A method for data error checking includes accessing a plurality of sets of data, each of the sets of data having a plurality of bits; integrating the plurality of sets of data into integral data; generating error checking data according to the integral data, the error checking data being changed following any change of the plurality of sets of data; dividing the error checking data into a plurality of sets of sub-checking data, each set of sub-checking data corresponding to one of the plurality of sets of data; and when transmitting each of the plurality of sets of data in order, transmitting the corresponding sub-checking data in the meantime.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and related apparatus for data error checking, and more particularly, to a method and related apparatus for performing data error checking/correction while accessing a higher data-rate memory.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the current information society, computer systems are widely used in many aspects of life. Besides some general applications of personal computers or servers, such as an automatic teller machine, some vending machines and information appliances also have embedded computer systems. For different applications, different computers may have different system requirements. For example, a personal computer/server usually requires higher efficiency and scalability, but a financial service terminal, such as an automatic teller machine, has more need of data correctness. Therefore, how to meet requirements of every kind of computer system is a key research topic of information technology companies.
As known by those skilled in the art, a computer system usually comprises a central processing unit, memory, chipset, and other peripheral devices, such as a hard drive, CD-ROM, input/output interface, and network-accessing device. The central processing unit controls the operation of the computer system to execute programs and process data. The memory, such as a random access memory, stores programs and data needed by the central processing unit during operation. The chipset, which is coupled between the central processing unit and the memory, manages data access between the central processing unit (or other devices) and the memory. In addition, the chipset also can perform data error checking/correction to ensure data correctness.
In a mainstream memory architecture, such as the memory architecture of a personal computer, the chipset can access data in the memory via a 64-line bus, that is, the chipset can access 64-bit data via the bus. In order to ensure correctness of 64-bit data, a "64-bit data/8-bit error checking code" algorithm has been developed to generate an 8-bit error checking code according to a 64-bit data for performing data error checking/correction. In other words, under such mechanism, apart from the 64-line bus for accessing data, there must be an extra 8-line bus for transmitting 8-bit error check codes.
In the prior art, the operation of data error checking/correction performed by the chipset can be described as follows. When the chipset intends to store 64 bits of data into the memory, the chip first uses the "64-bit data/8-bit error checking code" algorithm to generate an 8-bit error checking code according to the 64-bit data, and then stores the 64-bit data with the 8-bit error checking code into the memory. When the chipset accesses the 64-bit data from the memory, the 8-bit error checking code will be accessed by the chipset in the meantime for reference. After accessing the 64-bit data, the chipset uses the "64-bit data/8-bit error checking code" algorithm again to generate another new 8-bit error checking code according to the accessed 64-bit data, and then compares the new 8-bit error checking code with the original 8-bit error checking code to check whether these two 8-bit error checking codes match each other. If so, this means the accessed 64-bit data is correct; if not, then the accessed 64-bit data must be damaged and have some error. Under such situation, according to the error checking code, the chipset can perform a corresponding error management process to judge the type and location of the error, or even to repair the accessed 64-bit data or report the error to the central processing unit in order to inform the computer system user.
In the applications of the personal computer/server, the memory is composed of memory modules, and the current mainstream memory module comprises nine memory units (memory chips). Each memory unit can provide an 8 bits of data, therefore a memory module totally can provide 72 bits for data transmission at one time. That is, the memory module is able to support the "64-bit data/8-bit error checking code" algorithm, when accessing 64 bits of data from eight memory units using the 8-bit error checking code for performing data error checking/correction.
Although the above error checking/correction mechanism has already become a standard in the information industry, it still lacks flexibility. It is difficult to apply in some low-cost computer systems, which have simpler embedded architecture. For implementing the "64-bit data/8-bit error checking code" algorithm, the prior art accesses 64 bits of data from the memory to generate a corresponding 8-bit error checking code. However, in financial service terminals, it will cost too much to use nine memory units to build a memory. However, when using fewer memory units to build a memory, the prior art cannot access 64 bits of data at a time and so the "64-bit data/8-bit error checking code" algorithm cannot be implemented for performing data error checking/correction. For example, a low-cost computer system usually uses four memory units to build a memory in order to provide 32-bit data, but under such situation, the prior art can only accesses 32 bits of data at a time, which is not conducive to implementation of the "64-bit data/8-bit error checking code" algorithm. Moreover, this increases the complexity and cost if designing a new algorithm for a 32-bit data structure. Moreover, as known by those skilled in the art, 32-bit data requires a 6-bit error checking code to perform data error checking/correction; thus compared with the "64-bit data/8-bit error checking code" algorithm, the "64-bit data/8-bit error checking code" algorithm is more economic. Because in the "32-bit data/6-bit error checking code" algorithm, each bit of data needs 0.1875 bits of error checking code; yet in the "64-bit data/8-bit error checking code" algorithm, each bit of data only needs 0.1275 bits of error checking code.

Method and related apparatus for data error checking


Magnetosomes for use in a sequential laser radiation medical treatment, wherein the magnetosomes are administered to a body part of an individual. In a first step, the magnetosomes are irradiated by a laser radiation, and in a second step, the magnetosomes are irradiated by a laser radiation of lower power than in the first step or no laser irradiation of the magnetosomes is performed. The sequence of the first step and second step is repeated at least once.

Magnetosomes have been shown to efficiently destroy tumors when they are introduced to tumors and heated under the application of an alternating magnetic field (E. Alphandéry et al, ACSNano, V. 5, P. 6279-6296, 2011). Magnetosomes were also shown to be more efficient than their chemically synthesized counterparts, due to their better crystallization, larger sizes, and/or chain arrangement. It appears however that the application of the alternating magnetic field can be difficult to achieve since it requires the use of a large and expensive induction system in order to reach a sufficiently high strength to heat magnetosomes in the body part.

Magnetic nanoparticles sequentially irradiated by laser radiation for medical or chemical or biological or cosmetic applications


The number of times that a subscriber is forced to add an area code to his or her dialing sequence is substantially reduced by allowing calling parties to dial without including the area code, by analyzing the called party number relative to the calling party, and by resolving ambiguities in the called number based on that analysis. The analysis includes, but is not limited to, taking account of the calling pattern of the calling subscriber, and taking account of the distance between the calling and the called parties.

The telecommunication numbering plan in the US divides the country into area codes and includes within each area code a plurality of central office exchanges. The exchanges cover geographical subareas of the area codes, and each exchange serves a number of subscribers. The maximum number of subscribers that an exchange can serve is limited by the number of digits that define a subscriber within an exchange which, in the US is 10,000. When the subareas covered by exchanges are built up to approach 10,000 subscribers, additional exchanges must be added, and they are typically added without regard to whether the geographical subarea of one exchange overlaps in whole or in part the geographical subarea of another exchange. What is diligently maintained, however, is that an exchange should not straddle more than one area code. This restriction is imposed so that telephone companies can include identically identified exchanges in adjacent area codes without creating ambiguities. Actually, the ambiguity is avoided by requiring customers to dial an area code prior to dialing the exchange when customers wish to reach parties outside their area codes. Since, at least traditionally, customers called within their area code much more than outside their area code ("long distance"), avoiding the requirement to specify the area code was an appreciated feature.
The burgeoning number of cellular telephones and the increase in the number of homes with a multiple number of telephone lines (for fax service, telecommuting, etc.) is causing the local telephone companies to reduce the geographical size of area codes and to increase their number. Consequently, people are increasingly forced to include the area code in their dialing digit sequence even when dialing a number that is geographically very close. While this is not a new problem; it is being exacerbated with the increase in the number of area codes.
An arrangement that eliminates, or reduces, the number of times that subscribers need to include the area code when dialing would be very beneficial.


Methods and systems that enable reliable audits of a number of predetermined trust requirements for games by electronic means, either on-site or remote, are disclosed. A system including a gaming module to which the players interact with a security module and an audit module capable of several degrees of dispersion and/or grouping performs provision by the gaming module to the security module of digital information containing significant events occurred during the games, generation by the security module of a protected record for each of the cited significant events, storage by the security module of every protected record, generating a file of protected records, and access by the audit module to the file of protected records, independent from the games operator, to verify the correct development of the games.

