The present invention relates to novel "pseudo" nonapeptide and decapeptide derivatives of LHRH. More particularly the present invention relates to derivatives of LHRH wherein the nitrogen atom of at least one of the amide bonds has been alkylated.

Luteinizing Hormone Releasing Hormone, known as LHRH or GnRH, is a decapeptide with the following formula: EQU (pyro)Glu-His-Trp-Ser Tyr-Gly-Leu-Arg-Pro-Gly-NH.sub.2
LHRH is released from the hypothalamus and binds to a receptor on the pituitary gland, causing the release of LH (Luteinizing Hormone) and FSH (Follicle - Stimulating Hormone). Subsequently, LH and FSH act on the gonads to stimulate the synthesis of steroid sex hormones. The pulsatile release of LHRH, and thereby the release of LH and FSH, controls the reproductive cycle in domestic animals and humans. Acute doses of LHRH agonists increase the levels of LH and steroid sex hormones in both animals and humans. Paradoxically, chronic doses of these agonists suppress the levels of LH and steroid hormones. Consequently, the effect of multiple doses of LHRH agonists is to suppress estrogen formation in the female and suppress testosterone formation in the male. The same effect is observed in both animals and humans after administration of acute or chronic doses of LHRH antagonists. LHRH agonists are currently used or under clinical investigation for the treatment of several hormone dependent diseases such as prostate cancer, benign prostatic hypertrophy, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, precocious puberty and breast cancer. They have also been used as contraceptives. For a review of LHRH analogs see J. Sandow, et al. in "Hypothalamic Hormones. Chemistry, Physiology, and Clinical Applications", edited by D. Gupta and W. Voeters, p. 307 (1978).
Biologically active LHRH analogs have been studied in animals and humans. LHRH analogs have been found to be effective by either intraveneous, subcutaneous, or depot administration. Intranasal and intravaginal administrations are effective only at very high doses. All of the reported LHRH analogs show 0.1% to 1% potency following oral administration when compared to intraveneous doses. One of the major reasons for this low potency is that these peptides are degraded in the stomach by various proteolytic enzymes before reaching the blood system. It would be desirable to prepare analogs of LHRH that are stable against proteolytic enzymes and are biologically potent after oral administration in animals and humans.


A method of assigning network resources between network endpoints includes providing a session initiation request to an application manager. The application manager is logically and physically decoupled from an application server associated with the network endpoints. This request initiates communication between the network endpoints through the set of network resources. The communication employs an application residing on an application server. The method also includes providing a PCMM message from the application manager to a policy server as a result of the session initiation request. The PCMM message includes at least some information, for example QoS information, embedded in the session initiation request. The method further includes selecting, via the policy server, a set of network resources for creating a path connecting the network endpoints. The policy server selects the set of network assets based on the PCMM message, for example to set QoS for the communication between the two endpoints.

In general, a policy server manages network resources according to a set of rules, i.e., a policy. While some policy servers simply carve out network resources for undifferentiated data between network routing or switching elements (e.g., from router A to router B), an application-focused policy server manages network resources to fulfill the needs of applications. For example, in a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) application, two network endpoints may wish to establish a VoIP call with one another via the network. The network endpoints request network resources from the policy server for the VoIP call.
FIG. 1 shows one way to implement this VoIP example. A first network endpoint 10 wishes to establish a VoIP call to a second network endpoint 12 via an access network 14. The first endpoint 10 specifies the session attributes in its session setup request to the application server. The application server 18 includes the VoIP application that is responsible for coordinating and setting up the session or call between the endpoints. The application server 18 relays the request for resources associated with the VoIP session to a policy server 20 using PacketCable Multimedia (PCMM) protocol (PKT-TR-MM-ARCH-V01-030627, V01, Jun. 27, 2003; and, PKT-SP-MM-101-030627, Jun. 27, 2003). The application server 18 is synonymous with an application manager 22 that provides the functionality necessary to reserve and manage QoS for the session via the policy server. The policy server in turns controls the network resources to ensure proper treatment is applied to all the media streams associated with the call or session.
Having the functionality of the application manager 22 located in the application server 18 complicates the design of the application server 18. Since some application servers do not need application managers, an application manager constitutes unnecessary cost and complexity for those installations.


System and method for monitoring calls parked on one or more automatic call distributors (ACDs). Calls parked on an ACD are monitored through the use of a call park server that maintains a relational database. The relational database includes a call-leg information table and a method table. The call-leg information table is used to track and maintain the status of each call-leg parked on an ACD. The method table includes pre-determined methods that can be executed in response to a change in status of the parked call-legs. The method table provides a suite of methods that can be selected by a parking facility, for example, an automated response unit or an operator console, to be applied to the parked call-leg when particular events occur.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer telephony. More particularly, the present invention relates to parked calls. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to calls parked on an automatic call distributor.
2. Related Art
Call centers have become a popular means for providing operator and customer services for businesses. A call center is typically a platform and location used by a business for customer services, operator services, telemarketing, or other such purposes. A call center is a focal point for receiving customer telephone calls and for providing services. A service may be operator services provided by a telephone company for special feature calls, or customer services provided by a manufacturing company for a product they offer, or customer services provided by a catalog company for placing orders. Callers commonly access a call center by dialing a "1-800" number, though any type of telephone number may be used.
A call center is typically made up of one or more operator consoles, and one or more automated response units. An operator console is a work station staffed by one or more agents or human operators to provide live service and assistance to a caller. An automated response unit services the call in an automated fashion. A call center also typically includes an automatic call distributor (ACD) that is used to receive, queue and distribute calls among the various operator consoles and automated response units.
When a call comes into a call center, the ACD offers the call to an available operator console or automated response unit for servicing. When the call is transferred to a receiving facility, such as an operator console or automated response unit, the receiving facility has responsibility for the call, and a voice channel is established with the receiving facility. During the course of servicing a call, the need often arises to "park" a call on the ACD. When a call is parked on the ACD, the call is active, i.e., there is a party on the call with an established voice channel connected to the ACD. The call is monitored and maintained at the ACD. Once a call is parked at the ACD, it is no longer under control of the facility, i.e., the operator console or automated response unit, that parked the call. This allows the parking facility to be freed up to perform other tasks or services. A parked call should be distinguished from a call placed "on-hold" by an operator console or automated response unit. In the on-hold situation, the facility retains control of the call, and the voice channel is still connected to the facility where the call is on-hold.
While a call is parked at the ACD, the ACD monitors the call to detect a change in its status. For example, the caller may hang up, or the caller may enter a dual-tone multiple frequency (DTMF) signal by pressing a key on the keypad. In a conventional system, the ACD does not act on the state changes unless it receives inactions from the parking facility, such as an automated response unit or an operator console. In a conventional system, each automated response unit and operator console must be individually programmed to initiate an action or carry out a method in response to the changes in the status of a call parked on an ACD. Additionally, any time a new method or a new type of call status change is to be incorporated, each automated response unit or operator console must be modified to include such changes. This involves extensive development, testing, and implementation, for each new change or addition. The associated cost, time, and effort involved are significant.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a simple and cost effective method for monitoring the status of calls parked on an ACD, and for executing various methods in response to a change in status. There is a further need in the art for a system that can easily and cost effectively accommodate new methods to be executed in response to a change in status of a call parked on an automatic call distributor. There is a further need for a system that can accommodate the need for customized methods to be executed in response to a change in status of a call parked on an automatic call distributor.

