A drilling, production, test, and oil storage caisson for use in deep water offshore well operations. Separate low pressure and high pressure drilling risers are independently supported on buoyancy modules. Multiple drilling and production risers are left in the water and connected to the drilling rig and well(s) as needed to prevent the need for the raising and lowering of different risers during the various steps involved in beginning and completing wells. Surface and lower BOP stacks are utilized. Means for controlling the accelerations and velocity of the drilling riser buoyancy modules in the event of riser failure is provided. A subsea tree with dual master valves allows for production directly through a vertical production riser, flowline, to the production manifold on the caisson. A twisted tubing production riser is formed from three strings of tubing that are used for the flowline, annulus, and conduit for control lines.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is generally related to structures used offshore in the drilling and production of hydrocarbons and more particularly to floating caissons used in such operations.
2. General Background
In the offshore drilling industry, there are many operational issues and difficulties that must be addressed. A conventional subsea BOP (blow-out-preventer) stack riser is large and heavy and normally requires syntactic foam for additional buoyancy. This results in an overall diameter of forty-two inches, which presents a relatively large area that is readily affected by current loads, causing a substantial lateral offset between the surface and the seafloor. Drilling risers are normally supported on hydraulic tensioners with pneumatic accumulators to provide a relatively constant tension variation with stroke. These tensioners are expensive and limited in capacity. Further, because they are mechanical and use wire rope, one hundred percent redundancy is needed. Offshore drilling operations from a floating vessel are normally carried out with a subsea BOP stack in conjunction with a riser that carries the mud returns back to the surface. Alternatively, the pressure risers have been used with the BOP stack on the surface and no shut off mechanism at the seafloor. The first configuration locates complicated and expensive equipment at the seafloor while the second configuration has the disadvantage of no shut off mechanism at the seafloor.

Drilling, production, test, and oil storage caisson


A downshift control device for an automatic transmission is provided in which the transmission is shifted down by releasing an oil pressure from a first engaging element that has been engaged while applying an oil pressure to a second engaging element that has been released. Thus downshift control device includes power-on downshift determining mechanism, gear-ratio detecting mechanism for detecting a gear ratio that changes during power-on downshift control, downshift released pressure control mechanism for generating a command to increase the pressure released from the first engaging element to a released pressure control actuator when the detected gear ratio reaches a first predetermined gear ratio, and downshift applied pressure control mechanism for generating a command to increase the pressure applied to the second engaging element to an applied pressure control actuator when the detected gear ratio reaches a second predetermined gear ratio that is larger than the first predetermined gear ratio and is established just before completion of shifting.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a downshift control device for an automatic transmission, and more particularly to a technique for controlling a pressure applied to an engaging element and a pressure released from another engaging element in the process of shifting down of the transmission which is initiated by depressing an accelerator pedal or manually selecting a gear position while the vehicle is in a power-on condition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is known a shift control device for an automatic transmission as disclosed in Japanese laid-open Patent Publication No. 2-80850. In order to reduce shift shocks when the transmission is shifted down in a power-on condition of the vehicle, the control device disclosed in this publication is provided with delaying means for delaying engagement of a first input clutch that is to be engaged upon downshifting (by restricting or reducing an increase in the pressure applied to the first input clutch in the later period of shifting), so as to prevent the first input clutch from being engaged with a transmission torque capacity before a first one-way clutch is engaged such that the rotating speed of an input shaft of the transmission matches the gear position in which the transmission is to be placed after the downshifting.
Since the above-described known downshift control device employs the one-way clutch for optimizing the downshift timing in which the input and output shafts of the transmission are rotated in synchronization, pull-in or drawing shocks can be avoided and desirable downshifting can be thus achieved by suitably controlling the pressure applied to the clutch during downshifting and restricting the increase in the rotating speed of the input shaft of the transmission. In an automatic transmission equipped with a power transmitting system in which the one-way clutch is eliminated, on the other hand, the downshift timing for realizing the synchronized rotation is determined by monitoring the increase in the pressure applied to the clutch, but the rotating speed of the input shaft of the transmission cannot be controlled by controlling the pressure applied to the clutch.
In the automatic transmission equipped with the power transmitting system in which the one-way clutch is eliminated, therefore, when the clutch pressure to be applied is increased earlier than the synchronization timing (as indicated in "k" in FIG. 14), by keeping the engine speed NE (turbine speed NT) being increased at a high rate (steep slope of increase in the engine speed NE) throughout the downshift operation, as shown in FIG. 14, the rotation of the input shaft is pulled up and the output torque TQ becomes temporarily negative, resulting in pull-in shocks. These shocks may be reduced where the clutch pressure to be applied is increased concurrently with the synchronization timing (as indicated in "m" in FIG. 14). Where the clutch pressure to be applied is increased later than the synchronization timing (as indicated in "n" in FIG. 14), however, the rotation of the engine that is racing is pulled down, and the output torque TQ is temporarily raised to a great extent, resulting in thrust shocks.
As described above, where the slope of increase in the engine speed NE (turbine speed NT) (=slope of increase in the gear ratio) greatly changes in a region around the synchronization timing, the clutch pressure to be applied must be increased in the timing that is almost equivalent to a point of time or a moment. Where rotating conditions, oil temperature and other conditions slightly differ each time the transmission is shifted down, therefore, the clutch pressure to be applied cannot be always increased at the same time as the synchronous rotation of the input and output shafts of the transmission, and the pull-in shocks or thrust shocks cannot be avoided.

Downshift control device for automatic transmission


A disk drive apparatus includes: head means for performing laser irradiation to and detection of reflected light from an optical disk recording medium and having a focus bias mechanism and a spherical aberration correction mechanism; focus bias means for driving the focus bias mechanism to add a focus bias to a focus servo loop; spherical aberration correction means for driving the spherical aberration correction mechanism based on a spherical aberration correction value; evaluation value creating means for creating an evaluation value based on reflected light information obtained by the head means; adjustment means for adjusting the focus bias and the spherical aberration correction value; and control means for determining whether data is written on at least one track of the tracks adjacent to an adjustment use range on the recording medium and controlling an adjustment operation on the focus bias and the spherical aberration correction value by the adjustment means based on the determination result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk drive apparatus, which at least reads signals from an optical disk recording medium, and a method for adjusting a focus bias and a spherical aberration correction value.
2. Description of the Related Art
The technologies for writing/reading digital data may include a data recording technology by using an optical disk (including a magnetooptical disk), such as a CD (Compact Disk), an MD (Mini-Disk) and a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), as a recording medium.
There are a read-only optical disk as known as a CD, a CD-ROM and a DVD-ROM and an optical disk on which user data can be written as known as an MD, a CD-R, a CD-RW, a DVD-R, a DVD-RW, a DVD+R, a DVD+RW and a DVD-RAM. Data can be written on the writable optical disk by applying a magnetooptical recording scheme, a phase-change recording scheme, a dye film change recording scheme and so on to allow recording data. The dye film change recording scheme may be also called "write-once recording" and is suitable for the application of data saving since data writing is allowed only once but rewriting is not allowed. On the other hand, the magnetooptical recording scheme and phase-change recording scheme allow data rewriting and may be applied for applications including recording contents data of music, video images, games, application programs and so on.
Furthermore, in recent years, a high density optical disk called "BLU-RAY DISC®" has been developed, and the capacity has been increased.
A high density disk such as "BLU-RAY DISC®" has a disk structure having a cover layer of about 0.1 mm in the direction of the thickness of the disk and writes/reads a phase change mark under the condition of the combination of laser (so-called blue laser) 405 nm wavelength and an objective lens with an NA (numerical aperture) of 0.85.
The recording capacity may be about 25 GB (gigabytes) on a disk 12 cm in diameter. The two-layer structure, for example, of the recording layer may allow the capacity of about 50 GB, which is the double.
By the way, as publicly known, a focus servo operation that controls the focal position of laser light on a disk recording surface and a tracking servo operation that controls laser light to trace a track (that is, a track by a pit array or a groove) on a disk are performed in an optical disk apparatus that writes/reads to/from an optical disk.
Then, with respect for the focus servo, it is known that applying a proper focus bias to a focus loop may be required for proper writing/reading and servo operations.
A high density disk may require spherical aberration correction in order to address the thickness error of the cover layer thereof and support the recording layer of the multi-layered structure. For example, those having a spherical aberration correction mechanism employing an expander or a liquid crystal element within an optical pickup have been developed.
A writable optical disk apparatus (recording/playing apparatus) including a high NA lens such as the "BLU-RAY DISK®" in particular may require the automatic adjustment of the focus bias and spherical aberration correction since the margins of the focus bias/spherical aberration correction are relatively narrow.
The method for adjusting a focus bias and a spherical aberration correction value is disclosed in JP-A-2004-241081 and JP-A-2003-233917 (Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Disk drive apparatus and method for adjusting focus bias and spherical aberration correction value


