The present invention provides a wind measurement apparatus based on 3D (three dimensional) non-orthogonal ultrasonic sensor array, the ultrasonic sensor array is composed of two group of ultrasonic sensors, which are centrosymmetrically located at opposite sides, and the angle formed by connecting any two ultrasonic sensors at a side to the symmetry point O is less than 90°, the arrangement of 3D non-orthogonal ultrasonic sensor array reduces the generation of turbulence, thus, the accurate wind speed and wind direction is obtained. In the mean time, the central channel is employed to obtain a reference wind speed vref. Comparing the speed component vcentral along central channel of the wind under measurement with the reference wind speed vref, if the difference is less than a present threshold, then computing module outputs the measurement results, or discards them, thus the wind measurement accuracy is further improved.

There have many kinds of anemometers used in various industries, and their working principles and measuring performances are different. Among them, the mechanical anemometers, such as cup anemometer and propeller anemometer, are most commonly used. The mechanical anemometer has some advantages, such as low cost, long history, universal use, perfect theory and measurement data. However, due to the existence of rotating parts in mechanical anemometer, it is easy to wear and tear, and at the same time, bad weather, dust and salt spray will cause corrosion. Because of friction, the minimum start-up wind speed still exists in mechanical anemometer, that is, the breeze below the minimum start-up wind speed cannot be measured. In addition, due to the different average methods of wind speed (scalar average and vector average), it still has "excessive effect", resulting in low measurement accuracy and restricted application fields.
With the rapid development of electronic industry, many new wind measurement apparatuses have emerged, for example laser anemometer, ultrasonic anemometer, highly integrated micro-electro-mechanical anemometer, hot-wire anemometer, Doppler anemometer. Generally speaking, these kinds of anemometers are small in size, long in service life and relatively high in measurement accuracy, moreover, have no mechanical rotating parts, therefore no special maintenance is needed during use. For the reason of above-mentioned advantages, they are gradually replacing the mechanical anemometer. And among them, ultrasonic anemometer is one of the most outstanding anemometers. It not only has simple structure and excellent durability, but also can achieve high measurement accuracy. However, the higher computing and processing capacity is required in corresponding processing circuit.
Ultrasonic wave refers to the acoustic signal which frequency is more than 20 kHz. It can propagate in the medium in the form of mechanical wave. For the characteristics of air flow are carried in the parameters such as velocity and frequency of the ultrasonic wave which propagates in air carry, ultrasonic wave can be used to measure the speed of wind. The working principle of ultrasonic anemometer is that: the transmitting circuit generates a high-voltage pulse to excite a acoustic transducer to transmit a ultrasonic signal. At the receiving end, a ultrasonic transducer based on piezoelectric effect is used to convert the ultrasonic signal into a electrical signal. After processing the electric signal, the wind speed can be extracted by measuring its time and frequency information. Compared with mechanical anemometer, its advantages mainly lie in the following aspects:
1). Ultrasonic anemometer is non-contact measurement and has little influence on the measured wind field;
2). Wind measurement is not affected by inertia and mechanical friction resistance, which is helpful to measure low speed wind;
3). There is no rotational inertia, and the measurement results will quickly respond to the wind speed;
4). Wind measurement is not affected by mechanical wear; Ultrasonic anemometer is easy to maintain, and can work stably in harsh environment for a long time.
It can be seen that the accuracy, measurement range and response speed of ultrasonic anemometer are better than those of mechanical anemometer. Common wind measurements based on ultrasonic wave and their working principle, advantages and/or disadvantages are shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1MethodWorking PrincipleAdvantages and/or DisadvantagesDopplerWhen the air contains suspendedDoppler measurement is sensitive to themeasurementparticles, the ultrasonic wave willvariation of wind speed. However, it needsbe scattered in the flowing air, thento measure the current temperature, andthe Doppler frequency shiftrequires that the air in the measured windoccurs. By measuring the Dopplerfield contains suspended particles.frequency shift, the wind speedcan be measured.Wave velocityWhen ultrasonic wave propagatesWhen measuring low speed wind, themigrationin the air, its velocity shift willvelocity shift of ultrasonic wave is small.measurementoccur. The value of the velocitywhich makes the wind measurement errorshift is determined by the windrelatively large, so the measurement isspeed, wind measurement can beonly suitable for high speed wind.achieved by measuring thevelocity shiftVortex streetThe wind field inside the pipelineThe accuracy of vortex street measurementmeasurementwill form a gas vortex, which isis high. However, the vortex streetcalled as vortex street, at themeasurement is only applicable to theleeward side of the bluff body. Thepipeline, so the wind measurement in openfrequency of the vortex street isenvironment is not applicable, which limitrelated to the inner diameter of theits applicationpipeline and the wind speed. Forthe inner diameter of the pipelineis known, by detecting thefrequency of the vortex street inthe wind field, the wind speed canbe calculated according toproportional relation between thefrequency of the vortex street andthe wind speedCorrelationThe maximum value characteristicThe temperature affect on themeasurementis obtained according to themeasurement is avoided, the measurementcross-correlation function, and theaccuracy is high. However, the price of thetime delay between the ultrasoniccorrelator is expensive, the circuit istransmission signal and the echorelatively complicated, and thesignal is determined by the peakmeasurement is relatively immature andvalue of the cross-correlationneeds to be further improved.function, that is, wind speed ismeasured by measuring the transittime of the ultrasonic waveTime-differenceTime-difference measurementThe working principle is simple, and it ismeasurementmeasures wind speed byeasy to realize in technology. Themeasuring the time-differencemeasurement accuracy is not affected bybetween the travel times ofthe environment (such as temperature andultrasonic wave from the point Ahumidity).to B and from point B to A.
Comparing with other commonly used ultrasonic wind measurements, from Table 1, it can be seen that the time-difference measurement has the advantages of simple principle, easy realization and less influence by environmental factors. Therefore, the time-difference measurement is often considered in wind measurement.
Ultrasonic wave propagates in winds of different speeds, and its travel time is affected by wind speed. For the two arrival times (travel times) of ultrasonic wave under the conditions of downwind and upwind are not consistent, thus, the time-difference between the two arrival times occurs on the same propagating path. According to the time-difference of propagation and the distance between transmitting sensor and receiving sensor, the speed of the wind passed through the channel between transmitting sensor and receiving sensor can be measured through the time-difference. The wind speed of each channel in space is calculated in turn, and the speed and direction of the wind can be obtained by vector synthesis.
To obtain the speed and direction of the wind, as shown in FIG. 1, a traditional 3D (three-dimensional) orthogonal ultrasonic sensor array is employed, which comprises three pairs of sensors, i.e. northern sensor (N) and southern sensor (S), western sensor (W) and eastern sensor (E), upper sensor (U) and lower sensor (L), and the distance of each pair of sensors is l. The traditional 3D orthogonal ultrasonic sensor array can be simplified as three two-dimensional orthogonal ultrasonic sensor arrays. Taking the horizontal plane for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the horizontal plane is composed of the northern sensor (N) and southern sensor (S), western sensor (W) and eastern sensor (E), the other two vertical planes are similar to the horizontal plane.
As shown in FIG. 2, the wind speed is V, and has an angle φ with the west-east direction, φ is also called as azimuth angle. Taking the west-east direction as an example, the travel time from the west to the east is t1, the travel time from the east to the west is t2, then there has the following relationship:
                              V          x                =                              V                                                                          cos                                                                          φ                    =                                                    l                2                                                          (                                                      1                                          t                      1                                                        -                                      1                                          t                      2                                                                      )                                      =                                          l                                  2                                                        t                    1                                                                          t                    2                                                                                (                                                      t                    2                                    -                                      t                    1                                                  )                                                                        (        1        )
where Vx is the speed along the west-east direction.
Similarly, for the direction of south-north, the travel time from the south to the north is t1, the travel time from the north to the south is t2, then there has the following relationship:
                              V          y                =                              V                                                                          sin                                                                          φ                    =                                                    l                2                                                          (                                                      1                                          t                      3                                                        -                                      1                                          t                      4                                                                      )                                      =                                          l                                  2                                                        t                    3                                                                          t                    4                                                                                (                                                      t                    4                                    -                                      t                    3                                                  )                                                                        (        2        )
where Vy is the speed along the south-north direction.
According to formula (1) and formula (2), the wind speed V and angle φ can be obtained. the way of calculation is extended to three-dimensional space, then there have the following relationships:
                                          V            x                    =                                    V                                                                                cos                                                                                θcos                                                                                φ                        =                                                            l                  2                                                                  (                                                            1                                              t                        1                                                              -                                          1                                              t                        2                                                                              )                                            =                                                l                                      2                                                              t                      1                                                                                t                      2                                                                                (                                                            t                      2                                        -                                          t                      1                                                        )                                                                                V            y                    =                                    V                                                                                cos                                                                                θsin                                                                                φ                        =                                                            l                  2                                                                  (                                                            1                                              t                        3                                                              -                                          1                                              t                        4                                                                              )                                            =                                                l                                      2                                                              t                      3                                                                                t                      4                                                                                (                                                            t                      4                                        -                                          t                      3                                                        )                                                                                V            z                    =                                    V                                                                                sin                                                                                θ                        =                                                            l                  2                                                                  (                                                            1                                              t                        5                                                              -                                          1                                              t                        6                                                                              )                                            =                                                l                                      2                                                              t                      5                                                                                t                      6                                                                                (                                                            t                      6                                        -                                          t                      5                                                        )                                                                                (        3        )
where Vz is the speed along the lower-upper direction, θ is the pitch angle of the wind under measurement.
According to formulas (3), the speed V, azimuth angle φ and pitch angle θ of the wind under measurement can be obtained.
Despite of simple working principle, easy realization in technology, wind measurement apparatus based on traditional 3D (three-dimensional) orthogonal ultrasonic sensor array isn't the best solution, it has larger measurement errors, due to the turbulence generated by the arrangement of the orthogonal ultrasonic sensors.

