An improved system and method for performing lossless data compression of a data string by parsing the data string and representing the parsed characters of the data string as irreducible grammar that is efficiently updatable. The system and method are each capable of parsing the data string into a least one variable of irreducible grammar, such that each variable represents a respective plurality of data characters of the data string, and formatting each variable of irreducible grammar as a linked list data structure having at least one pointer pointing to a linked list data structure representing another variable. The system and method are each further capable of updating the irreducible grammar based on at least one character to be parsed in the input string by changing at least one pointer of at least one of the linked list data structures to point to a linked list data structure different than that to which the at least one pointer pointed prior to updating. The system and method is further capable of encoding the irreducible grammar into a string of bits. Also, the system and method can employ a separate parse module, grammar transform module, and arithmetic coder module to perform the parsing, linked list formatting, and encoding operations, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved system and method for implementing the YK lossless data compression and decompression. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for performing lossless data compression and decompression using irreducible grammar whose elements are represented as linked-list data structures. The present invention proposes a three-module computational architecture for implementing the YK lossless compression and decompression algorithm, with minimal communication across modules.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data compression algorithms have been developed to reduce the size of a data string so that the data string can, for example, be more efficiently stored and transmitted. An example of a grammar-based framework for lossless data compression algorithm is described in a publication by J. C. Kieffer and E.-H. Yang entitled xe2x80x9cGrammar based codes: A new class of universal lossless source codes,xe2x80x9d IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 737-754, May 2000, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
As described in the Kieffer and Yang publication, to compress a data sequence, a grammar-based code first transforms the data sequence into a context-free grammar, from which the original data sequence can be fully reconstructed by performing parallel substitutions. This context-free grammar, which is a compact representation of original data, is compressed using arithmetic coding. If a grammar-based code transforms each data sequence into an irreducible context-free grammar, then the grammar-based code is universal for the class of stationary, ergodic sources.
Grammar-based codes offer a design framework in which arithmetic coding and string matching capabilities are combined in an elegant manner. Within the framework of grammar-based codes, an efficient greedy grammar transform, known as the Yang-Kieffer grammar transform, is described in a publication by E. H. Yang and J. C. Kieffer entitled xe2x80x9cEfficient universal lossless data compression algorithms based on a greedy sequential grammar transformxe2x80x94Part one: Without context models,xe2x80x9d IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, vol. 46, pp. 755-777, May 2000, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. This grammar transform sequentially constructs a sequence of irreducible context-free grammars from which the original data sequence can be recovered incrementally. The transform sequentially parses the original data in non-overlapping, variable-length phrases, and updates the grammar accordingly. Based on this grammar transform, a sequential lossless data compression, known as the YK algorithm, was developed.
The YK algorithm efficiently encodes the grammar by exploiting the structure of the grammar and using arithmetic coding to encode the sequence of parsed phrases at each step. The YK algorithm jointly optimizes, in some sense, string matching and arithmetic coding capabilities to achieve excellent compression performance on a large class of data. The following is a brief description of the major operations in the YK algorithm.
In defining the variables used in the following description, let A be the source alphabet with cardinality |A| greater than or equal to 2. let A+ denote the set of all finite strings drawn from A, let x=x1x2K xnx=x1x2K xn be a finite string drawn for the alphabet A that is to be compressed, and let S={sn,s1,s2,K} be a countable set, disjoint from A. The symbol s0 is called the start symbol, while elements of S+={s1,s2,K} are called variables. For jxe2x89xa71, let S(j)={s0,s1,K,sjxe2x88x921}, and let S+(j)={s1,K,sjxe2x88x921}. A context-free grammar G is a mapping from S(j) to (S(j)∪A)+ for some jxe2x89xa71. The mapping G is explicitly represented by writing each relationship (si,G(si)) as sixe2x86x92G(si), for i less than j. G(s) is called as the production rule for
This grammar is an example of an admissible grammar because one obtains a sequence from A after finitely many parallel replacements of variables in G(si), and every variable si (i less than j) is replaced at least one by G(si). The resulting sequence from A is called A-string represented by the respective variable. These A-strings are intended to represent repeated phrases in the input data string. The start symbol is special because the A-string represented by it is the complete input data string.
In addition, this grammar is an irreducible grammar because none of Reduction Rules 1 to 5 described in the second Yang and Keiffer publication referenced above can be applied to it to get a new admissible grammar. Further details of the concepts of admissible grammar and irreducible grammar can be found in that publication. An example of an irreducible grammar representing the data string abacaacabbacbabaccabaccc is shown as follows:
s0xe2x86x92s3s1s1bbs2bs4s4c
s1xe2x86x92s2a
s2xe2x86x92ac
s3xe2x86x92ab
s4xe2x86x92s3s2c
A grammar-based framework was proposed in a publication by C. Nevill-Manning and I. Witten entitled xe2x80x9cCompression and explanation using hierarchical grammar,xe2x80x9d Computer Journal, vol. 40, pp. 103-116 1997, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. However, the grammar described in that publication need not satisfy the irreducibility property, and hence can be suboptimal.
The main steps of the YK algorithm are briefly summarized here. Let x=x1x2xcex9 xn be a sequence from A, that is to be compressed. The YK algorithm proceeds through an iterative application of the following three main operations:
1. Parsing: The parsing operation parses the sequence x sequentially into non-overlapping substrings {x1,x2xcex9 xn2,K,xntxe2x88x921+1xcex9 xnt} and builds sequentially an irreducible grammar Gi for each x1xcex9 xni, where 1xe2x89xa6i=1, n1=1, and n1=n. The first substring is x1, and the corresponding irreducible grammar G1 consists of only one production rule s0xe2x86x92x1. At the ith step, suppose that the first i phrases x1, x2xcex9 xn2, . . . , xnixe2x88x921+1xcex9 xni have been parsed off. Suppose the variable set of the current grammar Gi is S+(ji)={s1,xcex9,sjixe2x88x921}, with j1=1. The next substring xni+1xcex9 xni+1 is the longest prefix of xni+1xcex9 xn that can be represented by sj if such a prefix exists in S+(ji). If such a prefix exists, the next parsed phrase is sj; otherwise, the next parsed phrase is the symbol xni+1.
2. Grammar and Search-List Update: Let xcex1 denote the last symbol on the right end of Gi(s0). The parsed phrase (denoted by xcex2) is appended to the right end of Gi(s0) to give the appended grammar Gxe2x80x21. The appended grammar is reduced, if possible, using Reduction Rules as described, for example, in the second Yang and Keiffer publication referenced above to yield an irreducible grammar Gi+1. Define the indicator sequence I:{1,2,xcex9,t}xe2x86x92{0,1} as follows: I(1)=0, and for any i greater than 1, I(i) is equal to 0 if Gi+1 equals Gxe2x80x2i (i.e. reduction was not possible), and 1 otherwise (i.e. reduction was possible). It is proved in ref. 1 that the grammar Gxe2x80x2i is reducible if and only if xcex1xcex2 is the only non-overlapping repeated pattern of length xe2x89xa72 in Gxe2x80x2i. To determine if the appended grammar is reducible, a search-list L1(xcex3) is maintained for all symbols in A Y S(ji), where L1(xcex3) consists of all the elements xcex7 such that the appended grammar Gxe2x80x2i would have the pattern xcex3xcex7 as a potential match if the next parsed phrase is xcex7. Depending on the values of I(i+1) and I(i), there are three possible distinct cases:
Case 0: I(i+1)=0
Case 10: I(i+1)=1,I(i)=0
Case 11: I(i+1)=1,I(i)=1
Under Case 0, Gi+1 is equal to Gxe2x80x2i. Under Case 10, Gi+1 is obtained by adding a new row to Gi representing the repeated phrase xcex1xcex2. Under Case 11, Gi+1 is obtained by adding xcex2 to the end of the row corresponding to the last new variable. The search-lists L1(xcex3) are appropriately modified in each of the three cases. The details of the grammar and search-list update operations can be found in the publication by J. C. Kieffer and E.-H. Yang, referenced above.
3. Arithmetic Encoding: An order 1 arithmetic code is used to encode the sequence {I(i)}ti=1, and the parsed phrases xcex2 are encoded using an order 0 arithmetic encoder in an interleaved manner. The alphabet used for the order 1 arithmetic encoder is {0,1}, and the counters c(0,0), c(0,1), c(1,0), and c(1,1) are used for the order 1 frequency distribution on the alphabet. Also, for each xcex3xcex5S+ Y A, two set of counters c(xcex3) and ĉ(xcex3) are used to model the frequency distribution for coding the parsed phrases xcex2. Depending on the three cases, the coding of xcex2 uses the following alphabets and counters:
Case 0: The alphabet used for coding xcex2 is A Y S+(ji)Y{xcfx86}xe2x88x92L2(xcex1), where L2(xcex1) is another search-list given by L1(xcex1)∪xcexa3, where xcexa3 contains all those symbols xcfx84 such that xcex1xcfx84 is the right side of the production rule of one of the variables in S+(ji), and xcfx86 is the end-of-sequence symbol disjoint from A and S(ji). The counters c(xcex3) are used for the frequency distribution.
Case 10: The alphabet used for coding xcex2 is the search-list L1(xcex1). The counters ĉ(xcex3) are used for frequency distribution.
Case 11: The parsed phrase xcex2 is the only element in the search-list L1(xcex1), and hence is not coded.
When the YK encoder reaches the end of the file being compressed, it encodes the indicator 0 (corresponding to case 0), and subsequently encodes the end-of-sequence symbol xcfx86. The counters are initialized at the start of the YK algorithm, and are updated suitably in each of the three cases. At initialization, the counters c(r,s) equal 1 for r,s=0,1, while the counters c(xcex3) and ĉ(xcex3) are given the value 1 for xcex3 xcex5 A, and 0 otherwise.
The YK decoder essentially decodes the sequence I(i)ti=1 using an order 1 arithmetic decoder, and based on one of the three cases discussed above, decodes the parsed phrase xcex2. Then it updates the grammar, the search-lists, and the counters in exactly the same manner as in the YK encoder. The decoder stops when it decodes the indicator 0, followed by the end-of-sequence symbol xcfx86. Note that the YK decoder does not perform the parsing operation. At each iteration step, the decoder translates the parsed phrase xcex2 into the corresponding A-string.
The following provides a basic implementation technique for the three major operations of the YK algorithm, based on the scheme proposed in a publication by E. H. Yang entitled xe2x80x9cEfficient universal lossless data compression algorithms based on a greedy sequential grammar transform: Implementation and experimental resultsxe2x80x9d, Technical Report, Hughes Network Systems, March 1999, the entire content of which is incorporated by reference herein. First, the main data structures used by the implementation are introduced. The data structure used to represent the grammar consists of two dynamic two-dimensional arrays: A symbol array D1 and a string array D2, with D1(sj) and D2(sj), for 1xe2x89xa6jxe2x89xa6jixe2x88x921, denoting the respective rows of D1 and D2, corresponding to variable sj at the end of the i th step.
Rows of D1 store the production rules of each variable, while rows of D2 store the A-string represented by each variable. Elements of the source alphabet A are represented by the non-negative integers {0,1,xcex9,|A|xe2x88x921}, and the variable sj is represented by the integer |A|+jxe2x88x921 for jxe2x89xa71. Rows D1(sj) are formed of symbols from {xe2x88x921}∪A∪{s0,s1,xcex9}. The special symbol xe2x88x921 can be considered as a dummy placeholder that represents the deleted entries in grammar rows that result when the grammar undergoes a reduction process under Case 10 and Case 11. The placeholder is important to avoid the computational complexity of shifting big chunks of data whenever a gap is created during the reduction process of the grammar. Note that apart from the xe2x88x921 integers, all other integers in the grammar data structure are non-negative. Rows D2(sj) are formed of symbols from A.
Elements in search-lists L2(xcex3) and its subsets L1(xcex3), for xcex3 xcex5{0,1,xcex9,|A|xe2x88x921,xcex9,jt+|A|xe2x88x921} are represented in form of a common quadruplet (xcex7,m,n,xcfx81), where m and n represent the row and column location of the pattern xcex3xcex7 in Gi, xcfx81 is a search-list-indicator such that xcfx81 is 1 if the element xcex7 belongs to L1(xcex3), else xcfx81 is 0. The first element xcex3 is referred to as the xe2x80x9ckeyxe2x80x9d of the quadruplet. Each search-list is represented by an array of such quadruplet search-list element structures, where elements of the array are arranged in increasing order of their keys.
1. Parsing: A simple grouping technique, for implementing the parsing operation is proposed in the E. H Yang publication referenced above, where the variables in the current grammar are grouped in terms of the first two letters of the A-string represented by each variable. Therefore, the search for the next parsed phrase xcex2 can be done within the group corresponding to the first two letters of the remaining input data string.
