A medical diagnostic method using systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and pulse frequency of a patient is provided to compute a normalized diastolic distensibility value and a normalized peripheral resistance value, and to automatically compute the product of the normalized diastolic distensibility value and the normalized peripheral resistance value to generate a first product value. The first product value is compared to a stored distribution of normalized diastolic distensibility and a normalized peripheral resistance values for comparable individuals to determine if the first product value is equivalent to a value determined to indicate an abnormal condition. Particular values of the computed parameters aid in determining the etiology of hypertension and direct selection of pharmacotherapy.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical diagnostic equipment, and more particularly to medical diagnostic equipment related to the measurement and interpretation of blood pressures.
2. Description of the Related Art
The effects of high blood pressure continues to be a serious health problem. In the early 1990's, it was reported that two-thirds of Americans die with atherosclerotic blood vessels and that one-half of all Americans die as a result of these lesions.
There are many possible causes of high blood pressure each relating to different physiological mechanisms. In response, different hypertensive pharmaceuticals have been developed, each targeting one or more of the potential mechanisms. Examples are calcium channel blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, beta-blocking drugs and their hybrids, diuretics, centrally-acting alpha2 agonists, alpha1-blocking agents, vasodilators, and adrenergic-blocking agents. Some of these medications act primarily on the microvascular (peripheral) resistance to blood flow, others on the lowered distensibility of larger arteries, cardiac output, or on various combinations of these.
Medical doctors and other practitioners routinely determine systolic and diastolic blood pressures using an inflatable cuff and sphygmomanometer and measure heart rate by manual timing of the pulse. Possible disease states are inferred from these values and this may lead to the use of additional diagnostic tests. The additional tests, such as measurement of cardiac output, for example, are often more invasive, time-consuming, and expensive. For these reasons, practitioners may prescribe medicines without performing them. This less-than-optimal therapy increases the likelihood of adverse side effects and when more than one agent is involved, increases the potential for undesirable drug interaction.
Clearly, in deciding on which type of hypertensive medication to prescribe for a particular patient, it is desirable to identify the underlying causes so that an informed decision, based on an accurate and timely diagnosis, can be made.


The present invention provides a toner improved in dispersibility of a colorant in the toner particles and excellent in the color reproducibility including color mixability and transparency. The toner is also excellent in the stability in long-term of the chargeability and capable of forming images maintaining high image quality. The present invention provides a toner for forming a full-color image which includes at least toner particles containing a binder resin, a colorant and a wax, and inorganic fine particles, wherein the binder resin comprises a resin having polyester units which is synthesized by use of an aromatic carboxylic acid titanium compound as a catalyst, and the inorganic fine particles comprise fine titanium oxide particles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toner for use in an electrophotographic method, an electrostatic recording method, an electrostatic printing method, a toner jet recording method and a magnetic recording method.
2. Related Background Art
As electrophotography color image forming apparatus have become widely used, the application purposes thereof are extended variously, creating a severe demand on image quality. When copying images such as common photographs, catalogs and maps, even fine details are demanded to be finely and faithfully reproduced, and accordingly demand for vividness of color is also growing and the color reproduction range is demanded to be extended. In particular, under the current circumstances such that electrophotography has been significantly adopted in the field of printing, electrophotography itself is demanded to have high definition, high fineness, graininess and the like equal to or higher than those involved in the printing quality.
Full color image copying machines having been proposed in these years generally adopt a method in which a plurality of photosensitive members are used, electrostatic charge images formed on the photosensitive members are developed respectively by use of a cyan toner, a magenta toner, a yellow toner and a black toner, thereafter the toner images are successively transferred onto a transfer material conveyed along a straight path between the photosensitive members and a belt-form transfer member to form a full-color image, or a method in which a transfer material is wound, with the aid of electrostatic force or a mechanical action exerted by grippers, around the surface of a transfer member which faces a photosensitive member, and a development-transfer cycle is repeated four times to form a full-color image.
Toners used in such full-color image copying machines are required to exhibit an improved color reproducibility and to permit a sufficient color mixing of the respective toners in a heat-pressure fixing to ensure satisfactory transparency for overhead projector (OHP) images to be heat fixed onto transfer materials. In order to satisfy such requirements, a resin having a sharper melting property is preferably used, in this connection polyester resin having been used recently as a sharp-melting resin. As polymerization catalysts for producing polyester resins for use in toners, tin based catalysts such as dibutyltin oxide and antimony based catalysts such as antimony trioxide have been generally used. In order to realize performances required for full-color image copying machines such as high speed, high image quality and high fineness, important are such toner properties as fixing property including low temperature fixing property and high-temperature offset resistance, and color reproducibility including color mixability and transparency; however, polyester resins obtained by use of catalysts such as described above are still far from satisfying these toner properties.
Accordingly, Japanese Patent Applications Laid-Open Nos. 2002-148867 and 2001-64378 propose techniques in which a titanic acid ester of an aromatic diol and a solid titanium compound are used as polymerization catalysts. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H05-279465 proposes a technique in which a titanium tetraalkoxide treated with an organic monocarboxylic acid is used as a polycondensation catalyst for a polyester resin. However, these techniques still have problems with fixing property, color reproducibility and developing property when applied to toners for full-color image formation, and are therefore needed to be further improved.
When a sharp melting resin is used, a problem with high-temperature offset resistance usually tends to occur at the time of melting of the toner in the heat-pressure fixing step because the binder resin is low in self-cohesion. Accordingly, for the purpose of improving the high-temperature offset resistance at the time of fixing, relatively high-crystallinity waxes typified by polyethylene wax and polypropylene wax are used as releasing agents. However, because of the high crystallinity of the mold releasing agent and the difference in refractive index between the mold releasing agent and the OHP sheet material, such toners for full-color image formation sometimes lead to the degradation of transparency and the lowering of the chroma and brightness in the projected images when OHP projection is carried out.
For the purpose of solving these problems, Japanese Patent Applications Laid-Open Nos. H04-149559 and H04-107467 propose methods in which a nucleating agent is used together with a wax to lower the crystallinity of the wax. Japanese Patent Applications Laid-Open Nos. H04-301853 and H05-61238 propose methods in which a wax further lower in crystallinity is used (for example, see Patent Documents 6 and 7). Japanese Patent Applications Laid-Open Nos. H01-185660 and H01-238672 also propose the use of montan waxes as waxes, other than those described above, each having a relatively good transparency and a low melting point. However, such waxes cannot fully satisfy all the requirements, namely, the toner transparency in OHP sheets, and low-temperature fixing property and high-temperature offset resistance in the heat-pressure fixing.


Methods and apparatuses are used for AC and DC electric power systems. The apparatus according to one embodiment is a pin system (180A) for AC and DC electric power systems which comprises a female pin (418), the female pin (418) comprising a resistive region (405), the resistive region (405) forming a first portion of an inner surface of the female pin (418), and a conductive region (406), the conductive region (406) forming a second portion of the inner surface of the female pin (418), the conductive region (406) contacting the resistive region (405), the conductive region (406) being located further than the resistive region (405) from an open end of the female pin (418); and a male pin (415) adapted to be inserted in the female pin (418) along the inner surface of the female pin (418), the male pin (415) being made of a conductive material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to connector pin systems, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for hot swap of modules using connector pin systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electric systems used in complex environments such as aerospace systems, more electric aircraft systems, industrial environments, vehicles, etc., include a large number of electric modules. Various electric modules may need to be extracted and replaced with other electric modules, to change functionality or to replace electric modules that exhibit faults.
Hot swap, hot-plug, and hot-dock are terms used interchangeably to refer to the process of safely inserting or removing cards, PC boards, cables, and/or modules from a host system without removing power. The goal of hot swap is to insert or remove modules without disturbing, damaging, or degrading up/down-stream adjacent line replaceable modules/subsystems, to increase system availability, reduce down time, simplify system repair, and allow for system maintenance/upgrade without interrupting service to other loads.
If not designed for properly, hot swap can cause severe electrical, mechanical, thermal and operational problems in an electrical system. For example, random pin arcing may occur during the mating process of a replaceable module with its parent electrical system. Pulling a board/module out while there is current passing through the module connectors, or inserting a board/module with all bulk/bypass capacitors at zero volts, can introduce severe electrical voltage/current transients which may adversely impact reliability and lead to safety consequences. For example, current chopping introduces Ldi/dt variations (where L is inductance of a load, for example) leading to very large voltage transients which are a major safety concern for maintenance people, as large voltage transients can cause high voltage electrical shock.
Multiple long/short pin arrangements are used in typical/conventional hot swap of replaceable modules. One such pin arrangement is described in "Introduction to Hot Swap", by Jonathan M. Bearfield, Texas Instruments, TechOnLine, publication date Sep. 24, 2001. In this publication, a hot swap system for hot swap of modules includes a connector with long and short pins, a fuse, and an RC circuit. During hot swap of a module, the long pins mate first, adding the RC circuit to pre-charge the module/board. When the board/module is fully inserted, the short pins mate, bypassing the resistor connected to the longer pins and creating a low impedance connection. One problem associated with long/short pin arrangements is the increase in number of pins needed for hot swap. Presence of more pins for hot swap leads to increased cost and weight of systems using such hot swap pin arrangements. A second problem associated with long/short pin arrangements for hot swap is lack of control in the timing of pin insertion and extraction during hot swap.
Some techniques to integrate long and short pins have been studied. One such technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,783 titled "Resistive Pin for Printed Circuit Card Connector", by P. D. Bellamy et al. In the technique described in this patent, a male connector pin is made of a conductive material, an outer layer of resistive material, and a layer of insulating material. The outer layer of resistive material is deposited on a first portion of the conductive material. The insulating layer separates the resistive layer from the conductive material. As the pin is inserted into an electrical socket, socket contacts travel first along the resistive portion of the pin, and then along the conductive portion of the pin. In this technique, however, the length of the socket-contacted resistive region of the pin increases to a maximum, before the socket contacts reach the conductive region of the pin. Hence, the resistance of the connector pin increases to a maximum, after which abruptly drops to zero, which leads to a non-uniform and not well controlled hot swap process. Moreover, a pin system as described in the above mentioned patent is difficult to manufacture and is not cost-effective, due to the configuration of layers on the pin connector.
A disclosed embodiment of the application addresses these and other issues by utilizing an integrated hot swap connector pin system that includes a conductive male pin, and a female pin with a resistive region, an insulating region, and a conductive region. The method and apparatus produce a gradually decreasing resistance as the male pin is inserted into the female pin, hence eliminating in-rush currents during hot swap insertion of a replaceable module into a live power board. The method and apparatus produce a gradually increasing resistance as the male pin is extracted from the female pin, hence reducing current chopping during hot swap extraction of a replaceable module from a live power board. The method and apparatus prevent random pin arcing during mating process by reducing the AC or DC current during the MAKE or BREAK process; eliminate in-rush currents during initial insertion of a board/module with all bulk/bypass capacitors at zero volts; eliminate large electrical voltage/current transients, such as large voltage transients due to Ldi/dt current chopping variations, which may adversely impact reliability and lead to safety consequences; provide a uniform and well controlled hot swap of replaceable modules and boards.