Wind measurement apparatus based on 3D non-orthogonal ultrasonic sensor array

UNIVERSITY OF ELECTRONIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF CHINA


A modeling method for predictive modeling of a product, which may be but one example of a family of such modeling methods, includes receiving one of a processing condition of a process used to make a fibrous material into the product or a measurement of a property of the fibrous material or the tampon product, and calculating a virtual outcome from the one of the processing condition or the measurement received. The virtual outcome is one or more of not physically measured or not physically measurable, and has a relationship to the processing condition and a relationship to the measurement. The method also includes providing a measurement if the processing condition is received or a processing condition if the measurement is received, according to the virtual outcome calculated. A computing device may be programmed to carry out the method.

In an exemplary manner, one may consider a product, for instance, a tampon. Generally, a tampon is a piece of fibrous material that is shaped to be insertable into a body cavity, such as, for example, a vagina or a nasal cavity. According to certain embodiments, the tampon is disposed in a tube-shaped applicator prior to use, although an applicator need not be included in all applications. Typically, the user positions the tampon in the appropriate body cavity, and then disposes of the applicator, if used.
Despite the fact that tampons have been in use for years, advancements in the materials and the processes used to make tampons have generally come about as a consequence of experimental "trial and error." That is, to the extent that one may believe that a new material or a variation in a process condition may lead to a superior tampon product, the conventional method has been to fabricate a tampon using the new material or process step, and then subject the tampon thus fabricated to testing. The testing typically has been qualitative in nature, and success or failure may be based on little more than the volume of liquid absorbed. If testing does not bear out initial optimism, then the designer would start the process anew with a different material or process variation.
Even if testing suggests that the tampon made using the new material or the new process may be superior to past tampons, not every such improvement necessarily results in a commercially feasible product. A design considered successful under laboratory conditions might prove difficult or expensive to fabricate under actual processing conditions or when manufactured using conventional fabrication equipment. Therefore, even if the design showed positive performance under test conditions, the designer might have to start over from scratch after field trials are performed.
This type of iterative design process is expensive in terms of money, material and time.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a system or a method that simulates behavior of the fibrous material that is made into a tampon. It would be desirable to provide a system or a method that simulates behavior of fibrous material that is made into a tampon by way of a computer model. In a more general sense, it would be desirable to have a method and system for modeling materials that are made into a variety of products, of which the tampon is but one product. It would also be desirable to provide a system or a method that provides values that could be used to determine the process characteristics that would provide a given measurement in the finished product, or determine the measurements in the finished product for a change in a process characteristic.

Method and system for predictive modeling of articles, such as tampons


An electrostatic latent image developing toner includes toner base particles including a binder resin and an external additive attached to surfaces of the toner base particles. The external additive contains silica covered with a coating layer containing a nitrogen containing resin.

The present disclosure relates to electrostatic latent image developing toner.
According to electrophotography, in general, the surface of a photosensitive drum is electrostatically charged and is then subjected to exposure according to a to-be-formed image, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum. Development of the formed electrostatic latent image with toner results in formation of a toner image. Further, the formed toner image is transferred to a recording medium, thereby obtaining a high quality image. Usually, toner particles (toner base particles) with an average particle diameter of 5 μm or larger and 10 μm or smaller are used as the tone used for formation of the toner image. The toner particles are obtainable in a manner that components, such as colorant, a charge control agent, a releasing agent, a magnetic material, etc. are mixed with a binder resin, such as thermoplastic resin, and the mixture is kneaded, crushed, and classified.
Further, in order to provide fluidity to the toner, to maintain the toner in an appropriate charge state, and to increase toner cleaning performance, inorganic fine powder of silica, titanium oxide, or the like is generally added as an external additive to the toner base particles.
The inorganic fine powder of silica, titanium oxide, and the like tends to be negatively charged in general. In particular, silica displays strong negative charge characteristics. In view of this, in the case using the inorganic fine powder for the positively charged toner, inorganic fine powder may be used which has a surface into which a positively charged polar group is introduced. As a toner to which such inorganic fine powder having a positively charged polar group is externally added, there is known a toner that contains silica treated with a silane coupling agent containing an amino group as an external additive.
Further, there is known a toner in which silica is externally added to the surfaces of toner base particles formed of a binder resin and colorant, wherein the silica includes silica A of which surface is treated with aminosilane and silica B of which surface is treated with a hydrophobizing agent.

Electrostatic latent image developing toner


DNA isolates coding for sialyltransferase which contain a conserved region of homology and methods of obtaining such DNA are provided, together with expression systems for recombinant production of the various sialyltransferases.

This invention relates to the sialyltransferase gene family, a group of glycosyltransferases responsible for the terminal sialylation of carbohydrate groups of glycoproteins, glycolipids and oligosaccharides which contain a conserved region of homology in the catalytic domain. Members of the sialyltransferase gene family comprise Gal.beta.1,3GalNAc .alpha.2,3 sialyltransferase and Gal1,3(4)GlcNAc .alpha.2,3 sialyltransferase. The invention further relates to novel forms and compositions thereof and particularly to the means and methods for the identification and production of members of the sialyltransferase gene family to homogeneity in significant useful quantities. This invention also relates to preparation of isolated deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) coding for the production of sialyltransferases; to methods of obtaining DNA molecules which code for sialyltransferases; to the expression of human and mammalian sialyltransferases utilizing such DNA, as well as to novel compounds, including novel nucleic acids encoding sialyltransferases or fragments thereof. This invention is also directed to sialyltransferase derivatives, particularly derivatives lacking cytoplasmic and/or transmembrane portions of the protein, and their production by recombinant DNA techniques.
Sialyltransferases are a family of enzymes that catalyze the transfer of sialic acid (SA) to terminal portions on the carbohydrate groups of glycolipids and oligosaccharides in the general reaction:

Compositions and methods for producing sialyltransferases

The Regents of the University of California


An image forming apparatus, capable of efficiently controlling light radiation to read an image, includes at least one lighting tube and at least one reflector. Each one of the lighting tubes includes an aperture. Each one of the reflectors is arranged at a position in a vicinity to and corresponding to the lighting tube on a one-to-one basis. Each one of the reflectors is configured to gather light emitted through the aperture by the corresponding lighting tube to focus the light on a point in a reading area in a surface of an original document to be read. Each one of the reflectors includes an elliptical shape.

1. Field
The present invention generally relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus capable of efficiently controlling light radiation to read an image with a symmetrical light reflection system.
2. Discussion of the Background
A conventional background image forming apparatus such as a copying machine uses an image scanner to read an image of an original document. Such an image scanner generally use a light source having a length sufficient to cover a width of the original document to be read. The light source may be a fluorescent lamp such as, for example, a xenon arc lamp having a diameter of the order of 10 mm. In comparison with a halogen lamp, for example, the xenon arc lamp generally has a lower luminance but a wider light emitting area. Therefore, the xenon arc lamp emits a greater amount of light, resulting in a high light emission rate on an electrical power consumption.
The light emission amount is in proportion almost to an area having a fluorescent coating. Therefore, the light emission amount can be increased by increasing a diameter of the glass tube to enlarge the fluorescent coated area. This approach, however, results in upsizing of the image scanner.
FIG. 1 illustrates a major portion of an example image scanner 100 used in the conventional background image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 illustrates a structure of a xenon arc lamp used in the image scanner 100 of FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the image scanner 100 includes a xenon arc lamp 101, a reflector 102, a contact glass 103, and a mirror 104. The xenon arc lamp 101 includes a transparent glass tube 111 with a thickness of the order of from approximately 0.5 mm to approximately 1 mm. The transparent glass tube 111 includes an internal surface 112 covered with a fluorescent coating and an aperture 113 having an angle θ, and is filled with a xenon gas. The transparent glass tube 111 further includes a pair of electrodes 114 and 115 which are disposed at positions facing each other relative to a center of the transparent glass tube.
When an alternating voltage of a few hundred volts is applied to the pair of electrodes 114 and 115, an electric discharge is caused inside the glass tube. The transparent glass tube 111 generates a ultraviolet radiation when an electron running by the electric discharge collides with an atom of xenon inside the transparent glass tube 111. The ultraviolet rays then impinges on the fluorescent coating of the internal surface 112 and, at this moment, the fluorescent coating is energized to output a visible radiation which is discharged outside through the aperture 113. A part of the visible radiation goes through the aperture 113 to the reflector 102 and is reflected by the reflector 102 toward a point in an area a on the contact glass 103, as indicated by a line L1. Another part of the visible radiation goes through the aperture 113 directly to a point in the area a, as indicated by a line L2. Further another part of the visible radiation goes through the aperture 113 directly to a point in an area b on the contact glass 103. The light radiation to the area b is, however, undesirable.
The reflected light from the points in the area a is forwarded to the mirror 104 and is reflected by the mirror 104 toward other optical components (not shown), as indicated by a line L3. The light is finally directed to an imaging lens and an image pickup device such as a CCD (charge-coupled device) which reads the light as image information.
The xenon arc lamp, however, cannot generate a sufficient light amount in a case of a productivity and high-speed image forming apparatus such as a high-speed full-color scanner, for example, which needs a greater amount of light radiation to read images at a high speed. To increase a light radiation, it is needed to increase an area of the internal surface 112 covered with the fluorescent coating. This leads an increase of a diameter of the transparent glass tube 111 and also a size of the reflector 102, resulting in upsizing of the image scanner 100.

