An apparatus for improving productivity of human reviewers of transcribed documents generated by media conversion systems includes a server/client network of computers, memories and file systems. The server receives and stores voice files created by users of the system. The server is configured for coupling to a speech-to-text media conversion system to receive converted text files of the audio voice files. The server analyzes the converted text files and routes the converted files to the appropriate reviewers according to an adaptive algorithm. The converted files are displayed on the assigned reviewer's screen at the reviewer's workstation. To aid the reviewer in pinpointing potential errors, the workstation displays different segments of the converted files in different colors to reflect different confidence levels of transcription accuracy. Portions of the original voice message that correspond to the potential errors are played back for the reviewer. The reviewers' workstations also perform productivity enhancing functions such as spelling and grammar checking. After the reviewer has made all the necessary corrections, the reviewed files are transmitted back to the server to be stored and accessed by the users. A user database in the server is also updated to store recurrent user-specific errors corrected by the reviewer. A language analysis system is also disposed to adaptively correct user-specific errors in future reviews according to the information in the user database.

Recent advances in media conversion technology, such as speech-to-text conversion and optical character recognition (OCR), have made it possible for computers to perform tasks such as transcribing messages or documents dictated by a user. Dictation systems for personal computers are now fairly common. Also available are scanning or OCR systems that are capable of converting the content of a printed document into computer readable form. These systems, however, are sometimes inaccurate. The users often need to proof-read and make corrections to the output of these systems.
Also emerging as a new technology is the unified messaging system. The Unified Messenger™, manufactured by Octel Communications Corporation of Milpitas, Calif., is one such system. These unified messaging systems integrate a user's fax messages, voice messages and e-mails in a single logical mailbox such that they can be accessed by telephone or computer. For instance, the Unified Messenger can convert an e-mail message into a voice message so that it can be read to the user over the telephone. Such a system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,659, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Data entry personnel are currently utilized for the conversion of an audio message to a text message sent to a user's paging device. In such a system, a caller desiring to send a message, telephones the user's paging service and communicates the message to a data entry employee of the paging service. This employee enters the message into a computer and then transmits it to the user's paging device. The text message entered by the employee of the paging service is then displayed on the display of the user's paging device. The use of human employees in the text entry and transcription of audio messages is expensive and inefficient. Current automated systems are not reliable and accurate enough to be used for a fully automated messaging or transcription system. Accordingly, what is needed is an automated system which also employs human reviewers to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the reviewers.
When documents are dictated and recorded as an audio file, a person transcribing the document plays the audio file and enters text representing the document recorded on the audio tape. The use of human employees in text entry and transcription of audio messages is expensive and inefficient. Automated speech-to-text conversion systems are also currently available to convert audio recordings into a text document. However, such conversion systems are inaccurate, requiring the users to proof-read and make corrections to the output of the systems.

Method of and apparatus for improving productivity of human reviewers of automatically transcribed documents generated by media conversion systems


A multilayer laminate such as a label assembly having high opacity and desirable appearance characteristics is described. The laminate includes a facestock layer, an adhesive layer, and a liner layer. The facestock layer includes a print-receiving top coat layer that includes a combination of titanium dioxide and one or more optical brighteners. The combination of these materials avoids build up of static charges upon laser printing on the facestock.

Labels for shipping containers are required to be resistant to exposure to weather conditions such as rain and snow. In order to meet this moisture resistant requirement, filmic labels are preferred over paper labels. Additionally, consumers prefer to reuse shipping containers by applying a new label over the existing address on the container. It is highly desired that the previous address information not be visible through the new label.
A preferred method of printing address information on a label is with a laser printer or similar device such as a photocopier. However, the high temperatures and static charge utilized in a laser printing process presents additional challenges that require the label to be resistant to high temperatures and have a low propensity to store electrical charge. Although efforts have been made to produce high opacity filmic labels, a continuing need exists for a high opacity filmic label which is heat resistant and has a low propensity to store electrical charge.


A tree type network system including an information delivery device, a plurality of node devices, and an administration, wherein the node devices are connected in a tree-like shape via a communication route while placing the information delivery device in an uppermost level and forming a plurality of hierarchy levels, and the delivery information is sequentially transferred from the node device in an upper hierarchy level to the node devices in lower hierarchy levels, wherein the administration device includes: a device for acquiring attribute information of a node device, which transmits participation request information, and determines device information on the basis of the attribute information thus acquired upon receipt of participation request information of requesting device information of node device as connection candidate, and a device for transmitting the connection end candidate information thus determined to the node device which transmits the participation request information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technical field of a node device and the like in a tree type network system or a broadcast system and especially, relates to a technical field of a tree type network system, a node device and the like of the system, and a connection administration device for managing connection status between a broadcast station and each of node devices and connection administration method in a broadcast system in which a node device itself decides connection status in consideration of device information of each other.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In recent years, in a network environment technology such as the internet, a content data distribution delivery technique which enables delivery of content data between user terminal devices is especially proposed.
This system is a so-called peer-to-peer type content data delivery system. Unlike a client server type content delivery system, transmission and reception of stream delivered content data is performed between node devices as clients. When a node device participates in the system, the node device is connected to any of node devices which configure the system to receive content data, and the data is transferred (relayed) to a lower stream (lower hierarchy level) node device. Moreover, each of the node devices can leave the network arbitrarily or can be connected to an upper stream (upper hierarchy level) node device according to a predetermined condition.
In general, such a topology (connection relation) is managed by a dedicated server and a node device which newly participates in the system acquires location information of an already-participated node device, which is to be connection destination, (for example, IP address and port number) from the dedicated server to be connected to the already-participated node device. That is, the dedicated server decides a node device to which a node device newly participating in the system is to be connected to receive delivery of content data.
On the other hand, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a distribution administration type network file system in which each of node devices has topology information for recognizing network connection relation, and without necessity of a dedicated server as mentioned above, each node device is connected to a node device recognized by the topology information has been proposed.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2003-169089

Tree-type network system, node device, broadcast system, broadcast method, and the like


Systems and methods for providing data to mobile stations are provided. An administrator can select one or more mobile stations and different types of data. The administrator can also set a priority level for the selected data. The selected data is then formed into a package of data, which is then provided to the selected mobile stations. The selected mobile stations can then store the data in memory along with any previously stored data, using the priority level of the selected data to determine whether to overwrite or discard particular data.

The increasing availability of wireless network access, both wireless macro network access and wireless local area network access, has resulted in a large portion of the population using mobile stations. As used herein, a mobile station includes a wireless interconnect telephone, dispatch telephone, personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld data terminal and/or the like. These mobile stations can store various types of data including contacts, events, tasks and the like. Originally most mobile stations, such as wireless telephones, received data in an isolated fashion, wherein data was entered directly into the mobile station, and accessible only via the mobile station. However, recent advances have allowed data to be entered via one device, such as a personal computer, and synchronized with another device, such as a mobile station.


A learning acceleration method is disclosed that can be applied to multiple types and stages of learning to enhance the learning efficiency and outcome. Artificially created training samples can improve representation of all classes in the training set, decrease the difficulty of obtaining sufficient training samples, and decrease the difficulty of unequal sample prevalence. Two specific embodiments of learning acceleration are disclosed: learning accelerated algorithm training and learning accelerated start-up learning. Three objects of interest implantation methods are disclosed: texture mapping of defects, parametric synthesis of negative samples, and manual image editing.