Method and apparatus for integrated hot swap connector pins for AC and DC electric power systems


The invention relates to a radio base station (13) for handling Outer Loop Power Control of a user equipment (12) in a radio communications network of a multiple cell (10,11) High Speed Uplink Packet Access configuration: The user equipment (12) is connected to at least two cells (10,11) using at least two carriers, one cell per carrier, wherein the radio base station (13) reports number of hybrid automatic repeat requests of the two or more carriers to a network control node (14). The radio base station (13) and the network control node (14) are comprised in the radio communications network. The radio base station determines (401) a number of hybrid automatic repeat requests over a first carrier of the at least two or more carriers, and signals (402) a user plane frame to the network control node (14). The user plane frame comprises the determined number of hybrid automatic repeat requests and an identity associated to the first carrier, enabling the network control node (14) to control an Outer Loop Power Control parameter to be used in an Outer Loop Power Control process for the first carrier.

In today's′ radio communications networks, such as Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) networks, High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) has been introduced. HSPA uses High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) and improves the performance of existing WCDMA networks. In HSUPA, work is ongoing to introduce multiple cell HSUPA, such as Dual-cell HSUPA. An objective with the work item is to specify Dual-cell HSUPA operation for the following scenario:                The dual carrier transmission only applies to HSUPA Uplink (UL) physical channels and Dedicated Physical Control Channel (DPCCH), the uplink DPCCH is used to carry the Dedicated Channel (DCH) transport channel        The carriers belong to the same Node-B, also known as radio base station, and are on adjacent carriers,        Operation with at least 2 carriers configured simultaneously in downlink
In single carrier Enhanced Dedicated channel (E-DCH) operation, the Outer Loop Power Control (OLPC) parameters, such as Signal to Interference (SIR) target value is determined by a Network control node, e.g. the Serving Radio Network Controller (SRNC) and sent to a radio base station, called NodeB, alternatively, if the connection is over network interface lur, via the Drift Radio Network Controller (DRNC). The determination of the SIR target value uses the number of Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmissions that the SRNC receives in the header of an UL Data frame, a so called User Plane Protocol (UP Prot). The Node B then uses the SIR target value, for example, in an Inner Loop Power Control process (ILPC) between a User Equipment (UE) and the Node B. For example, in the uplink it is the ability of the transmitter of the UE to adjust its output power in accordance with one or more Transmit Power Control (TPC) commands received in the downlink from the Node B. The transmitter adjusts its output power in order to keep the received uplink Signal-to-Interference Ratio (SIR) at the given SIR target.
The E-DCH may use soft handover with one E-DCH serving cell plus one or more E-DCH non serving cells. In single carrier mode all cells are on the same carrier. With one carrier it is enough to have one OLPC process that may involve all the cells of the active set for E-DCH, it is not required to know in which cell the number of HARQ retransmissions has increased for proper setting of the SIR target in all cells of E-DCH active set.
When two or more carriers are introduced the assumption is that soft handover is used on each carrier, i.e. an active set of several cells may exist on each carrier, one cell per carrier is the serving E-DCH cell. Hence, a number of transport carriers will be used up to the SRNC to identify the number of HARQ retransmission with the carrier leading to a signaling that uses a lot of resources.
WO2004091114 discloses a system wherein number of ARQs is used when controlling transmission power of a user equipment. WO2006059172 discloses a system where channel quality is used when controlling transmission power of a user equipment. Document R1-090886 of 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 Meeting #56 in Athens, Greece, 09-3Feb. 2009 Titled Considerations on DC-HSUPA Operation discloses the use of TPC in DC-HSUPA.

Radio base station, a network control node and methods therein for outer loop power control in dual-carrier HSUPA


A hardmask composition includes a polymer including a moiety represented by the following Chemical Formula 1 and a solvent.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to a hardmask composition and a method of forming a pattern by using the hardmask composition.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, the semiconductor industry has developed an ultra-fine technique having a pattern of several to several tens of nanometers in size. Effective lithographic techniques are important for such ultrafine techniques.
A general lithographic technique includes providing a material layer on a semiconductor substrate; coating a photoresist layer thereon; exposing and developing the same to provide a photoresist pattern; and etching the material layer using the photoresist pattern as a mask.

Hardmask composition and method of forming patterns using the hardmask composition

Abstract: In the Chemical Formula 1,                A, B, R1 and R2 are the same as defined in the detailed description.


A delivery device for a stented heart valve includes a handle, an elongate shaft extending from a distal end of the handle, and a conical housing having a proximal end coupled to the elongate shaft and an open distal end, the conical housing having a conical lumen therein with a first internal diameter adjacent to the proximal end of the conical housing and a larger second internal diameter adjacent to the open distal end of the conical housing.

Heart valve replacement is required when a patient's heart valve becomes diseased or damaged. Surgically implanted heart valve prostheses have extended the life expectancy of many patients with defective heart valves. Such prostheses can be either mechanical or biological (tissue valves), stented or stentless, and may be implanted into an aortic, mitral, tricuspid, or pulmonary position.
During a surgical procedure, the heart is typically stopped and the patient attached to a heart/lung bypass machine that pumps and oxygenates the patient's blood. The longer a patient is required to rely on the artificial heart/lung bypass machine to maintain vital functions, the greater the stress on the patient. There is consequently a need to simplify the surgical implantation of a heart valve prosthesis into the implantation annulus in order to minimize both the length of surgery and the amount of time spent on heart/lung bypass.
Stented heart valves made from flexible material or from materials that exhibit shape memory characteristics promise less complicated and faster valve implantation procedures. The stents supporting the heart valves are generally cylindrical in shape and are structured to be crimped so as to reduce their size for delivery to a target site. The stents may be either self-expanding or non self-expanding. Self-expanding stents may be formed from any suitable shape memory material, such as Nitinol. Non self-expanding stents are typically expanded via an inflation means or mechanical expansion means. Stented heart valves are sometimes referred to as suture-less valves because they may be implanted and secured into the annulus without the use of sutures.
As appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, it is desirable to crimp or otherwise radially compress the stent in a substantially uniform manner to minimize the variation in pressures applied to the stent. Such pressure variations may lead to deformation of the stent, which may reduce the ability of the stent to securely maintain the heart valve at the target location. Thus, if a stent is crimped in a non-uniform manner, it is typically either re-crimped or thrown away. Re-crimping of stents is not desirable because the repeated application of force on the stent may cause fatigue or weakening of the stent structure. Disposing of poorly crimped stents is also not desirable due to the increased costs associated with the waste. This is especially true with stented heart valves because the stent and the heart valve are attached together and must be disposed of as a single unit.
A number of different strategies have been used to repair or replace a defective heart valve with a stented replacement valve. Generally speaking, open-heart valve repair or replacement surgery involves a gross thoracotomy, usually in the form of a median sternotomy. In this procedure, a saw or other cutting instrument is used to cut the sternum longitudinally and the two opposing halves of the anterior or ventral portion of the rib cage are spread apart. A large opening into the thoracic cavity is thus created, through which the surgeon may directly visualize and operate upon the heart and other thoracic contents. The patient must be placed on cardiopulmonary bypass for the duration of the surgery. Open-chest valve replacement surgery has the benefit of permitting the direct implantation of the replacement valve at its intended target site. For example, the crimped stented replacement valve may be delivered to the target site with a delivery catheter or the like. Once positioned in the desired location, the stent may be re-expanded or self-expands to secure the replacement heart valve in place by exerting radial forces against the internal walls of the implantation annulus.
New delivery devices and methods which make the surgical procedure more efficient and minimize the length of time of the procedure are always needed. Furthermore, new delivery devices and methods which provide the surgeon with improved visualization of the stented heart valve during delivery as well as improved control over the deployment of the stented heart valve are also needed.