Image forming apparatus capable of efficiently controlling light radiation to read an image


A cabriolet vehicle has a body structure and a roof structure that can be attached to the body structure (14). The roof structure has a top with a top material. The top material has a main section, which forms the actual roof of the roof structure in the closed state of the top and lateral rear elongation sections. The elongation sections can be threaded into openings (15) of the body structure (14) and attached to tensioning brackets (19) of the body structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a roof structure for a cabriolet vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
DE 20 2006 012 235 U1 discloses a cabriolet vehicle having a body structure and a roof structure. The roof structure has a top with a top material that is guided in sections by a double hoop in the closed state of the top. The double hoop has two substantially U-shaped hoops that extend transversely with respect to the longitudinal direction of the cabriolet vehicle. The top material of the top has a main section and lateral rear elongation sections. The main section forms the actual roof of the roof structure in the closed state of the top.
The object of the invention is to create a novel cabriolet vehicle in which the roof structure can be attached in a simple and secure manner to the body structure.

Dr. Ing. h.c.F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft


Disclosed are methods of treating subjects having conditions related to angiogenesis including administering an effective amount of a polymeric form of Nicotine, nicotinic acid analogs thereof, their combination with or without other pro-angiogenesis factors, vasodilator, or other therapeutic modalities to promote angiogenesis in the subject. This is composition and combination thereof is applicable to improving wound healing, erectile dysfunction, improving collateral or blood supply in patients with myocardial infarction, stroke, peripheral artery diseases, and other vascular disorders as disclosed.

It is estimated that five million people are afflicted with chronic stable angina in the United States. Each year 200,000 people under the age of 65 die with what is termed "premature ischemic heart disease." Despite medical therapy, many go on to suffer myocardial infarction and debilitating symptoms prompting the need for revascularization with either percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty or coronary artery bypass surgery. Medical researchers have postulated that one way of relieving myocardial ischemia would be to enhance coronary collateral circulation.
Fujita et. al. (Fujita et al., Am. Heart Journal., 122:453 (1991), Fujita et al., Int. J. Cardiol., 40:51 (1993) demonstrated that heparin in combination with short-term exercise training improved exercise tolerance as measured by dynamic exercise testing. The researchers, believing this effect was mediated through increased collateral vascular development, examined the effects of heparin in combination with a brief concomitant exercise training protocol on coronary collateral flow. Thallium-201 myocardial perfusion images obtained in association with the same workload both before and late after combined heparin exercise treatment, which indicated that coronary collateral circulation was enhanced. Such dramatic changes over a short term do not occur naturally, and suggest that angiogenesis has taken place.
Correlations have now been made between the anatomic appearance of coronary collateral vessels ("collaterals") visualized at the time of intracoronary thrombolitic therapy during the acute phase of myocardial infarction and the creatine kinase time-activity curve, infarct size, and aneurysm formation. These studies demonstrate a protective role of collaterals in hearts with coronary obstructive disease, showing smaller infarcts, less aneurysm formation, and improved ventricular function compared with patients in whom collaterals were not visualized.
When the cardiac myocyte is rendered ischemic, collaterals develop actively by growth with DNA replication and mitosis of endothelial and smooth muscle cells. One hypothesis suggests that heparin-binding growth factors are present in the heart, or that biological activity is quiescent under normal physiological conditions. Once ischemia develops, these factors are activated and become available for receptor occupation, which may initiate angiogenesis after exposure to exogenous heparin. Unfortunately, the "natural" process by which angiogenesis occurs is inadequate to reverse the ischemia in almost all patients with coronary artery disease.
During ischemia, adenosine is released through the breakdown of ATP. Adenosine participates in many cardio-protective biological events. Adenosine has a role in hemodynamic changes such as bradycardia and vasodilation, and adenosine has been suggested to have a role in such unrelated phenomena as preconditioning and possibly the reduction in reperfusion injury (Ely and Beme, Circulation, 85: 893 (1992).
Intrinsic adenosine may facilitate the coronary flow response to increased myocardial oxygen demands and so modulate the coronary flow reserve. Ethier et. al. (Ethier et al., Am. J. Physiol., H131 (1993) demonstrated that the addition of physiological concentrations of adenosine to human umbilical vein endothelial cell cultures stimulates proliferation, possibly via a surface receptor. They suggested that adenosine may be a factor for human endothelial cell growth and possibly angiogenesis. Angiogenesis appears to be protective for patients with CAD, but the rate at which blood vessels grow naturally is inadequate to reverse the disease. Thus, strategies to enhance and accelerate the body's natural angiogenesis potential should be beneficial in patients with CAD.
There remains a need for an effective therapy for promotion of coronary angiogenesis with minimum side effects. Such a therapy would be particularly useful for patients who have myocardial infarctions and could be used prophylactically in patients who have poor coronary circulation, which places them at high risk of ischemia and myocardial infarctions.
Nicotine stimulates new blood vessel growth: Most forms of smoking cessation treatment involve the use of nicotine without tobacco. Thus, the effects of such doses of nicotine on the body are crucial. However, according to new research published in the July issue of (Nature Medicine, Vol. 7, 833, 2001), the bad news for those using these products to stop smoking is that nicotine without tobacco can cause angiogenesis, which in turn aids the growth of atherosclerotic plaques and tumors.

Method for treating occlusive vascular diseases & wound healing


A card holder is provided, having at least one compartment that holds at least one card. When the compartment is slid open, at least one card is made accessible. There are preferably multiple compartments that make up the card holder, each compartment revealing a different card when slid to an open position.

This application relates to wallets and card-holders, specifically ones that can store, organize, and eject wallet-sized cards (like driver's license ID's, credit cards, debit cards, and RFID passes). Wallets and card-holders typically store numerous cards in a stack, a single sleeve, stacked sleeves, or in a cascading set of sleeves. These methods for organizing cards do not lend to the quick ejection or removal of individual cards because they rely on precise and tedious finger work to extract individual cards. Existing wallets and card holders that do employ ejection mechanisms often do not allow for selective removal of specific cards, and if they do, it is achieved through bulky designs that rely on buttons, springs, and thick sleeves—all elements that add thickness to the design and result in discomfort to the user. These limitations have led to the need for a card-storage design that speeds up the process of card extraction without compromising on organization or adding to thickness.


An apparatus for processing input signals includes a signal receiver, a comparator, first and second drivers, and a calculator. The signal receiver is used for receiving input signals. The comparator compares the input signals with predetermined signals and generates unit signals representing a corresponding comparison result. The first driver generates first drive signals according to the unit signals. The calculator generates a result signal according to the unit signals. The second driver generates a second drive signal according to the result signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatuses and methods for processing input signals, and particularly relates to an apparatus and a method for processing input signals from an input device.
2. Description of Related Art
In the mass production of input devices, such as keyboards or mice, electronic testing apparatuses are used for testing the input devices. For testing purposes, the input devices are installed in the electronic testing apparatuses. Subsequently, the electronic testing apparatuses receive signals from the input devices to determine whether the input devices are qualified, both physically as well as functionally.
In addition to the electronic testing apparatuses being costly, the repeated installations of separate input devices tend to damage the electronic testing apparatuses. Furthermore, the electronic testing apparatuses are often equipped with testing software, thereby further increasing the cost of the testing process.