2. Grammar and Search-List Update: The indicator I(i+1) is determined by searching for the parsed phrase xcex2 in the search-list L1(xcex1), where xcex1 is the rightmost element in the top row of the grammar Gi. Since the elements of search-lists are arranged in increasing order, an efficient binary search can be used for efficiency. The grammar update procedure for each of the three cases is as follows:
Case 0: The integer xcex2 is simply appended to the end of D1(|A|) which represents the top row of the grammar.
Case 10: Suppose (xcex2,m,n,1) is the element in the search-list L1(xcex1) that identifies the matching pattern xcex1xcex2 at the location given by row m and column n The integer xcex2 is then searched after this location by skipping all the contiguous xe2x88x921. Consequently, this integer xcex2 is then replaced with a xe2x88x921, and the integer xcex1 at location given by row m and column n is replaced with the integer sji=|A|+jixe2x88x921. A new row D1(sji) is created consisting of the pattern xcex1xcex2. A new row D2(sji) is created to store the A-string corresponding to D1(sji).
Case 11: In this case xcex1 is equal to sji=|A|+jixe2x88x921. Similarly, as in Case 10, the integer xcex2 is searched after the location identified by the only element (xcex2,m,n,1) in the search-list L1(xcex1). Consequently, this integer xcex2 is then replaced with the dummy xe2x88x921. The integer xcex2 is appended to the end of the row D1(xcex1).
The search-list update procedure for each of the three cases is as follows. It is assumed that the grammar update procedure is complete before the search-list update operations are performed. When an integer i is searched in the search-list of j, it is understood that the integer i is searched amongst the first entries of the elements of the search-list of j, and this search is not performed if either i or j are null. When an integer i is added to the search-list of an integer j, it is understood that the integer i is added in the appropriate position (in increasing order) of the search-list of the integer j, provided that both i and j are not null, and the integer i is not already present as the first entry of an element of the search-list of j. When an integer i is deleted from the search-list of an integer j, it is understood that the integer i is deleted from the search-list of the integer j, provided that both i and j are not null.
Case 0: Search the first non-negative integer, call it "sgr", before the last element xcex1 of the top row of grammar Gi. The integer xcex1 is then added to the search-list of the integer "sgr". The corresponding row and column locations are added as the next two entries, and the search-list-indicator is set to 1. Note that since the search-list entries are maintained in their increasing order, the appropriate location in L1("sgr") needs to be searched for introduction of the integer xcex1.
Case 10: Suppose (xcex2,m,n,1) is the element in the search-list L1(xcex1) that identifies the location of the matching pattern xcex1xcex2 in terms of row m and column n. Search the first two non-negative integers, call them xcex7 and "xgr" respectively (i.e. xcex7 is to the right of "xgr"), before the integer xcex1 at the location identified by this search-list element, if possible (it may not always be possible because one might already reach the beginning of the row before finding either of these integers, if it is not possible to find such integer(s), the corresponding symbols are set to null). The non-negative integer xcex2 that followed xcex1 in grammar Gi was already replaced by a xe2x88x921, and xcex1 was replaced with the integer sji, as described above. Search the first two non-negative integers, call it xcex3 and xcex4 respectively (i.e. xcex3 is to the left of xcex4), after this integer sji, if possible. At most, four search-lists need to be updated. These correspond to the respective search-lists of the integers xcex1, xcex2, xcex7, and sji. The search-list update operations on these four search-lists are described below.
Search-list of xcex1: The element (xcex2,m,n,1) in the search-list of xcex1 is replaced with the element (xcex2,m,n,0). This captures the fact that the integer xcex2 still belongs to L2(xcex1), but not to L1(xcex1).
Search-list of xcex2: The search-list of xcex2 is searched for the integer xcex3; if xcex2=xcex3=xcex4, then the column location field of the searched search-list element is updated to correspond to the location of the phrase xcex3xcex4 (instead of the original location of the phrase xcex2xcex3), else this search-list element is removed.
Search-list of xcex7: The integer sji is added to the appropriate position in the search-list of xcex7, along with the corresponding row and column locations, and the search-list-indicator is set to 1 if the number of non-negative integers in the corresponding row is greater than 2, and 0 otherwise. The search-list of xcex7 is searched for the element corresponding to the integer xcex1; if xcex1=xcex7="xgr", the column location field of the searched search-list element is updated to correspond to the location of "xgr", else this search-list element is removed.
Search-list of sji: Unless the integer xcex3 is located at the rightmost position of the top row of the updated grammar, the integer xcex3 is added to the hitherto empty search-list of sji, along with the corresponding row and column locations, and search-list-indicator is set to 1 if the corresponding row contains more than 2 non-negative integers, 0 otherwise.
Case 11: In this case, xcex1 equals sji. Let the integers xcex3 and xcex4 mean the same as in Case 10. Find the two rightmost non-negative integers in the row D1(sji), call these xcex8 and "THgr" respectively (i.e. xcex8 is to the let of "THgr"). At most, four search-lists need to be modified in this case. These correspond to the search-lists of sji, xcex2, "THgr", and xcex8, as described below:
Search-list of sji: Unless the integer xcex3 is located at the rightmost position of the top row of the updated grammar, the integer xcex3 is added to the hitherto empty search-list of sji, along with the corresponding row and column locations, and search-list-indicator is set to 1 if the corresponding row contains more than 2 non-negative integers, and 0 otherwise.
Search-list of xcex2: The search-list of xcex2 is searched for the integer xcex3; if xcex2=xcex3=xcex4, then the column location field of the searched search-list element is updated to correspond to the location of xcex3, else this search-list element is removed.
Search-list of "THgr": The integer xcex2 is added to the search-list of "THgr", along with the corresponding row and column location, and search-list-indicator is set to 1.
Search-list of xcex8: Note that the integer "THgr" is already present in the search-list of xcex8. Search for this search-list element. If the number of elements in the row D1(sji) equals 2, this search-list-indicator field (which was previously 0) is set to 1.
3. Arithmetic Encoding: The parsed integer xcex2 is arithmetic encoded to produce the compressed bit-stream. A fixed-point implementation of arithmetic coding is described in a publication by I. H. Witten, R. Neal, and J. G. Cleary entitled xe2x80x9cArithmetic coding for data compression,xe2x80x9d Communications of the ACM, Vol. 30, pp. 520-540, June 1987, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. To overcome the problem of dealing with potentially large alphabet in Case 0, the arithmetic coding in this case can be efficiently performed using a recently proposed technique called multilevel arithmetic coding as described in a publication by E.-H. Yang and Y. Jia entitled xe2x80x9cUniversal lossless coding of sources with large or unbounded alphabets,xe2x80x9d Numbers, Information and Complexity (Ingo Althofer, et al, eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 421-442, February 2000, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The basic idea behind multi-level arithmetic coding is to represent the alphabet using an unbalanced binary tree, where the leaves represent small subsets of the source alphabet, and xcex2 is encoded by first coding the path needed to reach the leaf corresponding to the sub-alphabet containing xcex2, followed by coding the index of xcex2 in this sub-alphabet. For coding the index of xcex2 in this sub-alphabet, the cumulative frequency array for this sub-alphabet needs to be computed. Subsequently, the frequency counters are updated accordingly.
In each iteration step, the YK decoder obtains xcex2 by decoding the compressed bit-stream to obtain the path in the multi-level alphabet tree and subsequently decoding the index in the sub-alphabet corresponding to the leaf. The frequency, grammar and search-list update operations are exactly like in the YK encoder. A parallel replacement procedure is performed on the decoded integer xcex2 to obtain the original data substring that was parsed by the encoder. Note that since no parsing is performed at the decoder, the two dimensional array D2 is not needed in the decoder.
The basic implementation described above is suitable for implementation of the YK algorithm in software. However, in hardware, the basic implementation suffers from certain drawbacks:
The parsing operation using the grouping method entails searching among potentially multiple rows of the two-dimensional array D2, and comparing each of these rows with the remaining portion of the input data stream. This tends to make the parsing operation slow.
The rows of the two-dimensional array D1 and D2 typically show a great deal of variation in size. While many rows tend to be of size 2, several other rows can be much longer. Hence, the memory requirements for such two-dimensional arrays need to be dynamically managed. Whenever the need arises for increasing the size of a row beyond what has been allocated, the whole row needs to be moved to another memory location where a sufficiently long array capable of representing the longer row exists. This is a time consuming process on hardware platforms that are not equipped with a DMA (direct memory access) engine. Moreover, if longer sizes are pre-allocated in advance for the rows of the grammar, this could lead to a lot of memory wastage.
Another problem with the two-dimensional array based representation of the grammar is that a large number of the dummy integer xe2x88x921 tends to get created, and they never get removed. This leads to further memory wastage, which also causes additional memory accesses for skipping over the dummy entries to find a non-negative grammar element.
The search-list update operation requires possibly multiple searches through different search-lists in order to find an element that needs to be deleted, and also to find the appropriate position where a new search-list element needs to be inserted (to maintain the increasing order of the first entries of the elements of the search-list). Moreover, every insertion or deletion from a search-list involves forward or backward shifting of all the search-list elements that lie after the position where the insertion or deletion is made respectively.
Furthermore, the alphabets used under both Case 0 and Case 10 depend on certain search-lists, as seen in the description of the YK algorithm above. This implies that the arithmetic encoder and decoder need to access these search-list data structures in order to compute the cumulative frequency array. This makes it difficult to realize a clean separation of the two logically distinct components of the YK algorithmxe2x80x94(a) the grammar-related part and (b) the arithmetic coding-related part.
The parallel replacement procedure that is used by the decoder to translate the decoded integer xcex2 into the corresponding A-string can potentially require a large number of recursive operations.
An implementation scheme was proposed in the E. H. Yang publication referenced above that is suitable for efficient software implementation of the YK algorithm. However, Yang""s scheme involves certain algorithmic steps that may be somewhat difficult to implement in hardware.
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved data compression and decompression system and method.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for implementing the YK lossless data compression of a data string.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for performing lossless data compression of a data string by parsing the data string and representing the parsed characters of the data string as irreducible grammar that is efficiently updatable in a software or a hardware implementation.
These and other objects of the present invention are substantially achieved by providing a system and method for performing data compression of a data string. The system and method are each capable of parsing the data string into variables of an irreducible grammar, such that each variable represents a respective plurality of data characters of the data string, and formatting each element of the irreducible grammar as a linked list data structure having forward and backward pointers pointing to linked list data structures representing other grammar elements. The system and method are each further capable of updating the irreducible grammar based on at least one character to be parsed in the input string by changing at least one pointer of at least one of the linked list data structures to point to a linked list data structure representing a different element of the grammar than that to which the at least one pointer pointed prior to updating. Associated with the irreducible grammar, the system and method maintains a set of search-lists. The system and method further represent each element of these search-lists as a (different) linked-list data structure, having forward and backward pointers, possibly pointing to linked-list data structures representing other search-list elements. The two types of linked-lists are further cross-coupled in the following sense: A linked-list data structure representing a grammar element also includes a pointer, which can point to a linked-list data structure representing a search-list element; moreover, a linked-list data structure representing a search-list element also includes a pointer, which can point to a linked-list data structure representing a grammar element. The system and method is further capable of encoding the irreducible grammar into a string of bits. The system and method is further capable of decoding such a string of bits into the original data string. Furthermore, the system and method can employ a separate parse module, grammar transform module, and arithmetic coder module to perform the parsing, linked list formatting, and encoding operations, respectively.

