An LCD panel and a method for manufacturing the LCD panel are disclosed. The LCD panel comprises: an array substrate, a color filter substrate, and a liquid crystal layer filled between the array substrate and the color filter substrate. The color filter substrate comprises: a transparent conductive metal oxide film, and first and second conductive metal strips electrically connected with the transparent conductive metal oxide film. The first and second conductive metal strips are configured to conduct a current, which flows through the transparent conductive metal oxide film, causing the transparent conductive metal oxide film to heat the liquid crystal layer.

A liquid crystal has both a birefringence characteristic of a crystal and a liquid fluidity characteristic of a liquid. A Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) is a display device which operates based on an optical property of a liquid crystal molecule changing under the effect of an external electric field. Various types of LCDs are used, and have been widely applied to a variety of displays and electronic instruments. However, due to a material limitation of a liquid crystal, the response time of the liquid crystal is high at a low temperature. The increased response time of the liquid crystal deteriorates an image display quality, resulting in streaking and smears of a dynamic image. If the temperature drops enough (e.g. below −30° C.), the orientation layer of the display device will crystallize due to the nonexistence of the liquid crystal state, thus an image cannot be displayed due to the loss of the liquid crystal liquid characteristic.
In order to solve the above problems, a heater may be employed to heat the LCD screen in the prior art. For example, Chinese patent No. CN2503560Y discloses a liquid crystal display module which functions normally under a ultralow temperature. The display module includes a printed circuit board, an LED backlight, a liquid crystal display, and a heater provided between the LED backlight and the liquid crystal display, where the heater is a glass plate with a transparent conductive film, and electrodes are arranged adjacent to both short sides of the glass plate and may be inserted into insertion holes at both lateral sides of the printed circuit board.
In the prior art, the heater provided between the backlight and the liquid crystal display device increases the thickness of the liquid crystal display module and the structural complexity.
Further in the use of the liquid crystal display, after the voltage applied on the liquid crystal cell is removed, the electric field in the liquid crystal cell will not disappear instantaneously due to electrostatic induction, and pixels are still at least partly in the display state.
Many manufacturers add an antistatic agent is into the liquid crystal to reduce the residual time, but the antistatic agent reduces the reliability of the liquid crystal display due to the addition of foreign matters into the liquid crystal. In addition, other methods for reducing the static electricity may also increase the structural complexity.
In view of the increasing demands for light-weight, thin, short and small electronic products, there is a need for liquid crystal display devices that are more compact in the structure to reduce the weight and function properly at low temperatures.

Liquid crystal display panel and method for manufacturing the same

Xiamen Tianma Micro-Electronics Co., Ltd.


The invention relates to a honeycomb monolithic element for the filtration of particles, characterized in that the peripheral channels forming part of the outer wall of said element are configured to help in the formation of an outer wall whose inner face is substantially flat over the whole length of the element and in that said flat wall also has an increased thickness at the corners, so that, on a cross section, the ratio R of the thickness Ec of the wall, measured along the bisecting line of the angle at a corner of the element, over the minimal thickness Emin of said wall is greater than 1.5.

The invention relates to the field of particle filters particularly used in an exhaust line of an engine for the elimination of soot produced by the combustion of a diesel fuel in an internal combustion engine.
The filtration structures for the soot contained in internal combustion engine exhaust gases are well known in the prior art. These structures most frequently have a honeycomb structure, one of the faces of the structure allowing the intake of the exhaust gases to be filtered and the other face the discharge of the filtered exhaust gases. The structure comprises, between the intake and discharge faces, a set of adjacent ducts or channels with axes parallel with one another separated by porous filtration walls, said ducts being stopped at one or other of their ends in order to delimit the inlet chambers opening on the intake face and the outlet chambers opening on the discharge face. For a good seal, the peripheral portion of the structure is most frequently surrounded by a coating cement. The channels or ducts are alternately stopped in an order such that the exhaust gases, as they pass through the honeycomb body, are forced to pass through the side walls of the inlet channels to join the outlet channels. In this manner, the particles or soot are deposited and accumulate on the porous walls of the filtering body. Most frequently, the filtering bodies used in motor vehicle exhaust lines are made of porous ceramic material, for example of cordierite or of silicon carbide.
In a known manner, during its use, the particle filter is subjected to a succession of filtration phases (accumulation of soot) and of regeneration (elimination of soot). During the filtration phases, the soot particles emitted by the engine are retained and deposited inside the filter. During the regeneration phases, the soot particles are burned inside the filter, in order to restore thereto its filtration properties. The porous structure is then subjected to intense thermo-mechanical stresses, which may cause micro-cracks that are likely over time to cause a severe loss of the filtration capabilities of the unit, and even its complete deactivation. This phenomenon is particularly observed on large diameter monolithic filters. Specifically, in the operation of an exhaust line, it has been observed that the temperature gradient between the center and the periphery of such structures increases as the dimensions of the monolith increase.
To solve these problems and increase the service life of the filters, filtration structures have more recently been proposed combining several monolithic honeycomb blocks or elements. The elements are most frequently assembled together by bonding by means of an adhesive or a cement of a ceramic nature, called in the rest of the description a joint cement. Examples of such filtering structures are for example described in patent applications EP 816 065, EP 1 142 619, EP 1 455 923, WO 2004/090294 or else WO 2005/063462. In order to provide a better relaxation of the stresses in an assembled structure, it is known that the heat expansion coefficients of the various portions of the structure (filtration elements, coating cement, joint cement) must be substantially of the same order. Consequently, said portions are advantageously synthesized based on one and the same material, most frequently silicon carbide SiC or cordierite. This choice also makes it possible to even out the heat distribution during the regeneration of the filter.
To increase the filtration surface of said filter, at a constant filter volume, filtering elements whose shape and internal volume of the inlet and outlet channels are different have been proposed, for example in patent application WO 05/016491. In such structures, the wall elements succeed one another, in cross section and along a horizontal and/or vertical row of channels, to define a sinusoidal or wavy shape. The wall elements undulate typically by a half sine wave period over the width of a channel.
To improve the thermomechanical strength of the elements having such a wavy shape of the channels and consequently of the filter assembled from said elements having this particular channel shape, a honeycomb structure has been proposed in WO 05/063462 whose ratio R, characterizing two adjacent peripheral channels, between the average thickness "E" of the set of outer walls and the average thickness "e" of the set of inner walls of said channels, is greater than 1.2. It is indicated in this application that such a configuration makes it possible to reduce the risk of cracks that may appear particularly when local high amplitude stresses are generated during the regeneration phases, particularly due to high temperature gradients existing within the filter and the different types of materials used for the monolithic elements and the joint cement.
Although such an increased thickness of the walls indeed makes it possible to significantly improve the thermomechanical strength of the filters assembled from such elements, it nevertheless also causes a not insignificant weight increase of the filters, typically of the order of 5.5 to 7.5%.
This weight increase has the disadvantage of increasing the thermal inertia of the filter, which causes an excess consumption during the regeneration phases and, when the filter incorporates a catalytic component, impairs its catalytic efficiency due to the increased activation (or energizing) time of the catalyzer.

Monolithic element with reinforced corners for the filtration of particles

SAINT-GOBAIN Centre de Recherches et d'Etudes European


A photo and pressure sensitive printer permitting the feeding and discharging of a photosensitive recording medium at the front of the printer housing, having a compact design and slim built, which can easily be integrated into other equipment, such as a personal computer, etc., at low cost. A self-coloring microcapsule sheet supporting microcapsules is ejected from a cartridge at the front of the printer housing in the Y direction, and being preheated by a film heater to increase the sensitivity, a latent image is formed by exposure on the front face thereof while the exposure-scan is performed by a movement in the main scanning direction of a LED-type exposure head. Thereafter, an upper nip roller of a developing mechanism is moved from a separated position to a pressing position and the exposed microcapsule sheet is moved backward in the -Y direction, the capsules with low mechanical strength are ruptured by pressure and a full color image is formed on the microcapsule sheet, heat-fixing is performed by the film heater and the microcapsule sheet is discharged from the front of the printer housing.