A first layer of titanium nitride (TiN) is formed on a semiconductor structure, such as an interconnect via. Then, a second layer of TiN is formed on the first layer of TiN. The first layer of TiN is amorphous. The second layer of TiN is polycrystalline, having a mixed grain orientation. Finally, an aluminum film is formed on the second layer of titanium nitride. Optionally, a titanium silicide layer is formed on the semiconductor structure prior to the step of forming the first layer of titanium nitride. Interconnects formed according to the invention have polycrystalline aluminum films with grain sizes of approximately less than 0.25 microns.

Semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) contain individual devices, which are typically operatively-coupled together using metal lines. In most applications, the metal lines are formed on a different level than the devices, separated by an intermediate dielectric, such as silicon oxide or borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG). The most commonly used metal lines are aluminum. Interconnects are formed between individual devices and the metal lines. A typical interconnect between metal layers is composed of a via (i.e. opening) formed in an intermediate dielectric. Similarly, an interconnect between a metal layer and silicon is composed of a contact (i.e. opening) formed in an intermediate dielectric over an active device region. The via is filled with a metal, such as aluminum or tungsten. Aluminum has been preferred to date as an interconnect metal. Aluminum exhibits relatively low resistivity as compared to tungsten and, furthermore, is highly compatible with silicon oxide, which is often used as the insulative material surrounding a via. Furthermore, when metal lines are used, which are composed of aluminum, compatibility between the metal lines and the aluminum interconnect materials is optimized.
Interconnects often further contain a diffusion barrier layer sandwiched between the metal and the active device region at the bottom of the via. Such layers prevent intermixing of the metal and material from the active device region, such as silicon, which extends the life of the device. Passive titanium nitride diffusion barrier layers are the most common diffusion barrier layers. Such layers are typically formed over a refractory metal silicide layer. Titanium silicide is the most commonly used refractory metal silicide due to its relatively low resistivity. The use of titanium silicide between titanium nitride and the active device region is preferred due to its intermediate crystallographic characteristics between those of silicon and titanium nitride. The intermediate crystallographic characteristics prevent increased resistivity resulting from a contact solely between silicon and titanium nitride, whose crystallographic characteristics are very different.
Ideally, interconnects exhibit zero impedance to current flow, as exhibited in an ohmic contact (i.e. those which exhibit linear current vs. voltage characteristics), to provide optimum electrical performance. However, interconnects are not ideal and typically exhibit near linear characteristics at best.
One significant concern in depositing metal into a via is obtaining adequate step coverage of the via, particularly obtaining adequate step coverage is difficult when the vias have high aspect ratios (i.e. a large ratio of height to width of the via), as seen more often as IC densities increase. To mitigate this problem, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is used to deposit the metal instead of physical vapor deposition (PVD). CVD is more apt to adequately fill high-aspect ratio contact holes than PVD. However, to date, CVD aluminum exhibits rough, nonconformal layers on complex topographies, prior to surface modification. This is undesirable because voids often develop within a via, due to the roughness of the CVD aluminum. Such voids severely increase the resistivity of a contact and degrade device performance by not providing uniform connection across an interconnect.
There is a need for an interconnect structure that effectively utilizes aluminum instead of tungsten. There is a further need for a method for forming a smooth, conformal aluminum layer within an interconnect structure. A method for using aluminum in sub-0.25 micron contact holes is needed in order to optimize future device performance.

Small grain size, conformal aluminum interconnects and method for their formation


A workfunction modulation-based sensor comprising a field-effect transistor (FET). The FET comprises a substrate, a gate dielectric, a metal gate, a source, a drain, and a layer of sensing material that is electrically connected to the metal gate. An electrical connection that connects to the source of the FET. An electrical connection that connects to the drain of the FET. An electrical connection that connects to the layer of sensing material. An environment that includes an adsorbate gas surrounding, at least a portion of, the layer of sensing material. Wherein the sensing material is adapted to adsorb, at least in part, the adsorbate gas. The amount of adsorbate gas adsorbed on the layer of sensing material modulates the workfunction of the FET such that the degree of adsorbate gas adsorption corresponds to one of the temperature or pressure associated with the environment of the FET.

High-powered very large scale integration (VLSI) circuits are widely used in the electronics industry. Major uses of VLSI circuits include clock buffers, wordline drivers, and I/O buffers. Generally, VLSI circuits are comprised of a plurality of field effect transistors (FETs) laid out on a substrate. As transistors have decreased in size, the thickness of the silicon dioxide gate dielectric has steadily decreased to increase the gate capacitance and thereby drive current, raising device performance. However, as thickness has scaled below 2 nanometers, leakage currents due to tunneling have increased, which in turn have lead to higher power consumption and reduced device reliability. During their operation, VLSI circuits generate heat internally. This self-heating increases the junction temperature in the device, and can result in failure of the VLSI circuit.
In general, gates made using high-κ materials allow for increased gate capacitance with reduced associated leakage effects. The term high-K dielectric generally refers to a material with a high dielectric constant κ (as compared to silicon dioxide). High-κ dielectrics are used in semiconductor manufacturing processes where they are usually used to replace a silicon dioxide gate dielectric or another dielectric layer of a device. Some materials which have received considerable attention as high k gate materials are oxynitride (a silicon oxide dielectric that has been infused with a small amount of nitrogen), hafnium silicate, zirconium silicate, hafnium dioxide and zirconium dioxide.
Pressure sensors can be used to measure pressure variations in air as well as any other gas. The pressure variations in a sample gas are often measured against known values. These pressure variations can be an important parameter in determining various properties of a given gas sample. Pressure sensors that measure such pressure variations find widespread application in areas such as industrial process control, automobile engine monitoring and various biomedical processes. Such sensors would typically require high mechanical stability. Further, the sensors should have a good sensitivity and resolution to respective variations in pressure and temperature.