System and method for implementation of the YK lossless data compression algorithm using a modular computational architecture


Use action in the form of movement of a tracking device on a webpage, represented by cursor gestures on the webpage, is used to detect it a user intends to leave the webpage. Upon detection of an intent to leave the webpage, an advertisement may be displayed to a use. The advertisement may be targeted to the user and/or based on the content the user was viewing on the webpage.

Online advertising is used on a wide range of websites to provide revenue to the website host. For example, advertisers may pay the host to populate portions of the website with advertisements. The advertisements may be provided in the margins alongside the main content of the website, as pop-up windows, or as full-page ads before the content of the website is provided, for example. The advertisements are often targeted to a user accessing the website. In many cases, the user considers the advertisements to be cumbersome or bothersome when the user is attempting to read the content on the website. Often, the user may simply ignore the advertisements. The present disclosure relates to a method of detecting exit behavior of a user accessing the webpage. By detecting exit behavior, more purposeful internet content can be delivered to an internet user because the visitor's session is effectively over, therefore his visit is not interrupted by the content. In some embodiments, the internet content comprises an advertisement unit comprising one or a plurality of advertisements.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Detection of exit behavior of an internet user


Disclosed is a video recording apparatus capable of performing long-recording at higher density and certainly associating the video data with additional data. Video images from a plurality of video cameras 101 are captured by a multiplexer 103 while sequentially being switched. A frame compositing unit 1 forms reduced video images by reducing the captured video images and generates a composite video image by displaying the reduced video images on divided parts. A CPU 3 generates additional data related to the reduced video image on each divided part and records the composite video image and additional data onto the same video cassette tape 7 while maintaining the correspondence between each reduced video image and additional data. By recording video images from the plurality of video cameras at higher density, long-recording can be realized. By using the additional data, a desired reduced video image can be retrieved from the recorded composite video image and the retrieved reduced video image can be analyzed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video recording apparatus and method for recording a plurality of video images supplied and a centralized monitoring recording system capable of collecting video images to be monitored from a plurality of installed monitoring video cameras, recording them onto a recording medium such as a video tape, and monitoring them.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in the service trade such as a bank in which an automatic teller machine (ATM) is installed, a retail shop which is open until late at night, or a hotel, a monitoring video camera is widely installed for security. In each of the facilities, usually, a plurality of positions are to be monitored so that a plurality of monitoring video cameras have to be installed. Since it is not realistic that a person always monitors video images captured by the monitoring video cameras, usually, the captured video images are recorded by a video cassette recorder (VCR) or the like. When something happens, the recorded video images can be reproduced and watched.
The VCR is, however, usually expensive and the cost of installing VCR for the plurality of monitoring video cameras increases. Consequently, the video images from the plurality of monitoring video cameras are switched in a time division manner and captured in one system and the captured video images are recorded by one VCR. In this case, when the video images from the plurality of monitoring video cameras are recorded as they are sequentially on the same video tape, since the length of the video tape is limited, long-time continues recording cannot be performed.
For example, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 10-108163, a method of reducing video images from a plurality of monitoring video cameras and compositing the reduced video images in combination to form one composite video image has been proposed. According to the method, the video images from the plurality of video cameras can be recorded at high density on a video tape having a limited length, so that recording of longer time can be realized.
One of the objects of the monitoring video system as described above is, when some problem occurs, to check monitoring video images recorded on the video tape later to analyze the status and cause of the problem. Consequently, additional information such as recording date and time is recorded in association with recorded data of each frame or field. For example, in a conventional analog recording system, recording is performed so that additional data is inserted in a vertical blanking period for an image of each field. Since only one video image is included in one field, the correspondence between the video image and the additional data is clear.
In a system of reducing a plurality of video images and combining them to thereby form one composite video image as described above, however, when the composite image in a frame or field and the additional data are associated with each other in a manner similar to the conventional one, from the additional data, the corresponding reduced video image in the composite video image cannot be specified. There is consequently a problem such that, when some trouble occurs and data on the video tape is analyzed later, the additional data cannot be effectively used.