System and method for monitoring calls parked on an automatic call distributor


Systems and methods for monitoring baby's or partially disabled patient's level of thermal comfort during his/her rest in bed are provided. Preferably, the system comprises: a sensor of infrared (IR) radiation coupled to electric circuitry, the circuitry includes a transmitter of radio signal, and, as a separate unit, a receiver of this radio signal. The transmitter includes a circuit containing an alarm with an adjustable threshold that turns the alarm on whenever the heat flux radiated by the body of a patient or a baby rises above user-adjustable upper threshold value, or falls below lower threshold value. The system may be combined with a standard, advanced or video baby monitor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a baby/patient monitor, and in particular to a monitor capable of measuring flux of IR radiation emitted by body of a baby or a disabled patient.
2. Description of Related Art
Baby monitors are well known. A standard baby monitor consists of two physically separate units: a baby unit and a parent unit, each of which can be powered by a battery or an AC current source. The baby unit contains a microphone or other sound detecting device and is placed in a location near a baby. The parent unit contains a speaker and is placed in a location near the baby's guardian. A sound (e.g. a stirring or crying baby) detected by the baby unit is transmitted to the parent unit for output to the guardian to hear and respond to accordingly.
Several versions of this standard model exist. One of them involves a number of light emitting diodes (LEDs), which turn on in series to indicate a level of the sound measured by the microphone. This visual alert is useful when other noises may interfere with the receiver audio output.
In another version of the system the parent unit is capable of sending audible or other information to the baby unit, that provides means for comforting the baby without the need to approach him/her. Such baby monitors with soothing units are described by Fitzgerald, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,759,961, Altenhofen; Cynthia L, U.S. Pat. No. 6,043,747.
Some similar devices include enhancements, which allow monitoring other parameters relevant to baby's conditions, such as baby's movements or whether his/her clothes are dry (Xiaowei et al., patent CN2301724U). Some of these parameters may be related to baby's health conditions, such as heart beat and/or respiratory rates, as in cardiac and apnea monitoring system (Holland, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,764,451). Another example is a psychological monitor utilizing information obtained through measuring EKG of a baby (Mault, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,790,178). An invention documented by Jackson, III in U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,201 is designed to measure level of oxygen in infant's blood.
Pediatricians nowadays consider that an important factor in a very young child's life is ambient temperature and thus it is therefore necessary for the ambient temperature of the child's room to be taken into account, and for the appropriate changes to be made if the temperature rises or falls beyond suitable limits. The invention of Liu Chi Cheung et al., patent EP0983580 addresses this issue.
Other devices permanently display a live image of the baby. The image is acquired by a vide camera, built into the baby unit and is displayed on video screen built into the parent unit. Such a use of a wireless video camera coupled to a TV receiver is described in Ray; Rajarshi, U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,257, Strandwitz, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,522,352.
Remote temperature and heat flux measurements based on infrared (IR) technology are used for medical (e.g. I. Kushnir, U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,831), industrial (e.g. M. R. Clark, D. M. McCann and M C. Forde, "Application of IR thermography to the non-destructive testing of concrete and masonry bridges", NDT & E International, Volume 36, Issue 4, June 2003, Pages 265-275), agricultural (e.g. G. Wright, "IR images to reduce peanut aflatoxin risk", International CustomWire, Sep. 06, 2004, Item CX200425018851), military (e.g P. L. Martinez et al., "Improved Thermal Analysis of Buried Landmines", IEEE Transactions on Geoscience & Remote Sensing, September 2004, Vol. 42 Issue 9, p1965) and scientific (e.g. S. Montelpare and R. Ricci, "An experimental method for evaluating the heat transfer coefficient of liquid-cooled short pin fins using IR thermography", Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, Volume 28, Issue 8, October 2004, Pages 815-824) applications. The way those proposed technologies are designed makes them inappropriate and/or too expensive for monitoring a baby or a patient at sleep.
Watabe, et al. suggested a way to improve accuracy of temperature/heat flux measurements using 2 IR sensors in U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,046. A similar technique is used in the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Many parents cover their babies with a blanket or a comforter when the babies sleep. While adults often develop skills to cover/uncover themselves with the blanket in sleep as they feel too cold/warm, babies lack those skills till they reach the age of about 10 years old. Accidental movement of a baby during his/her sleep can therefore lead to his/her inadequate coverage by the blanket. In some cases under such circumstances the baby would wake up and call for a guardian, but this rarely happens instantaneously, and typically the baby would stay asleep while feeling thermal discomfort for some time. That could be a reason for bad dreams, diseases and even fatalities.
In particular, according to medical research, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is one of the leading causes of post-neonatal mortality in industrialized countries. Substantial proportion of the SIDS deaths could be avoided by providing safe sleeping environment for infants, whereas their overheating is considered as one of the major risk factors (Ponsonby A L, Dwyer T, Cochrane J, New England Journal of Medicine (329(6) 1993; Mathews T J, Menacker F, MacDorman M F, National Vital Statistics Reports 52(2) 2003).
Some baby monitors were invented to specifically address the issue of SIDS. One of such devices is documented by Walton, U.S. Pat. No. 5,864,291. This monitor is attached to baby's torso in order to detect that the baby is no longer breathing and inform the parent of that. Another invention (Gibbon et al. patent WO9819596) alarms the baby's guardian of the fact that the baby's hear is no longer beating.
Additionally, because thermoregulatory neurons are synaptically linked to those regulating respiration, adequate temperature control (especially by infants) maintains normal respiration. Therefore, of particular importance may be the temperature control during sleep of patients with increased risk of asphyxia such as pre-term infants, babies and adults with physical and mental disabilities, as well as elderly patients (Scher M S, Steppe D A, Salerno D G, Beggarly M E, Banks D L, Clinical Neurophysiology 114(1)2003).
The device proposed addressees the issue of informing the guardian about a baby's or patient's thermal discomfort during his/her sleep, while being inexpensive in mass production and easy in use.

Device and method for monitoring state of thermal comfort of a baby at sleep or a partially disabled patient


Thermosetting compositions comprising an adhesion-promoting agent are disclosed. The adhesion-promoting agent is derived from boric acid or an equivalent and an ester having two or more functional groups that are derived at least in part from a 1,3-polyol.

Color-plus-clear coating systems involving the application of a colored or pigmented basecoat to a substrate followed by application of a transparent or clearcoat over the basecoat have become increasingly popular as original finishes for a number of consumer products including, for example, automotive vehicles. The color-plus-clear coating systems have outstanding appearance properties such as gloss and distinctness of image, due in large part to the clearcoat. Such color-plus-clear coating systems have become popular for use with automotive vehicles, aerospace applications, floor coverings such as ceramic tiles and wood flooring, packaging coatings and the like.
A typical automotive coating system can include the sequential application of an electrodeposition primer, a primer-surfacer, a color providing base coat, and a transparent topcoat. Also, adhesive coatings or layers, for example, windshield adhesives, trim and molding adhesives and structural adhesives are sometimes applied to the cured topcoats. In fabricating these multi-layer composite coatings, it is necessary that the various layers have acceptable interlayer adhesion.
On commercial automobile coating lines during application of the coating system, certain portions of the line can experience occasional process problems, for example, where the color coat applicator malfunctions, or curing oven faults where temperatures are out of specification. In these instances where the clear coat application system is malfunctioning, some automobile manufacturers may elect to fully cure the applied color coat and then reapply the color coat over the fully cured color coat prior to application of the clearcoat. In such situations, the fully cured color coat can have poor intercoat adhesion with the subsequently applied color coat, even though the compositions may be the same.
Further, during the assembly process, the applied color-plus-clear coating can include surface defects in the clear coat surface that requires repair. Some automobile manufacturers may elect to remove the defect and recoat the repair area with the same clear coat composition. In this instance, the cured clear coat must have excellent intercoat adhesion to the subsequently applied clear coat. It is known, however, that some clear coats when cured have poor intercoat adhesion with the subsequently applied repair clear coat.
Also, windshields and other items such as trim moldings typically are affixed to the body of a vehicle with an adhesive material, typically a moisture-cured material containing isocyanate group-containing polymers. Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (MVSS) require that these adhesives have complete adhesion to both the windshield and the coated substrate to which they are applied. These adhesive products adhere well to many cured topcoating compositions used to coat vehicles such as automobiles. It is known, however, that these adhesive materials often do not completely adhere to some topcoats, for example, those formed from coating compositions based on carbamate and/or urea containing polymers. This necessitates the application of a primer coating to the cured carbamate and/or urea-based top coatings prior to application of the windshield adhesive to ensure compliance with the aforementioned Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Use of such primer coatings has proven to be effective, but primer coating application adds an additional and expensive step to the windshield and/or trim installation processes.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need in the coating industry for coating compositions that have improved intercoat or interlayer adhesion properties.
It has now been found that certain adhesion-promoting agents that have surface active properties such that the solubility parameter of the coating composition containing the adhesion-promoting agent is sufficiently different from that of an analogous coating composition which does not contain the adhesion-promoting agent; the adhesion-promoting agent partitions to the surface region of the resultant coating. This can result in a concentration of the adhesion-promoting agent at the surface region which is greater than the concentration in the interior or bulk region of the coating layer. This partitioning effect of the adhesion-promoting agent can significantly increase its effect in promoting the adhesion of the coating layer that contains the adhesion-promoting agent to a subsequently applied coating layer, as well as to the substrate to which it is applied.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Multi-layer composites formed from compositions having improved adhesion


A bone marrow aspiration device and related method includes an introducer assembly and an aspiration assembly to couple to the introducer assembly. The introducer assembly includes an introducer cannula having a proximal end and a distal end. The introducer cannula defines a lumen between the distal and proximal ends, the distal end being configured to penetrate bone of a patient. The aspiration assembly includes an aspiration cannula that is receivable in the lumen of the introducer cannula and that extends beyond the distal end of the introducer cannula. The aspiration cannula includes a port to aspirate bone marrow, the port being distal to the distal end of the introducer cannula. The aspiration device further includes a mechanism at the introducer assembly to move the introducer cannula and the aspiration cannula in tandem relative to a distal end of the mechanism when the aspiration cannula is positioned within bone.

Bone is made up of a hard outer core, known as cortical bone or cortical plate, and a soft spongy interior known as cancellous bone or trabecular bone, which includes a marrow filling in the porous space within the spongy bone (commonly referred to as bone marrow). The cortical plate is very hard and provides the rigid structure to the skeleton, which allows the skeleton to bear weight. Bone marrow is rich in capillary beds.
A traditional bone marrow aspiration needle is commonly used to access marrow from the hip or iliac bone. The traditional aspiration needle includes an aspiration cannula (also referred to as a cannulated trocar) and a removable stylet that extends through the cannula and has a sharp tip. Once the needle is through the cortical plate, the cannula only has access to whatever marrow is directly ahead of the cannula tip, but cannot bend or access marrow to the sides of the cannula. Because the traditional needle is stiff, the needle can become stuck in the bone if inserted too deep. There is a risk that the needle breaks when the clinician attempts to forcefully remove the stuck needle. Thus, clinicians often need to perform multiple punctures using a shorted needle in order to gain larger volumes of aspirate from a more diverse cross section of the marrow space. Multiple punctures incur trauma which can interfere with the sample collection. For example, increased blood flow to the area can dilute or contaminate the aspirate, thus reducing the quality of the aspirated volume. Since the hip bone is long and thin, once the traditional aspiration needle has penetrated cortical bone, the sharp and stiff instrument has the potential to penetrate through the other side of the cortical bone, resulting in significant trauma. Consequently, it is important for the surgeon to have a proper angle and skilled technique to ensure a safe aspiration.
Therefore, a need exists for a bone marrow aspiration device that can reduce or minimize the aforementioned problems.