In the case of games by electronic means, the players participate in game hands by using electronic systems, computers, and/or communication networks. In some occasions, the games by electronic means are on-site. In such cases, the player directly interacts with a gaming electronic machine located in a gaming centre or in a certain place where the player must be present to be able to play. In other occasions, the games by electronic means are remote. In such other cases, the player remotely interacts with the electronic system of gaming, usually through his/her personal computer and an Internet (or equivalent network) connection. In both cases the variety of offered games is broad: casino games such as roulette or blackjack, sport books, poker hands, bingo, jackpot machines, etcetera.
Gaming by electronic means, in any of its forms, implies a lack of transparency that may produce suspicions and lack of trust regarding critical aspects of honesty and fairness. In fact, in some occasions the lack of transparency of gaming by electronic means has been successfully utilized to commit fraud. For this reason, the electronic gaming industry has been using two mechanisms to try to ensure the correct development of the games. On one hand, the source code certification of the computer programs that determine the functioning of the electronic games. On the other hand, the audits of the statistics of prizes awarding.
Nonetheless, both mechanisms have serious deficiencies. Indeed, the certification of the source code of the gaming programs is in fact an inspection of the system done at a given time by an independent testing laboratory. This inspection can ensure that, at that precise time, the system presented a correct design that would therefore lead to an honest behavior. However, this inspection has no means to prove that the system will keep having, from that moment and on, those correct design and behavior. The programs of an electronic gaming module can be certified today but, perhaps tomorrow they will be altered or substituted, either accidentally or intentionally. Although some procedures to check for changes and manipulations in a computer program do exist, the actual capability to easily and quickly substitute the critical correct modules by the fake ones and vice versa, prevents in practice these procedures from being successful as security measures.
The audits of prizes awarding are done after the games have taken place. These audits try to demonstrate the correct functioning of the electronic games by matching the publicly known statistics of every type of game against the actual data derived from the real prizes awarded by the gaming system. Unfortunately, these audits are just able to warrant that the amount of prizes awarded is statistically correct. However, they are absolutely unable to prove the fairness or honesty of the occurred games. In practice, a given fraction of the prizes could have been awarded deliberately to certain players in order to launder money or just to obtain a financial gain by cheating some players.
Given the previously introduced limitations of the main control mechanisms used by the electronic gaming industry, there is currently some unrest regarding the trustworthiness of the games by electronic means. The following issues can be highlighted:                1. In the case of remote electronic gaming, the identification of players is an issue. The use of low-quality player identification allows fraudulent actions, such as money laundering. It also allows access to the games by non-authorized players (e.g., minors).        2. In the case of electronic games based on electronically generated randomness (almost all types of electronic games excepting few cases such as sport booking), there can be reasonable doubts regarding the fraudulent manipulation of the process of generating the random events (e.g., manipulations to predict or somehow to influence the outcome of future random events).        3. Later audits take as input the records generated by the electronic gaming system itself. Nonetheless, these records are insufficiently protected against internal attacks (e.g., from technical staff with privileged access to the electronic gaming system). As a result, the truthfulness of the records remains unsure.
A deeper analysis of these three issues and of the solutions proposed up to date is now discussed.
The identification of players in remote electronic gaming has been up to date supported by the ownership of the credit card used for the money transfers caused by bets and prizes. However, this identification mechanism is clearly insufficient since any person can impersonate another just by having access to the credit card of the latter (which is relatively easy for example in the case of members of the same family or if the credit card was stolen). In addition, this mechanism is not satisfactory for the management of lists of auto-excluded players or problem gamblers. The identification of players based on the ownership of credit cards has been usually combined with the "loginname/password" mechanism. In these cases, the identity of the player is verified by checking that the provided "password" matches the one generated during a previous process of user registration. However, the "loginname/password" mechanism has well-known weaknesses that make its use inadequate in open networks. Not only passwords can be intercepted (allowing impersonation by non-authorized persons), but they can also be attacked by "phishing", Trojan horses, or brute-force attacks, among other methods. A complete analysis of the weaknesses presented by the "loginname/password" mechanism can be found in [A. Shimizu, T. Horioka y H. Inagaki, A Password Authentication Method for Contents Communication on the Internet, IEICE Transactions on Communications, vol. E81-B, no. 8, pp. 1666-1673, August 1998] or [F. Bao, Security Analysis of a Password Authenticated Key Exchange Protocol, Proceedings of 6th Information Security Conference—ISC 2003, LNCS 2851, pp. 208-217, Springer-Verlag Heidelberg, 2003, ISSN: 0302-9743, Information Security: 6th International Conference, ISC 2003, Bristol, UK, Oct. 1-3, 2003. Proceedings, ISBN: 3-540-20176-9].
More recent proposals suggest the use of biometric mechanisms to ensure a correct identification of players, both in on-site gaming systems and in remote gaming systems. To cite some proposals, the inventions described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,612,928, US 2004192438 and US 2004192442 are examples applicable to remote gaming environments. The patent application US 2002160834 proposes a solution based on a biometric reader placed on several kiosks. Therefore, this solution is suitable for on-site electronic gaming environments. However, biometric identification has its own disadvantages. On one hand, it is too intrusive for the player. On the other hand, in remote gaming environments, it is still not clear how to ensure that the reading of the biometric pattern takes place at the time of the game (i.e., that it does not provide from a previous reading).
With regard to the trustworthiness of the generation, by electronic means, of random events, the root of the problem is in the vulnerability presented by excessively centralized generations. Indeed, in the current electronic gaming modules, the control of the process of generating randomness is fully deposited on a single central point (always under the command of the gaming operator and/or its staff). There are some previous proposals with the objective of overcoming the problems of fraudulent generation of randomness posed by this vulnerability. These proposals are based on the joint generation of randomness by different parties, in such a way that none of them (in particular, the gaming operator) becomes a central point of control. The use of these joint generation methods ensures the fairness of the resulting random numbers, provided that all of the different parties do not collude. Not only none of the parties is able to manipulate the outcome of the electronic joint generation of random events, but also none of the parties has any privileged information regarding future random events. Representative examples of collaborative or joint generation of random numbers are the proposals made by Manuel Blum in 1982 [Blum M., Coin Flipping by Telephone: a Protocol for Solving Impossible Problems, Proc. IEEE Computer Conference, pp. 133-137, IEEE, 1982] and by Joe Kilian in 1990 [Kilian, J., Uses of Randomness in Algorithms and Protocols, ACM Distinguished Dissertation, MIT, 1990, ISBN: 0-262-11153-5]. The previous inventions described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,408, U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,288, WO 2004/035159 and WO 2005/021118, take advantage of these mechanisms of joint or collaborative generation of random numbers, to try to ensure the fairness of games. Nonetheless, the main problem of these proposals is their lack of practicality, since they require the active participation of the players in the process of joint generation of randomness. In practice, this creates a dependency on the behavior of unknown and highly heterogenic systems (i.e., the client systems used by players). A possible variant, based on the delegation of the joint generation to a third party not directly controlled by the players, would overcome this technical limitation. Still, the players in this case would not be able to verify by themselves that the generation of randomness had been fair.
Additionally, there are some other proposals that happen to be, at the most, partial solutions to possible security problems encountered during the development of the games. None of them however develops any solution to the issue of the fairness of the generated randomness. As examples, the inventions described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,327, U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,022, GB 2307184, present methods and/or systems related to the operation of electronic games. Other inventions are focused on network-level security, proposing the use of cryptosystems to ensure the security of the communications between the different participants in the games, but however without paying any attention to the previously described issues of the fairness and the honesty of the games. Representative examples of these inventions can be found in the references U.S. Pat. No. 6,106,396, U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,011, U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,560 and WO 98/11686.
Finally, the third trust problem that is still not adequately solved refers to the possibility of inspecting and auditing electronic gaming systems. Obviously there is a need for reliable, external and independent control of the honesty essential characteristics of an electronic gaming module. These essential characteristics include the control of players' identities, the honesty of the development of the games, and the fitting of the games with the limitations posed by the regulation or by the account of every player (e.g., with regard to the maximum amount to be wagered monthly). Currently, however, the external control of these characteristics relies on audits that depend excessively upon data provided by the games operator itself. In addition, these data are not adequately protected and, as a result, they could be very easily manipulated. Up to date, there are no proposals, efficient enough, that introduce methods to audit in a secure way the occurred games. In on-site electronic gaming environments, some inventions comprise contributions to reach a certain degree of security. As an example, US200424321 proposes means for fraud detection by developing the games in two separate machines and monitoring the latter to detect eventual fraud. The proposal of invention US2004198494 consists of using a cryptographic apparatus to ensure the security of the gaming module. This is done by preventing the access by non-authorized persons and/or possible manipulations. However, the auditing method proposed by both inventions is not efficient and is not completely secure in real electronic gaming environments. Indeed, these are solutions that need to manage huge amounts of digital data, since they utilize absolutely all the information related to the occurred games. Additionally, these proposals do not provide any mechanisms to ensure that the digital information to be audited has not been manipulated during the games or afterwards.
To conclude, all previous proposals known by the inventors fail to specify a game operation that covers an entire cycle allowing players, even without their direct implication in the generation of randomness, to verify the honesty and fairness of the games. In addition, the auditing process is generally not addressed in previous inventions. Those proposals that address this issue, propose costly (given the huge amounts of data to be processed in real time during the games) and not reliable (because of their dependency on data that is not adequately protected) auditing mechanisms. Moreover, these auditing mechanisms do not provide any conclusion regarding the identity of the players that have participated in the games.