Video recording apparatus and method, and centralized monitoring recording system


The invention refers to TFEB related molecules, as variants, mutants, truncated proteins, chimeras etc. that are constitutively localized in the nucleus of a eukaryote cell. Such molecules have a therapeutic applicability in all of disorders that need of an induction of the cell authophagic/lysosomal system, as lysosomal storage disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, hepatic diseases, muscle diseases and metabolic diseases.

Autophagy is a catabolic process that relies on the cooperation of two distinct types of cellular organelles, autophagosomes and lysosomes (1). During starvation the cell expands both compartments to enhance degradation and recycling processes.
The lysosome maintains cellular homeostasis and mediates a variety of physiological processes, including cellular clearance, lipid homeostasis, energy metabolism, plasma membrane repair, bone remodeling, and pathogen defense. All these processes require an adaptive and dynamic response of the lysosome to environmental cues. Indeed, physiologic cues, such as aging and diet, and pathologic conditions, which include lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs), neurodegenerative diseases, injuries and infections may generate an adaptive response of the lysosome (34, 35, 36).
The understanding of the mechanisms that regulate lysosomal function and underlying lysosomal adaptation is still in an initial phase. A major player in the regulation of lysosomal biogenesis is the basic Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH) leucine zipper transcription factor, TFEB (2). Among the identified TFEB transcriptional targets are lysosomal hydrolases, which are involved in substrate degradation, lysosomal membrane proteins that mediate the interaction of the lysosome with other cellular structures, and components of the vacuolar H+-ATPase (vATPase) complex, which participate to lysosomal acidification (37, 2).
WO2010/092112 refers to molecules able to enhance the cellular degradative pathway acting on the so called CLEAR element; among them TFEB is listed.


A method and apparatus for ablating material. The material is preferably a heterogenous or composite material, such as animal tissue. A table top laser system can be employed in the invention. Alternatively, a larger laser, such as a free electron laser can be employed.

The ability to employ lasers in medical applications has existed for some time. Ultraviolet lasers can be employed to resurface a subject's cornea to enhance the subject's vision. Visible lasers can be employed to repair a subject's damaged retina. Indeed, vision enhancement in humans employing an ultraviolet excimer laser has become commonplace. Infrared lasers are more typically used in dermatology. Due to charring and other collateral damage effects, however, it has been difficult to employ some infrared lasers in surgical applications beyond those listed.
Infrared free electron lasers (FELs), on the other hand, can be employed in a variety of applications ranging from surgery on the optic nerve (Joos et al., Lasers Surg. Med. (2000) 27: 191) to tumor and tissue ablation, including FEL neurosurgery (Edwards et al., (1994) Nature 371: 416; Edwards, (1995) Opt. Eng. 34(5): 1524; Copeland et al., (2000) International Biomedical Symposium SPIE, San Jose, Calif.). See also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,306 to Edwards et al. A goal of laser ablation is to remove tissue by "cold" etching, a process in which the etch pattern is defined by the irradiating laser beam, leaving peripheral tissue free from collateral damage due to photothermal and photomechanical effects. Various features of an infrared FEL, such as wavelength and pulse structure of the FEL can be considered when an infrared FEL is employed in ablation.
Various prior art references disclose the use of lasers in surgery. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,803 to Tankovich et al. describes a process for removing a fraction of a superficial epidermal layer from human skin using a laser that emits in the infrared spectrum and has an emission time less than or equal to 50 ns. But in this application, before laser irradiation, a composition comprising chromophores is applied to the skin that is to be treated. By employing either ultrasound or a laser, these chromophores are inserted into the intracellular spaces of the tissue. This treated area of the skin is then irradiated by a laser beam having sufficient energy to ionize the chromophores (after optical breakdown).
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,580 to Mordon et al. discloses a laser treatment for the ablation of skin. The '580 patent also requires applying a composition to the surface to be ablated and is directed to the removal of warts, scars and other structures from the skin of a subject. The '580 patent notes that lasers that emit in the infrared spectrum can be employed in the method of the '580 patent, such as CO2 (10.6 μm), Er:YAG (2.94 μm), Ho:YAG (2.12 μm) and Nd:YAG (1.06 μm) lasers as well as lasers that emit in the visible spectrum, such as pulsed dye lasers (585 nm), ruby lasers (694 nm) and doubled Nd:YAG lasers (532 nm), however all of these methods and laser systems rely on the use of inserted chromophores.
These prior art methods and apparatuses, however, suffer the noted drawbacks. Additionally, FELs suffer from an additional drawback in that they typically require much space and are not table top laser systems. That is, the noted applications cannot be performed without large immobile laser systems (see, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,351 to Clapham) and long and complex beam transport systems. In one aspect of the present invention, however, it is disclosed that efficient tissue ablation is not dependent on pulse structure, as was previously though. This observation facilitates the use, not only of any FEL meeting a given set of pulse structure-independent criteria in tissue ablation, but also the use of table top laser systems for this purpose. An ablation method employing a table top system would greatly enhance research in the fields of laser optics and optical engineering. Additionally, such a system would facilitate research in the area of medical applications of lasers and would assist in making laser-based surgery a more viable option for medical practitioners, as well as reducing the considerations of a patient, such as the need to transport the patient to a facility adapted for performing laser surgery.
With the advance of research into the application of light energy in medical fields, such as physical abrasion in oncology, orthopedics and dentistry, and industrial fields, such as precision machine engineering, semiconductor manufacture, and the like, demand has evolved for compact high-output table top laser systems that are adapted to accomplish these goals. Accordingly, a need exists for a method and apparatus employing a table top laser adapted for ablating material. Preferably, such an apparatus and method minimizes collateral damage to material surrounding the ablation site. A need also exists for an understanding of pulse structure features and/or conditions under which laser ablation of a material, preferably tissue, can be performed by employing an infrared FEL laser system or other infrared laser technology. The present invention solves these and other problems.

Method and apparatus for laser tissue ablation


The assembly includes a strap adaptable to a variety of positions. Such a strap is placed directly about the user's head. A light-emitting source spaced from the strap includes a power supply source electrically coupled to the light-emitting assembly. Such a power supply source is rechargeable. A voice-activated mechanism for biasing the light-emitting source is defined from the strap so that the light-emitting assembly can be adapted along an x-axis, y-axis and z-axis. A motor assembly is directly and operably conjoined to the voice-activated mechanism and the light-emitting assembly. The voice-activated mechanism cooperates with the light-emitting source and the motor assembly during operating conditions. Such a voice operating mechanism is power-operated. The voice-activated mechanism is conveniently responsive to a user's voice commands in such a manner that the user can selectively operate the motor assembly and the light-emitting source from a remote location.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to lighting assemblies and, more particularly, to a lighting assembly for surgical use that is voice-operated.
2. Prior Art
For a light in an operation room of a hospital, a so-called astral lighting system has been used to illuminate the part of operation with high illuminance without casting shadows there.
An astral lighting system is constructed so that many lamps are embedded in a large dish-like base which is suspended from the ceiling of the operation room. Therefore, for its placement, a large room is needed and the ceiling of the operation room must be adequately high. Furthermore, because of its very heavy weight, not only the ceiling but also the whole operation room is required to be structurally strong. As a result, the construction cost of an operation room is high due to this lighting system.
Another problem of the astral lighting system is that it generates a large amount of heat. In a heart operation, however, the temperature of the patient's body must be kept low. In such case, a high-power cooling system must be provided to overcome the heat caused by the lighting system and lower the body temperature in a short time. This also has increased the construction cost of the operation room.
These drawbacks have spawned many attempts at head-mounted illuminating devices with the sole purpose of aiding patient visibility. Prior art embodiments include light sources which are separated from the headlamp to reduce the weight carried by the user. It is quite important, however, that the headlight be capable of positioning in virtually any desirable orientation as determined by the particular needs of the user. Specifically the light should be rotatable in planes perpendicular to, and coplanar with, the general sight plane of a user. Also, many prior art devices include manual switches which serve to hinder the sterility of a surgical environment as well as encumbering the user.
Accordingly, a need remains for a voice-controlled surgical lighting device in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a voice-controlled surgical lighting device that is efficient, compact, adaptable, versatile, easily operated, and convenient. The voice-controlled surgical lighting device appeals to medical institutions such as hospitals and clinics as well as medical professionals and electricians or in any environment where head-mounted lighting is appropriate.