The present invention relates to an image forming device, and more particularly to an image forming device used in combination with a personal computer, for coloring by pressure development, after a latent image has been formed by exposure based on image information, a photosensitive recording medium capable of forming a latent image by exposure and comprising a plurality of microcapsules, that undergo a change of strength when irradiated with light of a predetermined wavelength, encapsulating a coloring material.
Image forming systems are known according to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,440,846 and 4,399,209 wherein a photosensitive recording medium having a photosensitive layer including microcapsules comprising photosensitive material and encapsulating a coloring material is colored by pressure development after exposure to radiation based on image information. The microcapsules, whose mechanical strength changes when exposed to light, are ruptured by means of pressure development, whereupon the coloring material and other substances encapsulated in the microcapsules flow out and development occurs. An image forming color developing material, such as a substantially colorless color former, is typically encapsulated in the microcapsules, and when the microcapsules rupture, the color former reacts as coloring material with the developer material and coloring occurs.
In the image forming systems of the patents mentioned before, by passing the exposed photosensitive recording medium between a pair of an upper and a lower nip roller during pressure development, the microcapsules that were not photocured and those that were photo-softened are ruptured, whereupon development occurs. Moreover, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,699 a development technique is described which, instead of the pair of nip rollers, uses a point contact ball moving relative to the photosensitive recording medium.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,809 further discloses an image forming device for exposure by selectively guiding a white light emitted from a white light source across a photosensitive recording medium according to a printing pattern. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,809 also discloses an image forming device for exposure by guiding a light from a light source for a plurality of colors across a photosensitive recording medium. And U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,822 discloses an image forming device for repeatedly exposing the same pixels in a photosensitive recording medium capable of producing a plurality of color s via a polygonal mirror, respectively.
Next, the photo and pressure sensitive printer that can be inferred from the photo and pressure type image forming devices (called "photo and pressure sensitive printer" hereafter) disclosed in the plurality of patents will be explained.
The photo and pressure sensitive printer 200 shown in FIG. 19 comprises a printer housing 201, a lightproof cartridge 203, for accommodating photosensitive recording media 202, mounted to the front of the printer housing 201 so as to be easily detachable, a feed mechanism including a feed roller 204, a transport path 206 for transporting the photosensitive recording medium in a predominantly straight line from the feed roller 204 to the discharge roller 205, transport rollers 207 and a discharge roller 205 of the transport path 206, a preheating device 208 for preheating the photosensitive recording medium 202, an exposure mechanism 209 (including guide rods 210, a carriage 211 and an exposure head 211a) for exposing, while scanning in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the drawing, the transported photosensitive recording medium 202, a developing mechanism 212 for pressure development by means of a pair of an upper and a lower nip roller 214 and 215 including a roller maintained under pressure by a spring 213, a fixing heater 216 for heat-fixing the developed photosensitive recording medium 202, a discharge tray 217 provided at the rear end of the printer housing 201, etc.
The photo and pressure sensitive printer 220 shown in FIG. 20 is designed so that sheets are both fed and discharged at the front side of the printer housing 221. The printer 220 comprises a printer housing 221, a lightproof cartridge 223, for accommodating photosensitive recording media 222, mounted to the front of the printer housing 221 so as to be easily detachable, a feed mechanism including a feed roller 224, a transport path 225, whose side elevation is predominantly in the shape of the letter "U" lying on its side, for transporting the photosensitive recording medium 222 from the feed roller 224 to the discharge roller 229, transport rollers 226 to 228 and a discharge roller 229 of the transport path 225, a preheating device 230 for preheating the photosensitive recording medium 222, an exposure mechanism 231 (including guide rods 232, a carriage 233 and an exposure head 234) for exposing, while scanning in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the drawing, the transported photosensitive recording medium 222, a developing mechanism 235 for pressure development by means of a pair of an upper and a lower nip roller 238 and 237 including a roller maintained under pressure by a spring 236, a fixing heater 239 for heat-fixing the developed photosensitive recording medium 222, a discharge tray 240 provided at the rear end of the printer housing 221, etc.
When attempting to integrate one of the photo and pressure sensitive printers into a standard-sized open front storage bay of the tower enclosure for a personal computer (e.g. the 5 inch bay: 149 mm wide, 42 mm high and 208 mm deep: 5.9.times.1.7.times.8.2 inches), the photo and pressure sensitive printer 200 shown in FIG. 19 cannot be used because of its discharge tray, which is projecting from the rear end of the printer housing. Moreover, with this printer the handling of the photosensitive recording media is made difficult, since it is supplied from the front of the printer and discharged at the rear end.
In this respect the photo and pressure sensitive printer 220 shown in FIG. 20 is more advantageous than the printer shown in FIG. 19, because the photosensitive recording media is both supplied and discharged at the front of the printer housing, however, since it is necessary to form a transport path for the photosensitive recording media in the shape of the letter "U" lying on its side, the overall height of the printer housing increases to a point where it becomes all but impossible to integrate the printer into the standard-sized storage bay of a personal computer. A further disadvantage is that the total length of the transport path for transporting the photosensitive recording media increases, which results in higher manufacturing costs because of the greater number of parts necessary for the transport mechanism.
Furthermore, the use of 2 heaters, one for preheating and the other for fixing, as in the photo and pressure sensitive printers previously described, has the disadvantage that manufacturing costs increase because of the greater number of heater parts and the added wiring.


A method of operating a variable resistance memory device comprises determining a level of an access voltage based on a number of rows or columns of a cell array, and supplying the access voltage having the determined level to the cell array.

The inventive concept relates generally to electronic memory technologies. More particularly, the inventive concept relates to variable resistance memory devices and related methods of operation.
Semiconductor memory devices can be roughly divided into two categories according to whether they retain stored information when disconnected from power. These categories include volatile memory devices, which lose stored information when disconnected from power, and nonvolatile memory devices, which retain stored information when disconnected from power.
Among nonvolatile memory devices, flash memory has achieved popularity in recent years due to attractive features such as relatively high performance and storage capacity, relatively low cost and power consumption, and an ability to withstand physical shock. Nevertheless, there is a continuing demand for flash memory devices and other forms of nonvolatile memory having even greater integration density and storage capacity. Consequently, in an effort to address this demand, researchers are continually investigating new types of nonvolatile memory devices and improving existing nonvolatile memory devices.
Examples of nonvolatile memory that have been proposed as potential alternatives to flash memory include a ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) using a ferroelectric capacitor, a magnetic RAM (MRAM) using a tunneling magneto-resistive (TRM) film, a phase change memory device using chalcogenide alloys, and a resistive RAM (RRAM) using a variable resistance material as a data storing medium.
In an RRAM, the variable resistance material film may exhibit reversible resistance variation according to a polarity or a magnitude of an applied electrical pulse. In general, a variable resistance element, such as the variable resistance material film, can be classified as a unipolar element or a bipolar element according to a polarity of a write pulse used to program it. In a unipolar variable resistance element, a polarity of a "set pulse" may be substantially identical to that of a "reset pulse". In a bipolar variable resistance element, a polarity of a set pulse may be opposite to that of a reset pulse.
RRAM is considered to have the potential for relatively high speed, data storage capacity, and other attractive performance characteristics. Accordingly, RRAM continues to be the subject of significant research and development.

Variable resistance memory device and related method of operation


A surface finishing ball of compressible material, adapted to be driven on a rotational axis is made from a layered body of compressible material that is formed in multiple disk-like layers that are separated in planes generally perpendicular to the rotational axis. Layers are also slit on circumferentially spaced planes that extend generally radially from an outside surface to define a plurality of foam fingers. A clamping system is used to compress and hold a center portion of the layered body in a direction along the axis of rotation such that the uncompressed outer ends of the fingers define a generally spherical ball.

The present invention pertains to a rotary buffing or finishing device adapted to be attached to and driven by a powered operating tool or the like and, more particularly, to a buffing ball made at least partly of a plastic foam piece which is slit and compressed to form a ball for buffing, polishing and finishing a painted surface. Alternately, compressible non-foam materials may also be used.
Foam buffing pads are well known in the art and typically comprise circular, generally flat-faced pads attached to a circular backing plate which, in turn, is attached to a rotary or orbital powered operating tool. It is also known to make foam buffing pads by attaching a dense array of individual plastic foam fingers to a backing substrate such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,515. It is also known to make a buffing ball from a stack of thin circular layers of a cloth material, such as felt, that are slit radially inwardly from their outer edges and clamped axially such that the layers take on a somewhat spherical shape, when rotated, comprising an array of cloth fingers. The ball is mounted for rotation on the axis along which the cloth layers are pressed together to provide what is more accurately described as a buffing cylinder.
Because the prior art buffing ball is made of individual thin layers of cloth that are only slightly compressible and are stacked and clamped axially along the center axis, there is a tendency for relative rubbing movement between the layers which can result in fretting and wearing of the cloth. Also, because the individual layers are inherently thin, there is also a tendency for the fingers to tear more easily from the body of the cloth layer.

Buffing ball made of compressible material


Apparatus configured to enable the staking of an interfacing part to a base is provided. The apparatus includes a retainer configured to convey a stake and the interfacing part to the base. The apparatus is further configured to provide a heat and/or vibration to effect the simultaneous attachment of the stake to the base and the interfacing part to the base.