Apparatus and method for processing input signals

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


The present invention is directed to a motorcycle axle holder assembly device for use with a motorcycle stand. The assembly device includes a plate and a cylindrical section positioned on the plate. The cylindrical section has an opening configured to be

The present invention relates generally to motorcycle stands. More particularly, this invention pertains to a device that provides a storage location for the motorcycle axle and related hardware while the motorcycle wheel is removed from the motorcycle. It keeps the motorcycle axle and related hardware relatively dean by keeping them off the ground and in an easy-to-find designated area. The invention attaches to the motorcycle stand on left or right side in a semi-permanent fashion.
There are motorcycle stands used for raising the front or rear wheel of the motorcycle off the ground for maintenance. With the motorcycle front or rear wheel off the ground and the motorcycle supported by the motorcycle stand, the respective front or rear wheel can be removed. Once the wheel is removed the axle and related hardware such as wheel spacers, axle nuts, washers and/or axle end screws would otherwise not have a clean, consistent storage location. When disassembling/reassembling mechanical systems such as a motorcycle, a clean and consistent storage location can save time and aid in preventing parts from being omitted during reassembly.
One common prior art method involves a cylindrical peg mounted to the motorcycle stand. In some instances, the peg is mounted permanently and in others it is mounted semi-permanently. The permanently mounted versions are mounted at a fixed position while the semi-permanent ones generally provide some degree of angle adjustability in one plane. A drawback of the cylindrical peg device is that it can only hold a hollow axle since the peg is inserted into the axle.
Another prior art method is comprised of a section of either a tube or trough that a motorcycle axle can rest in. This method tends to put more surface area of the holder in contact with the axle and has a tendency of collecting grease and/or dirt that could be transferred to the axle. This method can support hollow and solid motorcycle axles.
Motorcycle axles vary in length, diameter, configuration such as head shape (i.e., cylindrical vs. hex head), and whether they are solid vs. hollow. Related hardware for motorcycle axles also varies and can include a combination of wheel spacers, nuts, washers and/or an end screw. Prior art methods do not address how to collectively hold the motorcycle axle and related hardware. The invention addresses this regardless of size and configuration.

Abstract: attached to a cylindrical member extending from the motorcycle stand. The device has a generally C shaped longitudinal opening with a base adjacent to the cylindrical section and a pair of arcuate arms extending from the base. The C shaped longitudinal opening is configured to suspend an end of the motorcycle axle off the surface when inserted therethrough.


The right and left front wheels of an asphalt finisher are each supported by a beam, one end of which is mounted to the body of the asphalt finisher by way of a pin such that the beam can swing, and the other end of the beam is mounted to the end of the piston rod of a hydraulic cylinder which is vertically mounted to the body of the asphalt finisher in a downward direction, both cylinders being connected to each other by way of a single oil line. As a result, when either one of the front wheels encounters an obstacle, the sideward inclination of the body can be eliminated.

Conventionally, various ideas have been conceived for increasing the front wheel driving force of an asphalt finisher. A relatively simple method, shown in FIG. 9, is one in which, the axles of the front wheels are fixed to both sides of the body of the asphalt finisher, and the distribution of the load on the right and left front wheels while the asphalt finisher is operated on rough ground is ignored. In another method, a flow divider, which corresponds to a non-spin of differential gear or differential gear lock in a mechanically driven system is provided within the front wheel drive hydraulic circuit to prevent a loaded wheel from stopping or a wheel with no load from turning when the load on the wheels is deficient, so as to apply at least some tractive force to the loaded wheels. In addition, there is also a method in which, in order to achieve uniform right and left wheel loads, a swinging beam is disposed at the right and left lower portions of the front hopper so that tractive force can usually be generated by both wheels. In either case, it is necessary to set the driving force so that the driven wheel can maintain traction on the ground surface, assuming that there is no extra weight in the hopper. In the present state of the art, an all wheel drive asphalt finisher has its front and rear wheels driven by means of different oil hydraulic pumps and motors no matter what system is used for synchronizing the speeds of the front and rear wheels, and consequently, full synchronization is difficult to achieve. Therefore, in almost every case, the front wheel is usually rotated faster than the rear wheel so that the rear wheel is constantly pulled by the front wheel. In consequence, the wheels cannot attain maximum traction. The speed difference between the wheel and the ground surface causes slippage between the wheel and ground surface which reduces the tractive force and also damages the ground surface. In addition, although there is one method in which the driving force of the front wheel is controlled, this merely generates a front wheel driving force proportional to the hydraulic pressure force required to drive the rear wheel, which is generated by the entire running resistance (rolling resistance, damping resistance, screeding resistance and climbing resistance) of the asphalt finisher. Still further, in a finisher equipped with the above-described flow divider for preventing a wheel from turning when there is no load on it, the driving force is applied only to wheels which contact the ground surface when the asphalt finisher runs on rough ground, and it is not possible to generate a constantly stable tractive force. Further, even with a finisher equipped with the swinging beam, only a limited tractive force can be usually generated due to changing wheel load.
Further, with a finisher in which the front wheel driving force is controlled, its driving force can be controlled as the running resistance increases and decreases when a sufficient amount of weight is in the hopper, but it is still impossible to generate a driving force proportional to the gripping force of the tire. In addition, if there is not enough weight in the hopper, slippage of tires is likely to occur due to the tractive resistance.

Apparatus for controlling a front wheel driving force for use in an all wheel drive asphalt finisher


An animated head gear assembly that features an object that simulates an animal, fowl, caricature, inanimate object, and the like, to be worn on the head of a user. The object offers motion, such as the moving parts of a bird""s beak, and a light to simulate the eyes or other item of the object. The animation may be activated by a remote source, such as a remote control, or by a motion sensor that frees the hands of the wearer.

This invention is directed to the field of animated head gear having simulated objects, such as a variety of animals, that may be remotely activated by the wearer thereof to effect movement of the object.
The present invention relates to a unique type of head gear that includes remote means for the wearer thereof to effect movement of elements of the headgear. The prior art is replete with various types of static head gear that one may wear to tout a favorite sports team, for example. One such well known head gear is the xe2x80x9ccheese headxe2x80x9d worn by fans of the Green Bay Packers, where the head gear is a simulated slab of cheese having a recess for placing on the wearer""s head. There are others where the head gear is a helmet like device that may include items indicative of the team one is promoting. However, these are all static devices that remain motionless when worn. To add to the spirit of the event, whether it be a sporting event, party, or at Halloween, it may be desirable to add a new dimension to the event by providing animation to the wearer""s outfit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,446, to McGill, illustrates an example where a head covering, in the form of a hat or cap, offers some animation in the form of a pair of flappable members, such as clapping hands. The hands are moved by a string connected thereto and operated by the wearer. Another prior art example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,372, to Lowen. The patent teaches a head mounted motor driven system where the motor operates a vertical rod mounting ornaments that rotate at a slow 1 speed. Neither of such patents teach an animated head gear system that incorporates a simulation of an object, such as an animal, that reveals motion and light at the same time.
The present invention provides the animation and light by a remote means discretely held by the wearer to effect movement and light in the animated head gear hereof. The manner by which this unique arrangement is achieved for the animated head gear of this invention will become apparent in the description which follows, particularly when read in conjunction with the attached drawings, where such drawings illustrate a variety of embodiments for the head gear.
The present invention is generally directed to a unique head gear that offers animated features to the simulated object or character illustrated on the head gear, where such simulated object may be an animal, a historic figure, a caricature from popular novels, sports figures, objects associated with a sports team, vehicles, or a host of other objects familiar to all.
While the selected or designated object may take a variety of forms, a preferred form is that of an animal head where one may wish to effect movement in the mouth, limbs, wings, ears, and the like, or illumination of the eyes of the animal, or a combination of both. A preferred form may be that of a bird having a movable beak, and a pair of eyes that can be illuminated. Irrespective of the form, the head gear hereof includes a seat or frame upon which is mounted a platform, preferably planar, having a battery powered motor to operate the beak, i.e., ,open and close, as the wearer may choose, where the motor rotates an eccentric arm connected to the upper beak, for example. Positioned forward of the motor is an elevated support for mounting an eye reflector plate and light bulb to underlie the bird""s eye location, i.e., above the beak. Covering the platform, motor and eye reflector plate and light is a shroud, with eye openings, colored and designed to simulate the head of the bird, or other selected object. To effect movement of the beak, and to light the eyes, a hand held remote control, electrically connected to the motor and light bulb, may be positioned in the pocket of the wearer whereby to give the impression that such movement or light is automatic. Finally, means, such as in the form of a strap, may be secured to the seat or frame, to underlie the wearer""s chin to hold the head gear in place. Optionally, the system may include a motion sensor to activate the animated features, thus freeing the wearer of remotely controlling such features. This would free the wearer to use his/her hands for other purposes.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide an attention- getting, animated head gear that is remotely operated by the wearer thereof to effect movement and lighting of the animated features.
Another object thereof is the provision of incorporating the animated features into a simulated object, such as an animal""s head, or other common mascot characters particularly associated with sports teams.
These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the specification which follows, particularly when read by those skilled in the art.


Provided are a protein complex having the F0F1-ATPase activity; a DNA encoding the protein complex; a method for producing the protein complex, using the DNA; and a method for producing nucleoside 5′-triphosphate using the protein. The present invention further provides a recombinant DNA with the DNA inserted therein; a transformant carrying the recombinant DNA; and a method for producing a protein complex, using the transformant.