Voice-controlled surgical lighting assembly


The wiring board for an inkjet head electrically connected to a piezoelectric element for discharging ink from the inkjet head and installed with a drive element for applying a drive voltage between an individual electrode of said piezoelectric element and a common electrode opposing said individual electrode, comprises a first ground wire which is electrically connected to a ground of said drive element, and a second ground wire which is electrically connected to the common electrode of said piezoelectric element, wherein said first ground wire and said second ground wire are electrically separated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wiring board for an inkjet head, a method of polarizing piezoelectric elements, and an inkjet recording apparatus, and more particularly to a wiring board for an inkjet head, a method of polarizing piezoelectric elements, and an inkjet recording apparatus, which are suitable for polarizing piezoelectric elements.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 9A and 9B are respectively a side view and a plan view of the principal part of a head block comprising a conventional wiring board for an inkjet head.
As shown in FIG. 9B, a wiring pattern for installing upper surface electrodes (individual electrodes) of piezoelectric elements 2 and a drive IC 3, which is a drive element for applying a drive voltage between the electrodes of the piezoelectric elements 2, are formed on a wiring board 1, such as a flexible wiring board.
The lower surface of the wiring board 1 which includes lower surface electrodes of the piezoelectric elements 2 is bonded to a conductive plate (vibration plate) 4, by inserting a thermosetting adhesive, an anisotropic conductive adhesive, or an anisotropic conductive film, between the respective bonding surfaces and then bonding them together by applying heat and pressure. Furthermore, reflow soldering is used to bond the wiring board 1 with the upper surface electrodes (individual electrodes) of the piezoelectric elements 2 and to install the drive IC 3 onto the wiring board 1.
A plate 4 forming a common electrode for the respective piezoelectric elements 2 is electrically connected by soldering to a ground wire 1A of the wiring board 1, via a conductive material or wiring (not illustrated) leading from the lower surface to the upper surface of the piezoelectric element, or the like. Furthermore, in FIG. 9B, numeral 1B denotes a ground wire of the drive IC 3 and GND denotes a common ground terminal of the ground wires 1A and 1B.
The piezoelectric elements have a Curie temperature at which they lose their polarized state. This Curie temperature is different for each type of piezoelectric element.
If heat exceeding the Curie temperature is applied to a piezoelectric element 2, when bonding the piezoelectric elements 2 with the plate 4, bonding the wiring board 1 with the piezoelectric elements 2, or installing the drive IC 3 on the wiring board 1, then the piezoelectric element 2 becomes depolarized and is no longer able to function as an actuator.
Possible solutions for this include a method using piezoelectric elements having a high Curie temperature, or a method where the piezoelectric elements are polarized or re-polarized after being installed on the wiring board.
The former method is described in paragraph "0002" of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-55045. More specifically, paragraph "0002" states that "If the Curie temperature is high, then the piezoelectric elements have high heat tolerance, and degradation of piezoelectric characteristics due to heat can be restricted, to a relative degree, even if the piezoelectric elements are heated to a high temperature of approximately 200° C. when passed through a solder reflow oven during installation, for example."
On the other hand, if the latter method is adopted, it is necessary to polarize the piezoelectric elements by applying a voltage exceeding the normal operating voltage range to the piezoelectric elements. Therefore, a high voltage is applied to the piezoelectric elements after they have been installed on the wiring board and before the drive IC is installed, in such a manner that a voltage exceeding the voltage tolerance is not applied to the drive IC.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 10A, after installing a piezoelectric element 2 on the wiring board 1, the piezoelectric element 2 is polarized or re-polarized by applying a polarizing voltage E1 between the terminal IC on the wiring board 1, which is electrically connected to the individual electrode 2A of the piezoelectric element 2, and the ground terminal GND of the wiring board 1 which is electrically connected to the common electrode 2B of the piezoelectric element 2.
A drive IC is then installed on the wiring board 1, as shown in FIG. 10B. In order to drive the piezoelectric element 2, a signal from a drive signal source S is input to the signal input terminal Is of the wiring board 1.
If piezoelectric elements having a high Curie temperature (for example, a Curie temperature of 600° C.–700° C.) as described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-55045 are used in order to prevent loss of polarization of the piezoelectric elements during installation on the wiring board, then this reduces the possible range of selection of the piezoelectric elements.
On the other hand, if the piezoelectric elements are polarized or re-polarized after being installed on the wiring board and the drive IC is then installed on the wiring board, then two installation processes are required. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B, it is desirable that the piezoelectric elements 2 and the drive IC 3 are installed as closely together as possible, but in this case, the heat used during installation of the drive IC 3 also affects the polarized or re-polarized piezoelectric elements 2.

Wiring board for inkjet head, method of polarizing piezoelectric elements, and inkjet recording apparatus


A multi-layer film structure suitable as a sealable sheet used for closing foodstuff containers with a peelable seal. This multi-layer film comprises a polyester substrate layer and a heat-sealable layer. The heat-sealable layer is applied by coextrusion and contains an epoxy-containing thermoplastic polymer composition comprising residues of epoxy-containing monomers selected from glycidyl methacrylate, glycidyl acrylate, allyl glycidyl ether, 3,4-epoxy-1-butene, and a mixture of any two or more of such monomers.

Peelable packaging films are frequently utilized in diverse container sealing applications. Primarily they are used to seal the mouths of foodstuff or medicine containers. In such applications, they firstly provide closure of the mouth to prevent unintended initial loss of the contents. They provide a solid-, vapor- and liquid-tight barrier to prevent contamination and spoilage of the contents. Being non-resealable once opened, they provide a security function by alerting the consumer whether the contents of a presumably unopened container have been potentially tampered with. Films intended for container sealing applications such as these are sometimes referred to as "lidding" films. (See FIG. 1).
Most basically, conventional lidding films include at least two component layers. First a base layer forms a mechanical closure preventing foreign substances from entering the container. Second a seal layer, which has a melting point or softening point below that of the base layer, which most commonly is thermally adhered to the circumference of the container mouth, provides a seal removable by peeling, In an embodiment without tearing or leaving sealant material on the container. Many sophisticated modifications and additions to these basic components have developed to provide advantageous features to peelably lidded containers.
A particular disadvantage of some film-lidded containers is that the adhesion of the lidding film to the container is so strong that the film is difficult to remove from the container without destruction of the seal layer or tears in the entire film cross-sections; in such cases, the strong adhesion can undesirably wholly or partially delaminate the lidding film leaving pieces adhered to the lip of the container mouth. If the adhesion to the container mouth is made too weak, the lidding film can be removed inadvertently or prematurely by many incidental causes including, for example, pressure and movement of the contained material. Ideally a seal layer that combines a good seal strength (typically in excess of 0.7 lb/in) and also a clean peel, free of tears is desired. A further requirement is that a seal with good peel characteristics can be obtained over a wide temperature range, typically between 350 and 425° F. for CPET (crystalline polyethylene terephthalate). Within this range, it is desirable that the seal strength profile vs. temperature be as flat as possible, to allow interchangeability between different packaging sites using different sealer settings.
Many sealable films known in the art are coextruded. Films made by coextruding PET as a base layer with an amorphous PET copolymer (typically obtained by substituting, e.g. 18 mole % of the terephthalic acid with isophthalic acid or by substituting up to 33 mole % of the ethylene glycol with cyclohexanedimenthanol) are often used in applications requiring permanent sealing of the film to itself, e.g. bag construction. While these coextruded films are cost-effective to produce, the films obtained are not truly peelable as they often tear and split when removed from the package, often sticking to the food, especially to foods that contain sauces and cheese such as pizza. One reason for this is that seal materials that are coextrudable with PET (such as the copolyester of ethylene glycol with about 82 molar parts terephthalic acid/and 18 molar parts isophthalic acid or the copolyester of terephthalic acid with about 33 mole % of 1,4-cyclohexane dimethanol with about 67 mole % of ethylene glycol (for example, Eastman Chemical Co.'s Easttar™ grade PETG™ 6763) require a high melt viscosity in order to be compatible with PET in coextrusion. As a result, of this high viscosity, they cannot form adequate seals on CPET trays unless the seal temperature approaches that of the melting point of the CPET substrate. This, combined with the fact that such materials have typically glass transition temperature (Tg) above room temperature results in destructive (weld-type) seals.
Several patents propose as a remedy coextrusion of a seal layer having a copolyester partially based on aliphatic dicarboxylic acids (such as adipic, sebacic, azelaic acids) and partially based on aromatic acids such as terephthalic acid, that have glass transition temperatures below room temperature (typically in the range between −40° C. and 10° C. and melt temperatures generally below 160° C.). A melting temperature (Tm) in this range enables sealing at temperatures suitable for CPET or APET trays whereas the Tg below room temperature enables peeling characterized by plastic deformation (yield) which enables the film to sustain stresses resulting from peeling forces without suffering brittle failure. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,205,040; 7,141,293; 7,329,453; and 7,442,427 describe coextruded seal layers comprising copolyesters based on aromatic/aliphatic diacarbocylic acid combinations providing peelable seal strengths in the range of 1.1 to 3.4 lb/in at a seal temperature of 392° F., depending on exact copolyester composition and skin thickness. Although those patents do not allude to any issues related to coextrusion stability, it has been the experience of the applicant that a disadvantage of coextrusion processes having skin layers of copolyesters based partially on aliphatic diacids is the frequent occurrence of flow instabilities related to viscosity mismatch between the less viscous partially aliphatic diacid-based copolyester skin and the higher-viscosity polyethylene terephthalate core; even if a lower melt extrusion temperature is employed on the skin or satellite extruder, the die block has to be kept at a temperature above the melting temperature of the PET homopolymer, (typically above 505° F.) which reheats the skin material to a temperature where its viscosity becomes too low resulting in gross irregularities. Because of that, some of these patents (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 7,413,800 recommend using a multimanifold die, although they do not offer a clarification whether there is separate temperature control for the low viscosity channel providing the cap layer.
Because of the difficulty in consistently coextruding with PET a suitable hot melt adhesive skin layer material providing peelable seals, alternative methods such as off-line or in-line coating techniques have been employed.
Off-line coating can be conducted either by melt extrusion (extrusion coating) or by solvent coating, which bears the additional cost and environmental risk of handling organic solvents.
Exemplary peelable, sealable films used for lidding and packaging foods known in the art are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,599. These films are prepared by a multi-step process in which a core film is first prepared comprising a base layer which is then solvent-coated with a hot melt adhesive in a separate step (off-line coating;) to form a skin layer whose function is to provide a peelable heat seal. Peelable seal strengths up to 0.88 lb/in have been attained at seal temperature 180° C. and seal layer thickness of about 2 μm; however solvent-coating techniques present the disadvantage of additional costs and environmenal risks associated with handling and recycling organic solvents
Sealable extrusion coatings laminated off-line can be either polyesters (such as those described for example in US patent application US2004/0052993 or vinyl polyolefins such as ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). A disadvantage of off-line coated polyester sealants is that, if conducted by extrusion coating, that process results in relatively thick coatings (typically 20 μm or higher) which increase the overall cost significantly; or, if applied by solvent coating, the solvents have the disadvantages listed above. EVA coatings have the disadvantage of poor adhesion to the PET base film; for that reason, additional primer and tie layers need to be applied during extrusion coating, which increase overall cost and complexirty.
Inline coating methods are preferable because they result in lower thickness; in such methods, the coating is conducted between the machine direction orientation and the transverse direction orientation steps that are parts of a typical biaxial orientation film production process. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,939,584 describes an inline extrusion coating method for obtaining a heat-sealable and peelable skin layer having a copolyester derived from one or more dicarboxylic acids and one ore more glycols.
Alternatively to inline extrusion coating, inline coating with aqueous suspensions of hot-melt polymeric substances is also possible, provided that formation of stable suspensions and achievement of coalescence during the transverse orientation step are possible. For example, WO A-96/19333 describes a process for producing peelable films, in which the heat-sealable, peelable layer is applied inline to the polyester film from an aqueous dispersion that also contains about 10 wt. % of an organic solvent. In the example provided, the heat-sealable material is a copolyester of terephthalic acid/adipic acid/sulfoisophthalic acid/butane-diol, ethylene glycol, and polybutane-diol.
It is evident from the above that there is an unmet need for obtaining a reliable peelable seal at relatively lower temperatures by employing standard coextrusion techniques (as opposed to the more expensive inline or offline techniquest currently employed). This patent seeks to accomplish that by utilizing a seal layer substantially having an epoxy-containing impact modifying copolymer, more specifically an ethylene copolymer comprising methyl acrylate and glycidyl methacrylate functional groups. The inclusion of such functionalized ethylene terpolymers has been described in the prior art in U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,998. However the levels claimed are between 0 and 25%, with the remaining blend component being a PET copolymer or a copolyester; furthermore, the articles produced are coextruded sheets that have not been subjected to stretching to form flexible films but instead were tested and used in the extruded sheet form and the sealing performance illustrated by the examples referred to self-sealing as opposed to lidding film sealing on thermoformed trays.