It may be necessary to attach together two interfacing parts. One method of achieving this is via the provision of a heat stake, as illustrated in prior art FIGS. 1A and 1B. FIGS. 1A and 1B show a base 1 provided with a stake 2 and an interfacing part 3. The action of heat staking joins the interfacing part 3 to the base 1. This occurs when a tool 4 is brought into contact with the stake 2 which deforms thus holding the base 1 and the interfacing part 3 together. The tool 4 may operate by any one of a number of different methods, including vibration. In order for this technique to be effective the stake 2 is manufactured as an integral part of the base 1. However, there are some applications and locations where parts could be effectively joined through heat staking, but the base cannot be manufactured with an integral stake.
It is against this background that the present invention has arisen. To solve at least some of the aforementioned problems the inventors have provided an apparatus configured to enable the staking of an interfacing part to a base. The apparatus including a retainer configured to convey a stake and the interfacing part to the base. The apparatus is also configured to provide a heat and/or vibration to effect the simultaneous attachment of the stake to the base and the interfacing part to the base. The apparatus enables the stake to be attached to the base simultaneously with the interfacing part being attached to the base. This is very useful in circumstances where the nature or orientation of the base prevents the stake from being formed integrally with the base. For example, where the stake would need to extend perpendicular to the extraction direction of the molding tool so the stake cannot be formed at that location. In one example, the stake may be temporarily attached to the interfacing part whilst being conveyed by the apparatus toward the base. In this way, the stake and interfacing part may be temporarily connected to enable efficient transport of the stake and interfacing part towards the base, prior to attaching the interfacing part to the base. Additionally, temporarily attaching the stake to the interfacing part enables the stake and interfacing part to be accurately guided toward the base in a coordinated manner.
In another example, the stake may be hollow and the apparatus may further include a metal rod configured to extend through the stake. The metal rod may prevent the stake from flexing and also act as a thermal guide during the attachment process. The metal rod may protrude from the apparatus to a position adjacent to, but not touching, the base, during the attachment process. This allows the rod to guide the stake and ensure that it is correctly positioned and does not flex. The metal rod may also help heat to be transferred through the length of the rod to the stake. Consequently, the interfacing part may be accurately and robustly coupled to the base via a stake.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.


An illuminated toy sword includes a handle. A light source mounted in said handle provides focused light. A light rod has a first end and a second end, the first end being optically coupled to the light source. The light source is focused upon the second end of the light rod, such that the light rod is substantially evenly illuminated.

This invention is directed to a novel amusement device and, in particular, to an illuminating toy sword or wand that combines the use of light and sound to produce the effect of a light saber or magic wand.
Toy swords are well known in the art and have been made of grey plastic molded in the shape of the sword, to look like real metal swords. These swords have been designed to look realistic, to attract attention and to captivate children. However, these toy swords suffer from the disadvantage that they have no play value beyond their use as an imitation sword. Also, prior art toy swords do not stimulate the imagination of the child, encourage the use of the sword by the child or maintain the interest of the child over extended periods of time.
To overcome this deficiency toy manufacturers have developed toy light sabers or laser light swords for children. These toy swords included a flashlight with a plastic sword member covering the light bulb. While serving a purpose, these swords were large, bulky and less than adequate. Such swords suffered from a disadvantage that they provide non-uniform illumination and do not provide a desired scrolling effect to add realism to the toy.
Further, toy magic wands are also known in the art. These wands consist merely of handles with a wand attached thereto that contains sparkle or other types of mylar pieces and a regular incandescent light bulb therein to cause illumination. However, a disadvantage of these wands is that they do not provide the magical sound effects normally associated with the familiar effect sought to be obtained or uniform illumination of the wand with an aesthetically pleasing illuminated tip at the end thereof.
Accordingly, an improved toy light sword or magic wand that provides enhanced play value by combining light and sound to provide a realistic light saber or magic wand is desired.


A secure network of electronic elements (“network”) ensures the electronic elements that implement an electronic device are functioning properly. The network selects at least one master electronic element to consistently check that each of the electronic elements are functioning properly. When the master electronic element identifies that an electronic element is not functioning properly, the network executes a predefined response, such as a counter measure that limits the functional capability of the improperly functioning electronic element or other electronic elements. Electronic elements can identify when a master electronic element is improperly functioning by observing that the master electronic element has ceased checking on the electronic elements. The secure network can then execute a response that includes the counter measure of limiting the functional capability of the improperly functioning master electronic element and assigning a new master electronic element.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to a network of electronic elements in an electronic device. More specifically, this disclosure relates to securely ensuring the proper functioning of a network of electronic elements in an electronic device.
2. Related Art
With the rapid advance of technology in the past decades, complex electronic devices are in widespread use in virtually every context of day to day life. The electronic devices may often be quite simple, but often have hundreds or thousands of individual electronic elements that are needed to implement the device. Software frequently interfaces with the electronic components, allowing a user to properly use all of the features of the electronic device. Improvements in security measures for such devices will help continue to drive the widespread adoption and demand for such devices.


HIF-1 inhibitors and methods of use thereof are provided.

Despite significant progress in cancer treatments, a number of malignant tumors remain deadly diseases. Among those are central nervous system (CNS) tumors, which are the leading cause of cancer death for people under 35 years of age. The incidence of primary brain tumors increased by more than 25% between 1979-1991 and the death rate increased by 15%. Finding novel treatments for brain tumors is currently a major challenge, especially for malignant gliomas, which have the highest death rates (>13,000 deaths/yr in the United States). Patients with GBM have an average survival of 10-12 months and a 2-yr survival rate of less than 10%, irrespective of therapy.
Cancer can be a fatal disease, in part, because cancer can spread or metastasize throughout an organism. Metastasis plays a major role in the morbidity and mortality of breast cancer. Breast cancer metastasizes in a stereotypical pattern resulting in lesions found in the lymph node, lung, liver, and bone marrow. Generally, cancer cells lose differentiated properties, proper tissue compartmetalization, cell-cell attachment as well as obtain altered cell substratum attachment, altered cytoskeletal organization, cell locomotion, and the ability to survive at distant sites.
Hypoxia is a major hindrance to effective solid tumor therapy. The microenvironment of rapidly growing solid tumors is associated with increased energy demand and diminished vascular supply, resulting in focal areas of prominent hypoxia, regions with reduced oxygen tensions. Tissue oxygen electrode measurements taken in cancer patients showed a median range of oxygen partial pressure of 10 to 30 mmHg, with a significant proportion of readings below 2.5 mmHg, whereas those in normal tissues ranged from 24 to 66 mg. In the absence of oxygen, which is the most electron-affinic molecule in cells and reacts chemically with the fundamental biological lesion produced by ionizing radiation, radiotherapy is severely compromised in its ability to kill hypoxic tumor cells. On the other hand, hypoxia (and possibly hypoxia-associated deficiencies in other nutrients such as glucose) causes tumor cells to stop or slow their rate of progression through the cell cycle. Because most anticancer drugs are more effective against rapidly proliferating cells than slowly or non-proliferating cells, this slowing of cell proliferation leads to decreased cell killing. Chemotherapy is further affected by hypoxia as chemotherapeutic drugs are delivered systemically and the diffusion of these into the tumor makes the hypoxic regions exposed to less drug than the oxygenated cells proximal to the vessels. Moreover, the multidrug resistance (MDR1) gene product P-glycoprotein is induced by ambient hypoxia.
Tumor hypoxia increases malignant progression and metastasis by promoting angiogenesis through induction of both pro-angiogenic proteins such as VEGF and metabolic adaptation through elevation of glycolytic enzymes. Hypoxia also generates selective pressure for cells to acquire genetic alterations (e.g., TP53, K-ras), that will circumvent hypoxia-induced apoptosis.
An essential component of tumor growth is angiogenesis. Tumors need to disrupt physiological controls over angiostasis to initiate neovascularization, a process triggered by the release of hypoxia-inducible angiogenic factors by nascent tumors. Angiogenesis is a stepwise process during the grade II-IV progression of astrocytoma. First, new blood vessels appear in low grade astrocytoma (II) followed by an increase in vessel density in anaplastic astrocytoma (III). Then, with the transition to GBM (IV), extensive micro-vascular proliferation leading to abnormal vessels occurs. Hypoxia is an integral component of astrocytoma progression and increases with grade. Most PO2 readings are in the 0.5-2.5% range, although severe hypoxia (0.1% range) has also been reported. Hypoxia-mediated angiogenesis is most prevalent in the transition from grade III to IV tumors. Hypoxia occurs at the leading/actively growing edge of tumors where it leads to the florid microvascular proliferation characteristic of GBM. The combination of hypoxia/micro-vascular proliferation accelerates peripheral expansion of GBM up to 10-fold compared to lower grade astrocytoma, while over time the center of the tumor becomes anoxic and necrotic. Despite their appearance on MR imaging, GBM are not like spheroids with central hypoxia and necrosis. Hypoxia occurs over micron distances as do changes in oxygen gradients. Pimonidazole staining for hypoxic regions in the actively growing part of experimental and human GBM shows micro-constellations of hypoxic regions. Immunohistochemistry studies in human GBM have also shown that these regions strongly stain for HIF-1, a major regulator of the physiologic response to hypoxia. The appearance of hypoxia is a critical physiological change that heralds a more malignant tumor behavior which dramatically reduces patient survival. Vascularity and microvascular cell proliferation are morphological features used to distinguish grade IV gliomas from grade II/III and they correlate with patient prognosis. Angiogenesis is known to occur as the result of a disruption in the balanced synthesis of molecules that stimulate and inhibit new blood vessel formation. VEGF, the most important known regulator of tumor angiogenesis is transcriptionally upregulated by HIF-1. In situ hybridization has shown that VEGF mRNA is strongly expressed in pseudopalisading cells, a rim of viable hypoxic tumor cells that line micro-necrotic areas in GBM and which express high levels of HIF-1. In addition to promoting angiogenesis, hypoxic tumor cells are also refractive to radio- and chemo-therapies. Therefore, hypoxic areas of astrocytic tumors represent an important target for anti-tumor therapy and preliminary clinical studies targeting hypoxia have shown modification of outcome in GBM.
HIF is the primary transcription factor activated by hypoxia. Its activation and regulation are complex, with numerous points of potential inhibition. Active HIF is composed of alpha (HIF-1α, 2α) and beta (HIF-1β) subunits that dimerize and bind to consensus sequences (hypoxia responsive elements, HRE) in the regulatory regions of target genes. HIF controls the expression of more than 60 target genes whose products are critical to many aspects of tumor progression, including metabolic adaptation, apoptosis resistance, angiogenesis and metastasis. These include VEGF, erythropoietin, glucose transporters, and glycolytic enzymes. In normoxia, HIF is hydroxylated and interacts with the von Hippel Lindau protein (pVHL), an E3 ubiquitin ligase subunit that targets HIF for degradation. In the absence of oxygen, HIF hydroxylation is inhibited, preventing binding to pVHL and leading to its intracellular accumulation. HIF-1 has been recognized as an important molecular target for solid tumor therapy due to its crucial role in tumor angiogenesis and progression. Increased levels of intracellular HIF-1α are found in many cancers and are associated with poor prognosis and resistance therapy. HIF-2α upregulation is found predominantly in cancers with VHL gene mutations. HIF-1α expression correlates with tumor grade and vascularization in gliomas, while HIF-2α expression is usually absent. The relative importance of HIF-1α and HIF-2α subunits in different tissues and cancer types is still under investigation as are their multiple levels of regulation.
Accordingly, there is a need for new and effective treatments for cancer. In particular, there is a need for new and effective treatments that address hypoxia and its role in hyperproliferative pathologies.