The present invention relates to a novel F0F1-ATPase, a DNA encoding the F0F1-ATPase, a method for producing the F0F1-ATPase, and a method for producing nucleoside 5′-triphosphate; using the F0F1-ATPase.
F0F1-ATPase plays principal roles in the biological energy metabolism, because the enzyme has an activity of generating adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP) as an energy source of organisms, by utilizing the gradient of proton concentration between the intramembrane and the extramembrane. Therefore, utilization of F0F1-ATPase enables us to develop a living thing with improved energy metabolism.
Herein, F0F1-ATPase is synonymous with H+-ATPase.
Because it has been known that the activity of F0F1-ATPase varies, depending on the change of outer environment, such as pH, the utilization of F0F1-ATPase can provide a living thing adaptable to the change of outer environment [Mol. Microbiol., 33, 1152 (1999), J. Bacteriol., 176, 5167 (1994)].
F0F1-ATPase is a protein complex comprising a soluble catalytic sector F1 and a transmembrane sector F0 functioning as proton channel. In organisms such as Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis, F1 is composed of five subunits of α, β, γ, δand ε, while F0 is composed of three subunits of a, b and c [Annu. Rev. Biochem., 66, 717 (1997)].
Concerning the F0F1-ATPase gene, the gene was isolated from Escherichia coli [Biochem. J., 224, 799 (1984)], Bacillus subtilis [J. Bacteriol., 176, 6802 (1994)], Bacillus megaterium [J. Biol. Chem., 264, 1528 (1989)], Bacillus firmus [Mol. Gen. Genet., 229, 292 (1991)], Bacillus sp. PS3 [Biochim. Biophys. Acta,. 933, 141 (1988)], Methanosarcina barkeri [Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 241, 427 (1997)], Lactobacillus acidophilus [Mol. Microbiol., 33, 1152 (1999)], Rhodobacter capsulatus [J. Bacteriol., 180, 416 (1998), Arch. Microbiol., 170, 385 (1998)] and the like, but no gene derived from microorganisms belonging to the genus Corynebacterium has been isolated yet.
Regarding the production of nucleoside 5′-triphosphate, methods using microorganisms (Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No.107593/1979; Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 51799/1984; J. Ferment. Bioeng., 68, 417 (1989)) and a method using enzymes (WO 98/22614) have been known. However, the productivity of nucleoside 5′-triphosphate is insufficient.


A nitride semiconductor laser device uses a substrate with low defect density, contains reduced strains inside a nitride semiconductor film, and thus offers a satisfactorily long useful life. On a GaN substrate (10) with a defect density as low as 106 cm−2 or less, a stripe-shaped depressed portion (16) is formed by etching. On this substrate (10), a nitride semiconductor film (11) is grown, and a laser stripe (12) is formed off the area right above the depressed portion (16). With this structure, the laser stripe (12) is free from strains, and the semiconductor laser device offers a long useful life. Moreover, the nitride semiconductor film (11) develops reduced cracks, resulting in a greatly increased yield rate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device, and to a method for fabricating one. More particularly, the present invention relates to a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device that uses a nitride semiconductor as a substrate thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
There have been fabricated prototypes of semiconductor laser devices that oscillate in a region ranging from ultraviolet to visible light by the use of a nitride semiconductor material as exemplified by GaN, AlN, InN, and composite crystals thereof. For such purposes, GaN substrates are typically used, and therefore GaN substrates have been intensively researched by a host of research-and-development institutions. At the moment, however, no semiconductor laser devices offer satisfactorily long useful lives, and accordingly what is most expected in them is longer useful lives. It is known that the useful life of a semiconductor laser device strongly depends on the density of defects (such as vacancies, interstitial atoms, and dislocations, all disturbing the regularity of a crystal) that are present in a GaN substrate from the beginning. The problem here is that substrates with low defect density, however effective they may be believed to be in achieving longer useful lives, are extremely difficult to obtain, and therefore researches have been eagerly done to achieve as much reduction in defect density as possible.
For example, Applied Physics Letter, Vol. 73 No. 6 (1998), pp. 832-834, reports fabricating a GaN substrate by the following procedure. First, on a sapphire substrate, a 2.0 μm thick primer GaN layer is grown by MOCVD (metalorganic chemical vapor deposition). Then, on top of this, a 0.1 μm thick SiO2 mask pattern having regular stripe-shaped openings is formed. Then, further on top, a 20 μm thick GaN layer is formed again by MOCVD. Now, a wafer is obtained. This technology is called ELOG (epitaxially lateral overgrown), which exploits lateral growth to reduce defects.
Further on top, a 200 μm thick GaN layer is formed by HVPE (hydride vapor phase epitaxy), and then the sapphire substrate serving as a primer layer is removed. In this way, a 150 μm thick GaN substrate is produced. Next, the surface of the obtained GaN substrate is ground to be flat. The thus obtained substrate is known to have a defect density as low as 106 cm−2 or less.
It has been found, however, that, even with a semiconductor laser device fabricated by growing, by a growing process such as MOCVD, a nitride semiconductor film on a low-defect substrate, such as the one obtained by the above-described procedure, it is still impossible to obtain a useful life that is satisfactorily long for practical use. Through an intensive study in search of the reason for that, the inventors of the present invention have found out that strains and cracks present inside a nitride semiconductor film greatly affect the deterioration and yield rate of a semiconductor laser device. Even when a GaN substrate that is homoepitaxial with a nitride semiconductor film is used, the grown nitride semiconductor film includes layers of InGaN, AlGaN, and the like whose lattice constants and thermal expansion coefficients differ from those of GaN. The presence of these layers different from GaN causes an InGaN active layer and other layers to receive compressive stress. It has been found that the resulting strains present inside the film accelerate the deterioration of the semiconductor laser device.
Another problem with a nitride semiconductor film is many cracks that develop therein, resulting in a low yield rate. The development of such cracks is also greatly affected by strains present inside the film.
More specifically, when a laser structure formed of a nitride semiconductor thin film is epitaxially grown on a nitride semiconductor substrate, many cracks (for example, several or more within a width of 1 mm) develop, resulting in an extremely low yield rate of devices with the desired characteristics. If a fabricated device contains cracks, the device may be flatly unable to produce laser oscillation at all, or, even if it can, its useful life is extremely short, making the device practically unusable. The development of such cracks is remarkable in a device structure including a layer containing Al, and, since a nitride semiconductor laser device typically includes such a layer, it is very important to eradicate cracks.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Nitride semiconductor light-emitting device and method for fabrication thereof


A viewing device includes a housing defining an interior chamber through which light can pass. The housing includes first and second spaced apart openings communicating with the interior chamber such that light entering the first opening is viewed by a user looking into the second opening. The second opening is further configured to receive sound created by the user and the housing is configured to transmit the sound entering the second opening toward a sound exit location of the housing at or near the first opening. The second opening can define an eyepiece portion into which the user looks and a mouthpiece portion into which a user speaks. The viewing device can take the form of a periscope toy.

Viewing devices such as periscope toys, binocular toys, and telescope toys are commonly enjoyed by children. Generally, these toys take the form of a tubular optical instrument containing lenses and/or mirrors. In a periscope toy, the mirrors are arranged to allow the child to look into one portion of the periscope toy that may be generally hidden or obstructed from view and observe objects that would not otherwise be observable from the child's hidden location. Often times, such periscope toys are adapted to be mounted to children's playstations.


In the present technique of streaming a main media stream that has been requested, an anti-shadow stream (36) that represents a backup copy of the main media stream (24) is sent along with an output media stream (34) that represents an output copy of the main media stream. The content of the anti-shadow stream (36) is preferably forward-shifted in time from the output media stream (34) so as to provide replacement of loss data of the output stream. Put differently, sequenced data frames of the output stream (34) are delayed by order compared to that of the anti-shadow stream (36).