Method and system for the generation of a file of auditable records for remote and on-site electronic gaming


An external mirror for a motor vehicle includes a mirror base attachable to the vehicle, a mirror head which bears a mirror, which head can be rotated relative to the base by a motor, and which is mounted on the mirror base by an articulation, and when subjected to an impulse can yield in a deflection direction in which it is tilted toward the vehicle from the operating position of the mirror head. The articulation includes a tubular element fixed to the mirror base, and the articulation further has a bushing which is pressed coaxially over the tubular element by a spring, and a mechanism for limiting the rotational excursion of the mirror head around the tubular element. To provide for simpler and easier manufacture of the mirror device, it is provided with limits for the motor-driven rotational excursion, which include at least two interacting elements, one of which elements is disposed on the mirror head and the other on a catch piece which is disposed on the articulation coaxially to the tubular element and is driven by the motor, and limits for the impulse-generated tilting deflection, including a projection and a detent, wherewith one of these two elements is mounted on the mirror base and the other is mounted on the mirror head or on the catch piece.

With the external vehicle mirror described in Eur. OS 166,378, the mirror operating position is regulated by an electrical switching mechanism which can be actuated by the mirror head itself, wherewith the positioning motor is shut off when the mirror reaches the operating position. The described mechanism has proved to be unreliable in operation, failing relatively rapidly under environmental stresses to which external mirrors are exposed.
In a different arrangement according to Ger. OS 40 23 375, the electrical switching mechanism is replaced by a mechanically cooperating projection and detent. However, the articulation has a large number of moving parts, rendering the structure of the mirror system complex, as well as costly to manufacture.
The underlying problem overcome by the present invention is to devise an external mirror which operates at least as satisfactorily as mirrors according to the state of the art and is simpler and easier to manufacture.


An automotive fuel tank filler pipe contains a two-piece tubular or hollow, opened ended, nested housing in which is fixed an essentially solid disk blocking the opening therethrough and containing a fuel nozzle opening therethrough closed by a spring biased sealing flap door, and including a pair of oppositely acting one-way vacuum-break and pressure relief valves for automatically controlling the pressure conditions in the fuel tank, the structure preventing the unwanted discharge of fuel vapors/liquid into the atmosphere in the event that the fuel cap or closure member normally closing the upper end of the fill pipe is accidentally left off or not replaced or damaged after a refueling operation.

Most present day passenger car motor vehicles have fuel tanks with filler pipes that contain an insert with an opening only big enough to permit passage therethrough of an unleaded fuel nozzle, with a venting or non-venting cap to sealably close the top of the pipe. A spring-closed flap door normally closes the fuel opening, and generally is of the non-sealing type that merely restricts the flow of leaded fuel by causing a splash-back of the fuel in the event a leaded fuel nozzle is attempted to be inserted.
The disadvantages of the present systems are that if the vehicle operator forgets to replace the cap after refueling, or if the cap is damaged or otherwise loose, the fill pipe is essentially open. This can effect the unwanted discharge of liquid fuel and fuel vapors and pollution of the atmosphere. Without some sort of device, such as, for example, a warning light on the dashboard of the vehicle, the operator would not be aware that the cap is not in place.
This invention is directed to a unitary module that is fixed in place in the fill pipe that, per se, contains all the elements for sealably controlling the flow of liquid/fuel vapors and venting through the fill pipe regardless of whether the closure cap is in place or not. The module, therefore, is a self- containment unit in that it allows all of the functions of filling and venting of the fuel as well as controlling the tank pressures and vacuum conditions.


A method for manufacturing an organic semiconductor device having a gate electrode, a source electrode, a drain electrode, an organic semiconductor layer, a gate insulation layer, and a substrate, including: forming, on the substrate, an underlayer that contains an organic polymer material having a liquid crystal core and is oriented in a specific direction, before forming the organic semiconductor layer; and forming the organic semiconductor layer so as to orient the organic semiconductor layer along the orientation of the underlayer, wherein: the gate insulation layer insulates the source electrode and the drain electrode from the gate electrode; and the substrate supports the gate electrode, the source electrode, the drain electrode, the organic semiconductor layer, and the gate insulation layer.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an organic semiconductor device, as well as an organic semiconductor device, an electronic device, and an electronic apparatus.
2. Related Art
In recent years, the development of a thin-film transistor using an organic material (organic semiconductor material) that shows semiconductive electric conduction has been being progressed. Such a thin-film transistor can be formed by the solution process of a semiconductor layer that does not require an environment of high temperature and high vacuum. Also, due to some advantages including the suitability for a thinner and lighter device, flexibility, and low material cost, etc., such a transistor is expected to be promising as a switching element of a flexible display, etc.
As such a thin-film transistor, a transistor wherein a gate electrode, a source electrode, a drain electrode, an organic semiconductor layer, and a gate insulation layer are configured of organic materials has been proposed. "Inkjet printing of polymer thin film transistors", Takeo Kawase et al., in Thin Solid Films 2003 (pp. 279 to 287) is an example of related art.
By the way, as a property parameter for evaluating the performance of a thin-film transistor, the carrier mobility in a semiconductor layer can be named. The larger the carrier mobility in a semiconductor layer becomes, the faster the operating speed of a thin-film transistor becomes.
However, the carrier mobility of an organic semiconductor layer is lower by two or more digits than that of an inorganic semiconductor layer, which is generally configured of silicon, etc. Therefore, it is very difficult to increase the operating speed of a thin-film transistor having an organic semiconductor layer.
Hence, various studies have been in progress for further improvement of carrier mobility, in view of practical use.

Method for manufacturing an organic semiconductor device, as well as organic semiconductor device, electronic device, and electronic apparatus


A process for the preparation of arylamides of heteroaromatic carboxylic acids of the formula: ##STR1## in which each A.sup.n is nitrogen or CR.sup.n (n=1 to 5), with the proviso that at least one of the ring members is nitrogen and that two nitrogen atoms are not bonded directly to one another; R.sup.1 to R.sup.5, if present, independently of one another are hydrogen, C.sub.1-4 -alkyl or aryl, one of the substituents R.sup.1 to R.sup.5 being a group of the formula --OR, in which R is an optionally substituted aromatic or heteroaromatic radical; R.sup.6 is hydrogen or C.sub.1-4 -alkyl; and R.sup.7 is an optionally substituted aromatic or heteroaromatic radical. The amides are obtained from the corresponding heteroaromatic halogen compounds, the corresponding aromatic amines and carbon monoxide in the presence of a palladium phosphine complex. Compounds of this class are important herbicides.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for the preparation of arylamides of heteroaromatic carboxylic acids by reacting heteroaromatic halogen compounds with carbon monoxide and aromatic amines in the presence of a catalyst and a base. The invention further relates to a novel halogenopyridine as a starting material for the preparation, according to the invention, of an arylamide.
The amides which can be prepared according to the invention have the general formula: ##STR2## in which: A.sup.1 is nitrogen or CR.sup.1,
A.sup.2 is nitrogen or CR.sup.2, PA1 A.sup.3 is nitrogen or CR.sup.3, PA1 A.sup.4 is nitrogen or CR.sup.4 and PA1 A.sup.5 is nitrogen or CR.sup.5, PA1 R.sup.1 to R.sup.5, if present, independently of one another are hydrogen, C.sub.1-4 -alkyl or aryl, but one of the substituents R.sup.1 to R.sup.3 is a group of the formula --OR, in which R is an optionally substituted aromatic or heteroaromatic radical; PA1 R.sup.6 is hydrogen or C.sub.1-4 -alkyl; and PA1 R.sup.7 is an optionally substituted aromatic or heteroaromatic radical. PA1 those in which A.sup.1 and A.sup.5 are nitrogen and form a pyrimidine ring with the remaining ring members, PA1 those in which A.sup.1 and A.sup.4 are nitrogen and form a pyrazine ring with the remaining ring members, PA1 and those in which A.sup.1, A.sup.3 and A.sup.5 are nitrogen and form a 1,3,5-triazine ring with the remaining ring members.
with the proviso that at least one of the ring members A.sup.1 to A.sup.5 is nitrogen and that two nitrogen atoms are not bonded directly to one another;
Said amides include especially the arylamides of pyridine-, pyrimidine-, pyrazine- and 1,3,5-triazinecarboxylic acids.
2. Background Art
Numerous compounds of the structure of formula I, especially those in which one of the substituents R.sup.1 to R.sup.5 is an aryloxy group (--OR) adjacent to a ring nitrogen atom, are important herbicides (International Published Patent Application No. 94/27974, European Published Patent Application No. 0,053,011 and European Published Patent Application No. 0,447,004). The synthesis of these known compounds is conventionally based on the corresponding carboxylic acids or carboxylic acid derivatives (acid chlorides, esters, nitriles), although these are often difficult to obtain and therefore expensive.