An image-based decision system processes and extracts information from an image to make decisions on the presence of objects of interest. Examples are image decision systems for determining disease, defects, the acceptance or rejection of measurement parameters such as dimensions, intensity, structures, etc. Image-based decision systems have broad application areas such as machine vision, non-contact gauging, inspection, robot guidance, medical imaging, etc. Learning or teaching is required to optimize an image-based decision system for non-trivial applications. In machine learning, an important attribute of good learning samples is their complete representation of the distribution of real world data where the final system will operate. In general, learning is most reliable when the learning samples follow a distribution similar to the distribution of data in the real application where the system will be used. Therefore, learning often requires time and data, in amounts that are not usually available because application environments frequently change or include rare (but important) events.
Most prior art methods of machine learning rely on the assumption that the distribution of learning samples is identical or sufficiently close to the distribution found in the real world. However, there are many instances where obtaining the learning samples that mimic the real world distribution is not feasible or economical. In many cases, the negative learning samples (such as defects) are hard to obtain and it is difficult to train the system when the system is configured to process for a newer set of data. Also, the collected defect samples will likely not show an equal prevalence of each type of defect.
Some types of defects might be omitted entirely in the training process.
For example, in a machine vision system that inspects defects on semiconductor wafers, the input image patterns become different whenever the fabrication line switches to a different Integrated Circuit (IC) design or process level since the wafer pattern varies when a different IC design is put on the wafer.
In this case, the learning system has to additionally learn on new learning samples to be effective, and it would require a cumbersome truth-labeling task for new data, which demands extensive human interaction. Human-provided truth may not be reliable either, especially for ambiguous learning samples where humans tend to have difficulty in rendering consistent truth labels due to the lack of the ability to objectively and quantitatively assess the data. This problem is exacerbated when either positive or negative learning samples are hard to obtain. For the above example, the number of defective wafer images is usually less than 2% of the total number of wafer images to be examined. Therefore, it takes an inordinate amount of time and effort to collect a reasonably large set of learning samples to cover a variety of defects (e.g., scratches, particles, contamination from coating, defocus, exposure, etching or development errors, and chemical mechanical planarization error in different background conditions) to achieve high learning accuracy. Also, the collected defect images will likely not show an equal prevalence of each type of defect. Some types of defects may be omitted entirely. Alternatively, defects that do occur tend to look nearly identical since when they occur, they are repeated by the same causing factor until the error cause is corrected. Therefore, even though a large number of samples are obtained, they may all show essentially the same limited characteristics. The variability of the true application situation is therefore not well represented.
In the case where a sufficient number of learning samples are not available, incremental learning might be used. In incremental learning, the system learns on the new incoming data as they are encountered. However, when positive samples are dominant and negative samples scarce (or vise-versa), the learning takes time to reach a mature state to become useful.
Another known method of overcoming this problem is analytical learning called explanation-based learning [Mitchell, T. M., Machine Learning, WCB/McGraw-Hill, 1997, Chapter 11, pp 307–330]. In this method, the user provides additional information to help the system to narrow down the search space. However, this method requires the intervention of experts who must be very well acquainted with the learning system. This is burdensome and does not usually provide consistent results.

Accelerated learning in machine vision using artificially implanted defects


An inclined sleeper assembly for an infant to reduce the risk of gastric and breathing complications during nursing and sleep. The assembly provides a non-slip surface whose angle of inclination can be varied from horizontal up to 30° or more. A rigid platform is pivotally attached to a base frame and may move from a position generally parallel with the base frame to a position of maximum inclination or any intermediate position. Supporting the inclined platform are a pair of slide rods pivotally connected to the base frame at one end and slidingly engaging two releasable clamps on an opposite end. The releasable clamp structure comprises a spring preferenced plate between the sliding clamp enclosures surrounding each of the two slide rods. This permits the user to adjust the inclination of the sleep surface with little disturbance to the infant.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to sleeping surfaces designed for infants. The present invention relates more specifically to an adjustable, variable angle inclined sleeping surface for infants, especially infants experiencing health related digestive and respiratory problems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Young infants are prone to experience a variety of health related issues involving their newly formed digestive systems and respiratory systems. Infants that are born prematurely frequently suffer from gastric reflux conditions and the associated respiratory conditions. Premature infants that experience gastric reflux conditions also tend to be light sleepers. The combination of these two conditions makes it difficult for parents, especially breast feeding mothers, to obtain the necessary rest, both for the infant and the parents.
Many parents decide to have the infant sleep near the mother, co-sleeping, as a partial solution to the problem. Co-sleeping allows the infant to fall asleep while nursing and permits the mother to remain stationary during this time. Problems arise in that, because of the reflux condition, it is better to feed the infant while he/she is sitting or lying at an inclined angle. This position allows gravity to assist the infant in keeping the milk down. The varying severity of the reflux condition requires that some infants be much closer to sitting upright than others. Of course, being very young infants, they are generally incapable of keeping themselves from sliding or moving on an inclined sleeping surface.
Existing solutions to the problems presented by young infants with gastric and breathing complications have utilized inclined sleeping surfaces that incorporate some type of sling or harness to hold the infant in place. However, nursing the infant requires at least partial disassembly of the sling/harness leaving the infant unsecured if the apparatus is at an elevated angle. In addition, VELCRO® hook and loop type material, snaps, zippers, etc. have a tendency to wake light sleepers, not to mention the process of placing the infant into or extracting the infant from the harness arrangement. In addition, many of the existing solutions only allow for a few discreet inclined positions. While a horizontal position is the ideal for sleeping, infants with varying degrees of gastric reflux will require varying degrees of inclination to control the symptoms of the condition. The mechanisms associated with many of the existing devices that allow adjustability in the incline also tend to be noisy, cumbersome, complicated, and prone to breakage.
It would be desirable, therefore, to have a device capable of supporting a young infant on an inclined surface so as to reduce the effects experienced with gastric complications and breathing complications. It would be desirable to have a surface that could easily adjust from a fUlly horizontal position to an inclined position in a manner that did not require the removal of the young infant from the inclined surface. In this manner, it would be possible for a mother nursing her young infant to allow the infant to fall asleep while nursing while situated next to the infant on a bed or the like. Once the young infant was asleep after nursing, the inclined surface could be elevated to a position that helped prevent the occurrence of gastric and breathing difficulties. There are also situations where the mother must (or would prefer to) nurse the infant in an inclined position. In some such cases, it would be desirable for the sleeping surface to be lowered to a horizontal, or nearer to horizontal, position, perhaps after some time has passed since feeding and falling asleep. It would be desirable if such a device did not require the use of harnesses or other specialized clothing that would require manipulating the young infant to the extent that he or she would likely be wakened with such movement. It would be preferable for the surface of the device to be slip resistant in character so as to generally prevent the young infant from sliding down the surface even at a maximum inclination. Most importantly, the mechanism for adjusting the inclination of the surface should operate smoothly so as to not agitate the young infant while sleeping and yet remain very secure in its placement at a number of positions from the horizontal to the maximum inclination.


A therapeutic pouch is provided. The therapeutic pouch defines a cavity for slidably receiving intravenous therapy equipment, such as an IV bag or other fluid dispenser. A front portion of the therapeutic pouch provides a comforting presentation for the patient, while the rear portion of the therapeutic pouch provides a visibility pouch for securing the IV bag and allowing a healthcare provider visibility of the administration of the fluids retained by the IV bag. The visibility pouch may provide an upper opening and an opposing lower opening, both communicating with the cavity for enabling the IV bag to protrude therefrom and access to IV tubing and ports, respectively. An upper portion of the therapeutic pouch provides a hanging loop for working in unison with the IV bag hole for enabling support from an IV stand or the like.

The present invention relates to intravenous therapy accessories and, more particularly, to a therapeutic pouch for concealing an intravenous therapy dispenser (such as an IV bag or other delivery apparatus of medicinal or blood product for delivery directly into the veins of a user of intravenous therapy). The therapeutic pouch can embody a stuffed animal that conceals the dispenser to the recipient of the intravenous therapy, while allowing manual and visual access to the dispenser by healthcare providers.
Many children need to receive intravenous (IV) infusions or injections but are afraid of all the medical equipment involved, especially when that equipment, such as IV bags, are constantly looming over them for extended periods of time. Current solutions to this problem do not conceal any medical devices, do not provide a comforting visual presentation, and/or are makeshift and thus not reusable.
As can be seen, there is a need for a therapeutic pouch for concealing an IV bag or the like, wherein the therapeutic pouch can embody a stuffed animal that conceals the dispenser to the recipient of the intravenous therapy, while allowing manual and visual access to the dispenser by healthcare providers. The therapeutic pouch embodied is designed to be very visually appealing to a child, by presenting a front-facing stuffed animal, thereby fostering a feeling of comfort and familiarity for the child with its use. The therapeutic pouch is adapted to be reused for a plurality of intravenous administrations.
Specifically, the present invention hides the IV bag of medicine or blood product from the patient's sight from the front, concealing the IV bag inside a friendly looking pouch/sleeve, helping the patient feel more relaxed in their surroundings, while also allowing the doctor or nurse to see through the visibility sleeve or backing to monitor the proper administration by way of the IV bag.
In sum, the present invention provides the following: first, a pleasant visual experience for the patient; second, a method of hiding the IV bag used for administering the drip, while allowing the doctor of nurse to view the medication through the back; and third, a reusable product allowing the present invention to become a comfort object during a time of unfamiliar, often stressful or scary medical procedures or infusions, especially for a child.

