some cases, a virtual reality is projected in front of the eyes of a user via a virtual reality helmet, goggles, or other input device, so that the only image seen by the user is the virtual image. In other instances, mirrors and partially reflective materials are used so that a user can view both the real world environment and the virtual environment at the same time.
A disadvantage of prior art virtual reality and simulation systems is difficulty in combining real world and virtual world images in a realistic and unrestricted manner. In some prior art cases, certain views and angles are not available to a user because they require prior calculation of image perspective and cannot be processed in real time. In other instances, the ability to interact with the virtual world with physical objects is limited or unavailable.

Systems and methods for combining virtual and real-time physical environments


A method of and apparatus for supporting intelligent call routing (ICR) systems multiple vendors, in a vendor neutral fashion using a computer is described. One embodiment has a voice program send a call routing request using an HTTP format to a call routing program. The call routing program decodes the HTTP request and identifies the appropriate vendor-specific communication format and communications method for talking to the ICR system specified in the HTTP request. The call routing program sends the request and receives the answers from the ICR system in the vendor specific formats. The call routing program provides the ICR system response back to the voice program in a vendor neutral fashion. This approach allows voice programs to easily be written that work with multiple ICR systems and allow component reuse of call routing code amongst programs that end up working with multiple systems.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of phone based communications. In particular, the invention relates to methods for providing a uniform interface to call center integration equipment that is vendor neutral.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of vendor specific call center integration equipment is manufactured. More specifically call routing equipment is used to control, and monitor, allocation of calls amongst a variety of call center facilities and provide support for database lookups and the like. The equipment is designed for programming using vendor specific programming interfaces and/or communication protocols. Accordingly one would use a different approach to obtain information from a Cisco call routing equipment than a Genesys call routing equipment.
This approach is limiting in the context of a phone application platform where calls for many vendors are being handled by a single platform. It additionally makes it difficult to describe programs in a vendor-neutral fashion.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method and apparatus for handling call center integration equipment in a vendor neutral fashion.


The present invention provides a novel carding machine for preparing a continuous non-woven fibrous web. This machine is comprised of a succession of carding cylinders including a first carding cylinder and subsequently a final carding cylinder; said cylinders are in communication with one or more carding rolls—doffers and/or randomizing rolls arranged in juxtaposition and rotate wherein their axes horizontal; at least one feeding inlet unit in communication with said first carding cylinder; and at least one product outlet in communication with said last carding cylinder, wherein one or more product outlets commenced form said carding succession, previous to said final carding cylinder, The present invention also provides for a cost effective method for maintaining fiber density on the carding cylinder while increasing production rate of the machine through the discharge of a certain amount of fully opened fibers from the cylinder.

Industrial carding machinery produce non-woven web forms mixtures of fibers such as polypropylene, polyethylene, cotton, viscose or regenerated fiber. A typical carding machine is having one or more main carding cylinders, and various other rolls that are arranged in juxtaposition and rotate wherein their axes horizontal. Fibers are traditionally fed and transferred to the first carding cylinder and carded by means of a plurality of sets of worker and striper rolls, which provide for a web of opened fibers of mainly longitudinal orientation. The carding succession continues wherein the fibers are processed by means of randomizing cylinders and doffer rolls that process the web until has a network characterization. Along the second or more carding cylinders along carding succession, the web is further processed to a predetermined measure. The finished carded web is then transferred to a set of complement rolls or air suction to a product conveyer belt.
It is known in the art that short fibers are discharge to waste by various suction chambers located adjacent to the main cylinder rolls and/or the doffer or other cylinders along the carding process. Hence, U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,037 to Leder and U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,584 to Temburg disclose few apparatuses for separating waste and short fibers from the carding process. Moreover, few inventions, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,214 to Napolitano have presented a carding process characterized by a multiple doffing outlets, usually in a parallel configuration, located at the very last step of the process, after the last main carding cylinder. This invention is also teaching two or more combing cylinder adapted to convey the half-finished web to the second cylinder.
It is well acknowledge in the art that the carded web being processed along the carding cylinder is comprised of half-finished fiber web and a relatively minor portion of fully opened carded fibers. Said finished fibers are being re-cycled in this costly carding process and hence severely decrease homogeny and process productivity. Hence, a carding machine adapted for maintaining low fiber density on the main finisher cylinder while increasing production rate of the machine through the discharge of a certain amount of fully opened (-carded,) fibers from the breaker or first cylinder and thus increase in productivity and reduce the carding cost is still a long felt need.

Machine for making a non-woven fibrous web


Intermolecular binding can be detected by formation of a “paratope” which results in an immediate generation of a signal. The substances to be tested for interaction are bound to demitopes, wherein said demitopes are components of a paratope which binds a reporter which provides said signal when bound. Known interactions measured in this way can also be employed to screen for compounds which interfere with the interactions. In addition to testing for individual interactions, the interaction of a compound with a library or library×library interactions can also be determined and the effect of potentially interfering substances evaluated.