Workfunction modulation-based sensor to measure pressure and temperature


An optical waveguide film includes: an optical waveguide film main body including an optical waveguide core through which light travels and a cladding portion that encloses the optical waveguide core and has a lower refractive index than that of the optical waveguide core; and a marking member that is disposed at least at a portion of a principal surface of the optical waveguide film main body so as to protrude from the principal surface and that includes, at a surface thereof, a groove-shaped mark for positioning.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an optical waveguide film and a method for producing the same.
2. Related Art
An optical waveguide needs to be connected to a light-emitting/receiving device, optical fibers, or other optical waveguides. Therefore, it is preferable that the position of the core of the optical waveguide and the position of an end surface of the core be accurately recognized. However, waveguide cores and waveguide claddings are both transparent. Connection of an optical waveguide to light-emitting/receiving elements, optical fibers, or other optical waveguides can be made easier by separately providing an easily-detectable mark for positioning that has a fixed positional relationship relative to the end surface of the core. A mark for positioning enables accurate detection of the position of the optical waveguide core, and may take a form of plural minute (comparable to the size of the cross-section of the optical waveguide core) cross-shaped marks provided at the optical waveguide.
In order to accurately set the positional relationship between the mark for positioning and the end surface of the optical waveguide core that is to be connected to an external element, it is preferable to simultaneously form the mark for positioning and the core pattern using a core pattern forming process. This technique has been used in conventional methods for producing optical waveguides.
An optical waveguide production method exists that does not use a photomask or a template. In this method, an optical waveguide core is formed by cutting a flexible optical film with a dicing saw. This production method can be applied to formation of an optical waveguide having a large number of linear-array waveguide cores, such as an optical bus for high-speed data transmission between boards. Cutting using a dicing saw is effective in cost reduction since it enables realization of a fast processing.

Optical waveguide film with mark for positioning and method for producing the same


The present invention relates to methods and compositions for the treatment of vesicovaginal fistula. It is based, at least in part, on the discovery that a menstrual cup may be used to collect urine and decrease or prevent urine leakage in certain women having vesicovaginal fistula and, in some cases, the menstrual cup was observed to at least partially occlude the fistula and permit normal micturition.

Obstetric fistula is a communication, or channel, between the vagina and either the bladder ("vesicovaginal fistula") or rectum ("rectovaginal fistula"). It may arise as a result of prolonged obstructed labor or rape. Obstetric fistula has a higher incidence in low-income countries with fewer opportunities for surgical correction. According to Biadgilign et al. (2013, Reproductive Health 10:14), 10.6 per 1000 parous women in Ethiopia have experienced obstetric fistula.
Vesicovaginal fistula ("VVF") results in leakage of urine through the vagina and manifests as incontinence. VVF has been reported to have a number of psychosocial consequences, including depression, feelings of shame, social and familial ostracism, and even divorce (Alio et al., 2011, Arch. Gynecol. Obstet. 284(2):371-378; Farid et al., 2013, J. Coll. Physicians Surg. Pak. 23(10):828-829). As many of the women suffering from VVF have limited or no access to surgical repair, there is a need for non-surgical treatment options.
Menstrual cups are known in the art. These are flexible cups that can be placed in the vaginal canal in order to collect menstrual fluid. Commercially available menstrual cups include the DivaCup®, the Mooncup®, the Instead Softcup™, the Ladycup, and the Lunette menstrual cup, among others. Patents and patent applications describing menstrual cups include U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,248 to Crawford, Canadian Patent Application No. 2,579,454 to Chambers and Pickering, and International Patent Application Publication No. WO2006/058409 to Diva International.


A work tool includes a motor, a tool-mounting part, a rotary shaft, a rotating member, a switch, an operation member and a lock mechanism. The rotating member is held rotatably around a rotation axis of the rotary shaft and configured to transmit torque to and from the rotary shaft while being allowed to rotate relative to the rotary shaft. The rotating member is configured to rotate together with the rotary shaft by action of transmitting the torque when the operation member is moved from the OFF position to the ON position and the lock mechanism allows the rotating member to rotate, and configured to apply a braking force to the rotary shaft by action of transmitting the torque when the operation member is moved from the ON position to the OFF position and the lock mechanism non-rotatably locks the rotating member.

A work tool is known which is configured to perform an operation on a workpiece by rotationally driving a tool accessory by power of a motor. Some of such work tools have a mechanism for facilitating tool replacement. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-118097 discloses a disc grinder which is configured to perform an operation by a tool accessory being rotationally driven via a driving-side rotating member and a driven-side rotating member. The disc grinder is provided with a lock mechanism for locking rotation inputted from the driven side while allowing transmission of rotation inputted from the driving side.


A light conversion film including a first barrier film, a light conversion layer disposed on the first barrier film, the light conversion layer including a matrix resin and red quantum dots that are dispersed into the matrix resin, and a second barrier film disposed on the light conversion layer. The light conversion film satisfies following Equation (1): 5≦(weight of quantum dot within light conversion layer/total weight of light conversion layer)×100×t≦50, where, t is a thickness of the light conversion layer.

Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a light conversion film, and a backlight unit and display device having the same, and more particularly, to a light conversion film having superior light conversion efficiency and color characteristics and having a slim shape, and a backlight unit and display device having the same.
Discussion of the Related Art
Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) have low power consumption, good portability, technology compactness, and high added-value. In particular, LCDs are non-emissive type devices and thus do not form an image by itself. Also, because LEDs must receive light incident from the outside to form an image, a light source for providing light is required.
In addition, Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (CCFLs) have been mainly used as light sources in the past. However, CCFLs have a difficulty in securing of brightness uniformity and are deteriorated in color purity if the CCFLs are manufactured in large scale.
Thus, three-color light emitting diodes (LEDs) instead of the CCFLs are being used in recent years as light sources. When three-color LEDs are used, a high color purity can be used to form high-quality images. However, because three-color LEDs are expensive, the manufacturing costs increase. As a result, blue LEDs that are relatively inexpensive are being used as light sources. For this, the blue light is converted into red light and green light using a light conversion film including red quantum dots and green quantum dots. White light can also be produced.
In particular, light emitted from a corresponding blue LED is excited by the red quantum dot and green quantum dot within the light conversion member and thus is converted into red light and green light. Here, blue light that is not excited by the quantum dots can be mixed with the red light and green light to produce white light.
In addition, the light conversion member can be manufactured in a tube shape and disposed on a side surface of a light source unit. However, in this instance, the density of light incident into the quantum dots may increase causing the quantum dot to degrade. Thus, quantum dots can be dispersed into a matrix resin and then cured to prepare a light conversion member in the form of a film.
The light conversion member can then be disposed on a light guide plate. In this instance, because light incident from a light source is low in density, the degradation of the quantum dots can be reduced. However, an amount of quantum dots used for realizing white light increases. Particularly, an amount of green quantum dots increases.
In more detail, green light excited from the green quantum dots is excited again by the red quantum dots and thus converted into red light. Thus, to uniformly maintain rates of the green and red lights generated in the light conversion member, an amount of green quantum dots within the light conversion member is relatively larger than that of red quantum dots. In general, the amount of green quantum dots is about ten times greater than that of red quantum dots in the related art light conversion film.
In addition, when the amount of quantum dots within the film increases, a distance between the quantum dots decreases, which causes reabsorption of the quantum dots, thereby deteriorating the light emitting efficiency. To maintain the distance between the quantum dots, the film has an increased thickness. However, if the film thickness increases, an amount of light absorbed by the matrix resin increases, which deteriorates the light efficiency. In addition, the energy needed for curing the matrix resin increases in both process time and cost. Also, when the film is formed, the matrix resin may not be completely cured or is deteriorated in adhesion and/or physical property.