Therapeutic pouch for concealing intravenous therapy equipment


The fuel injection system according to the invention comprises a nozzle (2) with an inlet and a needle (15). A control piston (16) forms a control chamber (17) and abuts the needle such that a higher pressure in the control chamber urges the piston to close the nozzle. A cam-driven plunger (5) forms a plunger chamber (7) connected to the inlet of the nozzle. The system also comprises a common rail (11) for fuel, a feed line (13) and an electrically operated valve (9). The valve isolates the chamber from the common rail and connects it to the line while in a third position, isolates it from both the line and the common rail in a second position, and isolates it from the line and connects it to the common rail in a first position. There are also means (12) for pressurizing the feed line with a relatively low fuel feed pressure and a fuel tank (20). The control chamber is connected to the common rail.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for injecting fuel into internal combustion engines, particularly compression ignition engines
2. Background
Until the recent past, the known electronically controlled means of injecting fuel into modern diesel engines could be divided in two functionally different types: mechanically actuated systems and common rail systems. Both of these systems have their inherent advantages and disadvantages that dictate the choice of the system for a particular application. For instance, high pressure common rail systems rarely appear on today's heavy-duty diesel engines due to durability constraints related to the presence of very high fuel pressure in the rail and in the complex network of hydraulic lines for most of the engine operating time.
An integrated diesel fuel injection system has been proposed which combines the two separate types of systems as above into a single injection apparatus, allowing the engine management system to select the functional mode according to engine operating conditions. Such a system makes use of the mechanical actuation principle of the well-known unit injection systems to create high pressure for fuel injection, thereby avoiding durability limitations of the high pressure common rail systems, and can provide common rail-type injections in such conditions where lower injection pressure is beneficial and where extreme flexibility of injection timing is required. The common rail functional mode is secured in this known integrated fuel injection system through the use of a rail that is common for a set of injectors and that is fed with fuel under pressure by a separate pump. This arrangement works well but the total cost of the integrated fuel injection system would typically exceed that of an ordinary unit injection or common rail systems because of the presence of two fuel pressurization modules—unit injection plunger and the common rail pump.


The invention provides methods for identifying an anti-poxviral agents. In many embodiments, the methods involve contacting a poxviral p28 polypeptide with a candidate agent, and determining an effect of the agent on a ubiquitin ligase activity of the p28 polypeptide. The effect of the agent may be determined using a variety of different cell based or biochemical assays, such as polyubiquitylation assays and cell viability assays. The invention also provides methods for modulating poxvirus pathogenicity in a cell, and methods of treating an individual infected with a poxvirus. The subject methods find use in a variety of drug discovery, research and military applications.

Smallpox is a serious, highly contagious, and frequently fatal infectious disease for which there is no specific treatment, and for which the only prevention is vaccination. Two clinical forms of smallpox have been described variolaminor and variola major, with the variola major form of smallpox being the more common and severe. There are four types of variola major smallpox: ordinary (the most frequent); modified (mild and occurring in previously vaccinated persons); flat; and hemorrhagic. Overall, variola major has a case-fatality rate of about 30%.
The most virulent form of smallpox, hemorrhagic smallpox, destroys the linings of the throat, stomach, intestines, rectum, and vagina and causes black, unclotted blood to ooze from the mouth and other body orifices. Because hemorrhagic smallpox has a much shorter incubation period than other forms of smallpox, it is likely not to be initially recognized as smallpox when first presented to medical care. As such, most victims die prior to a correct diagnosis, often before they are quarantined. Smallpox vaccination also does not provide much protection, if any, against hemorrhagic smallpox since hemorrhagic smallpox causes death of 94% of vaccinated patients. Hemorrhagic smallpox causes death in 99% of unvaccinated patients.
Because of the deadliness of smallpox, biological weapons, or so called "weapons of mass destruction" that are based on the etiological agent that causes smallpox, variola virus, are currently thought to be a great threat. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for methods and compositions for treating and preventing smallpox.
However, despite intense research, the primary treatments and preventions for smallpox are either not effective or not practical in the event of an outbreak from a virulent strain of smallpox.
The primary therapeutic tools for the control and eradication of smallpox include a live virus vaccine to prevent disease, and a vaccinia immune globulin (VIG) to treat disseminated infections.
The smallpox vaccine (live vaccinia virus) has many side-effects including: adverse reactions, scarring, ocular autoinoculation, myocardial infarction and dissemination in immunocompromised persons. Cell culture-derived vaccines, are being developed; however, these vaccines are also live viruses and pose many of the same drawbacks that plague the current vaccine. Accordingly, the public at large, the healthcare community and the military have been resistant to smallpox vaccinations because the risks of side-effects appear to outweigh the advantages. Further, as discussed above, current vaccination methods are practically ineffective against hemorrhagic smallpox or its derivatives, the agents that would most likely be used in biological weapons.
The existing vaccinia immune globulin products are derived from human donors who have been vaccinated with vaccinia virus (the vaccine for smallpox). As with all human products, the existing VIG must be tested exhaustively for blood borne human pathogens such as human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B. Therefore, the existing VIG suffers from several drawbacks including the necessity for using human volunteers, i.e. the use of a live virus as an immunogen which could cause infectious lesions that scar in healthy individuals and severe disseminated life-threatening infection in immunocompromised individuals. And, despite continuous screening of the donor population to assure consistency which is very expensive, product lots can vary significantly between batches and geographic regions.
Accordingly, the primary treatment for smallpox infection is not practical in most situations. In addition, since vaccinia virus is an ineffective vaccine for hemorrhagic smallpox, it is unlikely vaccinia immune globulin products will be effective against hemorrhagic smallpox.
Research into the biology of smallpox is intensive. For example, the genome of variola virus has been sequenced, and it is about 185 kbp in length and is predicted to contain over 200 proteins. Many proteins involved in transcription and DNA replication, and about 30 proteins that form the core and membrane components of virus particles have been identified. Other viral proteins have been identified that are thought to interact with host components to facilitate virus dissemination, prevent apoptosis, and attenuate immune responses. However, although well over 10 years have passed since the genome of vaccinia virus was sequenced, the biochemical function of most viral proteins, in particular, p28, which has been shown to be required for viral pathogenesis, remain elusive. The development of anti-viral assays and the discovery of effective drugs to combat smallpox infection have been slow.
Accordingly, despite great effort and the ever-present threat of a serious hemorrhagic smallpox outbreak, an effective, practical therapy (including prevention and treatment) for smallpox, is not currently available. Accordingly, there is a great need for new assays to discover drugs for the treatment of smallpox, and a great need for new smallpox therapies, particularly those that may be deployed rapidly, safely and in great number. This invention meets this need, and others.
Literature of interest includes Afonso et al, J. Virology 74: 3815–3831, 2000; Brick et al, J. General Virology 81: 1087–1097, 2000; Senkevich et al, Virology 198: 118–128, 1994; Senkevich et al, J. Virology 69: 4103–4111 1995; Antoine et al, Virology 244:365–96, 1998; Upton et al, Virus Genes 20: 159–64, 2000; Perkus et al, Virology 180:406–10, 1991; McCraith et al, Proc Natl Acad Sci 97:4879–84, 2000; Goebel, et al, 1990 Virology 179, 247–266, 517–563; Jensen et al. 1996 J. Virol. 70, 7485–7497; Takahashi et al 1994 Virology 202, 844–852; Alcami, et al, 1998 Semin. Virol. 8,419–427; Wong et al 2003 Drug Discovery Today 8:746–754; McFadden, et al, 1998 Semin. Virol. 8, 429–442; GenBank Accession number X69198 and published US patent application U.S. 20020042083.

Methods and compositions for the identification of anti-poxvirus agents


The present disclosure relates to absorbent articles comprising belts comprising one or more pluralities of tightly spaced (less than 4 mm, less than 3 mm, less than 2 mm, and less than 1 mm) and/or low decitex (less than 300, less than 200, less than 100 dtex) and/or low strain (less than 300%, less than 200%, less than 100%) elastics to deliver low pressure less than 1 psi (according to the conditions defined by the Pressure-Under-Strand Test in the Method below) under the elastics, while providing adequate Section-Modulus of (between about 2 gf/mm and 15 gf/mm), resulting in a Product Length-to-Waist Silhouette that is within from about −0.3 to about 0.3 of the Target Body Length-to-Waist Silhouette to make the article conform better to the body of the wearer at a lower Pressure-Under-Strand, even with a loaded core (holding at least 50 mls of liquid), to provide for the advantages described above.