Bone marrow aspiration device and method


An apparatus for evenly distributing forces around a die mounted to an extruder barrel includes a barrel flange mounted around the extruder barrel, the barrel flange providing a flange sealing face and a first angular cam surface, and a die adapter for carrying the die, the die adapter providing an adapter sealing face that opposes the flange sealing face, and a second angular cam surface. The apparatus further includes a pair of opposed clamshells each with a semi-circle opening and a lock channel facing each other, each lock channel having angled cam surfaces facing the first and second angular cam surfaces. A locking mechanism is provided at one end of each pair of opposed clamshells, and a spring-biased link mechanism at the other end of each pair of opposed clamshells, whereby the locking mechanism applies a closure force to at least engage the angled cam surfaces against first and second angular cam surfaces, and the spring-biased link mechanism permits the cam surfaces to bring the sealing faces into sealing contact. The apparatus also provides a counterbalanced spring to bias the lower clamshell.

Generally, it is known that various size dies may be interchangeably connected to the head of an extruder barrel. These dies are utilized to manufacture various types of extruded polymeric parts. When it is desired to make a different part, a clamping mechanism is uncoupled to release the die, a new die is installed and the clamping mechanism is re-engaged. An example of a clamping device for an extruder head is disclosed in Christy et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,632,279 which shows the overall arrangement of two semi-circular, double-pivoted clamps for an extruder die with the clamp section pivotally secured to the die head and wherein a die holder is pivoted to the extruder cylinder.
Other clamping devices, as seen in Meehan U.S. Pat. No. 2,057,043 and Hutchinson U.S. Pat. No. 2,673,102, show two 180.degree. clamp portions with double pivots.
Yet another series of clamping devices, as seen in Abbes et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,406 and Bormioli U.S. Pat. No. 4,354,522, disclose a plurality of flange-clamping links that are double pivoted to intermediate connectors.
Other configurations of clamping devices are shown in LeDevehat U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,182 and Wolters et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,258. The LeDevehat patent shows a three-piece pivoted clamping collar for camming tapered flanges wherein one of the clamp portions is pivotally secured to a frame member. The patent to Wolters discloses pivot pins that are pivoted to a frame member.
Although the above-disclosed devices are suitable for securing a die to an extruder head, it will be appreciated that each has inherent drawbacks. Typically, the disclosed devices may not compensate for poor dimensional stability in the mating parts. As a result, inadequate pressure may be maintained in the extruder head which results in a less than desirable extruded part. In other words, inadequate pressure in the extruder head may even require compensation in other processing variables by adjusting heat zones, the speed of the extruder screw, and the like to ensure an acceptable extruded part.
Still another problem with the disclosed dispensing devices is that if an inadequate seal is created between the die and the extruder barrel polymeric material may leak and interfere with the extrusion process. It will also be appreciated that a leaky connection between a die and an extruder barrel causes a mess and produces excess scrap material.
Therefore, it has become apparent that it is desirable to provide a locking gate for an extruder which applies a uniform or evenly distributed sealing force around the die when it is connected to the extruder barrel. It is also desirable that the locking gate provide a biasing force to one of the clamshells to control its range of motion.


A body side member of an ostomy appliance comprising a nonwoven element comprising a releasable material. Contact of the nonwoven element with liquid allow release of the releasable material from the nonwoven element. The releasable material may act to neutralise enzyme activity or pH of stomal exudate.

Stomal output often contains body fluids and visceral contents that are aggressive to both the skin of a user and to ostomy devices, in particular these have a detrimental effect on the efficiency and integrity of the adhesive materials that are applied to attach the ostomy device to the user's skin surface. Some ostomists may choose or have to wear their device for prolonged periods of time. For users in general and for these ostomists in particular safe, reliable and efficient ostomy devices are highly desirable. Numerous attempts have been made to provide ostomy devices to meet such requirements, e.g. the requirement of prolonged wear time, but the provision of sufficient efficiency to achieve a satisfactory long wear time of ostomy devices continues to be an unmet need.
Ostomists and health care professionals alike would welcome improvements in ostomy devices to better meet such requirements.


An IP telephone system includes an IP telephone apparatus, a Web server and an ENUM server. The IP telephone apparatus is connected to an IP network. The Web server registers talk volume information corresponding to a telephone number assigned to the IP telephone apparatus. The ENUM server registers a NAPTR resource record in which a URI specifies link data related to the talk volume information registered in the Web server. In the IP telephone system, the IP telephone apparatus that has received a call transmits, to the ENUM server, a query for a NAPTR record corresponding to a targeted recipient phone number. The IP telephone apparatus then transmits, to the Web server, a request for the talk volume information corresponding to the targeted recipient phone number according to the returned NAPTR resource record, and adjusts the talk volume according to the returned talk volume information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an IP telephone system, an IP telephone apparatus and a communications method that perform voice communications via an IP network.
2. Description of Related Art
The recent rapid growth of the Internet has drawn attention to an IP telephone system that enables low-cost voice communications with telephone apparatuses at remote places as well as free voice communications between IP telephone apparatuses owned by subscribers. Among such IP telephone systems, there is a proposal for an IP telephone system that allows the transmitting party to specify a screen display or receiving tone on the receiving party's end for the purpose of improving users' convenience (See Prior Art 1).
On the other hand, as an underlying technology, ENUM is emerging as the focus of attention, enabling communications according to users' individual setting by effectively controlling information used for diversified communications tools, including telephones, faxes, cellular phones and electronic emails. ENUM is designed to identify the Internet service with a unique global identification number such as E.164, using the DNS (Domain Name System). Currently, the IETF (Internet Engineering Task force) is seeking to standardize ENUM platforms, where protocol specifications are discussed (See Publication 1).                [Related Art 1] Japanese Laid Open Publication 2003-188992        [Publication 1] Issued by ENUM Trial Japan "ENUM Trial Japan First Report" May, 2004
However, the above-described conventional IP telephone system can only allow the transmitting party to specify a desired operation performed on the receiving party's end, the operation being such as the screen display or the receiving tone when calls are received. The conventional IP telephone system is not capable of specifying operations according to call recipients' individual setting.
In general, IP telephone apparatuses used in homes or within corporations are shared by a plurality of users. Among them can be hearing-impaired elderly people who need a volume adjustment. Those users who need such a volume adjustment need to adjust the volume after voice communications start. When users who do not need the volume adjustment are set to talk next, they need to readjust the volume. In such a phone system, users' convenience can be improved when talk volume can be specified upon receiving a call to meet the need of each call recipient.

IP telephone system, IP telephone apparatus and communications method


A tool for use in a powder metal process is disclosed. The tool includes an upper tool and a lower tool. The upper and lower tools may include multiple members for each tool. The lower tool having a predetermined cross sectional profile that continuously expands outward from or near a center point of the lower tool. The lower tool is also secured within a press for the powder metal process via a fastening mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a powdered metal process, and more particularly relates to an improved tool for use in a powdered metal compaction process having unique geometries and assembly methodologies.
2. Description of Related Art
The powdered metal process is well known in the art. The powdered metal process generally compacts a blend of dry, powdered materials such as but not limited to metal powders, graphite, lubricants, and other materials, etc., into a rigid compact or presintered form. This rigid compact is then sintered at a temperature sufficient to bond together the individual metallic particles to provide a net or near net shaped part. These sintered parts, depending on the desired materials properties and/or part requirements, may have additional manufacturing operations subsequently performed on them in a manufacturing environment. The powdered metal process also includes a plurality of other equipment used to create a sintered powdered metal part. This includes apparatus and methodology for transferring material and products via hoppers and discharge apparatus to the tooling and other machining is necessary to make the sintered powdered metal part. Many of these apparatuses that handle the transferred material are capable of transferring powder, dust, grains, pellets, tablets, capsules, particulate matter and the like to the appropriate location in the sintered powdered metal process.
Many types of tooling are required for the powdered metal process to ensure correct formation of the sintered metal parts. These tooling members must approximate the desired part geometry even those capable of having multi-level shapes and geometries. These tooling members generally include a die, a core rod and top and bottom punches. This tooling is generally the most limiting factor in achieving specific part geometries due to the complexity and/or the ability to provide sufficient strength and rigidity to such tooling to survive the compaction process and the high forces under which such compaction must occur. Many of these prior art part geometries consist of a cross section profile that do not have shapes that extend from center points of the part being made and thus any such continuously expanding path outward from a center area will offer unique challenges to powdered metal tooling and assembly of such tooling. Depending on the type of apparatus being made and the geometry of the rigid compact or form a core rod may or may not be required within the tooling for the powdered metal process. However, it should also be noted that multiple core rods and/or multiple top or bottom punches may also be utilized in the powdered metal process. During a compaction cycle compressive, tensile and rupture forces act differently on the individual tool members. It is well known in the art that each member must have adequate strength and rigidity to withstand these forces or cause shut down of the line and/or manufacture of parts that are not precisely built to specific dimensions. Therefore, tooling must be designed, configured and assembled as a package to achieve the desired compact or formed geometry as well survive the rigors of the compaction process in the powdered metal process.
Compaction is one of the essential elements in the powdered metal process. The compaction process generally includes the following cycle. First there is a filling cycle where a blend of powdered material is placed into a cavity created via a specific tooling member. Next, a compacting step is done where the material particles are compressed together as tightly as possible. Next, is an ejecting step where the compact or form is pushed from the cavity. Many process parameters such as time, force, tooling positions and tool deflections are monitored, controlled and changed during each cycle via the use of a compaction press. The compaction press generally has tooling aligned on a similar axis to create such compacts or forms.
Therefore, many problems have occurred in the prior art powdered metal process with complex geometries that tend to extend from the center or near the center of the compact in outward or other various unique geometries. The creation of a die core rod and top and bottom punches to achieve such unique shapes, while the punches still have the requisite rigidity and strength has not easily been achieved. Many prior art powdered metal processes are just not capable of creating unique specific geometries other than those of basic shapes. Therefore, there is a need in the art for powdered metal tooling that is capable of unique powdered metal geometries that have unique non-traditional design features that have specific design characteristics such that metal parts can be produced via a powdered metal process. The use of such unique tooling in a powdered metal process will reduce the overall cost of the component via lighter components for the manufacturer, quicker manufacturing times and more precise control over exact dimensional requirements for a powdered metal part.