Light conversion film, and backlight unit and display device having the same


A video processing method is for an electronic device including a screen. The method includes obtaining a target video segment, the target video segment being one of a plurality of video segments pre-divided according to an obtained video file scheduled for playing; configuring a video enhancement parameter for the target video segment; performing a video enhancement process on the target video segment according to the video enhancement parameter; and displaying the enhanced target video segment on the screen. An electronic device and a non-transitory computer-readable medium are also provided.

The present disclosure relates to the technology field of image processing, and more particularly to a video processing method, an electronic device, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium.
With the development of electronic technology and information technology, more and more devices can play videos. In the process of playing a video, it is necessary to perform operations, such as decoding, rendering, and compositing, on the video, and then the video is displayed on a display screen.

Video processing method, electronic device, and non-transitory computer-readable medium

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


A system adapted to regulate a voltage of a supply bus is described. The system includes a source adapted to supply a source current to the supply bus, a load adapted to draw a load current from the supply bus, and a bi-directional voltage to current converter adapted to provide an output current, where the output current is at least partly based on the source current and the load current.

The present invention generally relates to more electric architecture (MEA), where traditionally hydraulic and pneumatic subsystems of an aircraft are replaced with electric loads.
Such electric loads may include electro-hydrostatic actuators (EHAs), electromechanical actuators (EMAs), advanced radar, and directed energy weapons (DEW).
Such loads may cause repeated, rapid, wide fluctuation of load currents (e.g., peak-to-average power ratios exceeding five to one with time intervals from fifty milliseconds to five seconds), regenerative power flow equal to peak power draw for brief periods of time (e.g., twenty to two hundred milliseconds), and poor power quality on a bus used to supply the electric loads.
As can be seen, there is a need for a way to meet stringent average, pulsed and regenerative power requirements and facilitate optimized real-time power flow control, management, delivery, and integrated protection among various sources of DC power and/or energy storage systems.


An operation monitor device for a hardware component detects a load current that is changed due to the operation of the hardware component through a pulse width modulation (PWM) module; thereby generating a voltage variation. A monitoring unit outputs a detecting result to a system by detecting the voltage variation and generates a modulating signal in response to a monitor signal fed back by the system according to the detecting result, such that a controller generates a reference voltage variation according to the modulating signal. In this way, the load current changes as the load of the hardware component increases, such that the controller changes the generated reference voltage and further modulates the output voltage supplied to the hardware component by the PWM module, thus meeting the execution state of the hardware component and improving performance.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an operation monitor device of a hardware component, which is particularly used to control the required voltage and core frequency for the hardware component according to the load current in response to the operation of a hardware component.
2. Related Art
With the rapid development of science and technology, not only national governments and enterprise systems, but also families and individuals are more and more relying on information processing devices. In order to be convenient and to enhance work efficiency, the clock frequency of the corresponding information processing system has also been gradually enhanced.
Therefore, achieving the best performance of an information processing device through overclocking or under clocking of the computer accessories or peripherals has become one of the most common methods. Taking a display card as an example, it has a graphic processing unit (GPU) exclusively used for processing two-dimensional and three-dimensional images. Instruction execution, memory accessing, and the like are synchronized through clock signals. Therefore, the performance of the display card can be enhanced when the frequencies of the clock signals are increased manually.
The conventional modulating of the clock frequency of the display card, i.e., so-called "overclocking" or "underclocking"; is mostly carried out manually by a user. In other words, the overclocking of the display card is achieved through modulating the core frequency and the memory frequency of the display card manually by the user with application software. Modulating the core frequency is equivalent to overclocking/underclocking the core of the GPU, which is similar to overclocking/underclocking the central processing unit (CPU) internal frequency. Modulating the Memory Clock (MCLK) frequency of the display card is equivalent to increase/decrease the access speed of graphics cache, so as to reduce the bottleneck effects of the memory, which is similar to obtaining a larger memory bandwidth through modulating the external frequency of a motherboard.
However, each time before the clock frequency is modulated manually, the user has to refer to the guide manual and consider the configurations of the peripheral components, in order to modulate the frequency successfully. The operating procedures are not only quite complicated, but also frequency modulation errors are likely to occur if the user lacks relevant knowledge. Excessive or insufficient frequency modulation usually causes extra burden for the operation and unnecessary losses of the related hardware component, and accordingly the life time is shortened. Additionally, when the frequency is modulated manually, if an underclocking action is not carried out after the overclocking, the display card is at an overclocking state all the time. Thus, not only the electric power is consumed, but also the life time of the display card is probably shortened as well.
Therefore, the professionals in relevant research and development fields are exerting their efforts on how to adjust the operating parameters of the hardware component automatically and dynamically, so as to avoid involving manual operations and further reducing the losses of the component. Thus, the computer accessories and peripherals are also kept in an optimum condition to provide the best performance. However, it will be known from the above that, how to provide an accurate setting value for reference is a key point for achieving automatic and dynamic adjustment when adjusting the operating parameters of the hardware component. Therefore, how to provide an accurate setting value is also an important research subject in the relevant research and development fields.

Operation monitor device for hardware component


A closure plug for closing an opening has an annular sealing section which is provided to rest against an edge of the opening, and an expansion section which is formed in one piece with the sealing section and can be adjusted from a mounting position, in which the sealing section has a mounting diameter at least at one axial end, to an expansion position, in which the sealing section has a larger diameter.

In vehicle body construction a multitude of openings and holes are produced, which would permit an ingress of moisture and dirt. Also, such openings and holes constitute so-called sound bridges. Therefore, these openings and holes are closed with closure plugs. The aim is to seal the openings and holes and, in addition, to bring about a sound damping.
Closure plugs are made use of for closing these vehicle body openings. In this connection, a large number of plug geometries are already known.
DE 102 53 983 A1, for example, shows a closure plug for sealing and sound-damping closure of a hole in a component. The closure plug has an annular sealing section which is compressed when the closure plug is inserted into the opening, and sealingly engages the edge of the opening.
In the known solutions it has turned out to be a drawback that the mounting of the closure plugs in openings of the vehicle body requires high mounting forces.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to reduce the forces required for mounting a closure plug and also to solve the tightness problems, known from the prior art, of known closure plugs.