Desirably, an absorbent article should be designed and sized to maintain contact with and conform as closely as possible to a wearer's body. Such a body-conforming design may increase the effectiveness of the absorbent article by reducing the possibility that urine, or the like, will spread or travel along the wearer's body and leak out of rather than be absorbed into the absorbent article. However, current stranded absorbent articles on the market do not adequately address body shape or product shape and therefore do not fit a broad range of users adequately or provide the desired level of close fit. To overcome the shortcomings of current stranded absorbent articles on the market, it may be desirable to link the Product Length-to-Waist Silhouette (defined below) to that of the targeted consumers Body Length-to-Waist Silhouette (defined below) in order to achieve a better fitting, better conforming, better gasketing product. This may increase the wearing comfort for each consumer while reducing leakage.
In order to deliver sufficient pressure on the body, which is necessary for good fit, closed-form pant products currently in the market which comprise of elastic strands for the waist belt tend to have a narrower Relaxed Product Waist Width (defined below). This is due to their Average-Strand-Spacing and Average-Dtex, which result is a relatively low modulus and therefore require more stretch to deliver the necessary pressure. They achieve this greater in-use stretch via greater average-pre-strain, which results in their relaxed waists being significantly smaller than the body of the user.
A key benefit to the absorbent articles disclosed herein, which have the Product Length-to-Waist Silhouette closer to that of the Body Length-to-Waist Silhouette and which are designed to change accordingly with body weight is that the product itself more closely matches the shape of the body. This results in the product being deformed to a significantly lesser degree during application than one that is generically designed to fit a bigger range as illustrated by the current marketed products. It also results in a product fit, which is more tailored to the body shape, providing more effective gasketing and less extraneous material in the crotch. Product designs which mimic the general shape of the body convey to consumers a better, more tailored fit as the Product Length-to-Waist Silhouettes are more similar to consumers' Body Length-to-Waist Silhouettes. The designs enabled by the present disclosure are more targeted by design and, therefore, provide a greater level of fit, gasketing, comfort and discretion.
The improved elastomeric laminates disclosed herein combined with the concepts above deliver sufficient wearing pressure, necessary for good fit, without the amount of average-pre-strain required in today's currently marketed stranded closed-form pant articles. This results in closed-form pant articles that have a Relaxed Product Waist Width (defined below) closer to that of the Body Waist Width (defined below).
The present disclosure also details elastomeric laminates that enable the design concepts detailed above. The inventive laminates disclosed herein comprise a greater number of elastic strands having a greater fineness and a closer spacing than has been previously disclosed or practiced in disposable absorbent articles. These improved laminates can be used as disposable absorbent article (for, example, taped diapers, pants, pads, and liners) components for fit and gasketing at the waist, legs, crotch and sides of the wearer to generally provide the greatest level of extensibility, the most comfortable wearing conditions, improved leakage protection and a better fit.
More particularly, these improved elastomeric laminates offer several advantages that enable the best executions of the design concepts detailed above, including less pressure of the elastic strands on the wearer's skin at a given modulus versus traditional elastomeric laminates known today. These improvements result in enhancing application, fit, comfort and reduced marking of the wearer's skin. The inventive elastomeric laminates disclosed in this application perform better than traditional stranded and film versions of laminates used in disposable absorbent articles today.

Length-to-waist silhouette(s) of absorbent article(s) comprising beamed elastics


According to the present invention, provided is a semiconductor device including: a p-type silicon substrate; a shallow n-well formed in the silicon substrate; a shallow p-well formed beside the shallow n-well in the silicon substrate; and a deep n-well which is formed beside the shallow p-well in the silicon substrate, and which is deeper than the shallow p-well. In addition, a deep p-well, which is deeper than the shallow p-well, is formed between the shallow p-well and the deep n-well in the silicon substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a semiconductor device such as LSI, a number of MOS transistors are integrally formed on a semiconductor substrate. However, it is rare that operating voltages of all the MOS transistors are the same. In general, MOS transistors each operating at a high voltage (high-voltage MOS transistors) and MOS transistors each operating at a low operating voltage (low-voltage MOS transistors) are embedded in the silicon substrate.
As an example of such a semiconductor device, FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a semiconductor device in which a non-volatile memory and logic circuits are embedded.
As shown in FIG. 1, in this semiconductor device, a plurality of flash memory cells FL are formed in a cell region 1 as non-volatile memory cells. In addition, around this cell region 1, a row selection circuit 2, a column selection circuit 3, a sense amplifier 4, and a booster circuit 5 are formed as logic circuits. Then, each of the memory cells FL is selected by one of word lines WLi (i=1, 2, . . . ) each connected to the row selection circuit 2 and one of bit lines BLj (j=1, 2, . . . ) each connected to the column selection circuit 3.
Programming of each memory cell is done by applying high voltage such as 5V to a BL selected by the column selection circuit 3 and applying high voltage such as 9V to a WL selected by the row selection circuit 2.
On the other hand, erasing of memory cells is done by applying high voltage such as 10V to substrate and applying high voltage such as −10V to WL. At that time, the applied high voltage such as 10V to substrate is also applied to all BL through forward biased drain junction.
Thus, both row and column selection circuits 2 and 3 are formed of high voltage transistors.
In contrast, the sense amplifier 4, which reads information from each of the cells, is formed of low-voltage MOS transistors operating at a low voltage of approximately 1.2V.
In this manner, the semiconductor device in which the non-volatile memory and the logic circuits are embedded has a configuration in which the high-voltage transistors and the low-voltage transistors are embedded.
FIG. 2 shows a more detailed configuration diagram of the above-described semiconductor device. An example of FIG. 2 shows a state in which flash memory cells FL1 and FL3 are unselected and in which a flash memory cell FL 2 is selected.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor device in which high-voltage transistors and low-voltage transistors are mounted as described above.
In an example of FIG. 3, transistor formation regions are defined in a p-type silicon substrate 10 by element isolation insulating films 11. A first n-well 12, a p-well 13, and a second n-well 14 are formed in each of the transistor formation regions as shown in the figure.
In addition, gate electrodes 15 are formed on these wells 12 to 14 with gate insulating films interposed therebetween. Furthermore, a first p-type source/drain region 18, an n-type source/drain region 19, and a second p-type source/drain region 17 are formed respectively beside the gate electrodes 15.
Thus, a low-voltage p-type MOS transistor TRp(low), a low-voltage n-type MOS transistor TRn(low), and a high-voltage p-type MOS transistor TRp(high) are constructed respectively of pairs of the gate electrodes 15 and the corresponding source/drain regions 17 to 19.
In the high-voltage p-type MOS transistor TRp(high), a high-voltage is applied to the second p-type source/drain region 17. For this reason, punch through is easily generated between the second p-type source/drain region 17 and the p-type silicon substrate 10.
The punch through is often observed in the case where the second n-well 14 is shallow.
Therefore, in general the second n-well 14 is formed deeply.
In contrast, if the first n-well 12 and the p-well 13, in which the low-voltage MOS transistors TRp(low) and TRn(low) are formed respectively, are formed deeply, impurities in the respective wells spread in lateral directions. This makes it difficult to shorten the distance between, for example, the first p-type source/drain region 18 and n-type source/drain region 19. Thereby, this causes a problem that it is difficult to downsize a semiconductor device. For this reason, the first n-well 12 and the p-well 13 are generally formed to be shallower than the second n-well 14.
However, if the wells 12 and 13 used for the low-voltage transistors are shallower than the well 14 used for the high-voltage transistor, a parasitic NPN bipolar transistor formed along a path P as shown in FIG. 3 becomes critical.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a height of a potential for electrons along the path P in the case where both of the p-type silicon substrate 10 and the first n-well 12 are set at a ground potential (0V), and a high-voltage (10V) is applied to the second n-well 14.
As shown in FIG. 4, a height V of the potential barrier formed between the first n-well 12 and the substrate 10 is made to be lowered, because impurity concentration of the p-type silicon substrate 10, functioned as a base of the parasitic NPN bipolar transistor, is low. Accordingly, even when only a small base current IB flows, the electrons in the substrate 10 decrease. Thus, the potential becomes low as shown by the dotted line, thereby causing a large collector current IC to flow from the second n-well 14 to the first n-well 12.
As a result, a current amplification factor β (=IC/IB) of the NPN bipolar transistor becomes extremely large, thereby making latch-up easily occur. The latch-up is a phenomenon in which an excessive current flows between the n-wells 12 and 14 through the path P.
Such a problem also occurs in a semiconductor device having a cross-sectional structure shown in FIG. 5.
This semiconductor device is formed by making the first n-well 12 deeper than that in the example of FIG. 4, and by forming a high-voltage p-type MOS transistor TRp(high) on the well 12. Other than this, the semiconductor device has the configuration same as that of the example of FIG. 4.
In this semiconductor device, there is also a problem in that latch-up along the path P easily occurs due to the reason same as that described in FIG. 4.
In Specification of Japanese Patent No. 3564039 and Specification of Japanese Patent No. 3117428, it is disclosed that latch-up can be suppressed by forming, at end portions of each of the wells, high-concentration impurity layers each having the conductive type same as that of the well.
A structure shown in FIG. 6 is obtained by applying such high-concentration impurity layers to the semiconductor device of FIG. 5.
As shown in FIG. 6, in this example, in line with Specification of Japanese Patent No. 3564039 and Specification of Japanese Patent No. 3117428, n-type high-concentration impurity layers 12a and 14a, and p-type high-concentration impurity layers 13a are formed at end portions of the respective wells 12 to 14.
However, even when such high-concentration impurity layers 12a to 14a are formed, a base concentration of the NPN parasitic bipolar transistor is not changed and stays equal to that of the case of FIG. 5. Therefore, a height of the potential for the electrons along the path P remains low. For this reason, latch-up still easily occurs along the path P.
In addition to these, a technology relating to the present invention is also disclosed in Official Gazette of Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-273236.