Lidding structure based on aromatic polyester film, coextruded with a sealable/peelable epdxy-containing thermoplastic polymer


A cylinder direct injection type internal combustion engine, including a fuel injection device configured to directly inject a first octane-value fuel and a second octane-value fuel into a combustion chamber. The second octane-value fuel has an octane value larger than an octane value of the first octane-value fuel. A controller is programmed to perform a first operation mode. In the first operation mode, the first octane-value fuel is injected from the fuel injection device, and the second octane-value fuel is injected from the fuel injection device toward an ignition flame formed by self-ignition combustion of the first octane-value fuel, so as to cause flame propagation and combustion of the second octane-value fuel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cylinder direct injection type internal combustion engine using two kinds of fuels that are different in ignitability.
2. Description of Related Art
A related art internal combustion engine uses low-octane fuel (high-cetane fuel) having a high self-ignitability and high-octane fuel having a high resistance to knocking. During a low-load operation, stable self-ignition combustion (lean combustion) is achieved by increasing the supply ratio of low-octane fuel. In contrast, during a high-load operation, pre-ignition is prevented by increasing the supply ratio of high-octane fuel. When two kinds of fuels are injected, a region where the fuel concentration is high (rich region) is formed, and an increase in combustion temperature in the region increases the amount of NOx emission. Moreover, the amount of smoke emission is increased by a shortage of air in the region. In order to solve these problems, low-octane fuel is injected toward the center of a combustion chamber and high-octane fuel is injected toward the periphery of the combustion chamber so that the low-octane fuel and the high-octane fuel are not mixed in the combustion chamber.
However, even when two kinds of fuels that are different in ignitability are separately injected toward the center and the periphery of the combustion chamber, as in the related art, the fuels need to be close to each other so that combustion is continuously performed, and it is difficult to completely separate the fuels. Since a rich region is inevitably formed, it is difficult to reduce the amount of NOx emission.

Cylinder direct injection type internal combustion engine


Small particles are produced by supporting a pair of elongated consumable electrodes coaxially in a housing so that corresponding ends of the electrodes are spaced apart across a gap. A potential difference is applied to the electrodes so that an arc ignited in the gap between the electrode ends gasifies the electrode material at the end. The gas is then cooled so that the gas condenses into small droplets which solidify into solid particles which are collected at a collection site.

There are various known methods for producing fine particles and particularly for producing nanosize inorganic powders. Such particles and powders are used in diverse product applications such as thickeners for house paint, the manufacture of sintered parts such as valve seats for automobile engines, etc.
The prevalent processes for producing such small particles include flame-spraying, spark discharge, chemical precipitation, atomization and gas disassociation-collision-coalescence techniques. These known methods are disadvantaged in that they provide only limited control over the size, shape, structure and chemical composition of the resulting particles and powders. Therefore, for the most part, the prior powders have been relegated to the mundane uses described above; they have not been used to any great extent in more sophisticated applications such as in resonant optical filters, inorganic color pigments, ultra whiteners, catalytic agents, etc., where precise control over the size, structure and composition of the particles is of paramount importance.
Prior powder production techniques are disadvantaged also because they consume a relatively large amount of energy. Therefore, they are not suitable for high volume powder production where low cost is an important consideration.

Method and apparatus for producing small particles of consistent size shape and structure


A method and system for distributing professional investment advice to investors is provided. A computerized exchange system permits one or more advisors to make investment strategies available to subscribing investors. Each strategy defines a sequence of trade transactions that are consistent with strategy parameters and are designed to achieve the risk and return objectives of the strategy. The strategies are distributed to subscribers who can undertake the recommended transactions using separate brokerage accounts. A subscriber can maintain a corresponding portfolio that assigns weighting factors to various strategies in order to provide a customized investment strategy. Accordingly, the exchange system can provide professional fund manager trading decisions to individual investors in near real time without the administrative burdens or costs associated with traditional mutual funds.

Various agents including authors of financial newsletters, financial planners, mutual fund managers and automated systems can produce financial investment advice. Financial investment advice can be distributed via newsletters, mutual funds, automated investment advice tools on a network or through personal interaction. All serve the purpose of assisting investors in achieving personal investment objectives.
Financial investment advice can be categorized as either direct or indirect. Direct investment advice is commonly purchased (through fees or sales commissions) from financial planners and stockbrokers and is used by the investor to make purchase and sale decisions. More recently, direct advice is being offered through the Internet by automated services such as FinancialEngines.com or DirectAdvice.com. Indirect investment advice comes packaged with an investment vehicle. Mutual funds and insurance annuity products are good examples of instances where the advisor is also responsible for conducting transactions for investors.
One problem with direct advice is the lack of a transparent marketplace for individual investors. Most advisors self-report their performance and often do not have a clear methodology for accommodating diverse styles and risk characteristics. Publications, such as the Hulbert Financial Digest, provide analysis of newsletter advice but they cover a limited portion of the direct advice market. Others, such as the Association of Investment Management and Research's (AIMR) Performance Presentation Standards, also attempt to improve performance reporting but adherence is voluntary and still not widespread.
The mutual fund marketplace does have well-developed methodologies for comparing funds. Such methodologies are employed by services like Morningstar and Lipper. This is one of the reasons there are currently 77 million individual mutual fund investors in the U.S. with $2.7 trillion in equity funds and $900 billion in fixed income funds. Other reasons for the popularity of mutual funds include diversification, ease of use, and wide availability in retirement plans. However, investors incur a significant cost for these advantages. The annual cost of maintaining the necessary legal structure, administering the fund, paying the investment managers, and marketing an actively managed fund typically totals from 1.0% to 2.7% of net asset value (NAV). Moreover, the quantifiable costs do not include additional invisible costs that the fund incurs due to the large size of trades. Studies suggest that these costs can add 80 cents per share to the average commission of 5 cents per share. In fact, they are important enough that BARRA has created a product called the Market Impact Model, which predicts the magnitude of this effect for all stocks in the marketplace. In addition, capital gains distributions that are out of the investor's control can have significant negative impacts on after-tax returns.