TRW Automotive Electronics & Components GmbH


A mobile communication device (100) includes a main body (110), a cover body (120) and a linking member (130). The cover body is coupled to the main body and is movable relative to the main body. The cover body includes a lens module (121), an image sensor module (122) and at least one elastic member (123). One of the lens module and the image sensor module has at least one protrusion (121a) thereon. The linking member has a first end portion (131) coupled to the cover body and an opposite second end portion (132) coupled to the main body. The first end portion includes a sloping portion (131a) interposed between the lens module and the image sensor module. The protrusion abuts against the sloping portion. The linking member is driven by movement of the cover body relative to the main body, thus adjusting a distance between the lens module and the image sensor module.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to mobile communication devices, and more particularly to a mobile communication device, for example, a mobile phone with a digital camera module having a focusing function.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, digital camera modules are in widespread use in a variety of portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones, notebook computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Most portable electronic devices are becoming progressively more miniaturized over time, and digital camera modules are correspondingly becoming smaller and smaller. Besides having a small size of a digital camera module, consumers still demand excellent imaging performance, such as focusing function.
Focusing techniques have been widely employed in various imaging systems, including, e.g., still camera systems and video camera systems. The focusing function is carried out by a mechanism wherein a distance between a lens assembly and an image sensor is varied by changing the internal spacing of two or more of the elements of the camera module along an optical axis. Generally, the camera module usually uses an actuator, such as step motor, to drive a lens assembly of the camera module to achieve the focusing function. However, the step motor is relatively bulky in volume. In addition, the step motor consumes a substantial amount of power, especially relative to the amount of power that can be stored in the typical battery system.
What is needed, therefore, is a mobile communication device with a digital camera module having a simple and energy-efficient focusing mechanism.


In a light emitting apparatus using LEDs, luminance and chromaticity of the LED changes largely due to a temperature change. Meanwhile, by using phosphors, it is possible to improve the stability of the luminance and chromaticity against the temperature change. However, color reproducibility of the light emitting apparatus decreases. Therefore, the light emitting apparatus includes a first LED, a second LED, a first phosphor which is excited by the second LED and emits light whose color is the same as or similar to a color of light emitted from the first LED, and a control circuit which controls a ratio between an emission intensity of the first LED and an emission intensity of the second LED.

In recent years, developments of a configuration using, as a light source of a backlight used in a liquid crystal display apparatus, a light emitting diode (hereinafter referred to as "LED") instead of a conventional cold cathode fluorescent tube (hereinafter referred to as "CCFL") have been advanced. Especially, as compared with a conventional CCFL tube backlight, an LED backlight which uses LEDs of three primary colors (red, green and blue) is characterized in that its color reproduction region (NTSC ratio, CIE1931) is large. This is because a half band width of an emission spectrum of the LED is narrow, and RGB colors which are respectively close to their pure colors can be obtained. Moreover, since the brightness of the LEDs of each color can be adjusted by the amount of current, balance among the colors can be changed. Further, unlike the CCFL, the LED does not contain mercury, so that it excels in environment-friendliness.
In addition, LED lighting apparatuses including LEDs are increasingly used as light sources for general lighting other than for liquid crystal display apparatuses. Especially, since an apparatus including LEDs of three primary colors (red, green and blue) can control emission intensities of three primary colors, it is possible to stabilize or change a color temperature of the light source.
However, regarding the LED lighting apparatus including the red LEDs, the green LEDs and the blue LEDs, when the brightness of the three colors changes or the balance among the three colors changes, the brightness and/or color of an object to be illuminated changes. When using the LED lighting apparatus as the backlight of the liquid crystal display apparatus, the number of LEDs used is large, so that slight changes in the brightness or color of each LED are perceived as uneven luminance or uneven color of the entire liquid crystal image.
Currently, to obtain high luminance, it is desirable to use an AlGaInP based semiconducting material as the red LED, and an AlGaInN based semiconducting material as the green LED and the blue LED. Since the half band width of the emission spectrum of the red LED using the AlGaInP based semiconducting material is narrow (about 20 nm), this red LED excels in monochromaticity. By using this red LED, it is possible to increase the color reproduction region of the liquid crystal display apparatus. However, a lowering rate of the luminance of the AlGaInP based red LED at the time of temperature rise is higher than that of the AlGaInN based LED. Moreover, a change in a peak wavelength of the emission spectrum of the AlGaInP based red LED is larger than that of the AlGaInN based LED. Further, as the temperature increases, the emission spectrum of the red LED shifts toward a long wavelength side. In light of visibility characteristics of humans, this change is a wavelength shift that is deterioration for the visibility. Therefore, even if the emission intensity of the AlGaInP based red LED is the same as that of the AlGaInN based LED, the AlGaInP based red LED looks dark to the human eye. Further, since the emission intensity itself of the AlGaInP based red LED decreases as the temperature rises, two disadvantageous factors occur, and this leads to decrease in the emission intensity of a red component perceived by the human eye as the backlight. In light of the coloring of the backlight, this decrease relatively increases percentages of blue and green components, so that the color reproducibility is deteriorated. To compensate for the decrease in the red component, the current flowing to the LED has been increased. However, this causes problems, such as increase in power consumption, increase in the amount of heat generated, and decrease in reliability.
To deal with these problems, FIG. 1 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 222904/2001 (Tokukai 2001-222904, published on Aug. 17, 2001) shows a light source which uses light emission from a phosphor which converts exciting light of the blue LED to generate red light emission. This significantly mends the problem of the change in a color tone due to the temperature change.
FIG. 1 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 118292/2002 (Tokukai 2002-118292, published on Apr. 19, 2002) shows a light source which emits three primary colors using blue LEDs as excitation light sources, and green and red phosphors.
FIG. 3 of Published Japanese Translation of PCT International Publication for Patent Application No. 515956/2003 (Tokuhyo 2003-515956, published on May 7, 2003) shows an LED lighting system which uses a light source including, for example, red LEDs, green LEDs and phosphors which are excited by blue LEDs to emit red light.
When using, as a red phosphor, 0.5MgF2.3.5MgO.GeO2:Mn shown in FIG. 2 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 171000/2002 (Tokukai 2002-171000, published on Jun. 14, 2002), the half band width of the red phosphor is narrower than that of the red LED, so that it may be possible to obtain the excellent color reproduction region. Meanwhile, the pamphlet of International Publication No. 2005/052087 (published on Jun. 9, 2005) reports that a wavelength conversion efficiency of a nitride based phosphor is excellent. The half band width of the emission spectrum of this nitride based phosphor is wider (about 60 nm) than that of the red LED. Therefore, this phosphor is excellent as general lighting, but has been thought to be not suitable for a liquid crystal backlight whose color reproduction region is large.
The light emitting apparatus which uses only LED chips excels in the color reproducibility, but the problem is that the luminance and chromaticity of the LED changes largely by the temperature change. Meanwhile, the light emitting apparatus in which LED chips of one specific color are replaced with phosphors excited by an LED light source(s) can improve the stability of the luminance and chromaticity with respect to the temperature change. However, when the half band width of the emission spectrum the phosphor is wide, the problem is that the color reproducibility of the display apparatus deteriorates.