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same


In a phased array antenna that has a configuration in which a plurality of antenna panels, in each of which a plurality of antenna elements are arrayed, are connected in the form of a plane and that radiates power transmission microwaves in the arrival direction of a pilot signal sent from an electric-power receiving facility (rectenna system), by controlling the phases of signals input to and output from the antenna elements. An arithmetic processing section, which is provided in each of the antenna panels, calculates the phase shifts of power transmission microwaves to be radiated from the antenna elements. Then, the phase information indicating the phase shifts calculated by the arithmetic processing section is sent to at least three adjacent antenna panels by a transmission and reception section provided in each of the antenna panels.

In recent years, environmental issues, such as global warming, and energy issues, such as depletion of fossil fuels, have been highlighted as carbon dioxide emissions caused by the use of fossil fuels increase. Therefore, the demand for clean energy is rising every year, and one solution to those issues is an SSPS scheme.
In an SSPS scheme, as shown in FIG. 8, an artificial satellite equipped with huge solar panels is launched into space above the equator, and electric power generated from sunlight is converted into microwaves by transmission modules provided in the solar panels. Then, microwaves 100 are sent from a microwave transmitting section 101 to an electric-power receiving facility (rectenna system) 102 provided on the ground, are then re-converted into electric power on the ground and are utilized.
Thus, clean energy can be stably supplied without depending on the weather and time zone, which are drawbacks of solar power generation. There are technical problems in realizing this scheme, such as bulk electric-power transmission, microwave-beam control, and reducing operating costs, and an example method for solving those problems is to use a laminated active integrated antenna (Active Integrated Antenna: AIA) for the microwave transmitting section 101. Furthermore, in order to achieve even higher efficiency in power transmission, one approach that is being considered is to provide a retrodirective function in the laminated active integrated antenna.
The retrodirective function is a function in which a pilot signal (guide signal) sent from the electric-power receiving facility (rectenna system) 102 provided on the ground is received by a power transmission antenna provided in the microwave transmitting section 101, and phase information of the received pilot signal is reflected in the transmission waves radiated from the power transmission antenna, so that the transmission waves are directed in the arrival direction of the pilot signal.
Furthermore, in the power transmission antenna used in SSPS, two-dimensionally-arrayed antenna panels each about one-meter square are connected at connection points, forming a large-area antenna. There is a case in which, when the large-area antenna is bent at the connection points, the phase planes of microwaves radiated from the antenna panels are different, and spurious waves with a high electric-power level are radiated onto points other than the target point; therefore, methods for aligning the phase planes have been proposed.
For example, PTL 1 discloses an example retrodirective function in which the distances between an antenna reference line perpendicular to the arrival direction of the pilot signal and antenna elements are calculated based on arrival-direction angles between the arrival direction of the pilot signal and the antenna panels, and phase shifts of microwaves to be radiated from the antenna elements are set and corrected according to the calculated distances.

Phased array antenna and phase control method therefor


A dose calculator for heavy-ion therapy systems uses a limited number of spread out Bragg peak models obtainable by a particular therapy system, the models which may be adjusted in energy (offset) and dose contribution (treatment time) to produce a unique composite dose having a complex dose profile with limited reduced time.

The present invention relates to heavy-ion therapy systems for the treatment of cancer and the like, and in particular to a treatment planning tool for generating settings for particular dose profiles for heavy-ion beams.
External beam radiation therapy may treat a tumor within a patient by directing high-energy radiation in one or more beams toward the tumor. The radiation commonly may be photons, such as x-rays or electrons.
Standard electron beam and photon devices are often used to provide single energy beams during treatment. More complex dose patterns can be obtained, however, with combinations of beams of multiple radiation energy. U.S. Pat. No. 7,202,486 to Gentry et al. issued Apr. 10, 2007, entitled: Treatment Planning Tool For Multi-Energy Electron Beam Radiotherapy, assigned to the same assignee as the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference, describes a tool allowing a physician to combine multiple electron beam energies or combined electron/photon energies available on a standard, single beam radiotherapy system. The tool, which may operate on a stand-alone desktop computer, accepts a simple characterization of a desired beam depth dose profile and produces a treatment plan using multiple energies and that can be entered into a radiation therapy treatment planning system and implemented using successive exposures from the radiation therapy machine. The use of multiple energy beams allows for better dose conformance to a treatment zone.
Recent interest has developed in the use of protons or other heavy-ions for external beam therapy. Unlike electrons and x-rays, protons may be given sufficient energy to penetrate an arbitrary amount of tissue and then to stop within the tissue, eliminating exit dose through healthy tissue on the far side of a tumor. Further, the dose deposited by a proton beam is not uniform along the entrance path of the beam, but rises substantially at a "Bragg peak" near a point where a proton stops within the tissue. These two features allow improved concentration of dose within the tumor.
A mono-energetic beam of protons produces a narrow Bragg peak whose range (depth in the tissue) can be controlled by controlling the energy or acceleration of the protons. In theory, an arbitrary dose profile can be produced using a mono-energetic beam of protons by moving the beam in energy range and angle to dimensions to sequentially "paint" a treatment zone. By changing a dwell time of the proton beam at a particular location, an arbitrary dose profile may be produced.
Current proton therapy may alternatively use a "spread out Bragg peak" (SOBP) employing a poly-energetic proton beam having multiple Bragg peaks extending over a range of depths to produce a plateau of roughly constant dose. This approach accommodates poly-energetic proton sources and greatly simplifies the mechanics of treatment by allowing an entire tumor area, embraced by the plateau, to be treated simultaneously without complex movement of the beam.
Producing a spread out Bragg peak may be done, for example, by passing a mono-energetic or narrow poly-energetic beam of protons through a rotating wedge "propeller" that modulates the energy of the proton beam with constantly changing variable thickness of material or through a grid having varying thicknesses within the cross-section of the beam. The overall energy of the beam, and hence the center of the plateau may be adjusted in range or depth by using a bolus or movable wedge to center the spread out Bragg peak at the tumor.
Treatment planning using an SOBP beam simply requires adjusting the width of the plateau of the SOBP to cover the tumor and centering the range of the plateau on the tumor, and then applying the proton beam for a desired period of time to achieve a uniform tumor dose.

Treatment planning tool for heavy-ion therapy


An electronic device includes one or more GaAs integrated circuits having a plurality of mutually independent field-effect transistors formed on a GaAs base-member; and one or more high-dielectric-constant base-members including a passive element on a surface thereof or therein.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic devices, and more particularly, to an electronic device for use in a communication apparatus or the like using a microwave or millimeter wave band.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 3 shows an example of a conventional electronic device for use in a microwave or millimeter wave band. The electronic device 200 includes functional blocks: an oscillator module 201, a resonator 202, a multiplier module 203, a filter module 204, a mixer module 205 and an amplifier module 206, which are encapsulated in a package, and which are mounted on a base member 207 to be connected to an external circuit. Such a structure is called a discrete MIC (microwave integrated circuit).
FIG. 4 shows another example of a conventional electronic device. The electronic device 300 is formed by integrating most of the functional blocks into one integrated circuit (IC). In other words, on a GaAs base-member 301 are formed an oscillator 302, a multiplier 303, a filter 304, a mixer 305, and an amplifier 306. Such a structure is called an MMIC (monolithic MIC). Since no portion corresponding to the resonator 202 included in the structure in FIG. 3 is formed on the GaAs IC, it is not completely integrated.
In the discrete-MIC-structure electronic device, each functional block is packaged, and the packaged blocks are arranged to form one electronic device. This makes it impossible to reduce the size of the electronic device.
In the MMIC-structure electronic device, an advantageous size reduction can be obtained. However, the IC is fundamentally designed to meet a particular requirement, which limits the amount of production, and increases production costs and the degree of integration. Thus, the yield per wafer deteriorates disadvantageously. In addition, since the resonator cannot be integrated into the conventional example in FIG. 4, there are some functions which cannot be performed by the integrated MMIC. In this case the resonator is externally mounted, which undercuts the merits of any size reduction that may be obtained.

Electronic device having FETs on a low dielectric constant GaAs base member and passive elements on a high dielectric constant base member


A system, method, and computer-readable medium, is described that enables a domain name registrant the ability to exchange their existing domain in favor of a new domain without incurring additional domain registration fees and without affecting the other data fields of the existing domain. Once the domain exchange service is added to the domain registration, the registrant can exchange the domain name as often as it likes in accordance with the business rules of the registry until the domain exchange service expires.