The transmission of media data, such as audio and video data, over a network is becoming more common. Users can now watch all types of media data, from a pre-recorded show to a live concert, online over the Internet or on their wireless cellular networks. Because the media data tend to take up large amounts of memory, their transmission requires vast resources. As a result, the media data are generally streamed over the network. Streaming enables the media data to be played in real time as the data are being downloaded over the network as opposed to storing the entire file first to permanent memory. Basically, media data is first divided into a sequence of frames at the sender. Each frame in the sequence contains a small portion of the media data and each frame is assigned a timestamp to indicate its position in the media data, which is generally relative to the beginning of the media. Media data frames are then sent one or a few at a time, and the receiver, such as a media player, buffers the sent frames and outputs the frames according to a timeline reconstructed based on the timestamps carried in the received frames. Streaming of the media data generally avoids the delay entailed in downloading an entire file and then playing it with a helper application at a later time.
Streaming of the media data is also becoming more prevalent within a cellular wireless setting. In fact, wireless broadcast and/or multicast services are now one of the major new features in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and the third Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) communication networks. A major technical problem, however, arises with streaming in a wireless system. Specifically, one problem is that wireless networks tend to be more unstable than landline networks, because the wireless signal can be temporarily blocked or shadowed as the receiver moves between different environments. For example, the wireless signal can be temporarily blocked or shadowed by tall buildings in a city or tunnels through mountains or under rivers. Sometimes, the receiver can miss several minutes of the media data that may not be recoverable as the receiver may be unable to receive for up to several minutes. Although this is far less of an issue with wired Internet Protocol multimedia services, they can nevertheless suffer from similar but minor shadowing problems due to such conditions as transit congestion in a local network. All this, in turn, often causes degradation of the service quality or interruptions of the service in both wired and wireless networks.
To address these problems, one proposed method, known as Forward Error Correction, adds extra bits specifically for error correction to any character or code block of the data prior to transmission. If the transmission is received in error, the correction bits are used to check and repair the data. This method, however, only addresses data corruption caused by bit errors during data transfer or the loss of a few frames of data; it does not correct a total signal blockage.
Another proposed solution is a technique known as jitter buffers, which is widely used in many real-time media receivers such as RealPlayer® and QuickTime®. A jitter buffer is a shared data area where voice packets can be collected, stored, and sent to the voice processor in correctly spaced intervals according to their originally assigned sequence numbers. Variations in packet arrival time, called jitter, can occur because of network congestion, timing drift, or route changes. The jitter buffer, which is located at the receiving end of the voice connection, intentionally delays processing of the arriving packets so that the end user experiences a clear connection with very little sound distortion. Although this method can combat minor temporal jitters, it is impractical for correcting large delays (e.g., more than one minute). This method is also incapable of compensating for the data loss. Moreover, the use of jitter buffers tends to force the receiver to wait at the start of the media stream until the jitter buffer has been filled, but users of the wireless broadcast or multicast services may have very little tolerance for this start latency.
Still another solution, which is generally done in a point-to-point communication scenario to compensate for data loss, is to retransmit the lost data. This method, however, is impractical in a broadcast or multicast scenario due to the complexity of end-to-end synchronization between the sender and multiple receivers. Moreover, the retransmission method requires means for sending feedback from the data receiver to the sender that may not exist in most broadcast or multicast scenarios. Another proposed method is to use interpolation, which is generally used with wireless networks, but this is also not workable because it is ineffective to combat losses of consecutive frames.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common and well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are typically not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention.


A method for preparing an epitaxial silicon wafer in a reactor is provided. The method comprises the steps of depositing an epitaxial layer on a surface of a silicon wafer contained in the reactor at an elevated temperature; purging the reactor with hydrogen after the epitaxial deposition; and cooling the reactor to an appropriate temperature which allows hydrogen passivation of the surface of the epitaxial layer. This prevents the formation of an oxide layer on the surface of the epitaxial layer for a sufficient amount of time to allow an accurate measurement of a carrier density profile of the epitaxial silicon wafer.

1. Area of the Art
The invention relates generally to resistivity measurement of silicon wafers, and more specifically to in-situ epitaxial passivation for improved resistivity measurement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The net carrier density profiles in epitaxial and polished bulk silicon wafers are often determined by capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements with a mercury (Hg) probe. The C-V measurement uses the differential capacitance of a depletion layer (whether by Schottky barrier or p-n junction) to determine the majority carrier-concentration profile as the space-charge-region width is changed by a reverse bias voltage.
The method of C-V measurements requires the formation of a Schottky barrier diode with a metal or mercury probe contact to an epitaxial or polished wafer surface. To conduct a capacitance-voltage measurement on an epitaxial silicon wafer having a silicon substrate wafer and an epitaxial layer, a metal or a mercury probe is formed on the surface of the epitaxial layer. When the metal, such as mercury, is brought into contact with a semiconductor, the conduction and valence bands of the semiconductor form a definite relationship. There then exists an energy barrier of a specific thickness--a depletion layer, which represents the energy needed to allow an electron in the metal to escape into the semiconductor. The depletion layer extends from the surface of the metal into the semiconductor, so that a depletion capacitance is formed. The majority carrier-concentration profile in an epitaxial or a polished bulk silicon wafer can then be measured by measuring the differential capacitance of the depletion layer.
The most common problem in capacitance-voltage measurements made with mercury probe instruments is a poor Schottky contact, which is generally indicated by an excessively high leakage current. The use of a poor Schottky contact does not actually prevent a carrier density determination but produces an erroneous result.
It is believed that one of the causes for the formation of a poor Schottky contact is the growth of an oxide layer on the surface of an epitaxial or polished bulk silicon wafer before the formation of the Schottky contact. Thus, in order to produce a reliable Schottky barrier diode, chemical treatment of the silicon surface may be required. A typical treatment of the silicon surface of a wafer requires the use of a chemical treatment with hydrofluoric acid (HF) followed with a deionized (DI) water rinse if the wafer is p-type, or the use of a chemical treatment with hydrofluoric acid followed with hydrogen peroxide treatment if the wafer is n-type.
The HF treatment allows hydrogen to attach to any dangling bonds on the surface of the wafer. This prevents oxygen from bonding, thus preventing growth of an oxide layer. However, such a chemical treatment creates an additional cost to the C-V measurement, and is also time consuming. In addition, the wet chemical process is also a cause for safety concerns.
Therefore, a need exists for providing a silicon wafer having a surface which allows an accurate C-V measurement to be taken without chemical treatments.

In-situ epitaxial passivation for resistivity measurement


An implementation of a technology, described herein, for facilitating cryptographic systems and techniques. At least one implementation, described herein, maximizes the speed and security of fast exponentiation while minimizing its expense. At least one implementation, described herein, employs elliptic curves with a fast exponentiation technique so that it maximizes speed and security while minimizing expense. At least one implementation, described herein, employs Koblitz exponentiation with “bucketing” techniques to maximize speed and security of cryptosystems while minimizing expense of such techniques. This abstract itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent. The scope of the present invention is pointed out in the appending claims.