Process for the preparation of arylamides of heteroaromatic carboxylic acids


A method for optimizing traffic flow through a web network including collecting data corresponding to the content elements, determining a revenue value for each content element, calculating an overall content value for each content element based on the corresponding revenue value and revenue generated from subsequent flow of a user during a visit to the network, and modifying the network based on the overall content value and the content data, so as to maximize the value of the network. Also disclosed is a system for determining overall content values for a plurality of content elements including an analytic server for receiving content data corresponding to the content elements, and a processor determining a revenue value for each element and calculating an overall content value for each content element based on the corresponding revenue value and revenue generated from subsequent traffic flow of a user during a visit to the network.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the internet. In particular, this invention relates to a method and system for determining overall content values for one or more content elements or groups of content elements in a website or network of sites, and optimizing internet traffic flow through the website or network of sites.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Conventionally, the work of determining the value of a web site and of optimizing traffic through such web site to maximize the value of the web site have focused on analyzing the revenue generated on every page of the web site in isolation. Such a conventional approach is depicted in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, a web page P is shown having three revenue-generating components, A, B and C. In conventional methods, the revenue from each component is added up to determine the revenue value of the web page:$A+$B+$C=R  (Equation 1)
Once the revenue value R for each page is determined, the overall revenue of the web site or network of sites (RNet) may be determined by simply adding together the revenue value R for each page P, such that:R1+R2+R3 . . . RN=RNet  (Equation 2)
Traffic has then typically been guided (such as through content promotion or advertising) to the pages of the web site or network of sites that are determined to generate the highest revenue per page. However, a visit to a web site by a user is usually not limited to viewing one page, but to viewing a network of interconnected pages, in a dynamic equilibrium, as depicted in FIG. 2A. FIG. 2A illustrates a web site 200 made up of a plurality of interconnected pages. In FIG. 2A, each of the pages P1 through Py represents a web page within the web site 200. In some cases, web site 200 may be a network of web sites. The network of sites may be, for example and without limitation, a plurality of commonly managed or commonly owned sites; an advertising network of sites, where ads may be sold by one entity or by a plurality of related or unrelated entities; and/or a collection of other websites provided by related or unrelated entities that have decided to pool resources in order to optimize their revenue. For sake of simplicity, references in the application to a web site should also be read to refer to a network of web sites where appropriate.
As shown in FIG. 2A, each page, Pi, in web site 200 may include links, represented by the arrows between pages, that allow a user on that particular page to jump to another page within the web site. FIG. 2B illustrates another group of interconnected content elements in a static sequential arrangement, as is also known in the prior art. The illustration of FIG. 2B may be used to serve a lengthy video episode wherein the video episode is divided into a plurality of segments each having a predetermined running time and advertising content is served between the plurality of video segments. Although not explicitly depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B, it should also be understood that the interconnected equilibrium also includes the further option of exiting from the web site 200 from any of the pages P1 through Py (or during any of the video segments or ads), which may be accomplished simply by closing the web browser, clicking on a link (such as in a "favorites" list) to another website, or manually inputting a URL of another web site. It is a drawback of traditional methods of determining the value of web pages and web sites that this interconnected equilibrium is all but ignored, and only the revenue generated on a single page is taken into account in determining the value of that page.
Furthermore, with current evaluation methods, the focus of optimization has been on traffic acquisition, which deals with present or immediate value, but which does not take into account future value arising from subsequent pages viewed by a user during a visit to the particular website or network of sites. Current methods that do not take into account the value associated with the subsequent or "next page" future traffic flow of a user during a website visit do not allow the publisher of the web site to adequately optimize the revenue generated by that web site. Rather, by using currently known methods, traffic is optimized on the basis of the immediate revenue that can be generated by a single given web page, without taking into account the total revenue potential for each visit to the web site or network of sites.
Conventional methods that do not take into account the value of traffic flow do not properly value, or allow for adequate optimization of, the revenue generated by a web site or network of sites. Traffic is generally managed on the basis of the immediate revenue that can be generated, without taking into account the total revenue potential for each visit/view. The inventive method overcomes this drawback by focusing on the entire web site or network of sites and by taking into account value generated from the user's journey through the site(s), reflecting the potential for a user to generate revenue once that user has landed on a particular page within the website or network of sites.
There is a need in the industry for a method of determining overall dollar (or other) value of a web page, web site, and/or network of web sites that takes into account what happens after a user enters the web site or network of sites, and/or after a user views any particular page within the website or network of sites. In particular, there is a need for a method of measuring or determining the value (such as the dollar value) of attracting one additional user to a web page or other content element. There is a further need in the industry for a means of optimizing traffic flow within a web site or network of sites that takes into account the entire journey within the web site or network of sites taken by its visitors.

Method and system for determining overall content values for content elements in a web network and for optimizing internet traffic flow through the web network


A planar light-emitting device includes a lightguide plate (7), a light source including at least one light-emitting package (6) that makes light enter the lightguide plate, and a reflecting sheet (10, 11) that returns light leaking from the light source. The lightguide plate has an upper surface as a light exit surface, a lower surface opposite to the upper surface, and a peripheral edge surface a part of which is disposed as a light entrance surface (7′). The light source includes at least one light-emitting package (6) having a substrate, at least one light-emitting element mounted on a mount surface of the substrate, and a light-transmitting resin provided on the mount surface to seal the light-emitting element. The reflecting sheet is disposed to face at least one of the upper and lower surfaces of the lightguide plate and to extend beyond the light entrance surface as far as over or underneath the light-transmitting resin.

In recent years, liquid crystal display apparatus have been widely used in displays of mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc. These liquid crystal display apparatus employ a backlight unit that applies illuminating light to a liquid crystal display panel (LCD) from the back thereof. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-117606, for example, discloses a backlight unit having a light-emitting diode (LED) light source and a lightguide plate that receives light emitted from the LED light source through a part of its peripheral edge surface. The lightguide plate diffuses the received light therein and emits it from the upper surface thereof. The backlight unit further has a reflecting sheet disposed underneath the lightguide plate to reflect light leaking from the lightguide plate back thereinto.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-228588 proposes a planar lighting device including an LED light source having a substrate, an LED element mounted on the substrate, and a light-transmitting resin member that seals the LED element. The resin member has a semispherical shape projecting outward along an axis of light from the LED element. The planar lighting device further includes a lightguide plate having a light entrance surface provided with a recess into which the projection of the transparent resin member is fitted. The planar lighting device allows light from the LED element to enter the lightguide plate efficiently through the projection and the recess.
The invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-228588, however, has difficulty in accurately aligning the LED element mounted on the substrate and the semispherical-shaped resin member, which seals the LED element. Therefore, even if the semispherical-shaped resin member is satisfactorily fitted in the recess provided in the lightguide plate, the lightguide plate may be unable to appropriately receive light from the LED element, resulting in such problems as a reduction in luminance at the light exit surface of the backlight unit concerned and a degradation in the uniformity of luminance.

Planar light-emitting device and display apparatus having the same


An integrated circuit comprises an oscillator that generates an oscillator signal. A first counter generates a first count based on transitions of the oscillator signal. A first circuit generates a match signal based on the first count and a reference count. A second counter generates a second count that is initialized at a starting count and adjusts the second count based on transitions of a reference clock signal. An output circuit outputs an oscillator speed based on the second count and the match signal. The oscillator speed is defined by a range that is independent of a frequency of the reference clock signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to integrated circuits, and more particularly, to monitoring circuit performance variations that may arise from variations in any one or more of manufacturing process, temperature or voltage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Variations in process, temperature and voltage (PVT) can influence the performance of an integrated circuit. For example, fluctuations in semiconductor manufacturing processes can result in variations in gate oxide thickness and doping concentrations, which can change transistor threshold voltage. Moreover, the mobility of charge carriers and the threshold voltage may vary with temperature. Thus, there has been a need to monitor and compensate for PVT induced variations in integrated circuit performance.
There are many prior approaches to monitoring and compensating for PVT variations. For instance, ring oscillators have been used to measure the number of ring oscillator cycles during a number of reference clock cycles. A ring oscillator may serve as a useful reference circuit since PVT variations ordinarily will influence its oscillation frequency. PVT induced changes in the ring oscillator frequency typically are indicative of PVT induced changes in the performance of other circuit components located on the same semiconductor chip. Also, some other prior approaches to PVT monitoring involved analogue measurement techniques.
While these past techniques for monitoring and compensating for PVT related variations in circuit performance generally have been acceptable, there has been a need for improvement. For example, there has been a need for a compact monitoring circuit that can provide an improved indication of the impact of PVT variations upon circuit performance over a wide range of reference frequencies, on an measurement scale that is independent of reference frequency. The present invention meets this need.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Monitoring and compensating for real time local circuit speed in an integrated circuit


The invention is directed to a method for adjusting the air/fuel ratio for an internal combustion engine having a catalytic converter connected downstream thereof which is capable of storing oxygen. In this method, the oxygen components in the exhaust gas of the engine are detected upstream of the catalytic converter and downstream thereof and the adjustment of the fuel/air ratio is influenced. In the method, a measure for the instantaneous oxygen fill level of the catalytic converter is determined from the above-mentioned oxygen components with the aid of a model. Data as to the state of deterioration of the catalytic converter are derived from the model parameters. The air/fuel ratio is so adjusted that the oxygen fill level of the catalytic converter is held to a constant mean level.