Method for assembling a two-piece punch into a tool


A shock absorbing grip for a golf club having a strip formed of a polyurethane layer bonded to a felt layer and a pliable lead tape secured to the felt layer. The strip is spirally wrapped about a golf club handle to form a grip. The weight of the lead tape is so selected as to counterweight the golf club to provide the same swing weight as a conventional grip.

The present relates to an improved grip for golf clubs and other sporting equipment employing handles subject to shock when such devices are impacted, as for example, tennis racquets, racquetball racquets, and baseball bats.
It is well known that shock generated by impact as between a golf club and a golf ball or a tennis racquet and a tennis ball can adversely affect muscle tissue and afrm joints, such as elbow joints. The energy generated by such impact is usually of high frequency and short duration with rapid decay, and which is often known as "impact shock". Tight grasping of a golf club grip or tennis racquet grip to keep it from slipping a user's hands contributes to such impact shock.
Applicant has previously developed light-weight resilient grips which successfully reduce or even eliminate impact shock to the muscle and arm joints of the users of golf clubs and the like. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,059 granted to applicant Dec. 20, 1994, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,482 granted to applicant Dec. 17, 1996. Such earlier grips utilize a polyurethane layer bonded to a felt layer to define a strip which is spirally wrapped around the handle of a golf club, tennis racquet or other impact imparting devices to conform generally to the external configuration of such handle. In earlier grips of applicant's design, the thickness of the polyurethane layer relative to the thickness of the felt layer as compared to prior art resilient grips was a minimum of approximately 0.18, with the thickness of the polyurethane layer having been about equal to or thicker than the thickness of the textile layer in a typical grip of my design. Also, in some of such earlier grips, the side edges of the polyurethane-felt strip tended to unravel in use, and where the strip was not properly applied to a golf club handle, the grip would tend to loosen relative to the handle, particularly, when a golf club was withdrawn from a golf club bag. To overcome these disadvantages, my later grip designs utilized heat compressed radially inwardly extending reinforcement side edges formed in the polyurethane layer along the length of the strip. The recessed side edges also enhance the frictional grip of a user's hands on the golf club or tennis racquet. Although applicant's prior grips provide satisfactory results, under humid or rainy conditions water tended to infiltrate the felt layer causing moisture to build up on the grip which could result in a user's hands slipping relative to the grips with a result in diminished control of the golf club or tennis racquet. Similarly, perspiration moisture could also infiltrate the felt layer. Applicant solved such problems with his grips such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,669 and disclosed in applicant's application Ser. No. 08//822,226 filed Mar. 21, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,813.
Applicant's aforedescribed golf club grips are lighter in weight than conventional grips. Accordingly, more weight is distributed to the golf club head thereby increasing club head speed without increasing the weight of the golf club. Such weight savings moves the center of gravity of the golf club closer to the club head, increases the club's moment of inertia, and reduces the overall weight of the club and thereby permits a higher club head speed to obtain greater golf ball travel. Less shaft twist is also achieved.
While the advantages of the light-weight characteristics of Applicant's prior grips are greatly appreciated by the majority of golfers, some golfers, and particularly golf professionals, prefer grips having conventional overall weight characteristics so as not to disturb the golf club swing mechanics to which they have become accustomed.


A method, system, apparatus and device for the monitoring, diagnosis and evaluation of the state of a dynamic pulmonary system is disclosed. This method and system provides the processing means for receiving sensed and/or simulated data, converting such data into a displayable object format and displaying such objects in a manner such that the interrelationships between the respective variables can be correlated and identified by a user. This invention provides for the rapid cognitive grasp of the overall state of a pulmonary critical function with respect to a dynamic system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the visualization, perception, representation and computation of data relating to the attributes or conditions constituting the health state of a dynamic system. More specifically, this invention relates to the display and computation of pulmonary and cardiovascular data, in which variables constituting attributes and conditions of a dynamic physiological system can be interrelated and visually correlated in time as three-dimensional objects.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of methods and systems for the visualization of data have been proposed. Traditionally, these methods and systems fail to present in a real-time multi-dimensional format that is directed to facilitating a user's analysis of multiple variables and the relationships between such multiple variables. Moreover, such prior methods and systems tend not to be specifically directed to display of a patient's cardiovascular and pulmonary system by showing such variables as blood pressure, blood flow, vascular tone and the like. Prior methods typically do not process and display data in real-time, rather they use databases or spatial organizations of historical data. Generally, they also simply plot existing information in two or three dimensions, but without using three-dimensional geometric objects to show the interrelations between data. Often previous systems and methods are limited to pie charts, lines or bars to represent the data. Also, many previous systems are limited to particular applications or types of data. The flexibility and adaptability of the user interface and control is typically very limited, and may not provide flexible coordinate systems and historical-trend monitors. Other systems, which have a flexible user interface, generally require substantial user expertise in order to collect and evaluate the data, including the pre-identification of data ranges and resolution. Another common limitation of previous systems and methods is that they provide only a single or predetermined viewpoint from which to observe the data. Typically, prior systems and methods do not provide data normalcy frameworks to aid in the interpretation of the data. Furthermore, most prior methods use "icons," shapes, lines, bars, or graphs.
The state-of-the-art for pulmonary monitored data in both traditional intensive care units and anesthesiology units is the wave form and numeric display monitors. These monitors represent information in discrete variables associated with each sensor using the display paradigm of a "single-sensor-single-indicator-display." As a result, current monitors lack integrated data. The anesthesiologist is left to collect and process all of the different data herself in a timely manner.
The anesthesiologist is faced with a fire-hose of information during every case. Numerical data, waveforms, control dials, ventilator breaths, heart rate beeps, and alarm sounds bombard the anesthesiologist from all directions. During an uneventful case, the anesthesiologist successfully monitors all the available data at a low cognitive level. However, should an unexpected event happen, the anesthesiologist must quickly ascertain if a problem exists, the causality, and the needed corrective action. Should the anesthesiologist fail at any of these tasks, an error will occur. Human error is associated with more than 80% of critical anesthesia incidents and more than 50% of anesthetic deaths.
Studies have shown that integrated information represented in a graphical metaphor does reduce detection time and time to accurately diagnose a problem in anesthesia. However, the graphical metaphors studied to date tend to be complex and lack usability testing to drive designs. As a result, the graphical interface may inadvertently increase the cognitive workload of the anesthesiologists.
For general background material, the reader is directed to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,908,640, 4,193,393, 4,464,122, 4,519,395, 4,619,269, 4,752,893, 4,772,882, 4,813,013, 4,814,755, 4,823,283, 4,832,038, 4,875,165, 4,880,013, 4,915,757, 4,930,518, 4,989,611, 5,012,411, 5,021,976, 5,103,828, 5,121,469, 5,162,991, 5,222,020, 5,224,481, 5,262,944, 5,317,321, 5,425,372, 5,491,779, 5,568,811, 5,588,104, 5,592,195, 5,596,694, 5,626,141, 5,634,461, 5,751,931, 5,768,552, 5,774,878, 5,796,398, 5,812,134, 5,830,150, 5,836,884, 5,913,826, 5,923,330, 5,961,467, 6,042,548, and 6,090,047 each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for the material disclosed therein.
As this disclosure employs a number of terms, which may be new to the reader, the reader is directed to the applicants' definitions section, which is provided at the beginning of the detailed description section.