Surgical delivery device and method of use


A photographic support material comprising a plastic foil or plastic coated paper coated on the rear side with a composition that can be printed with thermal printers and does not pick up dirt or discoloration in developing baths, has good adhesive tape adhesion, good printability with conventional printers, good abrasion resistance and bath resistance, and a good antistatic finish. The coating composition comprises an aqueous mixture of colloidal aluminum modified silica, a polyfunctional aziridine, an alkali salt of an organic polyacid, and a plastic dispersion with free carboxyl groups, a residual monomer content of < 200 ppm, > 50 mol % rigid monomers in the polymer and the interfacial tension of the dried film of > 50 dyn/cm.

This invention concerns a coating composition for the rear side of photographic support materials for light-sensitive layers and a process for producing same. The support material may be a plastic coated paper or a plastic foil. The rear side is the surface of the support material opposite the front side which will later carry the image.
Plastic foils or papers coated on their surfaces, i.e. the front side and rear side, with polyolefin layers are usually used as support materials for photosensitive layers, especially for color photography. These polyolefin coatings are preferably applied by melt extrusion methods using polyolefin. Such a photographic support materials are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,411,908.
The polyolefins may be polyethylenes, such as LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE or polypropylene or mixtures of these components. They have many advantages as layer forming substances, but they also have properties that are a disadvantage within the context of producing or further handling of such papers. Apart from the adhesion problems between the polyolefin surface and the light-sensitive emulsion which can be eliminated by additional measures and means, polyolefin layers must fulfill certain properties in the course of production and processing of such photographic papers or, in some cases, certain properties of the polyolefins must be suppressed or overcome.
Thus, for example, it is necessary to be able to label the photographic materials that are to be developed by writing or printing on the rear side of the support material so the materials can be identified as belonging to certain customers and clients. A hydrophobic polyolefin coating that seals the paper core, however, permits writing or labeling only to a limited extent. Special measures and means are required in order to assure general printability or writability in machine processing of the photographic material.
It is also necessary for the photographic material coated with light sensitive emulsions not to attract dirt particles to its surface ("tar stain") in the various treatment baths. These stains develop over a period of time due to oxidation and condensation processes in old photographic treatment baths.
In addition to such partial reception of dirt particles at the surface (tar stain) there can also be absorption of developer solution on the full area of the support material to such an extent that it is no longer completely reversible during the further passage through the treatment baths. This absorbed developer or the absorbed developer components oxidize in air and lead to more or less intense yellow discoloration of the full surface area.
In addition, it is necessary to prevent the developer solutions or baths from becoming contaminated by the agents that are responsible for printability, writability and similar desirable properties. This means that the layer on the rear side (backing layer) must be abrasion resistant and bath resistant.
Another requirement for such photographic support materials is good adhesion for adhesive tape which is used to secure the rolls of photographic paper strips to each other. The tape connections must not become detached when passed through the aqueous bath liquids in the developing process.
Finally, electrostatic charge buildup by the support materials should also be prevented in order to prevent flash exposure as the plastic coated photographic support material or plastic foil is passed through the emulsion coating machine or through the developing machines. Such flash exposure would lead to the non-usability of the light-sensitive emulsions or could destroy the latent image that is developing.
A new requirement that has been added is printability with thermal printers. Thermal printers transfer printing inks within a short period of time at high temperatures.
In summary, a backing layer should impart the properties of writability, printability, adhesive tape adhesion, abrasion resistance, antistatic properties and thermal printability to the support materials for light-sensitive layers, but should not contaminate the photographic treatment baths, should not allow reception of dirt due to tar-like oxidation products from the photographic developers, and should not allow discoloration of the surface due to oxidized developer components.
It is known that the requirements of a rear backing layer described here necessitates different measures, and in the past it has been difficult to achieve these requirements on the whole because the measures and means presented to solve them were often contradictory.
For example, it is known from European laid open Publication No. 0 160 912 that the rear side of a polyethylene coated photographic material can be provided with an antistatic layer consisting of a sodium magnesium silicate, a sodium polystyrene sulfonate and certain succinic acid semiesters. This layer should prevent a buildup of electrostatic charge and should also protect the material from dirt. However, this layer does not permit good adhesion of adhesive tape, has a low bath resistance and unsatisfactory thermal printability.
DE-OS 3 700 183 discloses a photographic support material with a backing layer that is a useful compromise between different good properties. It has good antistatic properties, good printability, moderate to good abrasion resistance and bath resistance, low to moderate dirt reception and good adhesive tape adhesion. However, the dirt reception (tar stain) in various other oxidized photographic developers is too great, and the thermal printability is unsatisfactory.
EP-OS 312 638 describes a photographic support material for light-sensitive layers with a similar backing layer as that in DE-OS 3 700 183. It yields good results in antistatic properties, adhesive tape adhesion, printability, abrasion resistance and bath resistance, and also has minimum tar stain and discoloration of the surface due to oxidized developer components. In addition, it can be written on well with a pencil. However, this backing layer is poor with regard to thermal printability.
All the solutions described here, however, have proven to be inadequate in recent times because due to a constant increase in the use of developer capacities, the pot life (changing cycle) of photographic baths has become longer, and tar-like and strongly colored oxidation products are formed to an increasing extent in the photographic developing baths. Consequently, higher and higher demands are made of the photographic support materials, especially with regard to tar stain and surface discoloration.
Another requirement regarding the rear side of photographic support materials is that it must be printable with thermal printers where a printing ink is transferred within a short period of time at a high temperature.
Therefore, the object of this invention is to make available coating compositions for backing layers of support materials for light-sensitive layers that also have significantly reduced soiling due to tar-like oxidation products from the photographic developer bath (tar stain) after passing through extremely aged photographic treatment baths, definitely lower discoloration due to oxidizing developer components absorbed at the surface than in the current state of the art, and they must be printable with thermal printers. A basic condition here is that the layer must not be at all inferior to the state of the art with regard to the other properties described above.
This object is solved by an aqueous coating composition containing the following components:
a colloidal aluminum modified silica,
an alkali salt of an organic polyacid,
a polyfunctional aziridine, and
a plastic dispersion that has
a residual monomer content of <200 ppm, PA1 >50 mol% rigid monomers in the polymer, PA1 free carboxyl groups in the polymer, and PA1 an interfacial tension of >50 dyn/cm as the dried film.
However, this basic formulation can be supplemented by additional additives in order to reinforce existing properties or create other properties. Such additives may include a silica with a particle size of >2 .mu.m, optical brighteners, nuancing dyes, delustering agents of an organic or inorganic type, white pigments, wetting agents, etc. For example, adding silica with a particle size of >2 .mu.m makes the layer more suitable for accepting pencil writing.
The individual components in the aqueous coating composition are present in the following amounts:
______________________________________ plastic dispersion 3.0-7.0 wt % (as a 50 wt % aqueous dispersion) aluminum modified colloidal silica 2.5-9.0 wt % (as a 30 wt % aqueous dispersion) alkali salt of an organic polyacid 0.5-4.0 wt % (as a 30 wt % aqueous dispersion) polyfunctional aziridine 0.2-1.5 wt % (as a 50 wt % alcoholic solution) with the remainder being water. ______________________________________
Then the dried layer contains approximately the following amounts:
______________________________________ polymer 30-70 wt % aluminum modified silica 16-64 wt % alkali salt of an organic polyacid 3-25 wt % polyfunctional aziridine 2-16 wt % ______________________________________
The polymer of the plastic dispersion is thus composed of one or more of the monomers styrene, butadiene, acrylic ester, methacrylate ester, vinyl acetate, vinyl chloride, maleic ester, olefin or acrylonitrile combined with monomers with free carboxyl groups. These monomers with free carboxyl groups may include, for example, maleic acid, acrylic acid and methacrylic acid, crotonic acid, itaconic acid, vinyl acetic acid, etc.
A copolymer of the aforementioned monomers is preferred. There should be >50 mol% rigid components such as styrene, methacrylate ester, acrylate ester, vinyl chloride or vinyl acetate in the copolymer. These are components or monomers which in the form of homopolymers have a ball indentation hardness of >1000 kg/cm.sup.2. The copolymer must have a low free carboxyl group content for the crosslinking reaction with polyfunctional aziridines. This amount should be preferably 1-5 mol%. The residual monomer content should be <200 ppm.
It has surprisingly been found that coating compositions with selected plastic dispersions having an interfacial tension of >50 dyn/cm as the dried film meet all the required properties, whereas coating compositions with plastic dispersions that have an interfacial tension of <50 dyn/cm as the dried film yield unsatisfactory results.
The aluminum modified silica in the coating composition has, as a colloidal solution, a particle size of 7-16 nm and the modification depends preferably on exchanging a few silicon atoms for aluminum atoms.
The alkali salt of an organic polyacid may be a lithium salt, a sodium salt or a potassium salt of polyacrylic acid or polymethacrylic acid, maleic acid, itaconic acid, crotonic acid, polysulfonic acid or copolymers of these compounds as well as cellulose derivatives. The alkali salts of polystyrene sulfonic acid or naphthalene sulfonic acid or an alkali cellulose sulfate are preferred.
Of the polyfunctional aziridines, trifunctional aziridines of the following general formula are especially preferred: ##STR1## where R.sub.1 is --CH.sub.3 or --OH and R.sub.2 is --CH.sub.3 or --OH.
All conventional applicator systems are suitable for applying the coating compositions. The surface of the photographic support material to be coated in this way is preferably pretreated by corona discharge in order to achieve better adhesion of the applied layer.
The following examples are presented to illustrate this invention in greater detail but do not restrict in any way.