It is generally known to convert toxic components of exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine as far as possible into non-toxic gases. Such toxic components are, for example, HC, NOx and CO which are converted by a catalytic converter mounted in the exhaust-gas system of the engine. It is decisive for the so-called conversion degree that the oxygen content of the exhaust gas lies within optimal values. For a so-called three-way catalytic converter, these optimal values lie within a narrow range about the value which corresponds to a fuel/air mixture of .lambda.=1. In order to maintain this narrow range, it is conventional to control the fuel/air ratio for an internal combustion engine by means of oxygen probes which are mounted in the exhaust-gas system of the engine. In order to accelerate the control operation, especially in transition regions, a determination of a so-called precontrol value based on operating characteristic variables of the engine is made especially on the basis of the air quantity Q supplied to the engine and the engine speed n. This determination of the precontrol value is in addition to the control based on the signal of the oxygen probe. The determination of the air quantity Q can take place in different ways such as via determination of the opening angle of the throttle flap or based on the signal of an air-quantity sensor.
The precontrol value, which is determined on the basis of Q and n, is corrected in accordance with the signal of the oxygen probe in such a manner that the optimal fuel/air mixture is determined. With the corrected signal, a fuel-metering device is driven which supplies the optimal quantity of fuel to the engine. This can take place, for example, by controlling the injection valves with an injection pulsewidth ti.
Furthermore, systems are known which utilize two lambda probes as oxygen probes to control the fuel/air mixture. A first one of these probes is arranged forward of the catalytic converter and a second probe is connected downstream thereof. The signal of the second lambda probe is compared to a desired value and the difference of these two values is integrated and the value obtained in this manner operates on the desired value of the control based on the signal of the lambda probe. Such a system is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,345. It has also been shown that present day three-way catalytic converters exhibit a capability to store gas especially a capability to store oxygen. In this context, U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,056 discloses that the gas storage capacity of a catalytic converter is to be considered for the control. In accordance with this teaching, not only the instantaneous value of .lambda. forward of the catalytic converter is controlled to a desired value but the integral of the control deviation is also controlled to a desired value via a superposed control with the aid of the probe rearward of the catalytic converter.

Method of adjusting the air/fuel ratio for an internal combustion engine having a catalytic converter


Methods are provided for producing bromine wherein an aqueous solution is formed from at least a bromide source, an oxidant, and a catalyst comprising a Group 1 cation and an oxide of a transition metal.

Bromine is used in a wide range of industries. For example, bromine is used in the manufacture of flameproofing agents, 1,2-dibromoethane (CH2BrCH2Br) (which is used as a petrol additive to prevent lead being deposited in cylinders), compounds used in photography (e.g. silver bromide, AgBr, which is the light sensitive material in film), dyestuffs and drugs; in the analytical laboratory in testing for unsaturation in organic compounds, where bromine adds across the multiple bonds of unsaturated compounds, as a disinfectant; and in making fumigants, water purification compounds, dyes, medicinals; and sanitizers. Bromine can be produced by oxidation of bromides using hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant. For example, the following reaction is suitable: H2O2+2HBrBr2+2H2O (Reaction (1)). Bromine can also be produced by oxidation of bromides using chlorine as the oxidant. For example, the following reaction is suitable: 2NaBr+Cl2Br2+2NaCl (Reaction (2)).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,295 describes use of a strong acid, such as sulfuric or phosphoric acid, to improve effectiveness when hydrogen bromide is oxidized to bromine using hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant. However, process economics are affected by the addition of an acid; and in some cases an add source is not readily available. Each of Reactions (1) and (2) could benefit from the addition of catalysts to increase the percent conversion of bromide to bromine. Ammonium molybdate ((NH4+)2MoO4−) is a known oxidation catalyst to allow iodometric titration of H2O2. However, NH4+ is not a cation of choice for use as an additive in a commercial bromine tower.
Thus in spite of currently available technologies, a need remains for commercially feasible methods that provide increased percent conversion when oxidizing bromides to produce bromine, and catalysts for use therein.

Processes for oxidation of bromides to produce bromine and catalysts useful therein


An NOx sensor 27 detects the concentration of NOx released from an occlusion type NOx catalyst 25 into the atmosphere. Based on the output of the NOx sensor 27, a total NOx discharge A is computed. When the total NOx discharge A reaches an NOx emission judgment amount A0, corresponding to an NOx emission judgment amount designated by NOx emission regulations, before a distance traveled C reaches a predetermined distance traveled C0, an exhaust air-fuel ratio is changed to a rich air-fuel ratio to release NOx from the occlusion type NOx catalyst 25 efficiently. Then, the exhaust air-fuel ratio is changed to a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio to purify and reduce NOx by a three-way catalyst function.