An enveloping elastic sock for treating Plantar Fasciitis, wherein the sock has a heel opening and exerts compressive forces along the longitudinal and transverse axes of a patient's foot.

Plantar Fasciitis is a debilitating condition of the foot associated with athletics and other high impact activities which overstress the plantar fascia, the highly elastic connective collagen-based tissue located at the bottom of the foot. The plantar fascia is attached at the front of the foot to the metatarsophalangeal joints and at the rear to the calcaneal, or heel, bone. It functions like a spring to absorb the shock of forces developed during walking or running; first stretching, then shortening. Overstress causes a loss of the natural elasticity in this tissue. The physical symptoms of the condition include tenderness and swelling and, in extreme cases, the development of bone spurs at the point of connection at the inner tuberosity of the heel bone. The condition is painful and requires rest, i.e., relief of the causal conditions, as a component of the benign treatment scheme.
Part of the current benign treatment protocol includes a method of tape strapping on the bottom of the foot which induces an external pull of the plantar fascia and helps to keep the tissue compressed and immobilized while anti-inflammatory drugs work to reduce swelling. When the regimen is completed successfully, a full return to previous levels of activity is possible. The tape strapping method is effective, but requires application by trained medical personnel and breaks down with the loss of adhesion in the tape over the course of a few days normal activity. Therefore, there is a need for a more permanent, effective device which may be applied by the patient, thereby freeing him or her of the obligation and expense of repeated office visits for the reapplication procedure.
An elastic footwrap intended for treating Plantar Fasciitis is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,554,107 to Shannahan. This footwrap comprises an elastic tubular body having an ankle opening, a plurality of toe openings, and an arch support, wherein the tubular body exerts a predetermined compressive force to support the arch of the foot. The device exerts a compressive force along the bottom of the foot from the heel to the toes while additionally providing support for the arch of the foot via the arch support. The arch support is drawn around and over the lateral and medial sides of the foot and attached to the top of the tubular body with VELCRO patches. Over time, the VELCRO patches wear away, and the footwrap subsequently loses its effectiveness.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved device which is both comfortable and may be worn on variously-sized feet and yet provides sufficient and enduring support to effectively treat the condition.

Orthotic device for treatment of plantar fasciitis


A bracket is for use in a modular construction system, wherein plates are mechanically connected in a releasable manner to form a structure. The plates comprise at least one hole in a part thereof, wherein the hole is configured for being coupled to the bracket. The bracket comprises at least two foot portions for being coupled to respective plates. Each foot portion comprises a gripper element for being inserted into the hole of the plate and a linking member connecting the at least two foot portions and establishing a predefined fixed distance and a predefined fixed relative orientation between said foot portions. The gripper element is configured for enlarging a diameter in at least one direction in a plane parallel to the plate to obtain a friction coupling between the bracket and the plate or between the bracket and a further bracket provided from another side of the respective plate, when activated in operational use, and for reducing the diameter of the gripper element in a first direction of the plane parallel to the plate to release the bracket from the plate, when deactivated in operational use.

A known modular construction system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,366. This document discloses an apparatus for forming any selected one of a plurality of different articles, such as seatings, storage, and sleeping units. Such articles comprises a plurality of panels each having inner and outer faces terminating in a perimetrical edge. And these articles further comprise a mechanism for detachably coupling any selected number of panels together in angular relation (this is done by using a bracket with bolts to screw the bracket to the panels). This is done such that the perimetrical edge of each panel is positioned inwardly of the outer face of an adjacent angularly related panel and the outer face of each panel is positioned outwardly of the perimetrical edge of the adjacent angularly related panel to provide outwardly opening openings adjacent the adjacent perimetrical edges of adjacent panels. One aspect of the apparatus includes a coupling for coupling adjacent angularly related panels to form outward opening openings at the adjacent ends of adjacent panels.
A problem with the known modular construction system is that it is not user friendly.


A device for inducing weight loss in a patient includes a tubular prosthesis self-expandable from a collapsed position in which the prosthesis has a first diameter to an expanded position in which the prosthesis has a second, larger, diameter. In a method for inducing weight loss, the prosthesis is placed in the collapsed position and inserted into a stomach of a patient. The prosthesis is allowed to self-expand from the collapsed position to the expanded position and into contact with the walls of the stomach, where it induces feelings of satiety and/or inhibits modulation of satiety-controlling factors such as Ghrelin.

Various medical approaches are used for controlling obesity. These approaches include diet, medication, and surgical procedures. One of the more successful surgical procedures is the vertical banded gastroplexy or the proximal gastric pouch with a Roux-en-Y anastomosis. However, known complications are present with each of these procedures and more successful options are desired.
Other alternatives include implantation of gastric balloons that prevent overeating by occupying volume within the stomach. Unfortunately, gastric balloons can migrate down the GI tract, causing obstruction and thus necessitating removal.
It is therefore desirable to provide a successful and minimally-invasive alternative to existing approaches for controlling obesity.


A method and apparatus to perform frame coalescing are described.

A communication network may comprise a number of network nodes connected by various communication media. The network nodes may communicate information in the form of packets over the communication media in accordance with one or more communication protocols. Each network node may have one or more elements to process the packets in accordance with the protocols. One example of such an element is a Network Interface Card (NIC). A NIC may utilize one or more buffers to store the packets prior to performing packet processing. The NIC may reduce processing cycles for the network node using efficient buffer management techniques. Consequently, there may be need for improvements in buffer management techniques to improve network performance.

Method and apparatus to perform frame coalescing


Apparatuses and methods in a communication system are disclosed. Reference data is transmitted to terminal device. Information describing state of the channel between the apparatus and the terminal device is received, for a given time period, from the terminal device. A predicted state of the channel is calculated utilising a given channel predictor function known by the terminal device. Update information to the predicted state of the channel is received from the terminal device.

Wireless telecommunication systems are under constant development. There is a constant need for higher data rates and high quality of service. Reliability requirements are constantly rising and ways and means to ensure reliable connections and data traffic while keeping transmission delays minimal are constantly under development.
Channel state information (CSI) measured by terminal devices and reported to network is used in communication systems to help to control downlink transmissions. To meet the requirements of users, many transmission schemes such as coding, adaptive modulation and channel-aware scheduling, for example, need accurate CSI at the transmitter side to achieve a significant gain in the downlink direction. Thus, obtaining accurate CSI is important.


The present invention relates to a method for the periodic domain inversion of ferroelectric flux-grown crystals that are low conductive or made low conductive. The invention also relates to an arrangement for monitoring the domain inversion of crystals while using a laser. The invention also relates to the use of crystals in applications of periodic domain inverted crystals, partly for generating light (electromagnetic radiation) at new wavelengths by non-linear optical frequency mixing (frequency doubling, difference frequency generation, summation frequency generation, optical parametric oscillation, etc.) and partly for electro-optical applications, such as light beam modulation, and partly for acoustic applications. such as the generation of acoustic waves from electric voltages applied across the crystal.