Reverse side coating of photographic support materials


A method and system for processing a call when a call recipient is unavailable by using virtual interaction queuing techniques over IP networks are disclosed. The method includes queuing the call in a queue associated with a call center, obtaining a messaging preference of the caller, disconnecting the call, generating at least one IP-based message for the caller according to the caller's messaging preference, and transmitting the at least one IP-based message to the caller over an IP network, so as to begin a virtual interaction between the caller and the call center after the call is disconnected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for processing calls using virtual interaction queuing over an IP (internet protocol) network.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Conventionally, when a caller places a call to speak with an agent of a company or business, a call center or contact center queues the call. If the requested agent is not available, the call remains connected and the caller receives "comfort prompts." Comfort prompts may be voice (either recorded or synthesized) messages regarding the unavailability of an agent, voice-recorded advertisements for the business, prerecorded music, etc.
When the agent becomes available, then the queued call is passed to the agent and the caller can speak with the agent. A problem with this type of conventional call waiting process is that the caller is charged with toll costs since the call remains connected while the caller holds for the agent and receives the comfort prompts. If 800 numbers are used, then the call center has to absorb such tolling costs. As a result, this type of call waiting process places undue financial burden on call parties. Further, it can be extremely inconvenient and frustrating for callers to wait for a call pickup or to listen to comfort prompts repeatedly.
A method has been proposed which overcomes at least some of the problems discussed above. FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting this method according to a related art. As shown in FIG. 1, when a caller places a call for an agent of a company in step S2, the contact/call center queues the call in a queue according to the order of receipt, or other information associated with the call such as the dialed number or calling line ID, in step S4. When the agent is not available to pick up the call, this call is then cleared (i.e., disconnected) in step S6.
Thereafter, when the agent becomes available to pick up the call in step S8, the contact center places a callback to the caller so that a call contact between the agent and the caller can be made once again in step S10. This process is known as virtual queuing. A more detailed discussion of the virtual queuing process of a call can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,786 issued on Jul. 10, 2001.
In the conventional virtual queuing process as discussed above, since the call is disconnected once the call has been queued for a callback, the problem of incurring toll charges during a call wait is eliminated. Further, since a callback is automatically made to the caller once the agent becomes available, the caller is not inconvenienced by having to hold for the agent and the caller's time is not wasted by being on hold.
Although effective, there are still problems associated with the conventional virtual queuing process. One of the main problems is that contact between the caller and the contact center is completely lost once the call is disconnected until the callback is made. This can result in a loss of valuable customers and business. Furthermore, even if the callback is made, there is no guarantee that the caller will be able to answer the callback since the availability of the caller is not taken into account when the callback is made. In this case, resources can be wasted by placing callbacks to contact the caller. Moreover, callbacks often are made at times that are inappropriate for the caller since the conventional virtual queuing process does not take into account the caller's preferred callback time. This can annoy or inconvenience the caller.
Accordingly, an improved method and system is needed for processing calls which would overcome the above-described problems and limitations of conventional call processing and virtual queuing techniques.

Virtual interaction queuing using internet protocols


A toggle valve includes a valve stem which moves a valve body towards and away from a valve seat, an operation member separate from the valve stem, valve stem rollers which are supported by the valve stem and which have shafts whose axes extend in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the sliding movement of the valve stem without intersecting the same, a tapered surface provided on the end of the operation member adjacent to the valve stem, and intermediate rollers which are provided between the tapered surface of the operation member and the valve stem rollers to come into contact with the tapered surface and the valve stem rollers. The tapered surface, the intermediate rollers, and the valve stem rollers are arranged such that when the operation member is moved by a unit movement toward the valve stem to move the valve stem through the tapered surface, the intermediate rollers, and the valve stem rollers, the valve stem is moved by a displacement smaller than the unit displacement of the operation member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toggle valve (high pressure valve) in which operational force is increased and transmitted to a valve stem which actuates a valve body.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are various known types of toggle valves. However, known toggle valves are large and elements thereof must be machined at extremely high precision. Moreover, it is difficult for known toggle valves to maintain stable operation for long periods of time.


An optical recording medium has a plurality of test areas on each of which test signals are written, and a plurality of power sitting information recording areas on each of which an optimum laser power obtained by reading the recorded test signal written in one of the test areas is written. An identification information of a recording system by which the test signal is written is also written on the power setting information recording area.

The present invention relates to an optical recording medium of write once type and a method for setting power of a laser beam for writing information in the recording medium.
As a write once type optical recording medium, a CD-R (write once type CD) is known. In the CD-R, a laser beam is focused on a recording surface to convert luminous energy to thermal energy to change the physical nature of the recording surface. Thus, the information is recorded n the CD-R.
Although the recording mediums of the same type are made by the same material, the individual recording medium has not always the same characteristic. Accordingly, if a laser beam is set to a fixed power, information can not be recorded in an optimum condition. Therefore, in such a recording medium, before recording information, the laser power is adjusted by an optimum power control (OPC) to be set to an optimum value for a disc to be recorded.
A conventional OPC method employed in the CD-R will be describe with reference to FIG. 6. The CD-R has a power calibration area (PCA) as a test area, read-in area, information recording area, and read-out area. The PCA is provided on the inside of the read-in area. A test writing is performed in the test area before recording information so as to obtain an optimum laser power for writing information on the CD-R.
In the write once type CD such as the CD-R, an area in which information has been written once is not used for further writing information again. A recorder for writing information is provided for controlling laser power by the test writing on the PCA, and for recording information on the information recording area thereafter with the controlled laser power.
As shown in FIG. 6, the CPA is divided into a hundred partitions. Since one writing test uses one partition, it is possible to perform a hundred times of the OPC.
However, the test writing over a hundred times can not be done. Therefore, even if a writable area (vacant space) remains in the information recording area, information can not be recorded thereon.

Optical recording medium and method for setting power of laser beam


A method of compressing cracked and split beans into useable cakes is provided. This process makes use of beans which have been broken into smaller pieces and are a natural result of the harvest and production methods and are considered undesirable and are separated out and either discarded or used in animal feed. The present invention takes these bean byproducts and combines them with rice, supplemental vitamins and minerals, and a binding agent and forms them into a uniformly shaped bean cake. These cakes can easily be packaged and stored for later shipping to an area where a highly nutritious and readily accessible food source is needed such as famine or disaster stricken locations.