This invention relates to an exhaust emission control device of an internal combustion engine, which has an occlusion type NOx catalyst in an exhaust passage.
In recent years, a lean burn internal combustion engine designed to be operated at a lean air-fuel ratio for improved fuel economy has come into practical use. When this lean burn internal combustion engine is operated at a lean air-fuel ratio, a three-way catalyst cannot fully purify NOx (nitrogen oxides) in an exhaust gas because of the purification characteristics of the catalyst. Recently, for example, use has been made of an exhaust emission purification catalyst device with an occlusion type NOx catalyst which occludes or adsorbs (hereinafter referred to simply as occludes) NOx in an exhaust gas during operation at a lean air-fuel ratio, and which releases and reduces the occluded NOx during operation at a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or a rich air-fuel ratio.
The occlusion type NOx catalyst has the properties of attracting and occluding NOx in an exhaust gas as nitrates (Xxe2x80x94NO3) in the presence of excess oxygen in the internal combustion engine, and releasing the occluded NOx mainly in the presence of excess carbon monoxide (CO) to reduce it to nitrogen (N2) (and simultaneously form carbonates (Xxe2x80x94CO3)). In actuality, therefore, when the operation at a lean air-fuel ratio continues for a predetermined period of time, the air-fuel ratio in a combustion chamber is changed. Alternatively, the operation at the lean air-fuel ratio is periodically switched to operation at a rich air-fuel ratio by such means as supply of a reducing agent to an exhaust pipe to control the air-fuel ratio to a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or a rich air-fuel ratio (this method is called rich spike). As a result, a CO-abundant reducing atmosphere is produced in an oxygen concentration-poor atmosphere to release the occluded NOx for purifying reduction (NOx purge). In this manner, the occlusion type NOx catalyst can be regenerated. This technology is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 2,586,738.
Such an occlusion type NOx catalyst is limited in the amount of NOx that can be occluded onto the catalyst. When the amount of NOx, which the occlusion type NOx catalyst has occluded, reaches the limit, rich spike is performed as stated earlier, so that a rich air-fuel ratio operation is carried out at a predetermined rich air-fuel ratio for a predetermined period of time.
The time point, at which the occluded amount of NOx in the occlusion type NOx catalyst reaches the limit and rich spike is required, changes according to the degree of deterioration in the NOx purification efficiency of the occlusion type NOx catalyst, or according to the operating conditions for the internal combustion engine that affect the flow rates of NOx and CO. A technology for detecting that the amount of NOx occluded by such an occlusion type NOx catalyst has reached the limit, and regenerating this catalyst is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 7-166851.
According to an xe2x80x9cexhaust emission control devicexe2x80x9d as disclosed in this publication, an NOx absorber is disposed in an exhaust passage of an internal combustion engine, and an NOx sensor is disposed downstream from the NOx absorber. With this arrangement, the exhaust emission control device performs regenerating control (NOx purge) in the following manner: When a detection value detected by the NOx sensor (i.e., the concentration of the NOx component) has exceeded a judgment value, the exhaust air-fuel ratio is switched to a rich air-fuel ratio to release NOx from an upper region of the catalyst.
The regulatory value according to the NOx emission regulations in different countries of the world is, for example, total NOx discharge over a predetermined distance traveled by a vehicle. The aforementioned conventional xe2x80x9cexhaust emission control devicexe2x80x9d executes regenerating control by detecting the concentration of the NOx component during each lean operation zone which is a certain short period. Thus, if the set judgment value allows only a narrow margin because of a driver""s way of driving, it is likely that the desired NOx discharge, e.g., the regulatory value, for each predetermined distance traveled cannot necessarily be cleared reliably.
That is, in the above-mentioned xe2x80x9cexhaust emission control device,xe2x80x9d whether the total NOx discharge over the predetermined distance traveled has not exceeded a desired value, e.g., the regulatory value, is not grasped during driving. To keep the total NOx discharge over the predetermined distance traveled at a predetermined value or less under various driving conditions, therefore, there is need to set the aforementioned judgment value for initiation of regenerating control (NOx purge) at a low value with a sufficient margin. By setting the judgment value in this manner, the frequency of regenerating control (NOx purge) for making the air-fuel ratio a rich or stoichiometric value increases because of an ample margin, thereby increasing fuel consumption. That is, the problem of increasing CO2 discharge arises.
A technology for controlling NOx discharge over a predetermined distance traveled to be within a predetermined value is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 2,503,387. An xe2x80x9celectronic internal combustion engine control devicexe2x80x9d as disclosed in this publication controls the ignition timing and the EGR amount to control NOx discharge, only in a stoichiometric operation region. If this control device is applied to a lean burn internal combustion engine operating at a lean air-fuel ratio as described earlier, the air-fuel ratio has to be constantly set in the stoichiometric operation region, and fuel economy cannot be improved.
The present invention has been accomplished to solve the above problems. Its object is to provide an exhaust emission control device of an internal combustion engine, which can directly manage NOx discharge, released into the atmosphere, under any driving conditions to keep the NOx discharge at a desired value reliably and achieve a decrease in NOx discharge and a decrease in CO2 discharge at the same time, without deteriorating fuel economy.
An exhaust emission control device of an internal combustion engine according to the present invention includes an exhaust emission purification catalyst device provided in an exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine, and having a NOx decreasing function of purifying or occluding NOx in an exhaust gas when an exhaust air-fuel ratio is a lean air-fuel ratio, and the reducing function of reducing hazardous substances in the exhaust gas when the exhaust air-fuel ratio is a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or a rich air-fuel ratio; NOx detection means for detecting or estimating the concentration of NOx released into the atmosphere; and control means for computing an NOx discharge released into the atmosphere based on an output from the NOx detection means, and stopping or suppressing an operation at a lean air-fuel ratio when detecting or expecting that a total NOx discharge exceeds a predetermined value before a vehicle reaches a predetermined driving period.
Thus, when the exhaust air-fuel ratio is a lean air-fuel ratio, NOx in the exhaust gas is purified or occluded. A total NOx discharge is computed from the concentration of NOx released into the atmosphere, with a predetermined driving period as a cycle. If it is detected or expected that the total NOx discharge exceeds the predetermined value before the predetermined driving period is reached, operation at the lean air-fuel ratio is stopped or suppressed, and the reducing function of the exhaust emission purification catalyst device is performed. Under any driving conditions, therefore, poor fuel economy is not induced. Under any driving conditions, moreover, the NOx discharge can be restricted to the desired value. Thus, a decrease in NOx discharge and a decrease in CO2 discharge can be achieved at the same time.
In the exhaust emission control device of an internal combustion engine according to the present invention, the control means may change the exhaust air-fuel ratio to a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or a rich air-fuel ratio when it detects that the total NOx discharge has exceeded the predetermined value before the vehicle reaches the predetermined driving period. By doing so, hazardous substances in the exhaust gas can be reduced, and the NOx decreasing function of the exhaust emission purification catalyst device can be regenerated immediately.
In the exhaust emission control device of an internal combustion engine according to the present invention, after changing the exhaust air-fuel ratio to the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or the rich air-fuel ratio when detecting that the total NOx discharge has exceeded the predetermined value before the vehicle reaches the predetermined driving period, the control means may maintain the exhaust air-fuel ratio at the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or the rich air-fuel ratio until the vehicle reaches the predetermined driving period. By doing so, NOx emission can be suppressed.
In the exhaust emission control device of an internal combustion engine according to the present invention, the control means may also decrease an operation region at the lean air-fuel ratio if the total NOx discharge is expected to exceed the predetermined value before the vehicle reaches the predetermined driving period. By doing so, the lean operation can be continued in an optimal driving state, with NOx emission being suppressed. Thus, fuel economy can be improved.
In the exhaust emission control device of an internal combustion engine according to the present invention, the control means may also change the operation region at the lean air-fuel ratio based on the total NOx discharge midway through the predetermined driving period. By doing so, the lean operation can be continued in an optimal driving state, with NOx emission being suppressed. Thus, fuel economy can be improved.
In the exhaust emission control device of an internal combustion engine according to the present invention, the control means may also reset the computation of the total NOx discharge and measurement of the predetermined driving period when the vehicle reaches the predetermined driving period. At this time point, control for NOx suppression is started.
In the exhaust emission control device of an internal combustion engine according to the present invention, if the total NOx discharge does not exceed the predetermined value even when the vehicle has reached the predetermined driving period, the control means may change the exhaust air-fuel ratio to a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or a rich air-fuel ratio after the total NOx discharge exceeds the predetermined value, and then the control means may reset the computation of the total NOx discharge and measurement of the predetermined driving period. At this point in time point, control for NOx suppression is started.
In the exhaust emission control device of an internal combustion engine according to the present invention, if the duration of the operation at the lean air-fuel ratio exceeds a predetermined threshold time, the control means may change the exhaust air-fuel ratio to a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or a rich air-fuel ratio. By doing so, the NOx decreasing function can be regenerated, with NOx emission being suppressed.
In the exhaust emission control device of an internal combustion engine according to the present invention, if the duration of the operation at the lean air-fuel ratio is a predetermined threshold time or more, and if the total NOx discharge or an average NOx concentration or an instantaneous NOx concentration is a predetermined value or more during the predetermined threshold time or more, the control means may change the exhaust air-fuel ratio to a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or a rich air-fuel ratio.
In the exhaust emission control device of an internal combustion engine according to the present invention, the control means may change the predetermined value for the total NOx discharge according to the vehicle speed. This makes NOx emission suppressing control possible according to the driving state of the vehicle.
In the exhaust emission control device of an internal combustion engine according to the present invention, the exhaust air-fuel ratio may be changed to a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or a rich air-fuel ratio in response to a driver""s acceleration action, and fuel injection into a cylinder in and after an expansion stroke may be used concomitantly at an initial stage of changing the air-fuel ratio. By doing so, NOx can be reduced at an early stage, so that the total NOx discharge can be decreased.

Exhaust emission control device of internal combustion engine

Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha


A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture is disclosed for providing a dental crowns using electronic models, and more particularly to a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for creating dental crowns using a lost-wax manufacturing process from electronic model files corresponding to patient teeth impressions and corresponding electronic models for tooth crowns. The system and method permit the electronic generation and specification of crown, bridge, and implant dental appliances that may be specified in an industry standard file specification. This specification is utilized in a rapid prototyping process to generate a wax impression for the appliance that may then be fabricated using standard lost-wax fabrication techniques.

Recently, computing systems have increased in computational power to permit the development of processing systems to generate, manipulate and utilize electronic mesh-based models for physical objects having sufficient spatial resolution to permit the replacement of physical models in many applications. The dental industry has for a long time utilized physical models to observe the interaction of patient's teeth with opposing teeth as well as the introduction of dental appliances such as crowns, bridges and implants (CBI) into a patient's mouth. These models are utilized to select, size and orient the CBI devices before the devices are placed into a patient's mouth. This use of physical models is expensive as it requires the creation of multiple models as a patient's treatment plan progresses. In addition, these physical models must be stored for later retrieval.
Computer based systems that allow the creation and use of electronic models of these impressions of teeth have been developed over time. Examples of such systems are described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application entitled, "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMPUTER GENERATION OF ELECTRONIC MODEL IMAGES", Ser. No. 60/351,270 filed Jan. 22, 2002, now U.S. patent application entitled, "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMPUTER GENERATION OF ELECTRONIC MODEL IMAGES", Ser. No. 10/350,302, filed Jan. 22, 2003; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application entitled, "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY DETERMINING THE LOCATION OF INDIVIDUAL TEETH WITHIN ELECTRONIC MODEL IMAGES", Ser. No. 60/351,271, filed Jan. 22, 2002, now U.S. patent application entitled, "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY DETERMINING THE LOCATION OF INDIVIDUAL TEETH WITHIN ELECTRONIC MODEL IMAGES", Ser. No. 10/350,304, filed Jan. 22, 2003. These applications are commonly assigned with the instant application and are incorporated by reference herein. These prior systems generated the electronic models and systems used to permit dentists to use the models in place of the physical models. The prior systems permit the manipulation of teeth within the model are part of designing a treatment plan for a patient.
These earlier systems, however, do not utilize dental CBI appliances in the electronic model processing. If an electronic model for such a CBI appliance is constructed electronically to fit a prep site found in an electronic model for a patient, a custom CBI appliance may be constructed that more accurately matches the patient's mouth. The entire manipulation of the CBI appliance may be performed electronically to obtain a more optimum dental solution for a patient with a resulting CBI appliance device created using a standard lost-wax manufacturing process based upon an electronic model generated for the CBI appliance. The present invention addresses the above limitations of prior dental electronic modeling systems.

Method and apparatus for constructing crowns, bridges and implants for dental use


Method of synthesizing cyclodextrin polymers either by reacting polyvinyl alcohol or cellulose or derivatives thereof with cyclodextrin derivatives or by copolymerizing cyclodextrin derivatives with vinyl acetate or methyl methacrylate, and process for producing cyclodextrin membranes by forming membranes using those cyclodextrin polymers.. The cyclodextrin polymers obtained by the present invention are capable of containing cyclodextrin as introduced at high levels and, in addition, cyclodextrin membranes obtained by using the cyclodextrin polymers of the present invention benefit from the fact that the polymers themselves have a film forming property and, hence, the membranes can be used on their own without needing other supporting membranes.