Periodically poled crystals of non-linear optical, electro-optical and acousto-optical crystals, such as potassium titanyl phosphate (KTiOPO4) designated as KTP and other crystals within the same crystal family, such as the isomorphs KTA known as potassium titanyl arsenide, RTA known as rubidium titanyl arsenide, CTA known as cesium titanyl arsenide, RTP known as rubidium titanyl phosphate, and others are preferably grown by the so-called flux method.
Periodically poled crystals have been used mainly for non-linear optical frequency mixing, and in particular to generate light at new wavelengths on the basis of light at available laser wavelengths. There is at present a desire for novel radiation sources based on this principle. However, periodically poled crystals can also be used in electro-optical applications and acoustic applications. One example of an acoustic optical application is that a Bragg lattice that has a periodically varying diffraction index will occur in a periodically poled crystal in response to a voltage applied across the crystal through the medium of homogenous electrodes. This application can be utilized to modulate or deflect a laser beam, for instance. The poled crystals can also be used as so-called acoustic transducers, i.e. used to generate or to detect an acoustic wave with the aid of the piezoelectric effect. These physical phenomena and applications are well known in themselves, although the periodically poled crystals afford significant advantages and greater possibilities with respect to design of well-functioning components in comparison with standard crystals.
The quasi phase matching, periodically poled crystals relevant in the present context are based on the principle of producing in an existing crystal periodically ordered regions of alternating crystal orientation and therewith periodically varying non-linear optical, electrooptical and acousto-optical properties. This is preferably achieved by applying an electric voltage across the crystal with the aid of a periodic electrode structure, and is thus effected without disintegrating the crystal mechanically.
The published European Patent Application 0 687 941 A2 teaches the formation of inverted or pole reversed ferroelectric domain regions, by applying a ramp voltage across a substrate or crystal, among other things, wherein it has been observed that it is possible to predict an increase in the flow of current through the substrate. Poling can then be considered to have taken place and the voltage is switched-off when the anticipated or predicted current flow has been detected.

Method and arrangement for poling of optical crystals

Aktiebolaget IOF Institutet for optisk forskning


The invention relates to a ball valve (3) with full opening between two tubes (1, 2) and the manufacturing method thereof. The ends (6, 7) of the tubes are sealed in the valve against the valve ball (5) opening and closing the valve and rotating about its axle (17), the diameters of the flow openings (9, 10) of the valve ball being substantially the same as the diameters of the flow cross sections of the tubes. Around the valve ball and the ends of the tubes there is a sleeve-like casing (8) secured by its ends (15) to the sides of the tubes (1, 2). According to the invention, a protrusion is formed in the ends of both tubes (1, 2), comprising an annular sealing (11), and the casing (8) is formed with a tapered reduction towards its ends so that the valve ball (5) and the ends of the tubes are located in the space (16) defined by the casing (8) of the valve. The valve (3) may be assembled by joining the ends (6, 7) of the tubes and the sealings (11) attached to them to the valve ball and by thereafter pressing the casing (8) against the sides of the tubes and by welding the ends (15) of the casing.

Besides the ball valves with full openings, there are ball valves with a reduced opening on the market, wherein the flow openings of the valve ball are, in other words, smaller than the diameter of the flow channel formed by the tubes. In some of the valve structures of this type there is not even any separate casing around the ends of the tubes and the valve ball, the casing being integrated with the tube parts formed by the flow channel provided by the valve. These well known solutions have been described, e.g. in the FI declaration publication 71609 and in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,564.
According to the state of art technology, the manufacturing of a ball valve with full opening takes place so that, in order to provide the sealing box required by the seals between the tubes and the valve ball, in the ends of the tubes, the inner diameter of which corresponds to the diameters of the flow openings, interior widenings are cut by lathe. The casing around the valve ball and the tube ends is fixed by welding to the sides of the tubes so that the sealing boxes will stay inside the space defined by the casing. An example of this known solution is presented, among others, in the FI patent application 3532/72. The solution requires that the casing of the tube has to be thick enough to enable the forming of a sealing box within it. In practice, the process has been followed so that the casing in the tube end of the valve has been thicker than in other parts of the tube, however, resulting in the disadvantage of heavy structure and in high costs of manufacturing. Furthermore, in connection with the welding of the casing on the valve ball and the tubes, there has been a danger of welding splashes entering under the casing where they can harm the movement of the valve ball that is the basis of the operation of the valve.
The object of this invention is to provide a solution with which said problems of known ball valves with full opening are eliminated. The manufacturing method of the valve according to the invention is characterized by that, in both tube ends, a substantially stepped protruding part is formed surrounding the ends, including an annular sealing, that the tube ends and the sealings are brought against the valve ball on its opposite sides, that the sleeve-like ends of the casing are reduced by the pressure applied to them to make their inner diameters match with the outer diameters of the tubes, and that, finally, the ends of the casings are attached to the sides of the tubes inserted in the casings.
The solution according to the invention makes the valve structure lighter and saves material compared with the known ball valves with full opening. Also, the need of forming and machining the tube ends is reduced. When the fixing points of the valve casing are located, as seen from the valve ball, behind the stepped extensions of the heads of the tubes the welding seams around the tubes attaching the casing are shortened, while the stepped protrusions of the tube ends operate as splash guards that makes the entry of welding splashes inside the space defined by the casing more difficult.

Ball valve with full opening and a method for its manufacture


In one embodiment of a method of printing in a network, a connection is established from a user equipment to a printing system. A secure connection is established between the user equipment and a server. From the user equipment, a file on the server is selected. From the user equipment, information indicating the file and information indicating a path from the printing system to the server via the user equipment is passed to the printing system. The printing system is caused to retrieve the file from the server via the path. The printing system is caused to print information contained in the file.

It is not unusual for a person using a mobile user equipment to wish to access computing resources. For example, a person traveling may wish to access computing resources of an enterprise network associated with the traveler's regular place of business. Because of concerns about security, the enterprise network may be protected by a "firewall," a system that is intended to prevent unauthorized and undesired access to the enterprise network. For example, the firewall may deny access except from specific "trusted" devices.
If a traveling user with a notebook computer that is trusted by the network wishes, for example, to print a document that is stored on the enterprise network to a printer outside the firewall, the user may download the file to the trusted notebook computer, and then send the file from the notebook computer to the printer in a separate transaction not implicating the firewall.
However, many people use devices such as a wireless e-mail device or a "smart phone" with e-mail or text messaging capability that does not allow the downloading of a document for printing. It is a common experience to receive an e-mail with an attached document, and be unable to open or read the attachment because the mobile device does not have sufficient memory capacity or display capability to handle the attachment.
One solution to this problem is "print by reference," in which the user sends to a print server associated with the printer a reference to a document that is to be printed, which may be in the form of a network address such as an internet URL and a filename, and the print server retrieves the document directly from the enterprise server, bypassing the limited capability of the mobile device. However, with a strong firewall there may be no way of permitting the print server to retrieve the file through the firewall.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A battery cover assembly includes a battery cover (10), a moveable member (12), an elastic apparatus (13) and a housing (14). The battery cover defines a button hole (101), and a locking portion (104) is disposed in one side of the battery cover. The moveable member includes a main beam (121) and at least one arm (124). The main beam includes a button (122) received in the button hole. The moveable member is slidably attached to the battery cover. The elastic apparatus includes at least one concave portion (1321). The concave portion includes a clasp (1324) and defines a latching hole (1326). The locking portion engages in the latching hole. The concave portion resists the arm of the moveable member. The housing defines a latching hole (145). The clasp of the elastic apparatus detachably engages in the hole of the housing. This provides a user with convenient disassembling operation.

Batteries are widely used in portable electronic devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones and so on. Conventional batteries are attachably received in the electronic device, and battery covers are designed to connect with housings of the electronic devices to package the batteries. The batteries have to be replaced by opening the battery covers when the batteries are damaged, or dead or needs to be recharged with electricity any more.
A clasp structure or latch structure is used with a conventional battery cover to engage with a housing of a portable electronic device. For example, a mobile phone marked Alcatel OT310 has a latch for the battery cover. The latch includes a pair of hooks at one end of the battery cover and a locking pin protruding from the other end of the battery cover. Accordingly, a pair of grooves is defined in an end portion of a backside of a housing of the mobile phone, and a locking hole is defined in the other end portion of the backside of the housing. In assembly, the hooks are firstly inserted into the troughs in the backside of the housing. Then, the battery cover is pressed downwardly to the housing until the locking pin on the battery cover is inserted into the locking hole in the backside of the housing. The battery cover is thus assembled to the housing of the mobile phone. The battery cover is simple in structure, and the engagement between the battery cover and the housing of the mobile phone is firm, too. However, during disassembly, it is needed to use great efforts to disassemble the battery cover, since a greater force is exerted thereon. Therefore, the battery cover is susceptible to be damaged. As a result, it is inconvenient for a user to replace a battery in the housing of the mobile phone.
Therefore, a new battery cover assembly is desired in order to overcome the above-described shortcomings.

Battery cover assembly for portable electronic device

Shenzhen Futaihong Precision Industrial Co., Ltd.


According to embodiments of the disclosure, assemblies, and methods for cable management are disclosed. The assembly may include a chassis and a cable management apparatus pivotably connected to the chassis. The chassis may have an interior compartment adapted to receive a first and second electronic component. The first electronic component may be adapted to connect to a first cable assembly and the second electronic component may be adapted to connect to a second cable assembly. The cable management apparatus may include a first bracket and second bracket supporting a management arm, the management arm may include two parallel planar bars, the bars fixedly attached together by one or more members perpendicular to the bars. The management arm may be adapted to support at least one of the first and second cable assemblies and may pivot between an operational position and a service position.

The present disclosure relates to the field of cable management. Computers may require connections and communication with other devices, power sources, or other locations. Connections and communication may be facilitated by wired connections such as cable assemblies. As computers have increased in complexity, the number of wired connections required has generally increased. Numerous wired connections to a computer may increase the need to effectively manage the physical space taken by those numerous wired connections to and from the computer.