Cryptographic systems—such as those of the Public-Key Infrastructure (PKI)—often involve raising elements of some group to large powers. Examples of groups include the symmetries of a geometrical object, the integers modulo a positive integer N under addition (Z/NZ), and elliptic curves. The task of raising elements of some group to (possibly) large powers is called "exponentiation". Exponentiation is a central and expensive part of many cryptographic protocols.
Mathematically, exponentiation may be described as thus:                Let G be a group with multiplicative operator {circle around (×)}.        Given g ε G and an integer n, compute gn.The meaning of gn may be found in abstract algebra books. When n>0, it denotes the product g{circle around (×)}g{circle around (×)}g{circle around (×)} . . . {circle around (×)}g, with n copies of g being multiplied together (thus n−1 applications of ({circle around (×)}). The definition of group requires {circle around (×)} to be associative. This exponentiation obeys the algebraic laws gm{circle around (×)}gn=gm+n and (gm)n=gmn for arbitrary integers m and n. Within an abelian (=commutative) group or subgroup (the case of interest herein) exponentiation also satisfies (g{circle around (×)}h)n=gn{circle around (×)}hn.
Three common exponentiation scenarios:                g is fixed and n varies (e.g., first phase of Diffie-Hellman);        g varies and n is fixed (e.g., RSA);        both g and n vary (e.g., second phase of Diffie-Hellman).
Generally, the security of a cryptographic system is based, at least in part, on exponentiation being difficult to invert. That means that it is extraordinarily difficult to determine the original operands based upon the results of such exponentiation. The discrete logarithm problem tries to find n given g and gn. The Diffie-Hellman protocol uses groups in which this problem is believed to be hard. Other protocols may employ groups of unknown order (=number of elements), in which case it may be hard to find g given n and gn.
The following references discuss various exponentiation techniques (particularly those in relation to cryptography):                Donald E. Knuth, "The Art of Computer Programming", Volume 2, Seminumerical Algorithms, 3rd edition, Addison-Wesley, 1997.        IEEE Standard Specifications for Public-Key Cryptography, IEEE Std 1363-2000, IEEE Computer Society, 29 Aug. 2000.
Some Mathematical Notation Used HereinBjContents of bucket j, typically the product of several itemsrelated to the subscript j.CwFor fixed w, a fixed subset of Z[τ] containing small-normrepresentatives of certain residue classes modulo τw.ceil(x)Ceiling function: the least integer n such that n ≧ x, wherex is real.EAn elliptic curve equation.Ea,bThe elliptic curve y2 + xy = x3 + ax2 + bover a field of characteristic 2.floor(x)Floor function: the largest integer n such that n ≦ x, wherex is real.GF(q)Field with q elements, where q is a prime or prime power.IIdentity function (I(P) = P for all P), on elliptic curve group.log2(x)Real base 2 logarithm of x, where x is real, x > 0.mAn integer. Used for extension degree in GF(2m).μ(−1)a+1where a is taken from elliptic curve equation (EK).nAn integer, usually an exponent.pA prime.PPoint on an elliptic curve.QField of rational numbers.Q(τ)Field generated by τ. Contains all a + bτ where a, b ε Q.TfrobFrobenius endomorphism: Tfrob ((x, y)) = (xp, yp).TAn endomorphism on Koblitz curves, satisfying T2 − T + 2I = 0.Same as μTfrob.τAn algebraic integer, specifically one satisfying τ2 − τ + 2 = 0.ZRing of integers.Z[τ]Ring of integers generated by τ. Contains all a + bτ wherea, b ε Z.0Identity element (point at infinity) in an elliptic curve group.+, −, ±Addition and subtraction operators in elliptic curve group. Multiplication operator in abstract group.Fast Exponentiation
Often, the speed of an exponentiation determines its practicality. Various factors affect the speed and efficiency of exponentiation. Such factors include: which group or other algebraic system is being used, the hardware the system is implemented on, and whether one element is repeatedly being raised to different powers, different elements are raised to a fixed power, or both the powers and the base elements vary.
Binary Techniques of Exponentiation
Many of the binary techniques of exponentiation are well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art. They are explained in references (cited above).
Let x be an element of a multiplicative group (or a semigroup) with operator {circle around (×)} and let n be a positive integer. The problem is to compute xn while minimizing the number of multiplications. Herein, squarings (in which one knowingly multiplies an element by itself) are distinguished from other multiplications. For the sake of clarity and simplicity, the description, herein, assumes the time per multiplication (or squaring) is independent of the values being multiplied (or squared).
A naive technique successively computes x2=x{circle around (×)}x, x3=x2{circle around (×)}x, x4=x3{circle around (×)}x, . . . , xn=xn−1{circle around (×)}x. This takes n−1 group multiplications. It is acceptable for small n (e.g., n<20) but totally impractical when the exponent has 100 or more bits, as may happen in cryptographic applications.
Fortunately, one may lower the operation count from O(n) to O(log2(n)) using associativity. For example, one may skip the computation of x3 and proceed directly to x4=x2{circle around (×)}x2. The square-and-multiply technique, also called the left-to-right binary technique, uses at most floor(log2(n)) squarings and floor(log2(n)) additional multiplications. One may implement it by scanning the binary representation of n.
For example, if
                    n        =        1234567                                =                  1048576          +          131072          +          32768          +          16384          +          4096          +          1024          +          512          +          128          +          4          +          2          +          1                                                  =                                    (              100101101011010000111                                                                        )                        2                          ,            then the square-and-multiply technique successively computes xk for k=                2,        4,        8, 9,        18,        36, 37,        74, 75,        150,        300, 301,        602,        1204, 1205,        2410, 2411,        4822,        9644, 9645,        19290,        38580,        77160,        154320,        308640, 308641,        617282, 617283,        1234566, 1234567.
Each bit in the binary expansion of 1234567 (excluding the leading 1) corresponds to one line above. The lines corresponding to a 1-bit represent a squaring and a multiplication. The lines corresponding to a 0-bit represent only a squaring. The algorithm uses 20 squarings and 10 additional multiplications, far fewer than the 1234566 multiplications needed by the naive technique. The square-and-multiply technique needs only one temporary, to hold the latest power of x.
The last table becomes an addition chain if one prepends a one ("1") up front. An addition chain for n is a sequence of integers, starting with 1 and ending with n, such that every element after the 1 is the sum of two (not necessarily distinct) earlier elements. An addition-subtraction chain for n is similar but allows subtractions: each element after the 1 is the sum or difference of two earlier elements.
Another binary technique of exponentiation forms the powers x, x2, x4, x8, . . . , x1048576, where the exponents are powers of 2. Use the binary representation of n to select which subset of these to multiply together to get xn. In this casex1234567=x{circle around (×)}x2{circle around (×)}x4{circle around (×)}x128{circle around (×)}x512{circle around (×)}x1024{circle around (×)}x4096{circle around (×)}x16384{circle around (×)}x32768{circle around (×)}x131072{circle around (×)}x1048576.  (*)
This technique, called the right-to-left binary technique of exponentiation, also takes 20 squarings and 10 general multiplications. Two temporaries suffice: one to hold powers x2k and one to hold the partial product.
If the right-to-left binary technique is used multiple times, with the same x but different n, then the repeated squarings need be done only once. For example, if one already knows x2k for 0≦k≦20, then 10 general multiplications suffice to get x1234567 by (*).
Windowing
A 2kary technique (also known as radix 2k) partitions the exponent into blocks of k adjacent bits. It processes these k bits by raising the prior result to the power 2k, then multiplies the intermediate result by the contribution from the k latest bits. It is also explained in several of the above-cited references including Gordon (1998) and Knuth, p. 464.
Elliptic Curves
One family of groups used for cryptosystems is elliptic curves. Their popularity is partially based upon there being no index calculus method known to solve the discrete logarithm problem in most elliptic curve groups; therefore, a smaller key length seems to be secure. However, their main computational drawback is that adding two points on an elliptic curve typically involves several expensive multiplication operations—meaning that it takes more time and resources to process it.
In some algebraic systems, such as elliptic curve groups, two independent operations may be done more cheaply than two similar operations where the output of the first operation is an operand to the second operation. That is, it may be less expensive to compute x1{circle around (×)}x2 and x3{circle around (×)}x4 together than to compute x1{circle around (×)}x2 followed by (x1{circle around (×)}x2){circle around (×)}x3. The right-to-left binary technique lets one overlap (for example) the computations of x135=x7{circle around (×)}x128 and x256=x128{circle around (×)}x128.
For the purpose of secure communications, elliptic curves may be used for implementations of the public-key infrastructure (PKI). In such a scenario, two network-connected nodes (such as a client and a server) know a common elliptic curve and a base point. The two nodes perform a "key exchange". This may be done to accomplish a secure communications channel, for example, when deciding on a secret key to use for a "block cipher."
Typically, in order to accomplish a key exchange between two such nodes, each node selects an apparently random and extraordinarily large power. Each node raises the (shared) base point g to its selected power. The results are exchanged and each node raises the other node's result to its own large power. Suppose one node chooses m as its large power and the other chooses n. Due to the group identity (gm)n=gmn=(gn)m, both nodes know gmn, which can serve as a common key. Although the data being exchanged (gm and gm) are exposed along the communications path, the ultimate results (gmn) are secure because only the nodes know which "large powers" (m and n) have been used.
Koblitz Curves
One special case of elliptic curves is Koblitz curves. These curves are defined over a subfield, which means the coefficients of the defining equation are in a small subfield of a large field, but the group used for the cryptosystem is the group of points over the larger field. The term Koblitz curves usually refers to curves defined over the binary field of two elements, and they are also called anomalous binary curves. These curves appear in standards documents such as FIPS186 below.
The following references discuss elliptic curves (and/or Koblitz curves) particularly with respect to exponentiation:                [FIPS186] "Recommended Elliptic Curves for Federal Government Use", in Appendix 6 to FIPS 186-2 "Digital Signature Standard (DSS), 2000 Jan. 2000. (Search at http:/csrc.nist.gov/encryption).        [SOLINAS] Jerome A. Solinas, "Efficient Implementation of Koblitz Curves and Generalized Mersenne Arithmetic". Presented at the 3rd Workshop on Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC1999), held in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, Nov. 1–3, 1999. For slides, go to http://cacr.math.uwaterloo.ca—select conferences.The Challenge of Fast Exponentiation
Accordingly, it is a challenge to increase the speed and efficiency cryptography for secure communications, such as that within the PKI. Furthermore, it is a challenge to maximize the speed and security of fast exponentiation while minimizing its expense. Further still, it is a challenge to employ elliptic curves with a fast exponentiation technique so that it maximizes speed and security while minimizing expense.


Generally discussed herein are systems, devices, and methods for prefetcher in a multi-tiered memory (DSM) system. A node can include a network interface controller (NIC) comprising system address decoder (SAD) circuitry configured to determine a node identification of a node to which a memory request from a processor is homed, and prefetcher circuitry communicatively coupled to the SAD circuitry, the prefetcher circuitry to determine, based on an address in the memory request, one or more addresses from which to prefetch data, the one or more addresses corresponding to respective entries in a memory of a node on a different network than the NIC.

Computer processing nodes include system address decoders (SADs) to determine to which memory a request is directed. Current hardware prefetching schemes are implemented within the node (commonly at L1 or L2 level). Data can be prefetched based on the stream of addresses issued in a thread(s) running in a specific core. Current hardware prefetching schemes are limiting in their usefulness at least because they only see traffic within their specific core, and they do not interact with the rest of the node participating in a larger system.