Cyclodextrin combines with various guest compounds in aqueous solutions to form structurally specific inclusion compounds. Thus, cyclodextrin containing solid membranes are expected to have unique performance, particularly in terms of separating and permeating capabilities and cyclodextrin, if it is supported on high polymers, is anticipated to exhibit various physical properties that have been impossible to obtain when it is used alone; since this brings about the advantage of expanded applications, it has been desired to develop a method by which cyclodextrin-containing membranes can be freely prepared.
As regards the preparation of such cyclodextrin membranes, Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Application No. 232210/1985 discloses a method in which the crystal of a cyclodextrin inclusion compound and a high polymer comprised of a compound having an isocyanate group are cast onto a commercial ultrafiltration membrane, and Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Application No. 258702/1987 discloses a method in which cyclodextrin reacted with a variety of monomers is copolymerized with acrylonitrile derivatives to obtain high polymers, which are then processed into membranes by known methods.
However, the method disclosed in Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Application No. 232210/1985, supra has the disadvantage that the cyclodextrin membrane cannot be used as the membrane of high polymer per se, whereas the method disclosed in Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Application No. 258702/1987 has had the problem that the degree of introduction of cyclodextrin in the obtained membrane of high polymer is so low as 3-4% that satisfactory characteristics cannot be achieved.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a method of synthesizing cyclodextrin polymers that enables cyclodextrin to be contained as introduced to high levels.
It is also the object of the present invention to provide a process for producing cyclodextrin membranes that contain cyclodextrin as introduced to high levels and that can be used on their own.


An apparatus for use in attaching a leg prosthesis. The purpose of this coupling device is to allow for the quick attachment or detachment of the prosthesis without removal of the bucket portion which is left connected to the wearer by suction or by a belt. The device is both self aligning and quick coupling. One plate has a plug and the other plate has a socket into which the plug fits. A threaded pin joins the two plates and forces the two plates, which are deliberately misaligned, together.

I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a quick coupler, particularly for a leg prosthesis, which coupler is self-aligning in use. The invention allows for rapid and convenient removal or attachment of a prosthesis to a wearer mounted bucket without removal of the entire apparatus.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Various prosthesic attachments have been devised typically to attach a temporary artificial limb to a wearer. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,131 discloses an artificial leg with detachable stump support sock.
This device is designed to provide a simple lightweight artificial leg and is to be used for an emergency leg or as a temporary convenience. It is apparently not intended for a complex artificial limb.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,461,464 discloses an artificial limb having interchangeable leg sections and length adjusting means. This device allows for the changing of a peg or an artificial foot. This device requires adjustment in a longitudinal plane at a distance away from the mounting portion.

Self aligning and quick coupling device for a prosthesis


A system for expression of a heterologous polypeptide in a transgenic host cell is disclosed. The system is based upon a transgene comprising a eukaryotic promoter operably linked to a DNA sequence comprising, in the 5′ to 3′ direction, a DNA sequence complementary to a sequence encoding a heterologous polypeptide, a DNA sequence complementary to an internal ribosome entry site, and a DNA sequence corresponding to a 3′ untranslated region of a positive strand single-stranded RNA virus. Following introduction of a stimulus, the host cell synthesizes an RNA molecule complementary to a recombinant RNA encoded by the transgene. The stimulus can be a positive strand single-stranded RNA virus or a nucleic acid thereof. Because the complement of the recombinant RNA comprises an internal ribosome entry site and a sequence encoding a heterologous polypeptide, the host cell can synthesize the heterologous polypeptide.

A transgene construct for expressing a heterologous polypeptide in a host cell, seed or organism usually comprises a promoter operably linked to a nucleic acid encoding a heterologous polypeptide. However, transgene expression can be toxic to the host cell, seed or organism, or inhibit growth of the host cell, seed or organism. Furthermore, in the case of transgenic plants, transgenic crop seed can contaminate non-transgenic seed, causing the appearance of an unwanted heterologous polypeptide in a crop. One solution to such problems has been to provide transgene constructs comprising an inducible promoter. In a host cell, cell culture, or organism harboring a transgene comprising an inducible promoter controlling a transgene, expression of the transgene can be delayed until the host cell, cell culture, or organism reaches a predetermined condition or stage of development, size, or cell density. Transcription of the transgene is then induced using a stimulus appropriate for the promoter. However, a significant problem with the use of an inducible promoter to direct transgene expression is that an inducible promoter can support background levels of transgene transcription (i.e., are "leaky") in the absence of the stimulus. Thus, the host cell comprises RNA coding for the heterologous polypeptide, even in the absence of the stimulus. This RNA can be translated, resulting in background levels of heterologous polypeptide. For example, in host cells comprising a recombinant inducible promoter, the molar concentration ratio of a heterologous polypeptide in an induced host cell compared to an uninduced host cell, can be, for example, about 10:1. Expression of a transgene due to leaky transcription from an inducible promoter can lead to the same kinds of problems encountered when a constitutively active promoter is used. Therefore, it would be useful to provide a system for transgene expression in which the level of expression of the transgene in an unstimulated cell is not measurably greater than in a non-transgenic cell of the same type.
RNA viruses, nucleic acids thereof, and DNA copies of RNA viral sequences have been used to control expression of transgenes. RNA viruses can comprise single-stranded RNA or double-stranded RNA. Single-stranded RNA viruses are either "positive-strand" or "negative-strand" RNA viruses. A positive-strand single-stranded RNA virus comprises sequence in the same reading sense as viral mRNA(s). With the exception of positive strand single-stranded RNA retroviruses, which use a DNA intermediate, replication and transcription of a positive-strand RNA virus involves synthesis of a complementary (negative strand) RNA copy of the viral genome. Synthesis of a complementary RNA copy requires an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RDRP) encoded within the viral genome. Viral replication in a cell involves a replication complex comprising the RDRP. During the replication process, the replication complex binds to the 3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR) of the viral RNA, and initiates synthesis of the complementary strand (van Rossum, C. M. A., et al., J. Gen. Virol. 78: 3045-3049, 1997).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,433,248 B1 to Lommel et al. discloses a method of activating transcription of an RNA of interest in a cell. The disclosed method includes the steps of (a) providing a host cell containing a heterologous construct, the heterologous construct comprising an RNA virus subgenomic promoter operatively associated with a heterologous RNA of interest, wherein the promoter does not initiate transcription of the heterologous RNA in the absence of a corresponding RNA virus trans-activating RNA segment, and where the RNA virus trans-activating RNA segment is absent from the host cell; and (b) introducing a trans-activating nucleic acid segment into the host cell so that transcription of the heterologous RNA is initiated. The method relies on the use of a viral trans-activating RNA segment, and because of the presence of RNA comprising coding sequence for the heterologous polypeptide in an uninduced host, is still subject to background levels of expression. Furthermore, unlike the present disclosure, the method does not utilize an RNA sequence complementary to an internal ribosome entry site.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,462,255 B1 to Thurpen discloses high level expression of foreign genes in plants using viral replicons, wherein the replicons code for at least one foreign gene and possess sequences required in cis for replication. Unlike the present disclosure, because of the presence of RNA comprising coding sequence for the heterologous polypeptide in an uninduced host, the methods described are still subject to background levels of expression. Furthermore, the patent does not disclose an RNA comprising an antisense coding sequence, and anti-IRES, and a 3′ UTR as set forth in the present disclosure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,326,480 B1 to Kovelman et al. discloses a reporter system for assaying positive strand RNA virus replication. The invention describes antisense reporter plasmids comprising a promoter operably linked to a DNA sequence encoding: (a) a sequence complementary to the 3′ end of a viral genome; (b) a reporter gene in antisense orientation; and (c) a sequence complementary to the 5′ end of the viral genome. The patent further describes antisense reporter mRNAs encoding: (a) a sequence complementary to a 3′ end of a viral genome; (b) a reporter gene in antisense orientation; and (c) a sequence complementary to a 5′ end of the viral genome. Unlike the present disclosure, this patent does not disclose a recombinant RNA comprising a sequence complementary to the coding sequence of a heterologous polypeptide, a sequence complementary to an internal ribosome entry site, and a viral 3′ untranslated region, nor does it describe a recombinant mRNA molecule comprising an internal ribosome binding site operably linked to an RNA sequence encoding a heterologous polypeptide and the complement of an internal ribosome entry site.
US Patent Application Publication US 2002/0138873 A1 to Lewandowski et al. discloses a multiple component RNA vector system, consisting of an RNA replicon comprising a 5′ non-translated region, an open reading frame (ORF) homologous to an ORF of an intact or fragments of a non-structural protein of an RNA virus, a sequence non-native to the RNA virus, and a 3′ non-translated region. The recombinant RNA molecules of the present invention do not require an open reading frame (ORF) homologous to an ORF of an intact or fragments of a non-structural protein of an RNA virus or a 5′ non-translated region.
Powell et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86: 6949-6952, 1989) disclosed transgenic tobacco plants that express RNA sequences complementary to the tobacco mosaic virus coat protein coding sequence comprising a tRNA-like structure at the 3′ end of the TMV RNA. Transgenic plants that expressed RNA sequences complementary to the coat protein coding region and the 3′ untranslated region, including the tRNA-like sequences, when challenged with TMV, were protected from infection at low levels of inoculum. These findings did not disclose synthesis or expression of an RNA comprising the complement of a 3′ UTR, an IRES and coding sequence of a heterologous polypeptide.
Zaccomer et al (Gene 136: 87-94, 1993) reported experiments with transgenic rapeseed (Brassica napus) in which the transgenes comprised either a sense or antisense coding sequence of a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene upstream from a positive strand 3′-terminal 100 nucleotides of the noncoding region of the turnip yellow mosaic virus. RNA complementary to the initial transcript was detected after infection of a host transgenic plant with turnip yellow mosaic virus.
These findings did not disclose synthesis or expression of an RNA comprising the complement of a 3′ UTR, an IRES and coding sequence of a heterologous polypeptide.
Teycheney et al (J. Gen. Virol. 81: 1121-1126, 2000) reported that transcripts of transgenes comprising the 3′ UTR of Lettuce mosaic virus could serve as template for synthesis of complementary negative strand RNA following infection of host tobacco plants with Tobacco etch virus, Tobacco vein mottle virus or Pepper mottle virus, but not with Cucumber mosaic virus. These workers also showed that deletion of the 3′ UTR from the transgene abolished the synthesis of negative strands. These findings did not disclose synthesis or expression of an RNA comprising the complement of a 3′ UTR, an IRES and coding sequence of a heterologous polypeptide.
Therefore, provision of a recombinant RNA comprising a sequence complementary to the coding sequence of a heterologous polypeptide (an "anti-sense coding sequence"), a sequence complementary to an internal ribosome entry site (an "anti-IRES"), and a viral 3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR) as set forth herein, and which is not expected to provide sense strand coding sequence for a heterologous polypeptide prior to stimulation or activation of synthesis of a complementary strand of the recombinant RNA, has not been reported or suggested heretofore.