The domain name system (DNS) and domain name registration system have become an integral part of how consumers and businesses conduct activity on the Internet.
One advantage of DNS is that it allows a person to visit a website by typing into a browser a "domain name", that is, a familiar word or group of words, rather than the numeric IP address of the computer on which the website resides. For example, a person desiring to visit the VeriSign website could do so by entering in their web browser the domain name "verisign.com" instead of an IP address, such as "10.10.1.100." Although, the user could enter either the domain name or the IP address, the moniker "verisign.com" is easier to remember than a string of digits. A domain name is an example of a "provisioned object," that is, an object that is assigned or released through an interface.
The DNS system also allows multiple websites to share one IP address when multiple domain names all resolve to (that is, are associated with) the same IP address. A webserver that has been assigned a specific IP address receives, as part of the request for web content, the domain name requested and can then deliver the desired content to the requesting computer. This multiple-website feature is important because there are a finite number of IP addresses of the form 10.10.1.100, so called "IPv4 addresses." Without this ability for multiple websites to share an IP address, the possible IPv4 address space would likely have already been exhausted.
Furthermore, the next version of IP address space, so called "IPv6," includes an even more complicated numeric format. Whereas IPv4 is only 32 bits in binary length, IPv6 is 128 bits. A typical hexadecimal representation of an IPv6 address is 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334. Because of the increased length of IP address in this format, there are approximately 5×1028 theoretical addresses available for each one of the 6.8 billion people alive. Although IP address exhaustion will no longer be a concern under the new addressing scheme, the DNS system remains important so that people can use familiar domain names rather than long strings of hexadecimal digits to visit websites or access machines on the Internet.
Domain name registration is the process by which a registrant can reserve or lease the use of a domain name for a specified period of time from the date of registration. The domain name registration system consists of various top level domains (TLDs), such as the traditional .com, .net, .org, .edu, and .gov, as well as the newer .biz, .info, and .name. The domain name registration system has also evolved to incorporate various country code TLDs (ccTLDs), each one reserved for use by a particular country, such as, .ca, .cn, .tv, and .us, associated with Canada, China, Tuvalu, and the United States, respectively. The domain name system and domain name registration system have also evolved to allow the use of alternative character sets to accommodate foreign languages.
A domain name is reserved by a domain name "registrant." The registrant may reserve the domain name for at least one year but may reserve the domain name for up to ten years. Domain names are reserved through domain "registrars." Registrars are entities having business relationships with domain "registries" that control the domain names for a particular TLD. Thus, the registrar provides the interface to the registrant to reserve the domain name from a registry. The registry manages the reserved names and available names for a particular TLD and makes available the information to the registrar through the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP). Registrars that are authorized by the registry have the ability to make reservations and check the state of domain names through the EPP. The registry provides the EPP as a communications gateway to registrars for such purposes.
In a typical domain name registration example, a registrant may want to reserve the domain name "example.com." The registrant would contact a registrar that has a business relationship with the registry that operates the .com TLD. The registrant would query the registrar as to the availability of the domain name "example" in the .com namespace. The registrar in turn would query the proper registry through the EPP, then return the results to the registrant. The registrant may then obtain a registration of the domain name by paying a registration fee and providing information required by the registry and registrar. The registry charges the registrar for the domain name registration and the registrar collects the registration fee from the registrant.
To maintain a domain name in accordance with current regulations, the registry responsible for a TLD is required to keep a certain minimum amount of information with the domain name to ensure proper identification, security features, and operability associated with the domain name. For example, all domain registrants are required to make available to the registry, current administrative contact information. Also, in order for a domain name to work correctly, the registry must have nameserver information for the domain to load into its TLD DNS system to refer outside DNS requests to the proper authoritative DNS servers. Also, to prevent accidental changes to the domain name settings, certain status codes are available to put various levels of protection on the domain name. This information will be discussed below in more detail.
One problem with having the registry system as described is that it does not easily accommodate some registrants with alternative business models for domain registration. Thus, some potential registrants may limit their purchase of domain name registrations. For example, suppose a web hosting service provider would like to provide an option for a web hosting contract with its customer that includes the use of a domain name without charge to the customer. In reality, the web hosting service provider is hoping to recover the cost of the fees it pays for domain registration through web hosting fees it will charge to the customer over a period of time. Under the traditional domain registration schemes described above, if the customer prematurely ceases paying its web hosting fees, then the web hosting service provider may fail to recover the fees it paid to the registrar for registration of the domain name. Therefore a method is needed to allow the web hosting provider to exchange the domain name registered for the early-termination customer in favor of a different domain name that it can offer to its next customer.
Another example where such a method would be desirable is when a domain registrant's interest is not in selling products or services per se under a brand associated with the domain name, but rather reserving domain names that Internet users might enter accidently, by exploiting typographical errors entered in web site addresses. For example, suppose a registrant wanted to commandeer web traffic intended to go to "example.com," but was not sure which variant of "example" would be most effective. The registrant might register, "example," "exampple," and "exampel" to see which was most effective, and place targeted advertising on the most effective variant. Under the traditional domain registration schemes described above, the registrant would lose the value of the domain names that did not produce many visits. In anticipation of this loss leader, the registrant may try small batches of reservations. If the registrant could exchange the unfruitful domain names for others, however, then the registrant might reserve many more initially, knowing that an unfruitful domain name could be exchanged for a domain name consistent with the registrant's next project. Therefore, a method of exchanging an existing domain name in favor of a new domain name is needed to encourage more registrations from this type of registrant.

Systems and methods for domain name exchange


Devices, apparatus, systems, and methods for the quick installation of ceiling fan blades for ceiling fans. The invention uses a blade with three slots running in a linear direction from the mounting end of the blade, and three pre-attached fasteners upwardly projecting from the outer end of a blade arm. One of the fasteners is springably bendable with inwardly extending clip edge, another fastener that forms an upright post, and a third fastener having a top end with an outwardly extending lip edge. Another embodiment can include four slots per blade and four pre-attached upwardly protruding fasteners per blade arm. A novel method of installing each blade can include angling the blade to the mounting ends of the blade arm so that the outwardly extending lip edge catches on the third slot in from the mounting end of the blade. Next, the blade is laid down so that the other two slot openings pass over the other pre-attached fasteners while moving the mounting end of the blade toward the motor mounting end of the blade arm. This causes the springably bendable fastener to bend back and snapably spring back catching onto the first slot locking the blade to the blade arm.