Light emitting apparatus, display apparatus and method for controlling light emitting apparatus


A data backup device according to the present invention comprises a first table, a second table, an update management part configured to perform recording in the second table an identifier of updated portion of a first memory, a table rewriting part configured to perform rewriting the first table such that the first table identifies the portion of the first memory identified by the second table, and a data copy control part configured to perform output of first data from the portion of the first memory identified by the first table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data backup device, a data backup method, and a recording medium storing data backup program. In particular, the present invention relates to backing up data between plural data centers in a disaster recovery system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A disaster recovery system with a primary data center and backup center (secondary data center) is known. The secondary data center backs up the primary data center in case of a disaster such as earthquake or flood.
In many disaster recovery systems having the secondary data center, the primary data center and the secondary data center are geographically separate from each other. And replicated data of a memory unit in a storage device of the primary data center is stored in the memory unit in the storage device of the secondary data center.
The following two types of methods are used for copying data from the memory unit in the primary data center (primary memory unit) to the memory unit in the secondary data center (secondary. memory unit).
1. A method in which the contents of the primary memory unit are copied to a removable storage medium such as a magnetic tape, and mailed to the secondary data center, and the contents of the storage medium are stored to the secondary memory unit.
2. A method in which data is copied from primary memory unit to secondary memory unit using a data copying function of the storage device via a communication line that connects the primary data center and the secondary data center.
In the first backup method which uses a removable storage medium, 1) the data of the primary memory unit are saved in the recording medium, 2) the storage medium is mailed to the secondary data center from the primary data center, and 3) the data in the recording medium are written to the secondary memory unit. The above troublesome work is required every time data is backed up from the primary data center to the secondary data center. The disadvantage becomes more conspicuous when a frequent back ups are required. The frequency of data back ups may be decreased to reduce the work. But there arises such a disadvantage that the data between the primary and secondary data centers often does not coincide with each other because periods during which the data of the secondary data center are old becomes long.
On the other hand, a problem of a second method using the communication line resides in how data to be communicated is appropriately selected.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP 2004-303122A has reported a method using a communication line. In this method, the storage device has a differential map, which is used to manage a difference of data stored in a primary memory unit and a secondary memory unit. In this method, the storage area in each of the primary and secondary memory units are divided into blocks of a certain length, and a bit is allocated to each pair of corresponding blocks in the primary memory unit and the secondary memory unit to produce a bit map. Each bit is controlled so as to indicate whether data in respective blocks of a pair to which the bit is allocated coincides with each other. When the data in respective blocks of a pair does not coincide with each other, the data copying function of the storage devices transfer data from a primary memory unit to a secondary memory unit. Thus, updated data in a primary memory unit is copied to a secondary memory unit.
A disadvantage of this method is that when the data copying function of the storage device begins to work, such as when a disaster recovery system starts its back up service, the function copies the entire data stored in the primary memory unit to the secondary memory unit through a communication line that connects the primary and the secondary data centers, requiring much time and costs for data communication. It is because when the function begins to work, the differential map indicates that the data of the entire blocks in the primary memory unit and the secondary memory unit does not coincide with each other.

Data backup device, data backup method, and recording medium storing data backup program


An integrated circuit to remove jitter from a clock signal includes an integrated circuit die. The integrated circuit die includes a signal comparator. The signal comparator is configured to determine a frequency difference between a jittery input clock signal and a correction signal. A digital low pass filter is coupled to receive and filter the frequency difference and to provide a filtered output signal. A free running crystal-less oscillator produces a reference signal. A fractional output divider is coupled to the free running crystal-less oscillator and the digital low pass filter. The fractional output divider utilizes the filtered output signal to establish a value to divide the reference signal by to obtain a clean output clock signal. The clean output clock signal is fed back to the signal comparator and is used as the correction signal.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to jitter attenuation, and more specifically to apparatuses and methods for low power, small footprint jitter attenuation.
2. Art Background
A data communication system utilizes a data communication channel such as is used with Ethernet (IEEE 802.3 standard), Universal Serial bus (USB,) High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI,) IEEE 1394 standard (known as the Apple, Inc. product Firewire®,) etc. protocols. A data communication channel uses a clock signal to provide timing. A clock signal can be encoded together with data and transmitted from point A to point B within the communication system. When the clock is recovered at point B it can contain noise, which is referred to in the art as "jitter." This can present a problem, since clock signals must be stable and present a waveform which does not change over time due to environmentally induced electromagnetic interference. The circuit used to remove jitter is referred to in the art as a jitter attenuator.
An existing jitter attenuator is illustrated in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, a jittery input clock signal 104 is input to a phase detector 102. The output of the phase detector is low pass filtered by the loop filter and is input into an analog-to-digital converter (ND) 108. The output of the ND converter 108 is sent to a fractional N phase locked loop (N PLL) 110 and results in an upward or downward correction of the fractional N PLL 110 output frequency. The output of the fractional N PLL 110 is fed back at 106 to the phase detector 102. The output of the fractional N PLL 110 is either provided as clean output or is input to an output divider 114 and then output as clean output 116. The crystal 112 is located "off-chip" externally from the jitter attenuator integrated circuit die. A large die area results, power consumption is high, and cost to produce increases, all of this can present a problem.


To transmit a stream of data packets over a physical channel, virtual channels for each data type (e.g. video, graphics, text) are created and mapped onto the physical channel based on a priority assigned to each virtual channel. Each virtual channel is also assigned a quality of services (QoS). A channel controller is allocated to each virtual channel. These channel controllers are connected to a dispatcher which receives the stream of data packets and distributes the data packets to the channel controllers based on the virtual channel to which the channel controllers are allocated. Should a channel controller encounter degradation in a transmission which reduces QoS below the specified values, a QoS parameter is adjusted. If this action does not achieve the specified QoS, the channel warns the dispatcher. The dispatcher, upon receipt of the warning, may, depending on the data type, reduce that channel controller's specified QoS or another channel's QoS. If the dispatcher takes no action, the controller degrades the data to achieve the necessary QoS.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for transmitting a stream of data packets over one or more physical channels.
A physical channel is a transmission path as, for example, a fiber optic cable, a two-wire copper line, or a radio wave transmission path. A number of standards exist for the format and transport of data packets, for example, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), transport control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP), point to point protocol (PPP), and serial line interface protocol (SLIP). With such standards, data packets are typically routed from a transmitter to a receiver by mapping the packets to a physical channel. Where the receiver does not acknowledge receipt of packets, some protocols (such as TCP/IP) assume this is due to congestion and the transmitter responds by repeatedly sending the data choosing ever smaller data windows (which are blocks of data) during each transmission.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,629 issued Oct. 31, 1995 to Ko concerns an ISDN line. In Ko, if a physical channel would be congested with a data stream (i.e., it would have insufficient bandwidth), the data stream is piped to a virtual channel. A mechanism is then provided to map the virtual channel to two physical channels.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,733 issued Mar. 4, 1997 to Vallee addresses congestion in an ATM network by sending cells (i.e., data packets) of a data stream over several physical links in a round robin fashion and then re-assembling the data stream in proper order at the receiver.
Congestion is only one reason for degradation of a communications link. Errors in the transmission, intermittent connectivity, and high channel latency are other potential problems.
This invention seeks to overcome drawbacks of known systems for transmitting a single data stream.

Adaptive channel control for data service delivery


A rock drilling and bolting system includes a frame, a drill feed rail rotationally supported on the frame, the drill feed rail having a drill feed slidable on the drill feed rail and a bolter feed rail rotationally supported on the frame, the bolter feed rail having a bolter feed slidable on the bolter feed rail. The system further includes a rotary mechanism comprising a first pivot arm and a parallel second pivot arm that rotationally couples the bolter feed rail to the drill feed rail and an actuator mounted to the frame and the rotary mechanism for simultaneously rotating the drill feed rail and the bolter feed rail between a drilling position for drilling and a bolting position for bolting.