The present invention relates to an improvement in a compressed food product which may be easily broken down for consumption and more specifically, to a compressed bean based composite which is economical to store and transport and which may easily be re-hydrated for consumption.
The edible bean industry has been rapidly expanding in many areas. This expansion of the industry has created a surplus of bean byproducts such as splits and chips which are basically broken whole dried beans. These bean byproducts have an equal food value to whole beans but a very limited market and subsequently, a very low monetary value. Often times these bean byproducts are used as animal feed rather than for human consumption merely because visually, due to their broken nature, they are unsatisfactory for human consumption or sale. Further, even though these products have been deemed unsatisfactory, they have a certain cooking advantage over whole beans. It is well known that cracked and split beans cook at a faster speed as they have more surface area than a whole bean for the same amount of product, thus reducing cooking times.
It is well known that beans can provide a great deal of protein at a very low cost. It is also known that the quality and digestibility of beans can be improved by consuming them with cereal grains. Beans are a rich source of lysine, which is low in cereal grains. Cereal grains are high in methionine and other sulphur amino acids, which are low in beans. When beans and grains are served together in dishes like beans and rice, they provide a complimentary protein mixture.
The processing of rice and other grains often produces the same types of byproducts as discussed with beans. These chipped or split byproducts of grains, such as rice, are rarely sold for human consumption and normally may be sold for animal feed, again resulting in a very low monetary value.
Currently, even in disaster or poverty stricken regions, beans, rice and other grain products are shipped in bulk form while still allowing for the waste of the chipped or split products. Further, products in bulk form may present added shipping costs as well as packaging and distribution inconveniences.
From this discussion it can be seen that it would be desirable to produce a product that could be both nutritious and tasty, easy to transport and store and allow for the utilization of chipped or split products which are currently being wasted. In addition it can readily be seen that it would be desirable to condense and package for distribution and transport these products for all uses including use in disaster or poverty stricken regions.
It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a method of making use of an existing surplus of bean byproduct to produce a compressed bean cake that is an otherwise overlooked food source.
It is an additional objective of the present invention to provide such a method of producing a compressed bean cake which makes use of the bean byproduct in conjunction with a relatively small percentage of rice or other similar grain and a wide variety of vitamins and minerals to produce a food source that is extremely high in nutrient value.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide such a method of producing a compressed bean cake that will provide an inexpensive food source that can be easily used in relief efforts in poverty, disaster, and famine stricken areas and countries.
It is a still further objective of the present invention to provide such a method of producing compressed bean cakes which can be easily and inexpensively stored and shipped which also aids in their intended use in national and international relief efforts.
These objectives are accomplished by making use of cracked and split beans which are whole uncooked dry beans that have been broken into smaller pieces and are a natural result of the harvest and production methods used in the creation of the wide variety of bean products available in the market place today. The type of beans that are most commonly used in this are either black beans or pinto beans or some combination of the two, but the processes described here will work equally well with most any type of dry edible bean that are commonly available. These cracked and split beans are widely considered undesirable and are usually separated out and either discarded or used in animal feeds, neither of which provide a significant source of income to the producer.
The present invention is made up of these cracked and split beans and combines them with rice or other similar grains, along with a wide variety of supplemental vitamins and minerals and, by the use of a binding agent, is formed into a short cylindrically shaped cake. The binding agent is most commonly a potato flour or other similar starch that is mixed in with the other ingredients and which has the sole purpose of helping to hold the formed cakes together. Additionally, it is also possible to use a wide variety of other binding agents such as lards and other animal and vegetable fats but these have the disadvantage of either being more expensive or requiring the additional use of preservatives because of their shorter shelf lives, both of which unnecessarily add costs to the production of the present invention. Since one of the most attractive features of the present invention is its extremely low cost of production and delivery, any unnecessary additional cost works strongly against its intended purpose and functionality.
The bean cakes are formed by placing the ingredients into a series of individual compartments within a raw material bin that is located either adjacent to or as a part of the bean press. From the raw material bin, the cracked beans and rice are metered out in the proper proportions into the interior of the bean press where they are mixed together and then fed into a heat source. The heat source serves to bring the mixture to a predetermined temperature which is critical to the formation of the present invention. The reason for this is that a dry edible bean has the commonly known property of obtaining a certain degree of elasticity at a relatively high temperature which aids in the binding process with the other ingredients when the mixture is put under pressure.
Once the proper temperature of the beans has been obtained, the bean and rice mixture is then combined and mixed with the binder and supplement and is fed into the high pressure portion of the bean press. The press forms the mixture into short cylindrical objects that closely resemble hockey pucks by encasing a specified portion of the mixture within a mold and applying somewhere between five (5) tons per square inch and ten (10) tons per square inch to the mold. This amount of pressure compresses the ingredients and the elastic nature of the beans and the action of the binding agent work to hold them together in the form described above.
Once the ingredients have been formed into the bean cake within the bean press, they are placed on a conveyor belt which carries them out of the press for cooling to ambient temperature and transport to a holding container located at the end of the conveyor. From here the cakes can be packaged and stored for later shipping to an area where a highly nutritious and readily accessible food source is needed such as famine or disaster locations.
For a better understanding of the present invention reference should be made to the drawings and the description in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the present invention.

Compressed bean composite and method therefore


A food container with at least a convex front wall having a single sheet of flexible material edge joined to the inner face of the wall and in intimate contact therewith for a selective inward convex flexing of the sheet a distance determined by the convexity of the first wall to define an upwardly opening pocket therebetween.

The present invention relates to paperboard containers, particularly french fry scoops and the like, wherein a small segregated compartment is provided for a condiment for use with the foodstuff in the scoop or the main compartment thereof.
Inasmuch as containers of this type, normally formed of foldable paperboard, are a single-use product principally used in fast food establishments, and as such containers are used in very large quantities, it is particularly desirable that the costs associated therewith, both in materials and manufacturing, be maintained at a minimum.
The desirability of such containers with separate condiment compartments is well known and exemplified by the following recently issued patents:
______________________________________ 4,955,528 Schluckebier September 11, 1990 5,540,333 Gonzalez et al July 30, 1996 5,626,283 Mellon May 6, 1997 5,630,544 Shane May 20, 1997 ______________________________________
In Mellon, the pocket is defined by a rather elaborate extension and modification of the blank, with access to the smaller compartment in the erected container requiring a rather elaborate manipulation thereof including severance along a perforated cut line. Such a manipulation, in light of the highly flexible nature of conventional scoops of this type, could be quite difficult.
The containers in Schluckebier, Gonzales et al, and Shane all disclose separately formed complete condiment pockets or receptacles secured to the principal container.


An apparatus to retain an assembled component on one side of a double-sided printed circuit board during reflow of other components subsequently positioned on an opposite side of the double-sided printed circuit board and methods for manufacturing and using the same. The retainer includes a heat-shrinkable member and a retaining member. Being formed from a heat-shrinkable material, the heat-shrinkable member is configured to receive a post extending through an opening formed in a double-sided printed circuit board from a component previously assembled on one side thereof. The retaining member is coupled with the heat-shrinkable member, and the double-sided printed circuit board is disposed substantially between the retaining member and the component. The heat-shrinkable member is configured to shrinkably engage the post when an opposite side of the double-sided printed circuit board is populated and reflowed, retaining the inverted component on the double-sided printed circuit board.

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) generally comprise a composite of organic and inorganic materials with external and internal metal traces, permitting assembled electronic components to be mechanically supported and electrically connected. A typical printed circuit board includes one or more metal layers, such as routing and/or plane layers, and one or more insulation layers. Each of the insulation layers is disposed substantially between successive metal layers with each outer layer of the printed circuit board comprising one of the metal layers. Each of the metal routing layers is patterned to transfer signals between assembled electronic components, and each of the metal plane layers, such as a power plane layer and/or a ground plane layer, is designed to distribute power and/or ground, respectively, throughout the printed circuit board.
Electronic components are assembled on at least one of the outer metal layers of the typical printed circuit board. On a single-sided printed circuit board, for example, electronic components are assembled on only one of the outer metal layers, referred to as the primary side of the printed circuit board. The opposite side of such a printed circuit board is called the secondary side. After the electrical components have been positioned on the primary side via, for example, a pick-and-place machine (not shown), the single-sided printed circuit board typically undergoes a single soldering stage. Alternatively, electronic components can be assembled on both the primary side and the secondary side of a double-sided printed circuit board. To assemble electrical components on both sides, double-sided printed circuit boards must typically undergo multiple soldering stages.
Today, a significant number of electrical components are surface mounted to printed circuit boards. The driving force behind the use of surface-mount (SMT) components is reduced package size, improved utilization of printed circuit board real estate, and simplified assembly. Surface-mount components are positioned on metal pads or lands, which are formed on the outer metal layers of the printed circuit board, by applying solder paste to the relevant lands before positioning the surface-mount components. Comprising solder and flux, the solder paste liquefies during a manufacturing stage called solder reflow (or more simply reflow), and the surface tension of the liquefied solder enables the surface-mount components to align with, and to couple with, the relevant lands on the printed circuit board. Thus, when the solder cools and solidifies, the surface-mount components each are assembled on the printed circuit board.
To more efficiently utilize printed circuit board real estate, double-sided printed circuit boards are used with surface-mount components assembled on both the primary side and the secondary side of the printed circuit board. On a double-sided printed circuit board, surface-mount components first are assembled, i.e. positioned and reflowed, on an upward-facing side, such as the primary side, of the printed circuit board. The double-sided printed circuit board then is flipped over such that the opposite side, such as the secondary side, faces upwardly, and additional surface-mount components are positioned on the secondary side. After the additional surface-mount components have been positioned, the double-sided printed circuit board undergoes a second reflow stage to liquefy the solder on the upward-facing secondary side. During the second reflow stage, however, the entire double-sided printed circuit board is heated, and the solder on the primary side of the double-sided printed circuit board also liquefies with the surface-mount components assembled on the primary side facing downwardly in opposition of gravity.
Unlike through-hole components, most surface-mount components do not include any retaining devices, such as through-hole conductive pins and/or locating posts, to maintain component placement during the second reflow stage. Although adequate to maintain component placement on the upward-facing secondary side of the double-sided printed circuit board, the surface tension of the liquefied solder during the second reflow stage generally is insufficient to maintain component placement for heavier surface-mount components previously assembled on the downward-facing primary side. Due to the effects of gravity, one or more of the surface-mount components previously assembled on the downward-facing primary side can separate from or become substantially misaligned with the relevant lands when the solder again liquefies during the second reflow stage. For example, the inverted surface-mount components during the second reflow stage can separate from the double-sided printed circuit board and/or undergo a translation and/or a rotation. As size and pin-count have increased in recent years, surface-mount components, such as ball-grid arrays (BGAs) and/or connectors, have increased in mass and, therefore, have become more prone to separate from, or to become misaligned with, the double-sided printed circuit board when inverted and reflowed. To retain these larger surface-mount components, adhesives presently are applied to the double-sided printed circuit board before the surface-mount components are positioned. Automatic adhesive application, however, requires additional equipment, which must be purchased and maintained; whereas, manual application of the adhesive results in unpredictable quality and increased labor expenses.
In view of the foregoing, it is believed that a need exists for an inexpensive apparatus to retain inverted components on double-sided printed circuit board assemblies during subsequent reflow stages that overcomes the aforementioned obstacles, limitations, and deficiencies in the manufacture of double-sided printed circuit board assemblies.