Lenovo Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A highly reliable semiconductor device and a method for driving the highly reliable semiconductor device is provided. In a semiconductor device in which a light-transmitting storage capacitor having a MOS capacitor structure is provided and a light-transmitting semiconductor film functioning as one electrode of the storage capacitor is electrically connected to a capacitor line, a shift of a threshold voltage of the storage capacitor in the positive direction is suppressed in a period during which an image is not displayed. For example, the shift of the threshold voltage of the storage capacitor in the positive direction is suppressed by application of a negative bias to a pixel electrode functioning as the other electrode of the storage capacitor.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention disclosed in this specification and the like relates to a driving method of a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, flat panel displays such as liquid crystal displays have been widespread. In each of pixels provided in the row direction and the column direction in a display device such as a liquid crystal display, a transistor serving as a switching element, a liquid crystal element electrically connected to the transistor, and a storage capacitor connected to the liquid crystal element in parallel are provided.
As a semiconductor material for forming a semiconductor film of the transistor, a silicon semiconductor such as amorphous silicon or polysilicon (polycrystalline silicon) is generally used.
Metal oxides having semiconductor characteristics (hereinafter referred to as oxide semiconductors) can be used for semiconductor films in transistors. For example, techniques for forming transistors including zinc oxide or an In—Ga—Zn-based oxide semiconductor are disclosed (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).
In the storage capacitor of the display device, a dielectric film is provided between a pair of electrodes at least one of which is formed, in many cases, using a light-blocking conductive film partly serving as a gate electrode, a source electrode, a drain electrode, or the like of the transistor.
With an increase in the capacitance value of the storage capacitor, the alignment of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal element can be kept constant for a longer period in the state where an electric field is applied, leading to a reduction in power consumption of the display device.
For example, one of methods for increasing the charge capacity of the storage capacitor is to increase the area occupied by the storage capacitor, specifically, to increase the area of a region where the two electrodes of the storage capacitor overlap with each other. However, when the area of the light-blocking conductive film is increased to increase the area of the region where the two electrodes overlap with each other, the aperture ratio of a pixel is lowered and thus display quality of an image is degraded.
Thus, a technique has been disclosed, which enables desired charge capacity to be ensured without a decrease in the aperture ratio in such a manner that a light-transmitting storage capacitor formed using a light-transmitting material is provided in a display device (see Patent Document 3).

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


The invention provides an electronic device package and fabrication method thereof. The electronic device package includes a sensor chip. An upper surface of the sensor chip comprises a sensing film. A covering plate having an opening structure covers the upper surface of the sensor chip. A cavity is between the covering plate and the sensor chip, corresponding to a position of the sensing film, where the cavity communicates with the opening structure. A spacer is between the covering plate and the sensor chip, surrounding the cavity. A pressure releasing region is between the spacer and the sensing film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronics package, and in particular relates to an electronics package and a method for fabricating an electronics package using a wafer level package process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) are micro-devices using semiconductor technology to integrate electronic and mechanical functions. MEMS products comprise accelerators, gyroscopes, pressure sensors, optical transmission devices, DLP (digital light processing) devices, ink printer heads and wireless network RF sensors. Currently, MEMS are applied in various products including tire pressure measurement systems, optical transmission networks, projectors, sensor networks, digital microphones, clock oscillators and game consoles. MEMS also play an important role in the development of research areas such as memory technology, biological chips, display technology and emerging energy. Pressure sensors are used for measuring a change in atmospheric pressure. Some pressure sensors applied in cars, for example, oil pressure gauges, are considered as being of very mature technology. However, pressure sensors, have the potential for new applications, such as in tire pressure gauges. Thus, an electronics package used in MEMSs and a method for fabricating the same are desired.

Electronic device package and fabrication method thereof


An easily installable and preferably antimicrobial cover trim for a push bar of an exit device for a door, as well as a method for increasing fingerprint resistance of metal touch surfaces.

This invention relates to door latch devices, and more particularly to cover trims for a push bar of an exit device for a door, as well as to methods for their fabricating and installation.
A common complication of hospital care involves hospital-acquired infections from pathogenic microbes transmitted from and to hospital patients, staff and visitors via frequently touched environmental surfaces. Such surfaces, which include many types of commonly used door knobs and push plates, are recognized as reservoirs for the spread of such microbes notwithstanding hand hygienic and environmental cleaning practices for attempting to control infections.
It is well known that metallic copper surfaces are antimicrobial. See, for example, Michael G. Schmidt et al., "Sustained Reduction of Microbial Burden on Common Hospital Surfaces through Introduction of Copper", Journal of Clinical Microbiology, v. 50, n. 7, pp. 2217-2223 (July 2012), concluding that "reducing the overall microbial burden on a continuous basis with the introduction of continuously active antimicrobial copper surfaces, as evidenced in this study and others, may provide a safer environment for hospital patients, health care workers, and visitors."
A PowerPoint (registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation) presentation by Harold Michels (of Copper Development Association, Inc.), titled "Antimicrobial Properties of Copper Alloys and their Applications", reports testing results on solid copper and a variety of copper alloys containing between 60% and 95% copper. These tests showed a greater than 99% continuous reduction of bacterial contamination for solid copper as well as for each of the copper alloys. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has currently issued public health registrations for antimicrobial copper to cover 479 copper alloys.
One type of frequently touched surfaces in hospital environments is the outer or touch surface of the push bar of an exit device secured to a normally latched hospital door. See for exampled, U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,280 of Godec et al., incorporated herein by reference. Although some door hardware made of copper alloys have been marketed, many push bars for door exit devices have been and are continued to be made of metals which have little or no antimicrobial properties, such as stainless steel and anodized aluminum. Consequently, a large number of such exit devices having non-antimicrobial push bars are installed in hospitals, schools and other public buildings.

Cover trim for a push bar of an exit device

Triangle Brass Manufacturing Company, Inc.


There is provided a data transferring apparatus that transfers file data stored in a storage apparatus that manages data in a block unit, in which the first issuing unit, in response to a request from a CPU, generates and sends a reading command of metadata including first map information showing in which location first file data is stored, to the storage apparatus, the second issuing unit receives a reading command of the first file data from the CPU that has obtained the metadata, generates and sends a reading command of a block storing the first file data to the storage apparatus, the extracting unit receives block data read from the storage apparatus, receives the first map information from the CPU and, based on the first map information, extracts the first file data from the block data, and the communication processing unit transmits the first file data to the network.

An HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and an SSD (Solid State Drive) directly connected to a computer are called "DASs" (Direct Attached Storages), while a network storage connecting these storages via a network increasingly becomes popular. The network storage is broadly classified into an SAN (Storage Area Network) and an NAS (Network Attached Storage). Known SANs include an iSCSI and a fiber channel or the like, in which a storage apparatus is connected to a host machine (a machine that uses the storage) via a network as a block device and a file system is provided on the host machine side. On the other hand, known NASes include an NFS (Network File System) or the like, in which the storage apparatus side is implemented to a file system and a host apparatus can access the storage from upper level for the file system. Accordingly, not only the host machine can be relieved from the load thereon, but also more than one host machines can advantageously share the file systems on the storage.
These network storages communicate mainly by means of Ethernet and use TCP/IP or UDP/IP, which is widely used in the Internet or the like, as a communication protocol. These widespread general-purpose techniques facilitate a network storage use, and the network storages have increased usefulness in terms of storage scalability and serviceability, as compared to a conventional DAS.
Recently, video streaming distribution increasingly becomes popular. For example, a content distribution server called "VOD (Video On Demand) server" performs streaming distribution. Such a content distribution server performs processing of reading video content from its own storage apparatus and transmitting it to a network-connected user terminal. Similarly, a Web server transmits content on a storage to a user terminal. As a communication protocol, for example, TCP/IP-based HTTP or UDP/IP-based RTP for real-time communication is used. Also, in the case of RTP, FEC (Forward Error Correction) or the like is used for error correction.
The speed of devices such as a storage and a network used for such a network storage, a VOD server or a Web server, are remarkably increased. In present, 1 Gbps Ethernet increasingly becomes the mainstream, and 10 Gbps Ethernet comes into use in a data center, or the like. The specifications of the next-generation 40/100 Gbps Ethernet systems are completed, and they are expected to steadily become popular in the future. With regard to a storage, in addition to the increased speed of HDD RAID striping processing (i.e. parallelization), recent SSD transfer performance is remarkably improved, so that a current product alone may have a reading rate over 2 Gbps. With regard to I/F-standard SATA for a storage apparatus, SATA 3.0 having a bandwidth of 6 Gbps is already popular. In view of the above, with regard to a network storage, it is expected that a 10-Gbps-class band is provided in the near future.
As such network storage performance is improved, the processing load on a host CPU controlling the storage increases. Conventionally, attempts have been made to solve the issue by using a technique called "TCP/IP offload engine" (hereinafter "TOE"). TOE is provided with a dedicated processor or dedicated circuit that performs the above-mentioned TCP/IP processing in place of a host CPU, and offloads the TCP/IP processing load on the host CPU. By using this TOE, it is possible to perform faster TCP/IP processing compared to conventional software communication protocol processing and contribute to the improvement of network storage performance.
A storage apparatus or TOE is controlled by a host CPU and it is assumed that data is inputted and outputted via a main memory. Therefore, in input/output of data on the storage to and from a network, data transfer between the storage apparatus (such as an SSD and an HDD) and the TOE is necessarily performed via the main memory.
Application software running on the host CPU which bridges them or data passing processing between the kernel space and user space of OS may cause several copies of transfer data to be generated on the main memory. Further, file system processing is required. In normal file system implementation, therefore, data read or written in sector units of fixed byte length from a storage is transformed into files of arbitrary byte length, and therefore data copy further occurs.
Thus, when data is transferred between a storage apparatus and a TOE, software processing intervenes in a host CPU and therefore the reading or writing in a main memory is required at least once, or multiple memory copies may occur on the main memory by OS, application or file system processing, and therefore the load on the main memory drastically increases.
Conventionally, a host CPU having sufficient processing performance and a high-speed main memory have been provided to cope with such a main memory load. In view of the fact that the transfer rate of a recent network storage is improved to nearly 10 Gbps, it imposes more or less a problem. In particular, upgrading of a host CPU is generally required to improve the main memory capability, and, in the case of a PC, a server or the like, upgrading of the attached chipset is equally required. This particularly exacerbates problems of cost and power consumption.