Board of Trustees Operating Michigan State University


A biochemical detection unit for detecting a sample and a biochemical device having the biochemical detection unit and a releasing unit are provided. The biochemical detection unit includes a photoconductor plate, a receptor, and a resistance sensing component. The receptor specifically binds to the sample so that the illumination projected on the photoconductor plate will change to vary the resistance value of the photoconductor of the photoconductor plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a biochemical detection unit. Particularly, the present invention relates to a biochemical detection unit having a photoconductor and a biochemical device having the biochemical detection unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally speaking, biochips refer to applicable biochemical analysis products manufactured with materials such as glass, silicon chip, or plastic through microelectronics or/and micromechanical industrial technologies, wherein the intended target subjects of the biochips may include genes, proteins, cell structures, or any other separable compounds from the environment. The main characteristic of biochip technologies lies in the high credibility and accuracy levels of its analyses, the fast analysis speed, the low usage of samples and reagents in analyses, and the procurement capabilities of holistic (parallel) experimental data.
The conceptual source of biochips originated in the late '80s of the 20th century where many western research units realized that the development and application of biochips—products realized from the integration of microelectronics, micromechanics, life science, and bioinformation—would inevitably cause a biotechnological revolution in the 21th century. Overall, although international biochip research is still in the early developmental stages, several important and major achievements have already been accomplished, such as gene chips (DNA chip, Microarray), protein chips, Microfluidics, and Lab-on-a-chip. Among these different research branches, gene chip is furthest along in development. Presently, biochips mentioned in academic research or in the biotechnology industry refer mostly to gene chips.
Gene chips can be classified into two types depending on the DNA sample preparation methods. The first type is prepared by light-directed synthesis, developed by Affymetrix Incorporated, which is a combination of chemical synthesis and photolithography. The second type is prepared by contact printing, developed by Stanford University, which involves fixating in high density pre-synthesized DNA to glass slides with robotic arms at high speeds. This form of high density chip formation is commonly known as Microarray and is currently the most popular industry.
International Standards of Gene Microarray involves spotting the probes onto the surface of a chemically coated glass slide in manner of high density so that a typical amount in the range of thousands or tens of thousands of DNA or cDNA are fixated thereof, while the sample for testing is the nucleic acids of the cDNA (target). The glass slide and the sample then undergo hybridization. Due to the fact that DNA double helices have specific complementary characteristics that are analogous to a zipper's characteristic, the targeted nucleic acids in the sample will bind to the cDNA microarray at the spotting of the probe containing the complementary nucleic acid sequence by means of hybridization. Then, after washing away any unhybridized nucleic acids in the sample, the spots where hybridization had occurred may be recorded through utilizing labeling objects (such as fluorescence, radiation, enzyme reaction colorization) contained in the probes for further scanning and analysis.
Since there may be thousands or tens of thousands of gene spots on a biochip, the colored pattern formed by the labeling object requires proper recordation and comparison. As well, the colored pattern may change according to the duration of reaction. Therefore, a great challenge in Microarray technology is comparison of the color variance and the determination of hybridization spots. Based on the mentioned challenges above, the present invention provides a reasonable and effective design to overcome said challenges.

Biochemical detection unit and biochemical device having the same


A method for modeling variation includes identifying delay-impacting parameters associated with path elements in arrival paths and required paths. Arrival time traversal and required time traversal are performed for the arrival paths and required paths based on assumptions made for the delay-impacting parameters associated with the path elements.

Target devices such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), structured application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and ASICs are used to implement large systems that may include million of gates and megabits of embedded memory. The complexity of a large system often requires the use of electronic design automation (EDA) tools to create and optimize a design for the system in physical target devices. Among the procedures performed by EDA tools in a computer aided design (CAD) compilation flow are synthesis, placement, routing, and timing analysis of the system on the target device.
Silicon devices used for target devices have seen the trends of more aggressive performance targets and dropping supply voltages from generation to generation. Transistor threshold voltages have not been keeping up with the dropping supply voltages. As a result, transistors are not turned on as well as they have been in the past, which in turn means that the delays of gates and buffers are growing more sensitive to supply voltage changes. Increased path delay variation manifests as increased cycle-to-cycle delay variation, otherwise known as jitter. Jitter is a form of timing uncertainty that acts to reduce timing margins which are continually shrinking as performance targets are increased.
It is important to model the impact of jitter on timing margins. In particular, what is needed is a model flexible enough to cover two usage scenarios. The first scenario involves designers working with characterized field programmable gate array (FPGA) silicon. These designers expect timing analysis to report accurate and conservative timing margins that allow them to evaluate design options such as performance targets, input output placement, clocking strategies, and registering and placement of intellectual property (IP) blocks. Part of this analysis will include estimates of jitter accumulation along clock and data paths that are customized to the FPGA configurations being studied. The second scenario involves FPGA architects evaluating sets of features to offer in future generations of FPGA. These architects require reasonable predictions of timing margins to evaluate alternative structures and to assess whether features justify their area, power, and design effort costs.

Method and apparatus for considering paths influenced by different power supply domains in timing analysis


Technologies are generally described for a speech recognition scheme. In some examples, a method performed under control of a speech recognition system may include receiving, from a first device, first data including a first signal captured by the first device, first location information of the first device, and first time information corresponding to the captured first signal; cancelling first noise from the captured first signal based at least in part on the first location information and the first time information, and estimating a first voice signal of a first user of the first device, wherein the first noise is associated with a second voice signal of a second user of a second device located adjacent to the first device; and translating the first voice signal into a first command for the first device.

Speech recognition has been commonplace in various fields. For example, many applications for high-end electronic devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, etc.) have been developed for providing natural language user interfaces using speech recognition, such as Siri™ of Apple Inc., voice keyboard of Google Inc., and so on. A speech recognition system translates a user's voice into a machine-executable command, so that the user can just speak to manipulate his/her device.


An image forming apparatus includes a toner container. The toner container includes an opening/closing portion and an operation portion. The image forming apparatus includes a drive transmission portion and a detection portion. When the lever of the operation portion is swingingly operated, the operation driving force of the operation is transmitted to the opening/closing portion via a first rotation portion and a second rotation portion. This allows a shutter cylinder to move from a closing position to an opening position. In addition, when the second rotation portion is rotated, a detected bar of the detection portion moves from a second position to a first position. The detection portion detects that a toner discharge outlet is opened, by detecting that the detected bar has moved to the first position.

The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus in which a toner case is attached to the apparatus main body, and specifically to an image forming apparatus that can detect an opening/closing state of the toner discharge outlet through which toner is supplied from the toner case to the apparatus main body.
There is known an image forming apparatus which is a copier, a printer or the like that forms an image on a print sheet based on the electrophotography. A developing device is installed in the image forming apparatus. Inside the developing device, developer including toner is stored. The developing device develops, with the toner included in the developer, an electrostatic latent image that has been formed on an image carrier such as a photoconductor drum. As developing is performed by the developing device, the toner inside the developing device is reduced. As a result, a toner case storing the toner is attached to the image forming apparatus such that the toner is supplied from the toner case to the developing device. The toner case is configured to be attachable/detachable with respect to the image forming apparatus. When the toner in the toner case is used up, the toner case is replaced with a new toner case filled with toner.
The toner case of this type has a toner discharge outlet through which toner is supplied to the developing device. The toner discharge outlet is configured to be opened and closed by an opening/closing mechanism that includes a shutter member or the like. Conventionally, there has been known an image forming apparatus that opens or closes the toner discharge outlet of the toner case in conjunction with an opening/closing operation of a cover member of the image forming apparatus, which exposes or closes an attachment portion to which the toner case is attached.