Heat-shrinkable retainer for PCB double-sided assembly


The present invention is a method and apparatus for logic based resolution conversion and enhancement of digital images. The invention employs a selectively controllable architecture wherein a plurality of input resolutions can be converted to a common output resolution. The system has particular use in highlight color systems, wherein the highlight color data may be processed separately for each color plane, using the present invention, and then recombined to produce enhanced highlight color output. Moreover, the hardware preferably employs an interlocked area mapping technique to produce the resolution converted bit planes of digital image data.

The present invention is directed to digital printing systems that handle numerous document and data formats. Such systems are preferably open systems where devices from different manufacturers are integrated to provide solutions to customers' needs. A key feature in such printing systems is enabling electronic documents from various sources to be printed on output devices. In order to achieve device-independence efficient methods of image resolution conversion or enhancement are required. Hence, raster conversion technology, where a bitmap created for a first output device (e.g., at 240 spots per inch) is altered so as to be adequately rendered by an output device having a different resolution, is a very important aspect of the open system technology.
Digital documents created on mainframe or similar legacy computer systems may be digitized at resolutions as low as 240 spots per inch (spi). However, many modern printers operate at 300 spi or 600 spi and it is desirable to enable artifact-free printing of these 240 spi source images on 300 or 600 spi printers. While it is known to accomplish resolution conversion using bit or pixel-level conversion (e.g., bit replication), as employed in the Xerox DocuTech Production Publisher and Xerox 4850/4890 Highlight Color Printers, the present invention enables device-independent printing using an area mapping technique during image processing to enhance binary input images having a first resolution and producing images having a second resolution while reducing or eliminating image distortions upon printing.
Heretofore, resolution enhancement has been accomplished using various techniques, including those described in the following disclosures which may be relevant:
Torrey Pines Research, Behind Hewlett-Packard's Patent on Resolution Enhancement.TM. Technology, (Becky Colgan ed., BIS CAP International, 1990) pp. 1-60.
James C. Stoffel et al., A Survey of Electronic Techniques for Pictorial Image Reproduction, IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol. COM-29, No. 12, December 1981.
L. Steidel, Technology Overview: Resolution Enhancement Technologies for Laser Printers, LaserMaster Corp.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,122 to Walsh et al., issued Mar. 13, 1984, teaches an improved method of converting low resolution images into images of higher resolution for printing so as to simultaneously increase density and smooth character edges. In a CRT display or hardcopy output apparatus, the invention is accomplished by converting an original pixel into a higher resolution 3.times.3 enhanced representation. The status of each of the nine elements in the enhanced representation is determined as a result of an examination of the neighboring pixels of the original pixel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,841,375 to Nakajima et al., issued Jun. 20, 1989, discloses an image resolution conversion apparatus that converts image data having a predetermined pixel density to a pixel density matching that of a printer so as to enable printing by the printer. The pixel density converter includes: a conversion-pixel position detector for detecting the position of a converted pixel; an original-pixel extractor for extracting a reference original pixel; a conversion-pixel density operation circuit for calculating the density of a conversion pixel; a threshold-value setter for dynamically setting a threshold value; a binary encoding circuit for digitizing the conversion-image density; an input interface for inputting image data; an output interface for outputting image data; and a control circuit for controlling the input/output (I/O) and the conversion operations.
U.S. Pat. 4,847,641 (issued Jul. 11, 1989) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,139 (issued Apr. 2, 1991) to Tung disclose print enhancement circuitry for a laser beam printer. The bit map of a region of the image to be output is compared to a number of patterns or templates. When a match is detected, a section of the bitmap that was matched is replaced with a unique bitmap section designed to compensate for errors. The replacement bitmap section may include predetermined shifting of some dot positions to compensate for the error in the original bitmap section.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,866 (issued Jul. 23, 1996) to Banton et al. teaches increasing the resolution of a binary input image to be printed by an electronic printing system. The method includes storing a portion of the binary input image and determining the binary state of a central pixel and a plurality of pixels neighboring the central pixel and comparing the states of the central pixel and the neighboring pixels to a predefined template. Based upon the comparison, the method detects when a match occurs a multi-bit digital signal is generated as a value associated with the predefined template and the multi-bit digital signal is converted into a resolution enhanced output pixel for printing by the system.
U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 07/513,415, and the corresponding Japanese laid-open patent publication 4-227584 published Aug. 17, 1992, to Mailloux et al. disclose a method to enable the conversion of binary image data originally generated at a lower resolution into representative binary image data of a higher resolution, wherein the conversion ratio, or magnification factor, is an integer value. Included within the resolution magnification invention are methods for smoothing the interpolated output image and thereby reducing objectionable visual characteristics.
The following pending patent applications describe image resolution conversion methods employing morphological processes: appl. No. 08/169,487 by Loce et al. (filed Dec. 17, 1993) and corresponding Japanese Patent Appl. No. 7,226,884 on Aug. 22, 1995, and appln. No. 08/451,376 (filed May 23, 1995), both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present application.
Publication by Edward Dougherty et al. "Optimal binary differencing filters: design, logic complexity, precision analysis, and application to digital document processing," Journal of Electronic Imaging, Jan. 1996. Vol 5, no. 1, p 66-86, discloses statistical and logical properties of template-matching filters. Also disclosed are design methods for optimal template matching filters for digital document restoration and resolution conversion and enhancement.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for processing a highlight color digital input image signal representing a highlight color image, comprising the steps of: quantization slicing the input image signal to produce at least a first binary image and a second binary image; passing, in parallel channels, each of the first and the second binary images through a binary, template-based resolution conversion operation to yield an intermediate image, wherein the intermediate image is a high-addressability image; arbitrating between the intermediate image available on the parallel channels and associating a marker with each pixel of the intermediate image, said marker indicating the result of the arbitrating step; passing the intermediate image and associated markers to a lookup table, wherein the lookup table outputs, in response to the image pixel and associated marker a digital signal suitable for driving a pulse-width, position modulated marking engine.
One aspect of the invention is based on the discovery of a new technique for improving the image quality of resolution enhanced images, and in particular highlight color images. The techniques of the present invention are intended to enable the processing of highlight color images wherein the techniques increase the resolution of an input image to a common resolution of a highlight color output device while preserving local average density, stroke or line width and edge position in the output image.
Such techniques can be implemented, for example, by an image processor working in conjunction with a highlight color printing system. For example, a machine implementing the invention can include the Xerox.RTM. 4850 Laser Printing System or 4890 Highlight Laser Printer.
One aspect of the invention is based on the observation of problems with conventional resolution conversion techniques, particularly techniques that result in strong halftone moire when converting from 240 spi input to 300 spi output. This aspect is based on the discovery of a technique that alleviates these problems by employing a computationally simple, moire-free conversion. This technique can be implemented, for example, using interlocked area mapping techniques and pixel averaging in an image processing architecture designed to provide highlight color image processing.
The techniques described herein are advantageous because they are computationally efficient, simple and do not require modifications to the output device to achieve the improved image quality. The present invention, therefore, may be adapted to any of a number of output devices where open systems interfaces require the receipt and rendering of images having various resolutions.

Logic filters for resolution conversion of digital images


The present invention provides P-chiral compounds of general formulae (II) and (III): in formula (II) at least one of R21, R25, R26 and R30 is independently selected from CM alkyl, CF3, C1-4 alkoxy, phenyl and benzyloxy and the remaining substituents selected from R21, R25, R26 and R30 are hydrogen; at least one of R22, R24, R27 and R29 are independently selected from C1-14 alkyl, CF3, C1-14 alkoxy, phenyl and benzyloxy and the remaining substituents selected, from R22, R24, R27 and R29 are hydrogen; and R23 and R28 are independently selected from hydrogen, CM alkyl, CF3, C1-14 alkoxy, phenyl and benzyloxy; in formula (III) at least one of R21, R25, R26 and R30 is independently selected from phenyl and benzyloxy and the remaining substituents selected from R21, R25, R−26 and R30 are hydrogen; and R22, R−23 R24, R27, R28 and R29 are independently selected from hydrogen, C1-14 alkyl, CF3, C1-14 alkoxy, phenyl and benzyloxy.

The use of chiral phosphorus compounds for catalytic asymmetric synthesis has grown enormously in the last three decades, such compounds providing many of the most successful ligands for metal-based catalysts (Ojima, 2000; Brunner et al., 1993).
Asymmetric reactions making use of metal catalysts with chiral phosphine ligands include alkene hydrogenations, hydroformylations and hydrosilylations, allylamine isomerisations, allylic substitutions and a number of cross coupling procedures. Some of these processes have gained industrial significance, e.g. Monsanto's L-dopa process (Knowles, 1986); Anic and Monsanto Aspartame process (Kagan, 1988) and Syntex naproxen process (Noyori, 1989). Chiral phosphorus compounds have been found to be useful non-metallic catalysts in their own right (Noyori, 1989).
An important sub-set of chiral phosphorus compounds are those where the chirality lies at the phosphorus atom itself, referred to as P-chiral (or P-stereogenic) compounds. P-chiral compounds have proven to be particularly useful in catalytic asymmetric syntheses (Crépy, K. V. L.; Imamoto, T. Adv. Synth. Catal. 2003, 345, 79-101). An example of such a P-chiral compounds useful in catalytic asymmetric synthesis is shown in the rhodium/diPAMP catalyst, developed by Knowles, which is one of the most successful catalysts used for the L-dopa and Aspartame syntheses.