Method and apparatus for monitoring dynamic cardiovascular function using n-dimensional representatives of critical functions


An outlet valve includes a valve body, a solenoid valve, and a manual operating member. The valve body includes a water inlet, a water outlet, a water storage cavity, a drain waterway, a first waterway, a second waterway, and a waterproof membrane. The first waterway is coupled to the drain waterway through a first drain opening. The second waterway is coupled to the drain waterway through a second drain opening. The waterproof membrane is configured to separate the water outlet cavity from the water storage cavity. The first waterway comprises a first plug coupled to an output end of the solenoid valve. The first plug is configured to control the opening and closing of the first drain opening. The second waterway comprises a second plug coupled to the manual operating member. The second plug is configured to control the opening and closing of the second drain opening.

Water valves in the prior art are generally controlled by solenoid valves. When the solenoid valves fail, the water valves cannot be used any longer.
In the prior art, to solve the above problem, a double waterway switching mode is used for control. Specifically, a solenoid valve controls water in one waterway and a mechanical valve controls water in the other waterway. When the solenoid valve fails, the water in the other waterway is opened by the mechanical valve, and the water in the waterway where the solenoid valve locates is closed. According to the above arrangement, two waterways need to be arranged between a water inlet end and a water outlet end of a valve body, and a special switching valve core needs to be arranged between the two waterways, so that a structure is complex.


An optical disk recording and reproducing apparatus in which during coarse access, an adjustable target speed is obtained using a speed offset value stored in a speed offset memory. The speed offset value being determined between a plurality of reference velocities and a plurality of adjustable offset velocity values. The system also performs fine access within a defined distance from the optical head to the designated track upon completion of the coarse access mode. The speed offset values are continually updated by to improve the accuracy of the coarse access operation saving overall access time.

There have been widely known optical disk recording and reproducing apparatus for recording data on an optical disk and reproducing the data therefrom, using a semiconductor laser or similar devices. In such an optical recording and reproducing apparatus, the track access operation for moving the optical head to a designated track on an optical disk, consists of two sequential operations, i.e., coarse access and fine access.
More specifically, when the optical head is extremely far from a designated track position, (i) an access distance in a radial direction of an optical disk is first obtained from the distance between the present position of the optical head as detected by a position-detection sensor and the position of the designated track. Then, (ii) the optical head is moved to the designated track by a driving means such as a linear motor while the moving speed of the optical head is controlled in accordance with a predetermined speed table so that the movement of the optical head is approximately equalized to the access distance.
Thereafter, (iii) a light beam emitted from the optical head is adjusted to follow up the track by a tracking servo comprised of an objective lens actuating device, and a tracking pull-in operation (i.e. an operation for moving an optical head in close proximity to a designated track position) is completed, (iv) only an objective lens installed in the optical head is actuated so as to jump from one track to another while track numbers are being read out and (v) the optical head is thus moved to the designated track position. In this procedure, the first series of operations (i.e. the steps (i) to (ii)) is called "coarse access" and the second series of operations (i.e. the steps (iii) to (v)) is called "fine access".
In a conventional method for performing the coarse access, an optical head is actuated to access a designated track by a linear motor and its control circuit using a speed table 60 according to which the actual moving speed of the optical head is reduced at a constant acceleration as shown in FIG. 14(a). If the actual moving speed of the optical head changes in compliance with the speed table 60 faithfully, the actual moving speed perfectly coincides with the speed table 60.
There is, however, a likelihood of speed deviation (a difference between the actual speed of the optical head and the speed table) that is proportional to the acceleration in reducing the speed (negative acceleration), when employing such a speed table 60 in a general speed control system. However, the desired deceleration cannot be obtained so that the time required for stopping the optical head is prolonged and errors often occur in measuring the moving distance of the optical head. As a result, a precise tracking pull-in operation fails prolonging the time required for the tracking pull-in operation. Further, since an abrupt change often occurs in acceleration when the optical head stops, the optical head is not fixed in a steady position and the tracking servo actuated by the objective lens actuating device also becomes unstable. Although the speed deviation can be reduced by extremely increasing the loop gain of the speed control system, this is virtually impossible since the control system becomes unstable due to mechanical resonance or other problems.
To solve the above problems, the following approach has been provided: A designated track position is accessed by an optical head using a speed table 61 using acceleration to reduce the actual speed of the optical head as the optical head approaches the designated track position, as shown in FIG. 14(b). With this arrangement, it is possible to reduce the access distance without extremely increasing the loop gain of the speed control system, by means of reducing the speed deviation at the time of a tracking pull-in operation, so that the tracking pull-in operation is stabilized. An abrupt change in acceleration at the time the optical head is suspended is also prevented and, therefore, the tracking servo control can be performed in a stable condition.
In the foregoing access method, it is impossible to read out track numbers during a coarse access operation and, therefore, the following steps are taken:
(i) a present position of the optical head is detected by a position detection sensor; PA1 (ii) the number of tracks existing in a distance from the above position to a designated track position is obtained; PA1 (iii) the number of tracks thus obtained is converted to an access distance and an access operation is executed based on the access distance. However, the disadvantage remains in that the accuracy of the coarse access is often deteriorates due to variations in the accuracy of the position detection sensor and the expansion/shrinkage of the optical disk that may be caused by a change in ambient temperature. As a result, it takes more time to perform the coarse access, and the time required for performing the overall access operation is accordingly prolonged.
Further, when using the speed table 61, the access operation is performed at a lower speed as the optical head approaches the designated track so that more seek time becomes necessary. The access speed is considerably slower when the optical head is somewhere short of the designated track, so that the optical head is often halted prior to commencing a tracking pull-in operation because of friction and the like. Since the transition from coarse access to fine access is executed after the optical head reaches a predetermined allowable region proximate to the designated track, if the optical head stops before reaching the above region like in the foregoing case, the operation will proceeded to fine access.

Optical disk recording and reproducing apparatus


A method of producing a display device includes the steps of forming gate electrodes on a substrate so that an arrangement of a source and a drain, in a pixel row direction, of a thin-film transistor formed in each of pixels on the substrate is reversed every pixel row; forming a gate insulating film and an amorphous semiconductor thin film on the substrate in that order so as to cover the gate electrodes; crystallizing the semiconductor thin film by irradiating the semiconductor thin film with an energy beam so that a scanning direction of the energy beam is the same with respect to the arrangement of the source and the drain in the pixel row direction; and forming a light-emitting element connected to the thin-film transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of producing a display device, a display device, a method of producing a thin-film transistor substrate, and a thin-film transistor substrate. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of producing an active matrix-driving display device including organic electroluminescent elements, the structure thereof, a method of producing a thin-film transistor substrate that is suitably used in the display device, and a thin-film transistor substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an active matrix-driving display device in which organic electroluminescent elements and pixel circuits connected thereto are arranged on a substrate, the luminance of each of the organic electroluminescent elements is determined by the amount of current of a thin-film transistor (TFT) constituting the pixel circuit. Therefore, in order to obtain a display device in which uneven luminance is suppressed and which has satisfactory display properties, it is important that variation in properties of the thin-film transistor be suppressed.
In the case where a channel region of a thin-film transistor is formed of polycrystalline silicon, the size of crystal grains present in the channel region is nonuniform, and thus transistor characteristics readily vary. Consequently, as a method of microcrystallizing a semiconductor thin film constituting the channel region to the extent that the size of the crystal grains is not nonuniform, crystallization annealing, in which an amorphous thin film is microcrystallized using a solid-state laser, has been performed.
FIG. 23 shows an arrangement on a thin-film transistor substrate for illustrating a step of the above-mentioned crystallization annealing. FIG. 24 shows the arrangement of two display pixels in the thin-film transistor substrate. As shown in these figures, in a process of producing a medium or small size display panel, for example, two display panels 2 are arranged on a single glass substrate 1. In this case, a short side of each of the display panels 2 is arranged so as to be parallel to a long side of the glass substrate 1. In each of the display panels 2, a display area 2a having a shape that is substantially similar to the shape of the display panel 2 is defined. In each of the display areas 2a, sub-pixels a each having a rectangular shape in plan view are arranged. The sub-pixels a are arranged such that a long side of each of the sub-pixels a is parallel to a short-side direction y of the display area 2a. Furthermore, these sub-pixels a constitute substantially square display pixels A each composed of a set of three sub-pixels a of red (R), green (G), and blue (B), the three sub-pixels a being arranged in a direction of a short side of each of the sub-pixels a.
In the display area 2a in each of the display panels 2, scanning lines 11 and power lines 12 are arranged in a long-side direction x of the display area 2a, and signal lines 13 are arranged so as to be perpendicular to the scanning lines 11 and the power lines 12. The sub-pixels a are arranged so as to correspond to intersecting portions of these lines. In each of the sub-pixels a, thin-film transistors Tr1′ and Tr2′ each including a gate electrode 14 extending parallel to the signal lines 13, and a capacitive element Cs are arranged. In this case, by reversely disposing an arrangement of adjacent sub-pixels a, a part of the power line 12 can be shared, and thus a distance between wirings in a display pixel can be increased. As a result, short-circuit caused by, for example, a mixing of dust in a production process and generation of defects of the display pixel can be suppressed to improve the yield. In particular, a pixel circuit for diving an organic electroluminescent element includes a large number of elements, and thus it is important to increase the distance between wirings.
In order to make the above-described thin-film transistor substrate, the step of crystallization annealing is performed as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 25, gate electrodes 14 composed of a first metal pattern 21 are formed in each of display areas 2a on a glass substrate 1, and other wiring portions composed of the first metal pattern 21, such as parts of signal lines 13 and lower electrodes of capacitive elements Cs, are also formed at the same time. Next, a gate insulating film 31 and an amorphous semiconductor thin film 32 are formed in that order so as to cover the first metal pattern 21. Furthermore, a buffer layer and a photothermal conversion layer (not shown) are optionally formed thereon. Next, the semiconductor thin film 32 is irradiated with a laser beam through these layers while scanning the laser beam. Thereby, a semiconductor thin film 32 portion corresponding to a portion irradiated with the laser beam is microcrystallized to form a semiconductor thin film 32A.
In this case, a scanning direction v (−v) of the laser beam is parallel to the long-side direction x of the display area 2a. That is, as shown in FIG. 23, the scanning direction v (−v) of the laser beam is parallel to a short side of the substrate 1. Accordingly, variation in energy of a laser beam Lh due to a long scanning distance of the laser beam can be prevented, thereby forming more uniform crystals. In this case, in the example shown in FIG. 24, a channel length direction of each of the thin-film transistors Tr1′ and Tr2′ corresponds to the scanning direction v (−v) of the laser beam.
After the above-described step of crystallization annealing, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 26A and the cross-sectional view of FIG. 26B, the semiconductor thin film 32A, which has been microcrystallized, is patterned so as to have a shape covering the gate electrode 14. Furthermore, an etching stopper layer 33 is formed so as to overlap with the gate electrode 14. Note that FIG. 26B is a cross-sectional view taken along line XXVIB-XXVIB in FIG. 26A. Next, a source/drain 34sd (shown in only the cross-sectional view) composed of an n-type semiconductor thin film is formed so that the source/drain 34sd overlaps with the semiconductor thin film 32A and is separately disposed on the etching stopper layer 33. Subsequently, a source electrode/drain electrode 22sd composed of a second metal pattern 22 is further formed, thus obtaining the thin-film transistors Tr1′ and Tr2′. Other wiring portions composed of the second metal pattern 22, for example, the scanning lines 11, the power lines 12, and upper electrodes of the capacitive elements Cs, all of which are shown in FIG. 24, are also formed together with the source electrode/drain electrode 22sd.
In the above-mentioned crystallization annealing using a solid-state laser, a thermal diffusion length when a heat quantity necessary for crystallizing a semiconductor thin film is supplied is longer than that in the case of crystallization annealing using an excimer laser. Accordingly, an effect of heat conduction by the gate electrode 14, which is provided under the semiconductor thin film 32, is significant, and thus crystallinity of the semiconductor thin film 32 is affected.
Consequently, the following structure has been proposed. As shown in FIG. 26, the gate electrode 14 of the thin-film transistors Tr1′ and Tr2′ is provided so as to extend in the channel length direction (i.e., the dimension of the gate electrode 14 is increased in a width direction), and the extending portions ΔLs and ΔLd are used as heat transfer components. According to this structure, in the step of crystallization annealing described above, the effect of heat conduction by the gate electrode 14 is made to be uniform in a channel region overlapping with the gate electrode 14. Consequently, uniform crystallinity of the channel region can be realized (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-35964).