Method and system for exchange of financial investment advice


When first image data, which is in a first color space, is converted into second image data, which is in a second color space corresponding to an image output unit. Upon converting the image data, if the first image data is color data, background removal process is switched OFF. Otherwise, the background removal process is switched ON. Thus, it is possible to obtain an image desired by a user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for removing background from an image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent progress in networking of copiers allows a user to use functions of a copier from another terminal connected to the copier via a network. For example, it has been proposed, and increasingly used, to deliver image data input to a digital color multifunction product (e.g., image data read by a scanner) to another terminal such as a computer connected to the digital color multifunction product via a network.
In the case of delivery of scanned image data, various processing conditions are set from the digital color multifunction product or the terminal at a delivery destination. According to the processing conditions, image data is read by a scanner, subjected to predetermined processing such as conversion, and sent to the delivery destination.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-333026 discloses a conventional technology concerning image scanning, image processing, etc. performed to deliver scanned image data. In the conventional technology, a system includes an image forming unit, such as a copier, with an expansion box based on the architecture of a general-purpose computer system as a server to enhance the functions. Scanned images are stored in a hard disk in the expansion box, and image files stored therein are shared by computer systems connected to a network, which can be realized by their server functions.
Besides, upon using a scan box function (one of the functions of delivering a scanned image to a client computer), a scanned image is processed in such a manner as follows. An original image is scanned and processed according to processing conditions set by input operation. Because the scan box function is used when an image is not to be necessarily printed out, a yellow, magenta, cyan and black (YMCK) data format for printout is not created. In other words, color coordinate conversion of a scanned image from red, green, blue (RGB) to YMCK, gradation correction, compression of image data, etc. are not performed, and RGB data is stored in a scan box. A client computer on a network obtains the RGB data from the scan box, and transfers the RGB data to a local disk or the like, i.e., a storage of the client computer. The client computer displays the scanned image on a monitor screen based on the RGB data.
As described above, in the conventional technology, it is not that RGB data of a scanned image is directly stored in a hard disk and the image format of stored data is converted to deliver the stored data on the basis that image data in RGB data format is used in a computer terminal at a delivery destination. Therefore, for clients that request delivery of stored data under different image format conditions, the format of the data may not be converted to meet the requests. In the case of an image processing apparatus having a delivery function with an image forming unit such as a copier, there is an advantage that productivity of image formation can be improved by storing an input image in a dedicated data format convenient for image formation. With the RGB data format as in the conventional technology, this advantage cannot be used.
For this reason, there is recently a demand for a function of converting RGB image data stored in a scan box into CMYK data and, then, delivering the CMYK data to an apparatus with an image forming unit such as a copier.
Japanese Patent Nos. 2602681 and 2627753 disclose a color image processing apparatus and a color image processing method for converting RGB data into CMYK data.
Incidentally, the digital color multifunction product and the like perform background removal for correcting the density of the background color of an image for read RGB signals. There are various algorithms for detecting the background color of an image to correct the density. However, with all the algorithms, the correction is performed assuming that a detected background color is white. Thus, the balance of RGB varies according to whether background removal process is ON or OFF, which leads to the problem of color changes. In particular, this poses a significant problem in a color mode in which faithful reproduction of highlight color tint is required.

Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and computer product


In manufacturing a device using an organic TFT, it is essential to develop an element in which a channel length is short or a channel width is narrow to downsize a device. Based on the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an organic TFT in which characteristic is improved. In view of the foregoing problem, one feature of the present invention is that an element is baked after an organic semiconductor film is deposited. More specifically, one feature of the present invention is that the organic semiconductor film is heated under atmospheric pressure or under reduced pressure. Moreover, a baking process may be carried out in an inert gas atmosphere.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic semiconductor element having an organic semiconductor film and a method for manufacturing thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a display device provided with a thin film transistor (hereinafter, a TFT) having a thin film semiconductor has been studied and put into practical use. A high-resolution display device can be achieved since a large number of pixels can be constituted in the display device provided with a TFT. Moreover, the display device provided with a TFT can be operated in low power consumption compared with a CRT. Furthermore, the display device provided with a TFT occupies small space, since a display can be made without using a large-sized display tube like a CRT. Thus, the display device provided with a TFT has been widely used for a display portion of a personal computer, a PDA, a TV, or the like.
A display device which is made thinner, lighter, and more flexible is required in future. However, most of conventional TFTs have been manufactured by using an inorganic semiconductor material such as amorphous silicon or crystalline silicon as a semiconductor film. Therefore, the use of a resin substrate such as a plastic is limited since a processing temperature of 350° C. or more is required for forming a semiconductor film in the case where a TFT is formed by using an inorganic semiconductor material.
In recent years, an organic thin film transistor (hereinafter, an organic TFT) in which an organic semiconductor is used as a semiconductor layer has been studied. An organic TFT has high flexibility since an organic material is used. Moreover, a device using an organic semiconductor can be manufactured at a lower temperature compared with a device using an inorganic semiconductor; thereby a resin material such as a plastic can be used for a substrate. As a result, a lightweight and flexible device can be obtained.
Moreover, as for an organic TFT, it is expected that not only can process such as a printing method, an ink-jetting method, and a vapor deposition method be simplified, but a manufacturing cost of a device can be also suppressed since an inexpensive material for a substrate can be used, and thus it is advantageous in view of the cost.
Moreover, as for an organic TFT manufactured at present, a TFT element in which pentacene is laminated over an SiO2/Si substrate in which only surface cleaning is carried out and over a substrate in which the surface is treated with HMDS after carrying out surface cleaning under the same condition is manufactured. (refer to Non-Patent Document 1: I. Yagi, K. Tsukagoshi, and Y. Aoyagi, "Pentacene FET fabricated on surface treated SiO2/Si substrate", Proceedings of the 50th Japan Society of Applied Physics Lectures (March 2003), lower section of p. 1418.)
According to the Non-Patent Document 1, as for an organic TFT in which a surface is not treated, preferable TFT characteristic can be obtained in mobility, ON-OFF ratio, or a threshold value only in the case of using an element in which a channel length is long or a channel width is wide.
However, in the case of manufacturing a device using an organic TFT, it is essential to develop an element in which a channel length is short or a channel width is narrow in order to downsize a device.

Method for manufacturing an organic semiconductor element

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A printed circuit board includes a base insulating layer and a conductor pattern provided on the base insulating layer. The conductor pattern includes a line portion linearly extending along a virtual axis line in a line region, a first bend portion extending along the axis line while being bent in a convex shape toward one side of the base insulating layer in a first bend region, and a second bend portion extending along the axis line while being bent in a convex shape toward the other side of the base insulating layer in a second bend region. The conductor pattern is formed such that the first bend portion and the second bend portion do not overlap with each other in a vertical direction when the printed circuit board is folded along a boundary.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Background Art
A large number of flexible printed circuit boards (see JP2002-111138A, for example) are used in electronic equipment, electric equipment and the like. Hereinafter, the flexible printed circuit board is abbreviated as the printed circuit board.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the conventional printed circuit board. The printed circuit board 700 shown in FIG. 5 includes a base insulating layer 701 and a long-sized conductor pattern 702 provided on the base insulating layer 701. In addition, a cover insulating layer (not shown) is formed on the base insulating layer 701 so as to cover the conductor pattern 702.
The printed circuit board 700 having such a configuration has excellent flexibility, and can be easily folded at an arbitrary position as shown in FIG. 5. Therefore, conventionally, the printed circuit board 700 has been effectively used in a bending portion such as a hinge of electronic equipment.
When part of the printed circuit board 700 is folded into two as shown in FIG. 5, however, part of the conductor pattern 702 faces another part of the conductor pattern 702 in a vertical direction in the folded region. This forms a large capacitive component between the parts of the conductor pattern 702 facing each other. In this case, a difference in the characteristic impedance of the conductor pattern 702 is caused between the region in which the parts of the conductor patterns 702 face each other and the other region. As a result, transmission efficiency of electrical signals is reduced in the printed circuit board 700.


A yarn carrier (30) for presenting a selected yarn (16) to a pair of gripper jaws (26,28). The yarn carrier (30) includes a yarn guide passageway (14) defining a path along which the selected yarn (16) is longitudinally guided. The passageway (14) has a yarn inlet end, a yarn outlet end and adjacent to the yarn outlet end yarn guides (32) to constrain the tail of the yarn (YT) against lateral deflection in a longitudinal direction of the yarn carrier (30). The yarn guides (32) are depressible on contact with open gripper jaws (26,28) to enable the gripper jaws (26,28) to grip the yarn tail (YT).