In light of the potential beneficial properties of P-chiral phosphorus compounds in asymmetric synthesis, there is an ongoing need for further such compounds.


A memory cell comprising a MOSFET formed on a principle surface of a semiconductor substrate and an information storage capacitor having a storage electrode formed in or on the substrate so as to contact with a drain region of the MOSFET, and a capacitor electrode formed adjacent to the storage electrode with a capacitor insulator film being sandwiched between the storage electrode and the capacitor electrode. The storage electrode is connected to the drain region of the MOSFET through a thin barrier layer which is formed between the drain region and the storage electrode region so as to prevent impurities in the storage electrode from being diffused into the drain region.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a one-transistor type memory cell for use in DRAMs (dynamic random access memory), and more specifically to such a one-transistor type memory cell having an associated information storage capacitor.
2. Description of related art
In the prior art, a one-transistor type memory cell having an associated information storage capacitor such as a stacked capacitor has been known, which includes a MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor) formed in a device formation zone confined by a field oxide on a principle surface of a semiconductor substrate. The MOSFET includes a pair of diffusion regions which are formed in the principle surface of the semiconductor substrate, separately from each other so as to form a channel between the pair of diffusion regions. The pair of diffusion regions constitute a source region and a drain region of the MOSFET. An oxide layer is formed to cover the principle surface of the semiconductor substrate within the device formation zone, and a word line is formed on the oxide layer so as to pass above the channel formed between the source region and the drain region. Therefore, a portion of the word line passing above the channel formed between the source region and the drain region functions as a gate electrode, and a portion of the oxide layer between the gate electrode and the channel functions as a gate oxide.
The gate electrode and the oxide layer which is not covered with the gate electrode, are covered with a lower interlayer insulator layer. An opening is formed in the lower interlayer insulator layer at a position of the drain region, and a storage electrode is formed to extend over the lower interlayer insulator layer and to contact with the drain region in the opening formed in the lower interlayer insulator layer. A capacitor electrode is formed over the storage electrode with a capacitor insulator film being sandwiched between the storage electrode and the capacitor electrode. Thus, a stacked capacitor is formed of the storage electrode, the capacitor insulator and the capacitor electrode.
In addition, an upper interlayer insulator layer is formed to cover the stacked capacitor, and a bit line is formed on the upper interlayer insulator layer. This bit line is connected to the source region through a contact hole formed in the upper and lower interlayer insulator layer above the source region.
Thus, the one-transistor type memory cell connected to the word line and the bit line is formed. In this one-transistor type memory cell, the storage electrode is ordinarily formed of a polysilicon. In order to cause the storage electrode to have sufficient conductivity, the polysilicon of the storage electrode has been diffused with impurities. In this diffusion process, the impurities diffuse not only into the storage electrode but also into the semiconductor substrate. As a result, another diffusion region has been inevitably formed within the drain region in the semiconductor substrate. This second diffusion region has a depth larger than that of the drain region. In other words, the second diffusion region extends into the semiconductor substrate beyond a bottom of the drain region.
Formation of the above mentioned second diffusion region has given significant adverse affects. First, the impurities diffused into the semiconductor substrate will lower a threshold voltage of a parasitic transistor formed in proximity of the field oxide, so that a device isolation function is deteriorated. In addition, a threshold of a transistor connected to the word line is also decreased. This influence becomes further remarkable if a memory capacity is increased and a cell size is reduced. Therefore, the formation of the second diffusion region is inconvenient to microminiaturization of semiconductor memories.
In view of the above problems, concentration of the impurities diffused to the storage electrode of the stacked capacitor has been restrained to a low level in the prior art.

Semiconductor memory having storage capacitor connected to diffusion region through barrier layer


The present invention relates to a field of drug injection, and discloses a drug information detection device and a drug information detection type injection device. The drug information detection device is configured to detect an injected dose of an injection pen containing drug. The drug information detection device includes a housing, a rotary encoder configured to convert rotational information of the adjusting knob into drug injected dose information, and a control assembly. The rotary encoder includes an encoder body and a rotary block rotatably connected to the encoder body. The encoder body and the control assembly are electrically connected to each other. The housing is configured to cover the encoder body and the control assembly.

Field of the Invention
Various embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to a field of drug injection, and more particularly, to a drug information detection device and a drug information detection type injection device.
Description of Related Art
In the prior art, an injection pen (such as an insulin injection pen) is provided for allowing a patient to select a dose and perform self-injection, such that the patient with chronic disease can perform self-treatment at home.
Generally, the injection pen comprises an injection part and a detection part configured to determine a dose. The injection part comprises a barrel configured to contain drugs, and a plunger. The detection part comprises a sleeve and an adjusting knob, wherein the sleeve is fixed to the barrel and has graduation marks. The adjusting knob is rotatably connected to one end of the sleeve through a screw thread. The plunger passes through the sleeve and is connected to the adjusting knob. Before injection, the adjusting knob is rotated to drive the plunger to move until the adjusting knob reaches a predetermined graduation mark on the sleeve. As such, the movement of the plunger is determined, and a proper drug dose is selected. Thereafter, the adjusting knob is pushed to drive the plunger to move down, so as to push the drug out of the barrel for completing injection.
The injection pen of the prior art can select drug dose, but information of injection time, amounts of injected doses, number of injections cannot be recorded by the injection pen of the prior art. The above information is very important to the patient for treatment. It is a very important diagnosis reference to a doctor. Without recording related information, the patient may forget the injection time and the number of injections, so as to inject too many or too few times, thus disease gets worse.
In order to record the drug injection information of the injection pen, the prior art utilizes a detection device matched with or integrated to the injection pen. The detection device mostly uses a sensor or optical recognition to detect the moving distance of the plunger, and convert a detection result into an electronic data. Since a computation result is directly affected by detection of the moving distance of the plunger. The detection device requires higher accuracy for installation, needs to perform complex operations during detection, and may easily cause detection error, such that the detection device of the prior art cannot meet user's recording requirement.

Drug information detection device and drug information detection type injection device

Innovative Precision Instruments Limited


A low data rate wireless channel (control channel) is associated with a high speed wireless channel (data channel). The data channel is divided into discrete code or time slots (access slots), that are unassigned to any particular recipient or user until requested. In the event that a particular user requires a particular resource, access slots are requested through the control channel, allocated to the user, and allocation information is passed back to the requesting user through the control channel. Direction and/or location information associated with the user is ascertained, through messaging with the user or by antenna sensing. This direction/location information is utilized to directionally broadcast requested resources toward the user to increase signal to noise ratios, reduce interference, and enable spectrum reuse within a cell. Optionally, the location information may also be used to adjust the transmitted power to further reduce interference in the cellular network.