Method of producing display device, display device, method of producing thin-film transistor substrate, and thin-film transistor substrate


An aviation antenna assembly may include a base portion for operably coupling the antenna assembly to an aircraft body, a support platform, and a plurality of antenna elements including a first antenna element, a second antenna element, a third antenna element, and a fourth antenna element. The support platform may be operably coupled to the base portion to support each of the first, second, third and fourth antenna elements uniformly distributed about a central axis. The support platform may support the first antenna element opposite the third antenna element relative to the central axis, and support the second antenna element opposite the fourth antenna element relative to the central axis. A line intersecting a center of the first and third antenna elements may form a 45° angle relative to a line of symmetry passing through the antenna assembly.

Modern aircraft rely on various radio links with end points being air-to-ground, air-to-air, or air-to-satellite. Some such links are satellite communication links including low earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication systems. LEO satellite constellations give the advantage of full global coverage with no dead spots in satellite visibility probability density function. However, one of the main attributes of LEO systems is that both of the end points (i.e., the satellite and the aircraft) are moving, and not stationary. If the maximum link quality is required, the satellite and aircraft antenna beam patterns have to be directed toward each other. In the case of non-stationary end points, this will require dynamically adjustable antenna beam patterns.


Substrate isolation trench (224) are formed in a semiconductor substrate (120). Dopant (e.g. boron) is implanted into the trench sidewalls by ion implantation to suppress the current leakage along the sidewalls. During the ion implantation, the transistor gate dielectric (520) faces the ion stream, but damage to the gate dielectric is annealed in subsequent thermal steps. In some embodiments, the dopant implantation is an angled implant. The implant is performed from the opposite sides of the wafer, and thus from the opposite sides of each active area. Each active area includes a region implanted from one side and a region implanted from the opposite side. The two regions overlap to facilitate threshold voltage adjustment.

The present invention relates to integrated circuits, and more particularly to substrate isolation in the integrated circuits.
Substrate isolation regions provide isolation between active device areas of a semiconductor substrate. FIGS. 1-4 illustrate a shallow trench isolation process (STI) described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,276 issued Sep. 28, 1999 to Liaw et al., incorporated herein by reference. A pad oxide layer 102 and a silicon nitride barrier layer 106 are deposited over substrate 120 (FIG. 1). Trenches 224 (FIG. 2) are etched in substrate 120 to define active areas 230 (i.e. 230.1, 230.2, 230.3). An oxide liner 234.1 is thermally grown on the surface of trenches 224. The liner formation helps passivate the trench sidewalls, as explained in Wolf, "Silicon Processing for the VLSI Era", volume 3 ("Submicron Transistor"), 1995, page 368.
Then boron is implanted at an energy between about 15 and 45 KeV, a dose between about 3E12 and 5E13 ions/cm2, and an angle α of 15° to 45° to the substrate surface. The boron implant helps mitigate the inverse narrow width effect. This effect is due to a current leakage path along the trench sidewalls. The current leakage is especially noticeable at small channel widths, causing the threshold voltage to decrease as the channel width decreases. The boron implant creates doped regions 242 at the sidewall and bottom surfaces of trenches 224.
FIG. 3 illustrates subsequent processing. Dielectric 234.2 has been formed in trenches 224, and the layers 102, 106 have been removed. Due to the boron diffusion, the doped regions 242 have spread into the active areas 230.
Then a gate line 410 (FIG. 4, top view) is formed to provide the transistor gates. The boron implant (FIG. 2) reduces the current leakage along the channel areas 420.
FIGS. 5-8 illustrate another substrate isolation process, described in K. Shibahara et al., "TRENCH ISOLATION WITH ∇(NABLA)-SHAPED BURIED OXIDE FOR 256-BIT DRAMS", IEDM 1992, pages 275-278, incorporated herein by reference. This process creates both LOCOS and STI isolation regions in the same substrate. LOCOS is used for wider isolation regions, and STI for narrower regions. LOCOS regions 510 are formed first. Then gate oxide 520, gate polysilicon 410, and cap oxide 530 are formed. Tapered trenches 224 (FIG. 6) are dry-etched with oxide 530 as a mask. Boron is vertically implanted into the trenches for suppression of sidewall inversion. Doped regions 242 are formed as a result. Reference numerals 230.1, 230.2, 230.3 denote the active areas.
The trenches are filled with silicon dioxide 234 (FIG. 7), and the structure is planarized. WSi layer 810 (FIG. 8) is sputtered on the structure. Layers 810, 410 are etched to form polyside gate electrodes.
Alternative substrate isolation techniques are desirable.

Substrate isolation in integrated circuits


An NR coefficient (Kf) is calculated on the basis of a representative value (Pm) of a pixel of interest and a low-pass filtered value (La-Ld) nearest to the representative value (Pm) of the pixel of interest among a plurality of low-pass filtered values filtered one-dimensionally in different directions in an input image, and the pixel value of the pixel of interest and a value output by a two-dimensional low-pass filter (25) are weighted by the NR coefficient (Kf) and added (36). The representative value of the pixel of interest may be, for example, a median value obtained by filtering the current frame and a past frame in the time axis direction. The image processing device reduces noise without lowering resolution.

Noise contaminates image data in the image input systems or image transmission systems of image input devices such as digital cameras or the like having CCD or other imaging elements, or image output devices such as displays that display images input from these types of image input devices. This type of noise is generally reduced by image processing in the device. Conventional methods of reducing noise contamination in such image input devices or image output devices will now be described.
The simplest and most general way to reduce noise is a technique known as low-pass filtering, in which a processing window consisting of a plurality of pixels centered on the pixel to be processed (referred to below as the pixel of interest) is defined, and a weighted sum of the pixel values of the pixel of interest and neighboring pixels in the processing window is taken. When this method is used, however, there is the problem that the low-pass filtering process also affects meaningful edges in the image that are not noise, lowering the resolution of the image.
Another proposed technique is to apply a Prewitt filter or a Sobel filter to the processing window to detect edges, and reduce the strength of the low-pass filter when the pixel of interest is found to be part of a meaningful edge in the image, or to apply the filter in the direction of an edge present nearby, thereby reducing noise with less loss of resolution (see, for example, Patent Reference 1).