Data transferring apparatus, data transmission system and data transmitting method


An electromagnetic wave absorber includes a rectangular plate-shaped part having a surface including a flat space at a center of the plate-shaped part and a plurality of oblong rectangular spaces, surrounding the flat space, on each of which at least one pyramidal or wedge-shaped part having an oblong rectangular bottom face is provided, and the plurality of oblong rectangular spaces of the surface of the plate-shaped part are arranged along inside a perimeter of the plate-shaped part so that a longer side of any one of the plurality of oblong rectangular spaces is adjoining with a shorter side of another of the plurality of oblong rectangular spaces adjacent thereto while leaving the flat space at the center of the plate-shaped part.

The recent development of the advanced information society has raised the issue that weak electromagnetic radiation emitted from various types of communication equipment and electronic equipment causes malfunctions (electromagnetic interference (EMI)) in instruments and other components used in television sets and radios, communication equipment, medical equipment, ships, aircrafts, and so on, and there has been a need to establish international regulations on electromagnetic radiation emission. Accordingly, manufacturers of communication equipment of various types, personal computers, and the like generating noise that can cause EMI has been required to accurately measure the noise from their electronic components so as to take measures for EMI. That is, accurate measurement of very weak electromagnetic radiation from electronic equipment, etc. with a high performance instrument and measures to prevent emission of harmful electromagnetic radiation are being demanded. The problem encountered here is the environment in which electromagnetic radiation is measured. In order to accurately measure very weak electromagnetic radiation, a high performance anechoic chamber free from any extraneous disturbance such as noise is needed.
Electromagnetic radiation absorbers (hereinafter referred to as wave absorber(s) or simply absorber(s)) conventionally used in anechoic chambers are integrally molded structures having, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a plate-shaped part 1 and a polygonal pyramidal or wedge-shaped parts 2. These wave absorbers are dielectric loss structures made by expansion-molding an electromagnetic radiation absorbing material comprising a synthetic resin, such as polyurethane, polystyrene, or polypropylene, and an electrically conductive material, such as carbon. A hybrid wave absorber composed of a ferrite tile and the wave absorber of the dielectric loss type placed on the ferrite tile is known to exhibit good radiation absorption characteristics even with a reduced height of the dielectric loss structure because electromagnetic waves in a high frequency range of 100 MHz or higher are absorbed by the dielectric structure while electromagnetic waves in a low frequency range are absorbed by the ferrite tile, i.e., a magnetic absorber. With this hybrid wave absorber, there is provided an anechoic chamber of smaller size.
A number of proposals have been made with respect to polygonal pyramidal wave absorbers. For example, JP 2000-188513A discloses a wave absorber composed of a ferrite tile and an upper absorber having a wedge or pyramidal shape, the upper absorber being a molded part comprising a general purpose type resin having a relative permittivity of 4.9 or less at a frequency of 1 MHz or higher and ferrite powder dispersed in the resin. The wave absorber is described as being capable of absorbing higher frequency waves with the height of the upper absorber being equal to that of conventional wave absorbers. JP 2000-188513A also discloses a panel having four pyramidal parts the bottom of which are integrally connected to each other, the panel having a portion for screwing (e.g., a through-hole) at the center and on each of the four side edges thereof so that the absorber may be firmly fixed to construct an anechoic chamber with ease.
The structure of JP 2000-188513A shows excellent absorption characteristics for normal incidence of electromagnetic radiation. In practical electromagnetic radiation measurement, however, electromagnetic waves are incident on the ceiling and side walls of an anechoic chamber at a certain angle. For example, the angle of incidence is about 40° in a 10 m anechoic chamber. To meet the recent demand for a smaller-sized high-performance anechoic chamber, a wave absorber having absorption performance for oblique incidence as well as normal is required. The pyramidal shape of the absorber described in JP 2000-188513A has all the faces at the same angle of inclination, which is designed with weight put on normal incidence without due considerations given to oblique incidence characteristics.
In order to provide the structure of JP 2000-188513A with through-holes for screwing, adjacent pyramidal parts 2 must be arranged on the plate-shaped part 1 at a predetermined space, and a flat portion should be provided at the center of the panel as shown in FIG. 1. Such an arrangement of wave absorbers involves reduction of absorbing performance due to reflection on these flat portions, and the reduction of absorbing performance should be compensated for by, for example, increasing the height of the pyramidal parts 2.


Patch antenna (100) for a wireless communications device has a reduced size. The patch antenna is operable on a fundamental frequency f0 and a first harmonic f1 of the fundamental frequency, with substantially co-located peak gain directions on both frequencies. The patch antenna (100) is formed from a conductive ground plane (102) of generally rectangular shape. A first aperture (108) provided in the conductive ground plane member (102) defines a bow-tie shape. Additional elongated apertures (118, 120) are provided for reactive loading. The elongated apertures (118, 120) disrupt the phasing of surface currents within the conductive ground plane member (102) around the periphery of the first aperture (108).

1. Statement of the Technical Field
The inventive arrangements relate generally to slot antennas, and more particularly to tapered slot patch antennas.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patch antennas are very popular due to their compact planar configuration. In its simplest form, a microstrip patch antenna consists of a radiating patch on one side of a dielectric substrate, which has a ground plane on the other side. Despite the relatively narrow bandwidth of many patch antenna designs, they are well suited for many applications. Various modifications can be included in patch antennas to increase their overall bandwidth. One such broadband antenna design is the bow-tie antenna that consists of two triangular patches that are fed either through a pair of microstrip lines on their surface or by lines originating on different conductor layers.
Printed slot antennas comprise a slot in the ground plane of a grounded substrate. The shape of the slot can be selected so to conform to the shape of many designs normally associated with common microstrip patch antennas. For example, conventional slot antenna designs include rectangular slots, annular slots, and tapered slots. Slot antennas are generally bidirectional radiators. They radiate electromagnetic energy in opposing sides of the surface in which the slot is formed. Radiation in a single direction is commonly achieved by using a reflector plate on one side of the slot. Microstrip slot antennas are advantageous in that they can potentially offer bandwidths that are somewhat larger as compared to ordinary patch antennas.
Tapered slot antennas are also known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,429,819 to Bishop, et al. discloses a dual band bow-tie shaped slot antenna. Bow-tie antennas are also discussed in an article entitled Center-Fed Microstrip Patch Antenna, Zhi Ning Chen and Michael Yan Wah Chia, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 51, No. 3, March 2003, p. 483. The bow-tie shaped slot antenna generally consists of two triangular shaped slot elements which converge at the points of the triangles to form a narrow gap. The bow-tie shaped slot is etched into a conductive patch surface. The two bands are fed with a single antenna feed attached across a gap between the midpoints of the converging region of the bow-tie segments. Alternative feeds are known in the art. The low band frequency of operation in such an antenna is defined by a dimension of the conductive surface in which the slot is etched. The higher band frequency of operation is primarily determined by the dimensions of the bowtie slot.
Although the bow-tie slot antenna is relatively compact, there is a continuing demand for devices that offer multi-band performance in smaller packages. Further, there is a continuing need for antennas of this type that offer high gain on multiple frequency bands while providing similar radiation patterns at the two different frequency bands. Providing all of these characteristics in a very compact package can be a challenging problem.