In a mine, ground support, e.g. rock bolts and screening, is used to prevent rock falls. Several different types of rock bolts may be used but all require that holes be drilled in the rock first. This is done with equipment known as rock bolters. These are mobile units with a bolting head attached. To drill a hole in the rock to install ground support, the bolting head is placed against the rock face (which is called "stinging the face") and then a hole is drilled into the rock. The unit is then indexed to install the rock bolt as ground support.
Conventionally, the step of indexing from the drill to the bolter is problematic since it may result in misalignment of the bolter relative to the drilled hole. Conventionally, the drill feed must be retracted (by moving a feed extension cylinder or boom) to remove the drill feed from the rough uneven rock face before indexing. Ground support operations can become inefficient, time-consuming and expensive when misalignment occurs. A need therefore exists for an effective solution to this technical problem.

Rock bolter with alignment mechanism for swinging between drilling and bolting


A motion stabilization system including a filter bank and motion stabilization logic. The filter bank receives a video signal and provides at least one high frequency sub-band signal which includes edge information of the video signal. The motion stabilization logic receives the high frequency sub-band signal, a reference image, and the video signal and provides a stabilized image. The reference image is generated from image stabilization information developed during motion processing. The motion stabilization system may include an edge detector which receives and binarizes the high frequency sub-band signal. Binarization significantly reduces the amount of information to be processes by the motion stabilization logic. The motion stabilization system may further include a tile buffer which stores a portion of the video signal and which provides a video signal portion to the filter bank. The filter bank may be implemented as a discrete wavelet transformation filter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to video motion stabilization, and more specifically to an image and video motion stabilization system for providing reliable camera jitter control.
2. Description of the Related Art
The need for reliable camera jitter control is increasing as users are demanding that the picture in the viewfinder and the captured image or video both appear stable. Camera jitter control algorithms attempt to distinguish movement of the camera itself from movement within the scene being captured to provide a stable viewing display and to significantly reduce or eliminate the camera motion during capture. The conventional approach to camera jitter either requires storing the complete frame for more accurate motion vectors, so that the amount of memory needed for higher resolution camera equipment becomes prohibitive, or uses reduced memory space with less computational overhead, so that the quality of image stabilization is degraded. Existing camera jitter stabilization algorithms also often depend on an external motion vector, typically from the encoder block. Such dependency on computations subsequently performed in the processing chain does not allow stabilization of the current frame and does not enable still image capture stabilization.
It is desirable to provide a reliable jitter control with significantly reduced memory requirements and computational complexity for motion estimation while also achieving good stabilization quality. It is also desired to provide a more contained algorithm as part of the image signal processing block which does not depend on subsequent computations to enable stabilization of the current frame and still image capture stabilization.

Image and video motion stabilization system


A stop lamp lighting control device for an electric vehicle having an electric regenerative braking system, includes, a first calculation unit that converts a first deceleration threshold value to a first regenerative torque threshold value with a curb weight, a second calculation unit that converting a second deceleration threshold value to a second regenerative torque threshold value with a gross vehicle weight, a third calculation unit that calculates a third regenerative torque threshold value, and a determination unit that controls the stop lamp to be turned on when a regenerative torque value exceeds the first regenerative torque threshold value, the stop lamp to be turned off when the regenerative torque value is equal to or smaller than the second regenerative torque threshold value, and the stop lamp to be turned off when a given state continues.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a stop lamp lighting control device for an electric vehicle having an electric regenerative braking system, which controls stop lamps of the electrically-powered vehicle to be suitably turned on or off.
2. Related Art
In electric vehicles, such as electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, or plug-in hybrid vehicles, an electromotor (motor) is used as a driving source. In such electric vehicles, one is known in which an electric regenerative braking system is provided as an assistant brake.
The electric regenerative braking system is configured so that when a driver stops operating an accelerator pedal and thus an accelerator opening degree becomes a fully closed state, circuit switching is performed so that the motor is rotated by a driving force of wheels and thus severs as a generator, thereby generating a braking force (e.g., see JP-A-2012-153294). As electric power generated by regenerative braking is charged to a battery
According to the pre-revised regulation notified from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan, when the electric regenerative braking system, which is adapted to be activated as an accelerator operation device is released, is being operated, turn-on of brake lamps and the like is prohibited even at any deceleration.
However, the regulation is revised so that turn-on of brake lamps and the like is obligated when a deceleration exceeds a predetermined specific value.
Relationships between decelerations and turn-on requirements are as follows:
(1) If the deceleration is −0.7 m/s2 or less: turn-on prohibition
(2) If the deceleration exceeds −0.7 m/s2 and −1.3 m/s2 or less: optionally turn-on
(3) If the deceleration exceeds −1.3 m/s2: obligatory turn-on
The revised regulation is applied to automobiles which are newly subjected to designation of type or the like since Jan. 30, 2014.
FIG. 3 shows the revised regulation, in which a horizontal axis represents vehicle speeds and a vertical axis represents decelerations. In FIG. 3, a 'second deceleration threshold value for turning-off the stop lamp' corresponds to '−0.7 m/s2' and a 'first deceleration threshold value for turning-on the stop lamp' corresponds to '−1.3 m/s2'.
Herein, a minus sign '−' is assigned to values of decelerations, and when magnitudes of decelerations are compared, a deceleration having a higher absolute value is referred to as a higher deceleration. For example, a deceleration of 1.3 m/s2 is referred to as a higher deceleration, as compared to a deceleration of −0.7 m/s2.
Correspondingly, for regenerative torques as described below, a minus sign '−' is assigned to values of regenerative torques, and when magnitudes of regenerative torques are compared, a regenerative torque having a higher absolute value is referred to as a higher regenerative torque. For example, a regenerative torque of −60 Nm is referred to as a higher regenerative torque, as compared to a regenerative torque of −20 Nm.
However, turn-on or turn-off timings of the stop lamp greatly influence feelings of a driver of a succeeding vehicle, and also depending upon turn-on or turn-off timings, a driver of an associated vehicle is likely to be subject to an uncomfortable feeling. Accordingly, what is required is to perform suitable turn-on or turn-off control to conform to the revised regulation (see FIG. 3) while considering feelings of the drivers.
The present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a stop lamp lighting control device for an electric vehicle, in which turn-on or turn off control of brake lamps (stop lamps) can be performed to alert a sufficient attention to a succeeding vehicle while not causing the succeeding vehicle to feel an inconvenience and also observing the revised regulation.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Stop lamp lighting control device for electric vehicle