Image processing device and method, and image processing program


A centrifugal gas compressor fed with a gas and a processing liquid comprises a rotor rotated by a prime mover. The rotor defines an internal axial cavity with a cylindrical surface, an annular peripheral collection cavity, and a tapered radial channel fluidly connecting the internal axial cavity and the annular peripheral collection cavity. With each rotation of the rotor, a portion of the processing fluid is swept into the inlet of the tapered radial channel and travels radially as a fluid piston under centrifugal force pushing and compressing a column of gas entrained in front of said fluid piston, and is expelled into the annular peripheral collection cavity where it undergoes centrifugal separation, leaving the compressed gas to be drawn off through the compressed gas outlet for downstream use. A method for compressing a gas is also provided.

Gas compressors are devices used extensively in industrial and consumer settings. The efficiency of current commercial gas compressors is relatively poor, mainly because the temperature of a gas increases significantly upon undergoing rapid compression. Rapid compression makes it nearly impossible to dissipate the heat of compression during the short time the gas spends inside the compressor. This heating of the gas during the compression process is undesirable: users generally require compressed gasses at ambient temperature. Despite this, most currently known compressors operate with adiabatic or semi-adiabatic compression cycles, simply because there is no easy way to completely and rapidly remove the compression heat at the compressor stage. Simply cooling the walls and the other metallic components of a conventional compressor is by far insufficient to remove such unwanted heat from the compressed gas output.
If isothermal compression could be achieved for a set pressure, the amount of compressed gas that can be generated for the same amount of mechanical work by the compressor could be almost doubled. There is an unmet need in the market today for an efficient compressor able to effect "isothermal compression", namely pressurizing the gas while removing all (or most of the) heat of compression. There is also a need for such compressors be simple, robust and relatively easy to service and operate.
Early centrifugal air compressor systems are known. U.S. Pat. No. 1,144,865 (Rees) discloses a rotary pump, condenser and compressor which used large cavities having highly curved walls and the cavities were not radial with respect to the rotating container. The compressor did not prevent the lateral travel of air bubbles in the outbound collection cavity. Air bubbles could be carried by their own buoyancy back toward the centre of the spinning compressor, decreasing efficiency and potentially stalling the compressor. The lateral motion of air bubbles would be analogous to leaking or improperly set piston rings in a conventional air compressor.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,618,013 (Cherry) teaches a centrifugal gas compressor having a rotatable container having a multiplicity of capillary tubes which lead radially to radially outboard ends terminating an a substantially annular container space. An emulsion of gas and liquid is fed into radially inboard ends of the capillary tubes. The rotation of the container causes formation of gas bubbles in the capillary tubes and compresses the gas bubbles in the tubes toward their radially outboard ends. The compressed gas bubbles are collection in a liquid/gas mix in the annular container space and the compressed gas is then drawn off. Capillary tubes are used to engineer bubble size (control diameter and prevent agglomeration of bubbles) and to prevent gas bubbles from finding a pathway around the radially inboard liquid. Each capillary is a micro-channel and has a small substantially uniform cross-section which causes formation of gas bubbles near radially inboard portions of the capillaries. The capillary dimensions are determined by the inner tube diameter to allow the air bubble to seal the tube and to prevent any liquid finding its way around the bubble (0.5 to 3.0 mm). However, the use of capillary tubes necessarily results in capillary forces effecting the flow of liquid and entrained air bubbles inside the micro-channels and ultimately requiring a higher energy input to overcome capillary forces. Moreover, the manufacturing cost of this centrifugal gas compressor would, be high having regard to the intricacy of assembling a multiplicity of capillary tubes, each of uniform cross section, into the rotatable container.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a centrifugal gas compressor which does not use micro-channels to engineer and control bubble size, thus eliminating the effect of capillary forces.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a centrifugal gas compressor which does not require the use of circular channels of uniform cross-section to carry the liquid and entrained air bubbles.
It is a further object to provide a centrifugal gas compressor which is simpler and more cost effective to manufacture, yet which will operate in a highly energy efficient manner.


A test device for testing a microphone has at least one test loudspeaker for generating at least one test tone into at least one test cavity. The test device has a compartment for accommodating the microphone to be tested in acoustic communication with the test cavity. The test device has at least one reference microphone for ascertaining a reference signal of the test tone emitted from the test loudspeaker. The test device has a reference cavity separated from the test cavity and acoustically coupled with the reference microphone and the test cavity. The test loudspeaker is arranged between the reference microphone and the test loudspeaker.

A test system for a microphone is made known in WO 2016/111983 A1, which corresponds to US Patent Application Publication Nos. 2016-0198276 and 2017-0048636, which are hereby incorporated herein in their entireties by this reference for all purposes. The test device includes a test loudspeaker, which can emit a test tone into a test chamber. The microphone to be tested and a reference microphone are arranged in the test chamber.


A method of locating a rail vehicle on a rail track includes the following steps:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of locating a vehicle on a track, and especially a rail vehicle on a rail track, enabling great accuracy to be obtained as to the position of the vehicle from an approximate measurement of the speed of the vehicle and a single inertial magnitude measured on board the vehicle.
The invention also relates to a location system implementing the method and which can be used in particular to control controlled systems intended to improve the comfort of passengers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The simplest technique routinely employed for locating a rail vehicle on a rail track is to measure the distance traveled on the track from a starting point by integrating the speed of the vehicle. However, the speed of the vehicle is usually measured by measuring the rotation speed of the axles. The diameter of the wheels decreases as they wear down and the wheels skid when there is a high drive torque and low adhesion. Thus integrating the speed can lead to high errors between the measured position and the actual position of the vehicle after a few tens of kilometers.
Another prior art technique for locating a vehicle consists of equipping the rail tracks with beacons for precisely locating the rail vehicle on the track on which it is traveling. However, this technique has the disadvantage of making it necessary to install beacons along all the rail tracks of a rail network and its cost is therefore prohibitive. The technique consisting of locating a vehicle by means of the GPS system has the disadvantage of not enabling the vehicle to be located in shadow areas such as tunnels.
French patent application FR-99 07 435 filed by the applicant remedies the above disadvantages by locating a rail vehicle on a rail track by correlating a track profile calculated from the output of a plurality of inertial sensors disposed on board the vehicle with a map of the rail track stored during a previous journey. However, this kind of location technique requires the presence of a plurality of inertial sensors, which has the disadvantage that the sensors increase the cost of the rail vehicle. What is more, this kind of location method does not necessarily guarantee continuous location because it is based on searching a database for a correlation between measured values and a stored track profile.
The object of the invention is to alleviate the above disadvantages by proposing a method that allows accurate location of a vehicle on a track, by continuous convergence, without requiring additional trackside equipment, and using only one inertial sensor, so that it is simple and economical to implement.
The invention therefore provides a method of locating a rail vehicle on a rail track which includes the following steps:
measuring the speed of the vehicle at different times using means providing an approximate value of the actual speed of the vehicle;
measuring an inertial magnitude at different times using a single inertial sensor disposed on board the vehicle, the inertial magnitude being chosen to depend only on the speed of the vehicle and a geometrical characteristic specific to the track, such as the cant or the radius of curvature;
calculating the abscissa of the vehicle on the track by means of a convergent algorithm based on a non-linear observer, from known values of the measured approximate speed of the vehicle at different times preceding the time at which the vehicle is to be located, the measurements of the inertial magnitude and a database in which the geometrical characteristics specific to the track and its spatial derivative are stored for different curvilinear abscissae, the database being obtained by a learning process conducted beforehand.
According to another feature of the invention:
the speed Vm of the vehicle is measured at constant time intervals DTo, the measurements of the speed Vm(ti) being effected at times ti, ixcex5[1,N] of an observation time window To preceding the measurement time tN at which the vehicle is to be located and being stored in a memory;
the measurements of the inertial magnitude y(ti) effected on board the vehicle for the different times ti are stored in a memory;
an estimated curvilinear abscissa {tilde over (S)}N of the vehicle at the time tN is calculated by successive iteration, each new measurement time tN generating a new calculation iteration for which the observation window To is shifted by an amount DTo so that the starting point i=0 of the new observation window To coincides with the abscissa of the measurement point i=1 of the observation window To of the preceding iteration, the estimated curvilinear abscissa {tilde over (S)}N being calculated using the equation:                     s        ~            N        =                            s          ^                0            +                        ∑                      i            =            1                                i            =            N                                            xe2x80x83                                                            V              ~                        i                    *                      DT            o                                ,      xe2x80x83                with                    xe2x80x83                                    V          ~                i              =                  (                  1          +                      e                                      (                                                s                  ^                                0                            )                                      )            *              Vm                          (                      t            i                    )
in which {tilde over (V)}i is the corrected speed of the vehicle at each time ti of the observation window To, e(ŝo) is the relative speed error and so is the corrected curvilinear abscissa of the starting point of the observation window To, e(ŝo) and so being obtained in the preceding iteration by a convergent algorithm based on a non-linear observer from measurements of the speed Vm(ti), the single inertial magnitude y(ti) at each time ti and the geometrical characteristic RO({tilde over (S)}i) and its spatial derivative DRO({tilde over (S)}i) at the level of the curvilinear abscissa {tilde over (S)}i estimated using the equation             s      ~        i    =                    s        ^            0        +                  ∑                  n          =          1                i                          xe2x80x83                                                V            ~                    n                *                              DT            o                    .
The method according to the invention can further include one or more of the following features, individually or in any technically feasible combination
the database contains triplets (Sj, ROj, DROj) obtained by measuring the inertial magnitude y(Sj) at different abscissae sj during a previous journey of a vehicle along the track under operating conditions guaranteeing a precise knowledge of the data of the triplets;
for any estimated abscissa {tilde over (S)}i of the track the values of the geometrical characteristic RO({tilde over (S)}i) and the spatial derivative DRO({tilde over (S)}i) are calculated by interpolation between two triplets (Sj, ROj, DROj) stored in the database;
the inertial sensor is a yaw rate gyro;
the inertial sensor is a roll rate gyro;
the vehicle is a rail vehicle travelling along a rail track;
the method of locating a vehicle on a track is used to control controlled systems of a rail vehicle which have to be controlled in phase with the geometry of the track, such as a tilt system or an active transverse suspension system, recorded passenger announcements or a speed profile imposed on the vehicle.
The invention also provides a system for locating a vehicle on a track employing the above method and which includes:
measuring means providing the approximate speed of the vehicle;
a single inertial sensor;
a database in which a geometrical characteristic specific to the track and its spatial derivative for different curvilinear abscissae of the track are stored; and
a computer receiving the information from the speed measuring means and from the sensor, the computer being connected to the database to calculate the abscissa of the vehicle on the track.
Other features and advantages will emerge from the following description of one embodiment of a location method according to the invention, which description is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Method and a system for locating a vehicle on a track