Many ceiling fans primarily require the blades must be attached to the motor housing bracket arms by tightening multiple screws and the like. With most ceiling fans having up to five blades and each blade requiring three or more screws, the number of screw tightening operations can result in the installer having to separately screw approximately 15 screws or more per ceiling fan installation. Installing more than one fan in a home or building further compounds this installation problem.
Often these screws can become lost during the assembly operation. Rotating screws into the blades and blade arms of a ceiling mounted motor is not only difficult to accomplish, but results in most ceiling fans in the market place having visible screws that are unsightly. Furthermore, the underside location of these fastener screws detract from the appearance of the ceiling fan itself.
Installing more than one fan in a home or building further compounds this installation problem.
Another problem with using multiple loose screws occurs from the ceiling fans being run under continuous vibration conditions where the screws can loosen causing the blades to be accidentally released and result in damage to surrounding property and people in the vicinity.
An additional problem comes from ceiling fan blades needing to be cleaned to remove dirt and dust buildup. Current techniques have relied on manually holding brushes to the blades themselves which inherently tires the muscles in the cleaner's neck, shoulders, arms and hands. This messy cleaning with brushes causes the dirt to fall on both the cleaner and furniture and flooring below the fan. Having to remove blades by unscrewing multiple screws over one's head would also not be practical.
Attempts have been made at changing the attachment methods for the blades but still fail to overcome all the problems presented above. U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,947 to Rezek describes a cover for covering the blade to motor connections but still uses screw fasteners that have the problems described above. U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,284 to Monrose III et al. is entitled a "Detachable Blades for Ceiling Fans" and U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,585 to Yan has a removable pin connection for ceiling fan blades, but each of these patents still requires screw on brackets for both the motor housing and the blades.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,352 to Pearce and U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,515 to Bailey et al. describe pitch adjustment attachments for ceiling fans but also still require screw on brackets between both the motor housing and the attached blades. A still further problem of many of these detachable ceiling fan type blades is that natural centrifugal forces of the spinning fans increase the chances of dislodging the blades.
The assignee of this invention created the popular QUICK CONNECT® ceiling fan blade systems, where the installer used blades and blade arms, or blade arms and rotors where enlarged headed fasteners fit into wide portions of key hole type slots where the enlarged headed fasteners and keyhole slots were slid together so that the fasteners would be locked in place; and other types of fast assembly ceiling fan systems. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,010,306; 6,171,059; 6,336,792; 6,352,411; 6,666,652; 6,802,694; 6,872,053; 7,281,899; 7,396,210; 7,766,622; 7,857,592; and 7,927,076.
However, the subject inventors have now discovered other techniques for the quick installation of ceiling fans that also do not require multiple loose screws and the like, to attach the blades to the ceiling fan arms.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The present invention relates to an interference power estimating device that estimates interference power with high accuracy. The interference power estimating device includes a reference symbol acquiring unit acquiring a reference symbol corresponding to each of the pilot symbols included in a received signal by symbol-averaging a reference signal including the pilot symbol being allocated in positions near in terms of time to each of the pilot symbols and having the number less than the number of the pilot symbols within one slot, and an estimating unit estimating interference power of the received signal by power-valuing each difference between each of the pilot symbols and the reference symbol corresponding to each of the pilot symbols acquired by the reference symbol acquiring unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interference power estimating device and an interference power estimating method.
2. Description of the Related Art
An HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) system is a communication system of which a status is given as a next generation version of a W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) system. The HSDPA involves utilizing an adaptive modulation system for scheming to increase a communication speed. In the adaptive modulation system, a best modulation system is automatically selected corresponding a communication environment.
In the communication system using the adaptive modulation system such as the HSDPA, each of terminals transmits a CQI (Channel Quality Indicator) (quality of reception) based on an estimated value of SIR (Signal to Interference power Ratio) to the nearest base station. The base station selects a transmission format corresponding to the quality of reception of which the terminal notifies, thereby realizing a high throughput. Accordingly, this type of communication system requires each terminal to perform the SIR estimation with high accuracy.
Further, DPCH (Dedicated Physical CHannel) utilized in the W-CDMA is allocated individually to each terminal, whereby items of control information such as a pilot symbol and a TPC (Transmit Power Control) bit and user data are transmitted. The DPCH enables high-speed transmit power control (TPC) to be applied. In the DPCH, a degree of how much the transmission power is increased and decreased is determined based on a result of the SIR estimation, and hence accuracy of the SIR estimation exerts large influence on a quantity of traffic that can be handled by the system.
This type of SIR estimation involves estimating reception power and interference power, and an SIR value is obtained from a ratio of the reception power to the interference power that are output based on their estimations. The interference power is estimated generally by a method as illustrated in FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing an interference power estimating method according to the related art. FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which the interference power in a slot depicted by oblique lines in CPICH (Common Pilot CHannel) is an estimation target.
The conventional interference power estimating method involves calculating noise power about each piece of pilot symbol data allocated to the estimation target slot, calculating an average value of the noise power about the estimation target slot, and outputting the average value as interference power of the estimation target slot. The noise power about each pilot symbol is, according to the example in FIG. 7, obtained by power-valuing a difference between each pilot symbol and the average value of the pilot symbols (the reference signal) for 1-slot time with each pilot symbol being centered.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating function blocks of the conventional interference power estimating circuit. In the conventional interference power estimating circuit, when the pilot symbol data is inputted, a reference signal calculating unit 221 extracts the reference signals for 1-slot time with the inputted pilot symbol data being centered, and acquires an average value of the reference signals. Subsequently, a subtracter 222 obtains a difference between each piece of the inputted pilot symbol data and the average value of the reference signals, then a power-valuing unit 223 squares the difference value, and the squared value is output as the noise power.
With respect to the target slot, the noise power about the respective pieces of pilot symbol data output from the power-valuing unit 223 is added up, and the added noise power is divided by the number of symbols in the target slot, thus, the average value of the noise power is calculated (an averaging unit 224). The thus-calculated average value of the noise power is multiplied by a correction coefficient (multiplier 225), thereby, an interference power value of the target slot is obtained.
The correction coefficient is a value to be multiplied in a way that takes account of an error between the reference signal average value calculated by the reference signal calculating unit 221 and an ideal value. Namely, the correction coefficient is a value for correction the bias, wherein the bias is caused by a result that the reference signal is biased to the target pilot symbol data because the target pilot symbol data is equal to one symbol in the reference signal. The example in FIG. 7 shows that one slot consists of 10 pilot symbols, an average value of the 10 pilot symbols are utilized, and therefore the correction coefficient becomes 10/9.
In this type of conventional interference power estimating circuit, if a CDMA communication system is utilized for obtaining the pilot symbol data, the pieces of pilot symbol data are RAKE-received in order to reduce multi-path interference. The RAKE-reception is a technique for increasing reception power by separating each delay wave from the signals overlapped with the delay waves due to the multi-paths and synthesizing after conducting synchronous detection. The synchronous detection involves using a channel estimation value for adjusting phases of the respective delay waves.
The channel estimation value is, as illustrated in FIG. 9, calculated from the target pilot symbol and an average (a long-term average (movement average)) of a predetermined number of pilot symbols with the target pilot symbol being centered. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a method of outputting the reference signal (a first reference signal) according to the related art. FIG. 9 illustrates the method of outputting the first reference signal for obtaining a noise component related to the head pilot symbol in the target slot shown in FIG. 7. The first reference signal in FIG. 9 represents the reference signal that is referred to for obtaining the interference power illustrated in FIG. 7.
The example in FIG. 9 is that the reference signal (which will hereinafter be termed a second reference signal) for 1-slot time with each data symbol being centered, is used for outputting the respective data symbols of the first reference signal. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing function blocks of a conventional reference signal outputting circuit.
In the conventional reference signal outputting circuit, when the received signal is despread (a CPICH despreading unit 241) with a spreading code for CPICH at timing corresponding to each path, the despread pilot signal corresponding to each path is synchronously detected (a synchronous detection unit 243). The synchronous detection unit 243 takes phase-synchronization of the pilot signals corresponding to the respective paths by multiplying the pilot signals corresponding to the respective paths by the channel estimation values, corresponding to the respective paths, calculated by the channel estimation value calculating unit 242. Thus, a RAKE-synthesization unit 244 synthesizes the pilot signals that have been phase-synchronized, thereby outputting the pilot symbols.
The channel estimation value calculating unit 242 calculates the channel estimation value by use of the average value of the pilot symbols (the second reference signal) for 1-slot time with each pilot symbol being centered in order to synchronously detect each of the pilot symbols.
The conventional interference power estimating method has, however, a problem that fluctuations of the signal components in a fast fading environment are treated as noises. A noise increment derived from the fluctuations of the signal components does not become a factor for a decline of demodulating capability.
Accordingly, the execution of the SIR estimation with high accuracy entails realizing the interference power estimating method capable of the estimation in a way that does not treat the fading fluctuations as the noises.

Interference power estimating device and interference power estimating method


An exercise equipment assembly includes a stationary base including a front elongated support structure, a back elongated support structure, and a support body coupled between the front and back elongated support structures. An elongated handle is coupled to the support body and extends vertically away from the support body. The elongated handle includes a first pivot assembly coupled to the support body that allows the elongated handle to pivot about its vertical axis. A knee supporting structure is coupled to the support body and includes a second pivot assembly coupled to the support body. First and second knee supporting structures are coupled to the second pivot assembly, the first and second knee supporting structure extending horizontally away from the second pivot assembly in a direction generally opposite from the elongated handle. The second pivot assembly allows the first and second knee supporting structures to pivot about its vertical axis.

In today's society, more and more people desire to exercise for various reasons such as to improve and maintain their health or to lose weight. Such exercise can be done in a fitness gym, outdoors, or at home. The stomach or abdomen is one area of the body that people focus on in their exercise routine to improve their health and to decrease their waistline. Other parts of the body such as the inner thigh and the buttocks are also exercised to improve the tone of those body parts or to improve the overall health of the person.