Prefetcher in multi-tiered memory systems


A novel polymerizable monomer compound that can be used for a variety of liquid crystal devices is provided. Particularly, a novel liquid crystal composition including the novel polymerizable monomer compound and exhibiting a blue phase is provided. Further, a liquid crystal display device manufactured with the use of the liquid crystal composition is provided. A polymerizable monomer compound represented by the following general formula (G1) is provided. In the general formula (G1), n and m are individually an integer from 1 to 20 and may be the same as or different from each other, and R1 and R2 individually represent hydrogen or a methyl group.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention disclosed in this specification relates to a polymerizable monomer compound, a liquid crystal composition including the polymerizable monomer compound, a liquid crystal display device including the polymerizable monomer compound, and manufacturing methods thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, flat panel displays have been put to practical use and have been substituted for conventional displays using cathode-ray tubes. The flat panel displays include liquid crystal display devices which have liquid crystal elements, EL display devices which have electro luminescent elements (EL elements), plasma displays, and the like, and they come into competition in the market. Liquid crystal display devices establish a position of superiority by overcoming disadvantages and suppressing production cost with use of a variety of techniques.
As a constituent of a liquid crystal composition used for a liquid crystal display device, a polymerizable monomer compound is used. For example, polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) or polymer network liquid crystal (PNLC) has a structure in which liquid crystal grains are dispersed in a polymer layer which forms a polymer network, and a white image (a bright image) is displayed using scattered light by liquid crystal. A polymerizable monomer compound is used as a material of the polymer layer.
Further, in the case where a display mode using liquid crystal exhibiting a blue phase is employed as a display mode of liquid crystal, a polymerizable monomer compound is used in some cases. It has been reported that a liquid crystal composition which includes a polymerizable monomer compound and a liquid crystal material exhibiting a blue phase is subjected to polymer stabilization treatment by which a polymerizable monomer compound is polymerized, so that the temperature range where a blue phase is exhibited is expanded (for example, see Patent Document 1).
Furthermore, a polymerizable monomer compound is also used as a material of an optical film which is provided to, for example, achieve a wide, viewing angle and improvement in contrast in a display portion of a liquid crystal display device (for example, see Patent Document 2).

Polymerizable monomer compound, liquid crystal composition, and liquid crystal display device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


The present invention discloses a method for reducing NOx in exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine. The purpose of this invention is to convert engine out NOx (approximately 90% NO in diesel exhaust) into roughly a 50:50 mixture of NO and NO2, while simultaneously oxidizing engine-out hydrocarbons which interfere with the reduction of NOx by urea or ammonia. The present invention demonstrates that a 50:50 blend of NO and NO2 is reduced more rapidly and with higher efficiency than a gas stream which is predominantly NO. In addition, catalyst in an engine exhaust that is a 50:50 mixture of NO and NO2 is far more resistant to hydrothermal deterioration than using NO alone. In another embodiment of the present invention, a vehicle exhaust system utilizing the method of the present invention is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of and systems for reducing NOx emissions from the exhaust of an internal combustion engine and, in particular, to methods of reducing NOx emission by adjusting the NO to NO2 ratio in the exhaust before the exhaust gases flow through an SCR catalyst.
2. Background Art
Emissions of NOx and particulate matter (PM) are of primary concern for both diesel and gasoline vehicles to meet future emissions standards. Diesel vehicles have significant advantages over their gasoline counterparts including a more efficient engine, higher fuel economy, and lower emissions of HC, CO, and CO2. For example, diesel vehicles potentially have a 40% higher fuel economy than current gasoline vehicles with 20% lower CO2 emissions.
Control of NOx onboard a diesel vehicle is not a trivial task due to the high oxygen content of the exhaust gas. Such high oxygen fuel systems are typically referred to as lean burn systems. In such lean burn systems, NOx control is more difficult because of the high O2 concentration in the exhaust, making conventional three-way catalysts ineffective. The available technologies for NOx reduction in lean environments include Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR), in which NOx is continuously removed through active injection of a reductant over a catalyst and Lean NOx Traps (LNT), which are materials that adsorb NOx under lean conditions and must be periodically regenerated by running under rich conditions. Technologies utilizing an ammonia-based reductant, such as aqueous urea, have shown potential in achieving high NOx conversion with minimal fuel economy penalty. Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) with ammonia as the reductant has been used extensively for stationary source NOx control. The high selectivity of ammonia for reaction with NOx in high O2 environments makes SCR attractive for use on diesel vehicles. Compared to ammonia, aqueous urea is much easier for use onboard a vehicle. Although such SCR catalysts show great potential for NOx control, utilization of such catalysts are adversely affected by the presence of hydrocarbons in a vehicle exhaust. Specifically, hydrocarbons are known to poison most SCR catalysts.
Various attempts have been made to understand and improve the performance of SCR catalysts. For example Koebel et al. discuss the reactions involved in the reaction between ammonia and NOx. (Koebel et al., SAE Technical Paper Series, 2001-01-3625, 2001). Koebel shows that the main reaction between ammonia and NO is:4NH3+4NO+O2→4N2+6H2O
For this reaction, 1 mole of NO will consume 1 mole of ammonia and ¼ mole of oxygen. Koebel goes on to explain that a faster reaction is described by:4NH3+2NO+2NO243 4N2+6H2O
Accordingly, it is known that the performance of a NOx conversion system can be improved by increasing the fraction of NO2 in the exhaust up to an optimal amount so that the fraction of NO2 does not exceed 50%. Koebel states that this can be accomplished by oxidizing the NO with a strong oxidation catalyst such as platinum. Although urea is the preferred reducing agent for SCR catalysts, ammonia is still likely to be the ultimate reductant since urea rapidly liberates ammonia in the SCR catalyst.
Although the increased NO2 is desirable in a vehicle exhaust, the prior art fails to teach a method for systematically and reliably attaining an optimal NO to NO2 ratio in the exhaust. Furthermore, the prior art fails to teach a method that can be adjusted to give optimal performance for a given type of automobile engine.

Bimodal catalyst-urea SCR system for enhanced NO


A camera comprises an electronic image-pickup apparatus and a silver-salt photography apparatus for recording a subject image on a silver-salt film. The electronic image-pickup apparatus comprises an area sensor for converting a subject image to an electric signal and an LCD monitor for displaying an image signal generated from the area sensor. The area sensor 1captures an image synchronously when the silver-salt photography apparatus records the subject image on the silver-salt film. When a self-timer photography mode setup switch is pressed to enable a self-timer photography mode, capturing an image through the area sensor and displaying the captured image on the LCD monitor are repeated during the self-timer photography mode.

The present invention relates to a camera having an electronic image-pickup element for capturing a subject image and converting it to an electric signal and a monitor for displaying the image based on an image signal generated from the electronic image-pickup element.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 7-074992 discloses an electronic camera having an electronic view finder. Basically, power is supplied to the electronic view finder of this electronic camera. When the self-timer photography starts, the electronic view finder is turned off.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 1-114169 or Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 10-108054 discloses a camera for both silver-salt photography and electronic photography. This camera is provided with an electronic image-pickup apparatus for converting a subject image to an electrical signal and a silver-salt photography apparatus for recording the subject image on a silver-salt film. This camera performs electronic image pickup in synchronization with silver-salt photography and displays a captured electronic image on a monitor.
When the electronic view finder is replaced by a monitor for the electronic camera disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 7-074992 and this system is applied to a silver-salt camera having a monitor, the monitor is always supplied with power. This power consumption shortens a battery life. A possible solution is to power the monitor only when a photography start signal (release signal) is generated. This makes it impossible to determine a composition by viewing the monitor in a self-timer photography mode.
Neither Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 1-114169 nor Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 10-108054 describes camera operations in the self-timer photography mode.
The present invention incorporates these considerations and aims at providing a camera that allows an easy-to-use self-timer photography mode without consuming a camera battery.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera, comprising:
an electronic image-pickup apparatus having an electronic image-pickup element for capturing a subject image and converting it to an electric signal and a monitor for displaying the captured image based on an image signal generated from the electronic image-pickup element;
a silver-salt photography apparatus for recording a subject image on a silver-salt film;
self-timer photography mode setup means for enabling a self-timer photography mode; and
control means for controlling the electronic image-pickup apparatus to perform a photography operation in synchronization with recording on the silver-salt film by means of the silver-salt photography apparatus, wherein
capturing an image by means of the electronic image-pickup apparatus and displaying the captured image on the monitor are repeated while the self-timer photography mode setup means enable the self-timer photography mode.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera comprising:
silver-salt photography means for recording a subject image on a silver-salt film;
electronic image-pickup means for capturing an image equivalent to an image recorded on the silver-salt film in synchronization with an operation of the silver-salt photography means;
a monitor for displaying an image captured by the electronic image-pickup means; and
self-timer photography mode setup means for enabling a self-timer photography mode that allows the silver-salt photography means to start an exposure after a specified time from a specified timing, wherein
capturing an image by means of the electronic image-pickup means and displaying the captured image on the monitor are repeated while the self-timer photography mode setup means enable the self-timer photography mode.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera, comprising:
an electronic image-pickup element for capturing a subject image and converting it to an electric signal;
a monitor for displaying the captured image based on an image signal generated from the electronic image-pickup element;
a self-timer photography mode setup unit for enabling a self-timer photography mode; and
a controller for executing a repetition of converting the subject image to an electric signal by means of the electronic image-pickup apparatus and displaying the image on the monitor while the self-timer photography mode setup unit enables the self-timer photography mode.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.