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a yarn carrier and, in particular, a yarn carrier for use in an Axminster gripper loom. The invention also relates to an Axminster gripper loom incorporating the yarn carrier, a method of holding a plurality of yarns for selective presentation to a pair of gripper jaws in an Axminster gripper loom and a method of weaving a carpet.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art
In Axminster weaving, pile yarn is held in a carrier. Different colors of pile yarn are held in different positions along the carrier, and the carrier is selectively moved along its axis to present a chosen color to a gripper. The gripper picks the protruding end of the yarn, and withdraws a length prior to cutting a tuft length and placing it in the carpet. The reliability of the pick up of the yarn is dependent on the consistency of the yarn. In circumstances where the yarn is curly or badly twisted, for example, the protruding end of the yarn may not lie straight. Consequently, the gripper may not be able to pick up the yarn or may only pick up the yarn in a loose and unreliable manner.
It is an object of this invention to improve the reliability of pick up, and provide a yarn carrier that enables a gripper to pick up a yarn regardless of whether the yarn lies straight.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a yarn carrier that holds yarn so that the yarn cannot be pulled back out of the yarn carrier.


A thick-film sheet member producing method including: (a) a support-body preparing step of preparing a support body having a film formation surface provided by a particle layer constituted by high-melting-point particles which are held together with a resin and which have a melting point higher than a predetermined temperature; (b) a paste-film forming step of forming a paste film on the film formation surface, by applying a paste onto the film formation surface; and (c) a firing step of subjecting the support body on which the paste film has been formed, to a heat treatment effected at the predetermined temperature, so as to burn the resin included in the particle layer, whereby the high-melting-point particles become unbound from each other in absence of the resin that has been burned. The paste film is sintered in the firing step, whereby a thick film is formed of the sintered paste film.

There is known a sheet member which is constituted by, for example, a single or plural kinds of inorganic materials, metallic materials or the like and which has a desired configuration and a thickness of about 1 (μm)–10 (mm). Where such a sheet member is constituted by the inorganic material, it is produced by first subjecting an unfired ceramic sheet prepared in accordance with a tape casting method or the like, to a machining operation such as drilling and patterning performed by, for example, laser, punching press, water/sand blasting or the like, and then firing the machined sheet, or alternatively, it is produced by first firing a ceramic sheet and then subjecting the fired sheet to a machining operating such as drilling and patterning performed by, for example, laser and sand blasting. Where such a sheet member is constituted by the metallic material, it is produced, for example, by chemically etching a sheet metal, or by first forming a film in an electroforming and then removing the film from a mold, or by pressing a sheet metal.
However, the conventional sheet member suffers from limitations in its thickness, dimension and configuration, due to above-described producing methods. Further, where the sheet member is made of a plurality of materials, an intermediate product has to be first formed from a single one of the plurality of materials, and the intermediate product has to be then subjected to additional operations. Further, any one of the producing methods requires a large-scaled installation, and provides a difficulty in handling the sheet member in the production process when the sheet member has a large surface area and a small thickness. For example, where a ceramic sheet is laser machined, it is necessary to employ a laser machine which is expensive, and there are limitations in quality of the machined surface since the sheet could suffer from its deterioration depending upon the used material. Further, the laser machining requires a large length of operation time. Where a sheet metal is chemically etched, it is likely to be deformed or wrinkled if the sheet metal has a large surface area. Further, where protrusions and recesses have to be formed on a surface of the sheet metal, it is necessary to carry out a half-etching operation whose process is so complicated that the quality tends to be variable. Further, where the sheet member is used for constituting electrodes, the sheet member has to be divided into sections corresponding to the respective electrodes, thereby considerably increasing a number of the components and complicating handling of the sheet member.
If the dimensional and configurational limitations due to the producing methods are alleviated, and if the formation with a plurality of materials becomes easy, the sheet member could be applied to various devices such as ozone generator, oxygen separator and display device.

Method of producing thick-film sheet member


An image display apparatus is provided, which includes a first image display element corresponding to a first color light, a second display element corresponding to a second color light different from the first color light, and a projection optical system having at least one reflective surface and projecting image lights from the first and second display elements onto a projection plane.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a projection optical system and an image display apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In projection display apparatuses using liquid crystal panels, three liquid crystal panels for red, green, and blue images are illuminated with linearly polarized lights of three wavelength regions of red, green, and blue, respectively. Polarization directions of the lights of three wavelength regions are individually controlled by the liquid crystal panels. An analyzer passes linearly polarized lights having a particular polarization direction and blocks linearly polarized lights having a polarization direction perpendicular to the particular polarization direction. Next, light beams passing through the analyzer are mixed in a color mixing (combining) system and generate an image light. The generated image light is projected onto a screen by a projection optical system.
When entering a color mixing system (e.g., a cross dichroic prism), a light of one wavelength range is an S-polarized light, and a light of another wavelength range is a P-polarized right. That is to say, when the mixed image light enters the projection optical system, linearly polarized light beams of three wavelength regions have different polarization directions.
If light beams of three wavelength regions having different polarization directions enter a projection optical system including reflective optical elements, the white balance on the screen is off, because reflectance of the reflective optical elements varies according to the polarization direction, and therefore transmittance of the projection optical system (reflectance of the reflective optical elements) varies according to the wavelength range.
In order to avoid this, a quarter-wave plate is disposed at the entrance of a projection optical system to reduce the difference in transmittance of the projection optical system between the wavelength ranges.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-121811 discloses a liquid crystal projector in which a quarter-wave plate is disposed between the entrance surface of an image projection lens and the exit surface of a cross dichroic prism for mixing images of three liquid crystal panels in order to convert three-color linearly polarized components into circularly polarized lights or elliptically polarized lights.
The related art disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-235168 eliminates the difference in transmittance and reflectance between image lights output from a liquid crystal projector and having different polarized components, and the difference in transmittance between linearly polarized lights caused by the difference in angle of incidence, and provides a uniformly colored screen. A phase delay plate (quarter-wave plate) is disposed between a color mixing prism and a screen. The plate changes the polarization direction of image lights entering a projection optical system.
In conventional liquid crystal projectors, color lights have different polarization directions in order to enhance the effect of a dichroic prism. Therefore, a polarizing screen can reflect only the light having one of two polarization directions. Therefore, if such liquid crystal projectors use a polarizing screen, one or two color lights are not reflected, and therefore, for example, a green image is displayed, or a magenta (red plus blue) image is displayed. To solve this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-098322 discloses a liquid crystal projector including three LCD elements, a dichroic prism, and a projection lens. The LCD elements output linearly polarized lights. The prism mixes three color image lights output from the LCD elements. The projection lens magnifies and projects the mixed image lights. One of the three color lights has a polarization direction perpendicular to those of the other color lights. A quarter-wave plate is disposed on the exit side of the prism.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,091, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2003-057600, 2003-066373, and 2003-075769 disclose related arts in which a wavelength-selective half-wave plate is provided on the entrance side of a projection optical system to make all of the image lights entering the projection optical system have the same polarization direction.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2003-121811, 2000-235168, and 2000-098322, light beams entering a projection optical system are circularly polarized lights. Therefore, when a reference axis ray is defined as a ray passing through the center of a display element, the center of a diaphragm, and the center of a screen, the reference axis ray includes an S-polarized component and a P-polarized component with respect to the plane of incidence on an optical reflective surface. In a reflective surface, reflectance of a P-polarized light is lower than that of an S-polarized light. Therefore, when a circularly polarized light enters a projection optical system including a reflective surface, loss of light quantity occurs. This is the same with lights other than the reference axis ray. Since they include a P-polarized component, reflectance deteriorates. Therefore, loss of the total quantity of light increases.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,091, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2003-057600, 2003-066373, and 2003-075769, all of the image lights entering a projection optical system have the same polarization direction. However, a projection optical system including reflective surfaces is not discussed in these documents. If a projection optical system includes reflective surfaces and P-polarized lights are incident on the reflective surfaces, reflectance deteriorates.

Projection optical system and image display apparatus using same


A system and method for enabling one network to use the functionality of another network is provided. The system comprises a first network system having a first network functionality and a second network system having a second network functionality. A server connected to the second network system passes directions through the first network to enable a component connected to both the first network system and the second network system to perform a second network functionality.

Today the components of older network systems utilize communication channels that have dated technology. These older networks are slow and difficult to manage as compared with more modern networks, such as Ethernet based networks. Since a vast number of these older network systems have already been deployed around the world, it would be a very arduous and expensive task to replace all of these components with ones built on newer technology.
However, the advent of newer technology has developed numerous desirable functions and features for network systems. Unfortunately these technological advances do not necessarily operate at a functional optimal capacity when used in the older gaming network system. Additionally, some of these technological advances are functionally incompatible with the older network systems and therefore cannot operate on the older network systems.
What is needed, therefore, is an effective and efficient means for updating the older systems and providing additional functionality to these system in a cost-efficient manner without compromising the trusted features established and provided by the older network systems. Accordingly, those skilled in the art have long recognized the need for a system and method for updating the older systems in order to provide the additional functionality associated with more modern gaming systems. The claimed invention clearly addresses these and other needs.

Internet browser-based gaming system and method for providing browser operations to a non-browser enabled gaming network