TOPWAY HIGHTECH ELECTRONICS (XIAMEN) CO., LTD


A high wear-resistant grader blade which combines two high wear-resistant elements in the lower end of the blade. First, high wear-resistant particles are embedded into the front leading edge of the blade. More particularly, the leading edge of the blade is heated to pool molten metal. Tungsten carbide particles are then added to the pooled molten metal so as to blend with the molten metal. Upon cooling, the tungsten carbide particles mixed with the melted grader blade metal, will penetrate into the surface of the grader blade and will form a protrusion outward from the surface of the grader blade. Thus, the leading edge of the grader blade will be formed of a mixture of tungsten carbide and the grader blade material. Second, a groove is milled down the center of the grader blade and high wear-resistant inserts laid end-to-end are brazed into the groove.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a grader blade used on a motor or tractor driven grader for grading road beds, ground surfaces and the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to grader blades having carbide inserts or other wear resistant welded surfaces along the ground engaging edge for better wear resistance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ground engaging tools have been developed to maintain or create a desired ground surface, particularly for roadways. Conventional ground engaging machines generally employ a moldboard that has a scoop-like or concave shape, such as utilized on a grader, scraper or snow plow. The moldboard is pushed or pulled across the ground in order to scrape, grade, or otherwise level the ground surface. In order to reduce wear and tear on the moldboard, an extension piece, called a grader blade, is commonly mounted on the moldboard and used for the ground shaping.
Grader blades are commonly made of materials having a much higher degree of wear-resistance than the moldboard, which is typically made of steel. The grader blades are then secured longitudinally along to the lower portion of the moldboard by screws or bolts. Once the grader blade becomes worn, it can be easily removed and replaced with a new grader blade.
Grader blades have been developed having inserts along the front leading edge of the blade. The inserts are typically made of a highly wear-resistant material in order to reduce wear on the entire blade. One such grader blade is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,253, issued to Hallisy, et al. entitled "Grader Blade with Tiered Inserts on Leading Edge."
As shown in the aforesaid Hallisy patent, the inserts provided for grader blades typically run the entire front length of the blade. However, U.S. Pat. No. 1,922,917, issued to Russell, et al. entitled "Grader Blade", shows a grader blade having a plurality of teeth located at spaced intervals along the lower edge of the grader blade. The teeth protrude from the grader blade in order to cut knolls, mounds or ridges in the ground surface. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,051, issued to Helton, et al., entitled "Composite Wear-Resistant Alloy, and Tools from Same" shows a wear-resistant insert secured to the back face of the grader blade.
Another grader blade having an insert is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,966 to Lanz, et al., entitled "Composite Ground Engaging Tool." Lanz, et al. provide a grader blade with a high wear-resistant insert located centrally within the lower portion of the blade so that the insert is sandwiched between the front and rear surfaces of the blade.
Conventional grader blades secure the insert to the grader blade by brazing or welding. These techniques have sometimes been found undesirable because the inserts may become loose and fall off during high-impact grading, thus resulting in premature blade failure.


The invention provides a system and method for translingually searching a piece of information from an electronic document, a website or the Internet. The system first dialectally standardizes the primary query in the input language entered by the user and then translates the standardized query into an optimized search string in the target document language. Using the translated query, the system performs a search and highlights each matching object with an annotation callout or bubble to assist the user to navigate through the search results.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to trans-lingual search and retrieval of search results. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for dynamically displaying linguistic annotation on trans-lingual search results in callouts or virtual bubbles.
2. Description of Prior Art
The World Wide Web is a fast expanding terrain of information available via the Internet. The sheer volume of documents available on different sites on the World Wide Web ("Web") warrants that there are efficient search tools for quick search and retrieval of relevant information. In this context, search engines assume great significance because of their utility as search tools that help the users to search and retrieve specific information from the Web by using keywords, phrases or queries.
A whole array of search tools is available these days for users to choose from in conducting their search. However, search tools are not all the same. They differ from one another primarily in the manner they index information or web sites in their respective databases using a particular algorithm peculiar to that search tool. It is important to know the difference between the various search tools because while each search tool does perform the common task of searching and retrieving information, each one accomplishes the task differently. Hence, the difference in search results from different search engines even though the same phrases/queries are inputted.
Search tools of different kinds fall broadly into five categories, i.e. directories, search engines, super engines; meta search engines; and special search engines.
Search tools like Yahoo, Magellan and Look Smart qualify as web directories. Each of these web directories has developed its own database comprising of selected web sites. Thus, when a user uses a directory like Yahoo to perform a search, he is searching the database maintained by Yahoo and browsing its contents.
Search engines like Infoseek, WebCrawler and Lycos use software programs such as "Web crawlers", "spiders" or "robots" that crawl around the Web and index, and catalogue the contents from different web sites into the database of the search engine itself. Web crawler programs are a subset of software agents programs with an unusual degree of autonomy which perform tasks for the user. These agents normally start with a historical list of links, such as server lists, and lists of the most popular or best sites, and follow the links on these pages to find more links to add to the database.
A more sophisticated class of search engines includes super engines, which use a similar kind of software as "Web crawlers", "robots" or "spiders." However, they are different from ordinary search engines because they index keywords appearing not only on the title but anywhere in the text of site content. Excite, OpenText, Hot Bot and Alta Vista are examples of super engines.
A meta search engine is a search engine that queries other search engines and then combines the results that are received from all. A user using a meta search engine actually browses through a whole set of search engines contained in the database of the meta search engine. Dogpile and Savvy Search are examples of meta search engines.
Special search engines are another type of search engines that cater to the needs of users seeking information on particular subject areas. Deja News and Infospace are examples of special search engines.
Thus, each one of these search tools is unique in terms of the way it performs a search and works towards fulfilling the common goal of making resources on the web available to users. Most search engines allow users to type in a few words, and then search for occurrences of these words in their database. Each one has a special way of deciding what to do about approximate spellings, plural variations, and truncation.
However, most of these search engines are limited in their scope in so far as most of these search engines cater to the needs of the English speaking community alone and help in the search and retrieval of monolingual documents only. Most of these search engines require input in English and search web sites that have information available in English only. In other words, most of the search tools cater primarily to the needs of the English speaking Internet users. This attribute renders these search tools almost useless to the non-English speaking Internet users who constitute as much as 75% of the Internet user population. This non-English speaking user community is unable to search English web sites since it cannot adequately input phrases or queries in English. Consequently, this large community of users is unable to benefit from the search tools and web documents available in English. This is a serious drawback, which has not been addressed by any of the existing search engines.
Likewise, the non-English speaking Internet users also create web sites to store information in non-English languages. This rich source of information is not available to query by English oriented search engines. As a result the English speaking population remains deprived of the resources available in the other languages of the world for the same reasons as discussed above.
As an example, when preparing a Chinese To-fu dish which calls for "shrimp caviare," a search was made on a super engine, such as altavista.com to check the availability of "shrimp caviare" anywhere in the world. A search using altavista.com under "all language" revealed no matching results under either "English" or "Chinese" setting. A search was then made for the English term "shrimp caviare" at china.com, which is a Chinese search engine, but to no avail. Subsequently, the term "shrimp caviare" was looked up in Chinese to find its Chinese equivalent. The Chinese equivalent thus found was "xiazi" (meaning, "shrimp roe"). This word was then used for making the search on china.com and yielded as many as twenty-four hits.
Ning-Ping Chan et al have been granted on Aug. 5, 2003 a US patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,101) for their invention entitled "METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TRANSLINGUAL TRANSLATION OF QUERY AND SEARCH AND RETRIAL OF MULTILINGUAL INFORMATION ON A COMPUTER NETWORK". The patent discloses and teaches a method for translating a query input by the user in a source language (also called the user's language or the subject language) into a target language (also called the object language) and searching and retrieving web documents in the target language and translating the web documents into the source language. According to this invention, the user first inputs a query in a source language through a unit such as the keyboard. This query is then processed by the server at the backend to extract content word from the input query. The next step takes place at the dialectal controller, which is present on the server and performs the function of dialectally standardizing the content word or words so extracted. During this process the user may be prompted for some more so as to refine the search by the user or in case dialectal standardization could not be performed using the initial input query. This is followed by the process of pre-search translation, which comprises of translating the dialectally standardized word into a target language through a translator. This process of translation is followed by inputting the translated word into a search engine in the target language. Such an input yields search results in the target language corresponding to the translated word. The results so obtained are then displayed in the form of site names (URL) which satisfy the search criteria. All the results thus obtained in the target language are then displayed on the user screen.
According to the user's needs such results may then be translated back either in whole or in part into the source language. Chan's patent aims at assisting a user to search the web by entering a query in the user's own language, called source language, and returning to the user an entire translation of a targeted web site. In many circumstances, for a user who has some basic knowledge about the target language, the translation of an entire document is not necessary. Instead, an instant bilingual annotation on some key words, phrases or sentences would be good enough.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a system and method which enables a user enters a search entry in a language other than the principal language used in the document to be searched and automatically highlights each matching phrase or matching object in the search result with a callout or bubble which contains an artificial intelligence based bilingual annotation on the matching phrase or matching object.
It would be further desirable to provide a system and method which enables a remote user enters a search entry in a language other than the principal language used in a web site to be searched and automatically highlights each matching phrase or matching object in the search result with a callout or bubble which contains an artificial intelligence based bilingual annotation on the matching phrase or matching object.
It would be further desirable to provide a system and method which enables a remote user enters a search entry in a language other than the principal language used in a web search engine and automatically highlights each matching phrase or matching object in the returned search results with a callout or bubble which contains an artificial intelligence based bilingual annotation on the matching phrase or matching object.

Blinking annotation callouts highlighting cross language search results