A ratcheting cutting tool for plastic pipes having first and second, elongated rigid members pivotally mounted to each other. Each rigid member has a handle and the first rigid member additionally has an anvil at an end opposite from its handle. A spring-biased, knife blade member with a cutting edge and with a plurality of ratchet teeth is pivotally mounted to the first member. The tool further includes drive and catch pawls pivotally mounted to the respective rigid members. In operation, the handles of the rigid members can be repeatedly squeezed together to progressively move the cutting edge of the knife blade member in a step-by-step manner toward the anvil to cut through a plastic pipe positioned therebetween. A manually operated release mechanism is also disclosed wherein both the drive and catch pawls can be moved in one motion to release positions spaced from engagement with the ratchet teeth to permit the spring-biased knife blade member to be automatically returned to its open position after each cut.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of hand tools for cutting plastic pipes and more particularly to the field of such hand tools with ratcheting mechanisms to progressively advance the cutting blade in a step-by-step manner through the pipe.
2. Discussion of the Background
Ratcheting cutting tools are widely used to cut plastic pipes (e.g., polyethylene) and in particular, hard plastic pipes including those made of polyvinylchloride (PVC). In use, such hand tools must be fairly strong and preferably easy to operate. However, most commercially available tools often have a relatively large number of moving parts and are normally somewhat complicated not only to make but also to use.
In many ratcheting cutters, the cutting blade is spring biased toward its open position and the tool has a release mechanism to let the spring automatically move the blade to its open position. These cutters further complicate the design of the cutter but offer advantages in time and ease over ones that must be manually opened after each cut in particular, manually operated ones often cannot easily be opened with one hand and require the operator either to use both of his hands to do so or to grip one handle and catch the other handle on his leg or something else. In close quarters such as in a hole installing irrigation pipes, there often is not room enough to grip both handles or otherwise manually manipulate the handles to open the cutter. Regardless, having to open the handles of such tools after each cut of a multiple cut operation can understandably be very time consuming and certainly less desirable than tools with spring arrangements to automatically open the cutter after each use.
Cutters with such spring arrangements typically include a release mechanism as indicated above wherein the blade of the completely ratcheted closed cutter can be released to return under the force of the spring to its open position. The cutting blade in this regard may be in its ratcheted closed position because it is the first cut of the day and the cutter was stored with the blade closed for safety or the user has just finished a cut and the closed blade is ready to be opened for the next one. Known cutters with spring arrangements and release mechanisms can be fairly involved. In many cases, there is a two or more step procedure or movement of various parts to release the blade to return to its open position. These arrangements can be for the most part both expensive to make and fairly difficult to use.
With this and other problems in mind, the present invention was developed. In it, a ratcheting cutting tool is provided that has a release mechanism that with one motion will disengage both the drive and catch pawls of the ratcheting arrangement in an easy and simple manner to permit the spring-biased blade to be automatically returned to its open position after each cut.

Ratcheting cutting tool for plastic pipes


An assembly including several ladder sections positionable in several different ladder use positions, wherein intermeshable teeth elements can be cam locked selectively into such positions, and further including stabilizer bars at the ladder section ends for stable engagement with a supporting surface.

The present invention relates to an articulated ladder assembly and more particularly to an adjustable position ladder assembly which includes a novel hinge and lock joint assembly for connecting pairs of adjacent ladder rails, a novel reinforced structure for assembling pairs of ladder rails with the hinge assembly and a novel stabilizer bar readily adaptable to various angular positions of the ladder assembly.
Articulated ladder assemblies are generally well known in the art including those having adjustable coupling hinges on pairs of adjacent rails which include rotatable facing disks which can be held in locked relation of more than one preselected angular position. In this regard, attention is directed to U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,264, issued to G. Krause on Oct. 2, 1984, to No. 4,543,006, issued to Chien-Yuan Wang on Sep. 24, 1985, and to No. 4,648,481, issued to Dickey Lee on Mar. 10, 1987, each of which patents teaches such a facing relatively rotatable disk assembly, each assembly having spaced peripheral disk notches engageable by a spring loaded releasable pawl. Attention further is directed to U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,327, issued to George Su on May 19, 1987, which teaches a spaced, bifurcated disk member, relatively moveable to a sandwiched disk inserted therebetween, the disks having alignable apertures adapted to receive a depending pin to lock the disks at various preselected annular positions. Attention also is directed to the Multi-Master and MultiMatic bulletins of R. D. Werner Co., Inc. and Krause Company, respectively, which teach adjustable position peripheral lock hinges and cured surface stabilizing bars for end ladder rail sections. Finally, attention is directed to the Jaws Ladder Mfg., Inc. of Weston, Ontario, Canada bulletin, which teaches an intermeshing teeth, hingelock system with the intermeshed teeth being locked into position through a centrally disposed hinge screw-lock handle.
In accordance with the present invention, an improved ladder assembly is provided which is straightforward, efficient and economical in manufacture, assembly and operation, requiring a minimum of parts and providing a stable support in positively locked alternative ladder positions. Further, the present invention provides a unique multi-teeth intermeshing arrangement which optimizes shear strength and which allows for ready adjustment to preselected angular positions, to be releasably held in such preselected positions by a comparatively straightforward and easy to operate snap-lock arrangement. In addition, the present invention provides a unique readily assembled, strength reinforced hinge and rail structure and a unique stabilizing structure for a ladder which provides maximum ground contact and ladder stability at more than one preselected angular position of the ladder.
Various other features of the present invention will become obvious to one skilled in the art upon reading the disclosure set forth herein. In this regard, it is to be understood that several of the disclosed features of the present invention are not to be considered as limited to the particular articulated ladder assembly described herein but that such unique features as the intermeshing teeth, hinge locking assembly, the wrap around structural reinforcing arrangement and the multi-faced stabilizing bar can be utilized in other types of ladder assemblies.


Various implementations described herein refer to a method. The method may include receiving first gyro-while-drilling (GWD) survey data acquired using a first survey tool disposed within a wellbore. The method may include receiving second GWD survey data acquired using a second survey tool disposed within the wellbore. The method may include generating a survey of the wellbore based on the first GWD survey data and the second GWD survey data for directional control of wellbore trajectories.

This section is intended to provide information relevant to understanding the various technologies described herein. As the section's title implies, this is a discussion of related art that should in no way imply that it is prior art. Generally, related art may or may not be considered prior art. It should therefore be understood that any statement in this section should be read in this light, and not as any admission of prior art.
Within the oil and gas industry, there is need for reliable high accuracy wellbore placement, which is widely recognized. Real-time three-dimensional (3D) orientation and positional data of both the drill bit and drilled sections of the well under construction may be needed to steer the drill bit safely towards a drilling target and to avoid collisions with adjacent wells. For instance, access to 3D positional data for such wells may be used for collision avoidance. Thus, high quality and verifiable survey data may be used to minimize or at least reduce drilling risk and potential liabilities when drilling a well.

Directional control of wellbore trajectories


A method and device eradicate the occasional instability inherent in analysis-by-synthesis speech/audio codecs and caused in particular by channel errors during transmission of highly periodic signals such as high-frequency sine waves. Analysis-by-synthesis techniques involve production, in response to the speech/audio signal and at regular time intervals called frames, of (a) a set of spectral parameters for use in driving a synthesis filter in view of synthesizing the speech/audio signal, and (b) a pitch gain for constructing a past-excitation-signal component supplied to the synthesis filter. In accordance with the instability eradication method, the first step consists of detecting a set of conditions including (i) a resonance condition assessed from the spectral parameters, (ii) a duration condition detected when the resonance condition has prevailed for at least the M most recent frames, M being an integer greater than 1, and (iii) a gain condition which evidences consistently-high values of the pitch gain in the N most recent frames, N being an integer greater than 1. To eradicate the occasional instability, the pitch gain is reduced to a value lower than a given threshold whenever these three conditions are detected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with the field of digital encoding of speech, audio and other signals based on analysis-by-synthesis techniques including, in particular but not exclusively, Multipulses, Code Excited Linear Prediction (CELP) and Algebraic-Code Excited Linear Prediction (ACELP). More specifically, the present invention relates to the eradication of an occasional instability found in these analysis-by-synthesis techniques.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Analysis-by-synthesis techniques such as Multipulses, Code Excited Linear Prediction (CELP) and Algebraic-Code Excited Linear Prediction (ACELP) are subjected to occasional instability in particular in the occurrence of channel errors during the transmission of highly periodic signals such as high-frequency sine waves. To circumvent the problem, "Instability-eradication methods", also referred to as "Instability-protection methods", have been developed.
Analysis-by-synthesis speech encoding techniques operate on a frame by frame basis and rely on a speech production model involving the production of (i) a spectrum described by a set of spectral coefficients such as the Line Spectral Pairs (LSP), (ii) a description of an innovation signal typically by way of a codebook and code gain, (iii) a pitch lag, and (iv) its corresponding pitch gain.
At the decoder, a periodic excitation signal is applied to a synthesis filter to produce the output speech. The needed periodic excitation is constructed by adding the received innovation signal to a version of the past excitation signal, namely, reusing the excitation signal a pitch-lag ago multiplied by the pitch gain. Clearly, this construction method is recursive and therefore exhibits a propensity to instability if the pitch gain is allowed to exceed unity.
In analysis-by-synthesis speech encoding techniques, best results are obtained when the pitch gain is allowed to range up to values above one and typically up to 1.2. There is no intrinsic problem with using such a range insofar as the decoder follows rigorously the transmitted instructions from the encoder. However, the combination of channel error and high pitch gain values can bring about instabilities. These problems surfaced during the extensive test programs used by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and other standardization bodies.
In the ITU G.729 speech-coding recommendation the problem was solved using a method to anticipate at the encoder a problem potential by monitoring the past excitation.

Method and device for eradicating instability due to periodic signals in analysis-by-synthesis speech codecs