Attempts to detect intermolecular interactions have a long history. Perhaps the best known interaction assay is the yeast 2-hybrid assay which is particularly useful in detecting interactions between proteins. See, for example, Evangelista, C., et al., Trends in Cell Biol. (1996) 6:196–199. This assay, however, requires the presence of a relatively elaborate reporter system and is restricted to interactions which take place in the nucleus, since the detectable reporter is generated by activating transcription.
Alternatively, assays have been developed which rely on the assessment of the activity of a reconstituted enzyme. For example, the cloned enzyme-donor immunoassay (CEDIA®) is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,734. In this assay, an analyte is coupled to a portion of an enzyme designated an "enzyme donor," and allowed to interact with an "enzyme acceptor" which comprises the remaining portions of the enzyme that are required for activity. In the absence of an interfering analyte binding protein, such as an antibody, this interaction occurs spontaneously and the enzyme reconstitutes itself and exhibits activity. However, when analyte binding protein is present, this reconstitution is prevented. The amount of analyte in solution can then be measured by virtue of the ability of the analyte to compete for the analyte binding protein thus permitting reconstitution of the enzyme. It is seen that this approach relies on the ability of the two portions of the enzyme spontaneously to interact; thus, the mediation of carrier substances is unnecessary and the assay is appropriate both for measuring analyte concentration, and interactions between molecules, i.e., the analyte and analyte binding protein. However, only a limited number of constructs can be made wherein an enzyme donor portion and an enzyme acceptor portion spontaneously recombine. The exemplified enzyme for CEDIA® is β-galactosidase.
Where the components of the enzyme do not spontaneously recombine, the interaction can be adapted to detect interactions between components that are coupled to each portion of the enzyme. Such an approach has been applied using dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) as an exemplary reporting system by Remy, I., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1999) 96:5394–5399; U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,964. In this system, it is necessary to supply some impetus for the reconstitution of DHFR; coupling of each portion of DHFR to a leucine zipper sequence has been found effective as a model system. This model system can be adapted to detect the interaction of any two substances where the interaction draws their coupled DHFR portions closer together. The interaction is detected, then, by assessing the activity of the enzyme. This system thus avoids the more complex reporter functions characteristic of the yeast 2-hybrid method.
An early embodiment of this type of approach is described by Johnsson, N., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1994) 91:10340–10344. The molecule to be reconstituted in this case is ubiquitin which results in proteins fused thereto in being cleaved by ubiquitin-specific proteases. Because the proteolysis occurs in the proteasome, this method permits monitoring protein/protein interactions as functions of time at the natural sites of their interaction in cells.
None of the foregoing methods provide a direct immediate measurement of the interaction of two individual substances, i.e., one that does not employ a reaction cascade for detection. Neither do the results of prior art methods vary linearly with affinity. The present invention provides such results.

Real time detection of intermolecular interaction


The invention relates to a plug connector, particularly for airbag activation systems, comprising locking tongues (2), which are oriented in the direction of plugging-in and provided for locking the plug connector (1) inside a mating connector (3), and comprising a secondary locking system (4). This secondary locking system (4) has secondary locking tongues (4a, 4b) that are joined to the plug connector (1) in a fixed manner. When locking tongues (2) engage inside the mating connector (3), said secondary locking tongues elastically spring into the space (5) between locking tongues (2) and the plug connector body (6) while engaging therewith.

The highest requirements are placed on the reliability of such plug connectors and the plug connections produced with them. On the one hand, these requirements involve their reliability over a long period of time and, on the other hand, undefined stress states on the trigger must be avoided in producing the plug connector. For example, it must be assured that, it is abundantly clear to the operator that the plug connector is correctly seated in its final position in the counter-plug, which is conventionally assured by a lock or a catch, and, on the other hand, it must be assured that this final position is not abandoned unintentionally when the vehicle is operated and in particular, during repair operations on the motor vehicle. This is achieved by a secondary lock, i.e., the locking of catch arms in their locked position, so that the plug connection can no longer by disengaged unintentionally.
Known plug connectors for airbag triggering systems, as are known, for example, from DE 125,295 A1 of the patent applicant, use secondary locks which can only be activated if the plug connector is already plugged into the corresponding counter-plug. That is, in the mounted position, the secondary lock is found locked in an intermediate position, from which it is brought into its final position after producing the plug connection with the counter-plug. The plug connector is thus delivered with a secondary lock in an intermediate position, whereby it may happen during delivery or in the handling of the plug connector that the secondary lock is found unintentionally already in its final position, as if the plug connection has been produced, but in this case, connection is prevented. The secondary lock can be disengaged again, but additional time is required and an optional automatically produced installation is made impossible. In addition, after the plug connection has been produced, one may forget to also lock the secondary lock, so that it cannot be excluded with certainty that the plug connection can be disengaged again.

Plug connector having a secondary locking system that engages during plug insertion


Real-time Ultrasound Burst Spectrography (RUBS) is a technique in which a target is stimulated using a specialized ultrasound burst signal delivered by an imaging or non-imaging ultrasound transducer and the frequency spectrum of the resulting response is analyzed and studied. The objective of this method is to interrogate (vibrate) the target and then examine its characteristic response frequency (resonance) peaks, which are unique to its mechanical and material properties (viscosity, elasticity, plasticity, visco-elasticity, etc.). The resonances could deviate from a few Hz to several KHz and the response could be in the form of a narrow peak or a band of frequencies based on the stiffness coefficient of the target material. The primary goal is to develop a reliable and non-invasive ultrasound-based diagnostic device that can be used to identify different diseases or structural abnormalities based on the stationary or dynamic target's response frequency (resonance) to a specialized acoustic excitation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to diagnosis of medical conditions through the use of non-invasive ultrasound techniques to determine information which will assist in the clinical diagnosis of a medical condition of a patient.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, acoustic force generation and the use of ultrasound have been employed in the prior art to obtain information about a medical condition which can assist in a clinical diagnosis of such medical condition. The following chart sets forth the closest prior art patents which are known to the present inventor.

Method and apparatus to quantify specific material properties of objects using real-time ultrasound burst spectrography technique