1. Cross-Reference to Related Applications
This application is related to Utility patent application Ser. No. 10/324,908, filed Dec. 20, 2002, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCOMMODATING HIGH BANDWIDTH DATA TRAFFIC ON A WIRELESS NETWORK, the content of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
2. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to high bandwidth wireless communications and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for enabling high bandwidth data transmissions over wireless communication networks.
3. Description of the Related Art
Wireless communication networks have been deployed in many areas. While these wireless communication networks have data rates sufficient to handle voice traffic, as higher bandwidth data-centric applications are deployed and implemented, the existing deployed technology base is likely to be unable to accommodate the increased demand in bandwidth.
There are currently two basic technologies in use in second generation wireless communications networks. In Europe, parts of the United States, and most of the rest of the world, wireless transmissions are based on a technology referred to as Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA). TDMA divides an available channel into time slots and interleaves multiple digital signals onto a single high-speed channel. One popular wireless technology based on TDMA is referred to as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). GSM is a circuit-switched system that divides each 200 kHz channel into eight 25 kHz time slots.
In the United States and certain parts of Asia, wireless transmissions are based on a technology referred to as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), which is a method for transmitting simultaneous signals over a shared portion of the spectrum. Unlike TDMA, which divides the spectrum into different time slots, CDMA's spread spectrum technique overlaps every transmission on the same carrier frequency by assigning a unique code to each conversation. After the speech codec (coder-decoder) converts the analog voice signal to a digital signal, the CDMA system spreads the digital voice stream over the full 1.25 MHz bandwidth of a CDMA channel, coding each stream separately so it can be decoded at the receiving end. All voice conversations thus use the full bandwidth at the same time. One bit is multiplied into 128 coded bits by the spreading techniques, providing the receiving side with a large amount of data that can be averaged to determine the value of each bit when correlated with the appropriate code.
GSM and (Interim Standard) IS-95A (code name for CDMA wireless currently deployed in the United States) are both optimized for voice transmission. Voice transmission is characterized by transmission that requires a relatively constant regular amount of bandwidth, but which is not particularly bursty. GSM and IS-95A are not optimized, however, for data transmission which tends to be very bursty with a relatively low average data rate.
Several transmission standards are in the process of being developed to enable wireless networks to be deployed that can accommodate higher bandwidth data transmissions as well as voice. In the TDMA-based wireless space, the evolving technology is Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA). W-CDMA is a third generation (3G) technology that increases data transmission rates in GSM systems by using a CDMA air interface instead of the TDMA interface. In the ITU's IMT-2000 3G specification, W-CDMA has become known as the Direct Sequence (DS) mode.
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is the European implementation of W-CDMA that is planned to form the basis of the 3G wireless phone system in Europe. UMTS, which is part of IMT-2000, provides service in the 2 GHz band and offers global roaming and personalized features. The UMTS specification calls for support of multimedia data rates of up to 2 Mbps using the W-CDMA technology. In the meantime, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), which modifies GSM to support data packets up to 114 Kbps, and Enhance Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE), which increases data throughput to 384 Kbps, are interim steps to speed up wireless data for GSM.
In the IS-95A CDMA space in use in the United States, the technology is evolving toward CDMA-2000, a 3G wireless technology that offers twice the voice capacity and data speed (up to 307 Kbps) on a single 1.25 MHz (1X) carrier in new or existing spectrum. CDMA2000 1X is also known as IS-2000, MC-1X and IMT-CDMA MultiCarrier 1X and 1xRTT (Radio Transmission Technology). The interim standard in the United States is IS-95B, which provides data capabilities up to 64 Kbps integrated with voice.
CDMA2000 1xEV is an evolution of CDMA2000 that provides higher speeds on a single 1.25 MHz channel. CDMA2000 may also be deployed in a 5 MHz channel, which is three times (3X) the carrier rate of CDMA2000 1X. CDMA2000 3X is also known as MC-3X, IMT-CDMA MultiCarrier 3X and 3xRTT.
While implementing one or more of these proposed protocols may, at some point in time, enable the simultaneous transmission of voice and data, obtaining the required licenses and upgrading or retrofitting existing networks will take time and a significant investment. Additionally, in many of these proposed standards, the high bandwidth data capabilities exist at the expense of the low-bandwidth voice services, e.g., to obtain 100 Mbps of data capacity the system may lose 100 Mbps or more of voice capacity.
Additionally, the delay associated with obtaining bandwidth for data bursts in many of the protocols is relatively high, due mainly to theoretical limitations associated with the physical medium and practical limitations associated with protocol implementation. On the downlink side where codes are allocated in line with the negotiated bandwidth, the problem is somewhat more severe because of the limit to codes that can be allocated. These delays may be disconcerting to an user, especially where the delays are inconsistent or unpredictable. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a high data rate burst mode transmission capability at a predictable delay that could be interleaved with voice services, while largely maintaining the network's voice capacity.

Method and apparatus for directional transmission of high bandwidth traffic on a wireless network


The invention relates to the technical field of stage lights, and in particular to a novel heat dissipation system, a stage light cap body and a waterproof stage light. The present invention discloses a heat dissipation system comprising a heat transfer substrate and a heat dispassion assembly positioned on one side of the heat transfer substrate, a first through hole being arranged on the heat transfer substrate and a displaceable unit used to open and close the first through hole being arranged on the heat dispassion assembly at a position corresponding to the first through hole. The heat dispassion system is simple in structure and convenient to use, and the light source assembly can be taken out for replacement or maintenance without completely removing the heat dispassion system and components alike on the bottom of the stage light cap body.

As for existing stage lights, a light source assembly is installed inside a light cap body, so that when the light source assembly needs to be replaced or maintained, the light source assembly can be taken out only after a heat-dissipation system and components alike on the bottom of the light cap body are completely removed, which is extremely inconvenient. Alternatively, a service port is further arranged on a housing of the light cap body at a position corresponding to the light source assembly. However, the arrangement of a service port will increase difficulty in sealing of a waterproof stage light, which needs to take waterproof effect as well as heat-dissipation effect into consideration. As a result, the object of heat dissipation is usually achieved by abandoning waterproof effect, such stage light is thus with poor waterproof effect or even without waterproof effect. Accordingly, the stage light is limited to indoor use and cannot be used outdoors in most cases, which have the drawbacks of failing to combine various functions of waterproofing, good heat-dissipation effect and convenience to disassemble and assemble and maintain the light source assembly.

Heat dissipation system, stage light cap body and waterproof stage light


The magnetic fixing device comprises a clamping plate having a fixing surface to which a clamping object is fixed and plural magnetic force generation mechanisms. The magnetic force generation mechanisms each comprise a magnetic material member facing the fixing surface, plural permanent magnets arranged around the outer periphery of the magnetic material member, a first Alnico magnet placed on the back of the magnetic material member, and a first coil for switching the polarity of the first Alnico magnet, and can be switched between the absorption state in which the clamping object is adsorbed and the non-absorption state in which the clamping object is not adsorbed. An operation state indication mechanism capable of presenting an indicator indicating that the plural magnetic force generation mechanisms are in the absorption state or in the non-absorption state is provided on the fixing surface or outer periphery of the clamping plate.

Traditionally, in an injection molding machine, a metal mold (a fixed mold and a movable mold) is fixed on a platen such as a stationary platen and a movable platen and the movable platen is moved toward/away from the stationary platen to close/open the mold. With the mold closed, molten synthetic resin is injected in the cavity of the mold to form a molded article. Then, the mold is opened and the molded article is ejected by an ejector mechanism.
Here, the mold is fixed to the platen of an ejection molding machine using plural bolts or a hydraulic clamping device in many cases. Recently, magnetic fixing devices have been put into practical use, in which a clamping plate (magnet plate) in which plural magnetic force generation mechanisms are installed is attached to the platen and magnetic force is used to adsorb and fix the mold onto the fixing surface of the clamping plate.
In the injection molding machine of Patent Document 1, clamping plates in each of which plural magnet units (magnetic force generation mechanisms) are installed are fixed to the stationary platen and movable platen, respectively, and the magnetic force generated by the plural magnet units is used to fix the molds to the fixing surfaces of the clamping plates. The magnet units each have a steel block, plural permanent magnets arranged on the outer periphery of the steel block, an Alnico magnet placed on the back of the steel block, and a coil wound around the outer periphery of the Alnico magnet. The magnetic field direction of the Alnico magnet is reversed in accordance with the energizing direction of the coil.
For fixing a mold to the fixing surface of a clamping plate, the magnet units are powered from the control unit through operation using the operation panel. The coil is energized for several seconds to switch the magnetic field direction (polarity) of the Alnico magnet so that the Alnico magnet and permanent magnets together establish a magnetic circuit of which the magnetic path is partly formed by the mold, obtaining an adsorption state in which the magnet units adsorb the mold.
On the other hand, for releasing the mold, the operation panel is operated to energize the coil for several seconds in the opposite direction to that for adsorbing the mold to switch the polarity of the Alnico magnet so that a magnetic circuit of which the magnetic path does not include the mold in any part is established, whereby the non-adsorption state in which the magnet units do not adsorb the mold is obtained.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-169840.


The present invention concerns a circular saw blade assembly for a saw mill or similar apparatus used for sawing boards from logs, said circular saw blade assembly comprising at least two circular saw blades attachable to and axially transferrable on a saw blade spindle as well as one or several edge milling cutters for shaping the board to a correct width. The circular saw blade assembly in accordance with the invention is implemented so that the edging cutter is formed by edge cutter elements adapted to adjacent circular saw blades, whereby the cutter elements are axially adjustable in relation to each other along with the spacing adjustment of the circular saw blades and each cutter element is comprised of one or several cutter knives and a block section having a recess machined to its face opposing the adjacent cutter element and having a penetrating hole for the saw spindle to pass, whereby the knives of the adjacent cutter elements are aligned to rotate along a single circle with an axial displacement of the elements at the different points along the cutting circle.

Known in the art is a method for placing several circular saw blades axially transferrably on a common shaft (U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,244). This arrangement has a drawback in that the gap between the adjacent circular saw blades does permit the placement of edge shaping cutters to correct width for the trimming of the boards, but instead, the milling of the edge must be performed as a separate workphase.
Also known in the art is an arrangement in which the edging of the log prior sawing is unnecessary and which makes the axial adjustment of spacing between the saw blades possible. One such implementation is disclosed in FI patent application 881402. The system described in the application comprises a circular saw blade assembly which has two circular saw blades on a spindle and the spindle hubs are further designed to act as cutters, whereby the cutter attached to the inner circular saw blade is formed into a cage supporting by its end side an inner circular saw blade, and the inner cutter supporting an outer circular saw blade by its end side is located axially transferrable inside the cage-like cutter and extends through the center hole of the inner circular saw blade.
Such an axially adjustable circular saw blade assembly has only two circular saw blades, whereby only a wane and a slab can be cut from a log. The construction of the circular saw blade assembly is complicated, thereby leading to high costs. One of the cutters has constantly a maximum width, which causes wasteful use of log material, and correspondingly, to unnecessary growth of expenses. In addition, the diametrical difference of the cutters is small, which limits their useful operating range.