Abstract: measuring an inertial magnitude at different times using a single inertial sensor disposed on board the vehicle, the inertial magnitude being chosen to depend only on the speed of the vehicle and a geometrical characteristic specific to the track;

Abstract: calculating the abscissa of the vehicle on the track by means of a convergent algorithm based on a non-linear observer, from the known values of the measured approximate speed of the vehicle at different times preceding the time at which the vehicle is to be located, the measurements of the inertial magnitude and a database in which the geometrical characteristics specific to the track and its spatial derivative are stored for different curvilinear abscissae, the database being obtained by a learning process conducted beforehand.


Achromatic intraocular curved lenses have high order binary optic multiple level patterns for binary diffraction of light for correcting for chromatic aberration, making thin, lightweight, intraocular lenses that may be readily positioned in an eye, and that may bend and redirect light ray wavefronts to a retina for forming perceptible images with correct shapes and colors.

Intraocular lenses of the type described herein are used primarily to treat problems of vision in a human eye.
A normal eye has two lenses with four refracting surfaces. Both lenses are convergent lenses which tend to focus light rays inward toward an axis of the eye. Greatest refraction takes place at the air-cornea interface, and lesser refraction occurs at the cornea-aqueous humour interface. Refraction again occurs at the aqueous humour-crystalline lens interface and again at the crystalline lens-vitreous humour interface. The aqueous humour and vitreous humour have approximately the same refractive index which is slightly below the refractive indices of the cornea and crystalline lens. The crystalline lens is composed of the capsule, the cortex and the nucleus, all of these surfaces having different indices of refraction allowing for color correction for chromatic aberrations due to refractions of incoming wavelengths of light.
When a crystalline lens is removed because of occlusion, for example with cataracts, its function may be replaced by a relatively thick converging lens worn outside of the eye. Preferably, in removing the crystalline lens the capsule is held intact to maintain separation between the vitreous humour and the aqueous humour.
In recent times, an intraocular lens is surgically positioned in the posterior chamber of the eye behind the iris and in front of the capsule. The intraocular lens, called a pseudophakos, is held in place with a haptic or other mount which extends outward from the lens and engages outer walls of the capsule or the sulcus. In another mounting method, the lens may be attached directly to the iris or to the chamber walls or within the cornea by any known means.
The pseudophakos has the advantage of eliminating the requirement for thick eyeglasses and increasing the field of vision, as compared with thick eyeglasses which may be used to replace a removed crystalline lens.
Techniques are known for anchoring lenses within the eye.
When a normal eye gazes upon an object, the cornea and crystalline lens focus an object upon a part of the retina which is in optical alignment with those lenses and which is called the macula, which joins the retina with the optic nerve and which is most sensitive to light.
A common problem which may develop, following cataract surgery, is the difficulty with correct color perception due to the inability of current lenses to correctly and concurrently refract the color wavelengths of light. An achromatic lens improves the color correction problem and thus improves overall image quality.
Current intraocular lenses are made of glass, plastics, silicone or hydrogel, polycarbonate or other suitable materials.
The use of a single element lens will allow for a focus of some wavelengths of light, but will cause a blur for other wavelengths. Some lenses produce false or distorted colors or color separation or fringing of images, known as chromatic aberration.
The construction of a conventional achromatic lenses is well known. Fine controlled forming, molding and grinding, matching spherical and non-spherical concave, convex or planar surfaces on lenses and joining exact opposite surfaces together with bonding material are known in the art.
Glass, such as combined lenses of flint and ground glass chosen for their different refractive indices, may be joined together as an achromatic lens, or plastics having different indices of refraction may be joined together or may be combined with glass of a desired index of refraction. One plastic well known for use in intraocular lenses is methyl methacrylate. Other suitable materials are known, such as polycarbonate, hydrogel, glass of silicone.
The inventor has created, and has a U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,762 for, an achromatic intraocular lens for use in the system made of two optical lens components joined together to form a doublet. The two lenses are preferably made of materials having different refractive indices. Refraction occurs at the interface as well as at the distal and proximal surface of the joined multiple lenses. Provided the appropriate degree of magnification or relocation of the image on the retina may be accomplished by the achromatic lens, that lens is a suitable multiple intraocular lens system.
One basic plastic may be used and impregnated with materials which provide differing indices of refraction in separate lens elements of the achromatic lens. The use of an achromatic lens consisting of two materials of different refractive indices allows for better color correction than lenses previously described.
The inventor continuously seeks to improve intraocular lenses. A need continues to exist for other chromatic aberration correcting intraocular lenses that may meet different requirements of patients.

Mixed optics intraocular achromatic lens


The present invention relates to a method for 1 for controlling transmission of data in a data communication network, the transmission of data being a transmission of data between a mining and/or construction machine and a network node of said data communication network, said transmission of data being carried out at least partly over a wireless communication link. The method comprises: —estimating a measure of the communication capacity of said wireless link, the estimation being based at least partly on a round-trip time of a transmission over said wireless communication link, and —adapting the data transmission load of said mining and/or construction machine on the wireless communication link on the basis of said measure. The invention also relates to a system and a mining and/or construction machine.

With regard to mining and tunnelling, for example, there is a constant ongoing process of improving e.g. efficiency, productivity and safety. Examples of changes/improvements that are carried out to an increasing extent is the automation of, fully or partly, and/or to control remotely, various processes occurring in mining.
It is, for example, often desirable that at least part of the machines that are used in mining/tunnelling can be driven in a fully autonomous mode, i.e. without an operator being required to influence the steering. Autonomous operation, however, is not always suitable or economically justifiable.
This may be the case, for example, in environments that constantly change. There exist, for example, mines where new galleries/drifts frequently arise, and where older drifts may be refilled, which normally has an impact on autonomous operation of machines. This may be because a setup of a fully autonomous solution oftentimes is relatively time and resource consuming, and a new setup is at least partially required as soon as the environment in which the autonomous machine is driven changes.
Still, e.g. for reasons of safety, it is oftentimes a desire that the machines are not driven by an onboard operator. This may be avoided by machines, instead, being driven by means of remote control, where an operator, for example being located in a control room out of view from the machine, controls the machine by means of suitable manoeuvring means such as, for example, control sticks.
With regard to remote control various kinds of machines may be controlled in this manner. For example, the control may be utilized to control so called LHD (Load-Haul-Dump) machines, which often are used to remove and transport broken rock/ore from, for example, a position where blasting has been performed to another position for further processing. The remote control has the advantage that the operator can be removed from the dangerous environment in which the machine works to a considerably safer location such as, for example, a control room.
Remote control can also be used for other kinds of machines, e.g. when drilling by means of drilling rigs, where e.g. the actual drilling may be controlled from a remote location to reduce the risk for accidents involving mine personnel. Remote control may also be utilized e.g. to control mine trucks as well as other kinds of machines.
With regard to the utilization of autonomous machines and remote-controlled machines there is, perhaps in particular with regard to remotely controlled machines, an ongoing exchange of data between the machine and, e.g., a control station from which an operator controls the machine. The data being exchanged may, for example, comprise steering commands for manoeuvring the machine, sensor data from various sensors arranged on the machine and video data (video streams) from one or more video cameras arranged on the machine to facilitate the remote-control operation of the machine.
In order to properly control machines in this manner, consequently, it is relied upon a communication of data that provides the desired data in a timely manner.
In case the remote controlled machine is stationary or substantially stationary, which, for example, often can be considered to be the case with a drilling drill rig being moved by only comparatively small steps at a time, the timeliness of the data exchange may be less significant but when remote controlling e.g. loading machines or mine trucks, which may be arranged to be remote controlled for longer distances in, for example, a mine, a reliable data exchange may be a prerequisite to be able to safely manoeuvre the machine.

Method and system for controlling communication of a mining and/or construction machine