MITSUBISHI JIDOSHA KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA


A loop heat pipe for dissipating heat generated by a heat source includes a pipe, a first capillary structure, a second capillary structure, and a working fluid in the pipe. The pipe has a condensing section, an evaporating section adapted to contact the heat source thermally, and an obstructing section adjacent to the evaporating section. The first capillary structure on an inner surface of the pipe is disposed between the condensing section and the obstructing section. The second capillary structure has a first and a second parts connected with each other. The first part on the inner surface of the pipe is extended from the evaporating section to the obstructing section. The second part passing through the obstructing section is extended from the obstructing section to the condensing section. A space between the first capillary structure and the second part of the second capillary structure defines a compensation room.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a heat pipe, in particularly, to a loop heat pipe.
2. Description of Related Art
The working principle of a heat pipe is to transfer heat through the evaporation and condensation of a working fluid. First, a liquid working fluid absorbs the heat generated from the heat-generating element adjacent to an evaporator of the heat pipe and evaporates to a vapor. When the vapor working fluid encounters a slight pressure difference, the vapor working fluid flows to a condenser of the heat pipe, and is condensed into liquid at the condenser and discharges heat. The liquid working fluid condensed at the condenser is transferred back to the evaporator through a capillary structure on the inner surface of the heat pipe. Therefore, the heat pipe is adapted for dissipating heat from the heat-generating element. Currently, several patents relating to the heat pipe are recited, such as US Patent No. 20080078530 and Taiwan Patent No. 1248781 and No. 592033.
Taiwan Utility Model Patent No. M256674 discloses a loop heat dissipating device, in which a liquid working fluid in a compensation room between two capillary structures may absorb heat and evaporate, and thus the pressure difference at two ends of the compensation room disappears, resulting in a problem that the vapor working fluid may not flow.
Taiwan Utility Model No. M246563 discloses a loop heat pipe. The hoop heat pipe uses a dense capillary structure to absorb a liquid working fluid, so as to prevent the liquid working fluid from flowing to the condenser. However, the dense capillary structure may firmly absorb the liquid working fluid, so the liquid working fluid is hard to be supplied to the evaporator.

Loop heat pipe and manufacturing method thereof


A pliable handle for a hand-held device is provided. The handle includes a tubular core member, a deformable outer sheath disposed about the tubular core member, a gel disposed between the tubular core member and the outer sheath, and first and second sealers inserted into respective ends of the tubular core member and sealing the gel between the tubular core member and the outer sheath, wherein a force applied to the outer sheath causes load movement of the gel.

Handles of devices, such as umbrellas, canes, walking sticks, sports equipment, garden equipment, tools, kitchen tools, cleaning equipment, writing instruments, beauty equipment, etc., have been known for many years. Users are often required to grip such handles for an extended period of time leading to discomfort.
Umbrellas, for example, which are used for protection from elements such as rain and sun, generally consist of a collapsible canopy mounted on one end of a central rod and a handle mounted on the other end. During inclement weather especially, users tend to grip the handle tightly. The stiff, rigid handle promotes finger fatigue. Also, plastic handles tend to become slippery when wet, and the user might lose grasp of the handle. And in high winds, this could lead to loss of the umbrella.
Other types of handles also suffer from similar problems of causing finger fatigue and becoming slippery when wet. It is therefore desirable to overcome the above disadvantages by providing a handle that will reduce hand fatigue and provide a more comfortable, secure grip.


In a vehicle equipped with a road shoulder compacting apparatus, the apparatus includes a ground engagement member for rolling engagement with a shoulder of a road as the vehicle travels along the road, and a support structure carrying the ground engagement member on the vehicle and including an adjustable connection between the vehicle and the ground engagement member. The adjustable connection permits displacement of the ground engagement member from one side to the other of the vehicle and vice versa, so that the ground engagement member can be utilized at opposite sides of the vehicle. A selectively adjustable mechanism is provided for raising and lowering the ground engagement member into and out of engagement with the ground.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ground compacting apparatus, and more particularly, to apparatus for compacting the shoulder of a road.
2. Description of Related Art
In the construction and maintenance of roads, gravel and other materials are distributed along the shoulders of the roads. Since such shoulders are soft shoulders, and therefore should not be subjected to the weight of a vehicle, particularly before the thus-deposited material has not yet consolidated, it is desirable to compact this material by means of a vehicle travelling along the road but not along the shoulder.
Hither to, such road shoulders have not normally been compacted. In some cases, a grader wheel has been run along the shoulder, which has the disadvantage that the grader wheel caused a water rut. Some road construction contractors have made the shoulder higher than the pavement, and they have run a heavy compactor over the should, but this had the disadvantage that the compactor compacted the pavement more than the shoulder, thus causing damage to the pavement.


It is an object of the present invention to provide a protein having high cellular adhesiveness that is useful as a cell adhesion support. The present invention provides a cell-adhesive protein comprising methionine, wherein at least a portion of the methionine residues is oxidized.

In recent years, clinical studies regarding cell transplantation using stem cells have been vigorously carried out. Treatments such as peripheral vessel regeneration have been progressed using marrow monocytes or vascular endothelial progenitor cells. However, it has become clear that, after transplantation of cells, the transplanted cells engrafted into tissues at an extremely low survival rate, and this is considered problematic. Thus, an attempt to increase the survival rate or engrafted rate of the transplanted cells has been made by mixing a base material to which cells adhere, such as an extracellular matrix, with the cells to be transplanted, and then transplanting the thus obtained mixture. For instance, studies have been conducted to transplant mesenchymal cells together with a base material so as to treat cartilage. However, a majority of the studies have been at an animal experiment level. To date, there have been no reports providing revolutionary results.
Meanwhile, an amino acid, cysteine, has been known as a representative protecting group for protein oxidation. Cysteine has a free highly reactive SH group, and this SH group functions as a scavenger or reservoir for radicals and the like. In addition to such cysteine, methionine is also considered as an essential amino acid fur oxidative stress. There has been a report regarding methionine oxidation in proteins, demonstrating that methionine functions as an antioxidant amino acid (Non Patent Document 1).
Peptides or proteins comprising the oxidized methionine are described, for example, in Patent Documents 1 to 3. Patent Document 1 describes a synthetic cyclic peptide having a specific consensus sequence, in which a methionine residue is substituted with an oxidized methionine residue. Patent Document 2 describes a pharmaceutical product comprising thymosin β4, in which the methionine residue that is the 6th amino acid from the N-terminus is oxidized to methionine sulfoxide. Patent Document 3 describes a composition comprising a CTLA4-Ig molecule, in which approximately 2.5% or less of the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA4)-Ig molecule is oxidized. However, none of the above-mentioned peptides or proteins has cellular adhesiveness.
Gelatin has been well known as a representative scaffolding material used in the field of regenerative medicine as a whole. Gelatin has been known as a highly biocompatible and highly safe material, and thus, it has been frequently applied for medical use. Also, collagen has been known as a proven material. However, collagen has solubility lower than that of gelatin, and it is highly restricted by the concentration and pH of a solution thereof (that is to say, collagen cannot be used to prepare a neutral solution of collagen having a high concentration of several tens of percent, etc.). Hence, products processable, producible, or moldable from collagen are generally limited. Accordingly, it has been desired to develop a scaffolding base material with improved cellular adhesiveness, which comprises gelatin.


A method to maximize the coupling efficiency between a collimated, free-space optical signal and a fiber optic waveguide using an active optical element to steer and focus the collimated beam driven by an adaptive controller that periodically auto-calibrates the active optical element's parameters to maximize the measured power received by the waveguide using a gradient ascent optimization algorithm.

The invention relates generally to coupling between a collimated, free-space optical signal and a single-mode optical fiber, and in particular to optimizing the alignment and focus of an optical signal into a fiber core based on the measure of transmitted power in the fiber.
Although there have been many examples of active optical elements used in prior art for beam steering, adaptive lenses, and wavefront correction, the present invention is unique in its implementation, control approach simplicity, ability to correct dominant, low-order forms of wavefront error, and robustness. Some of the relevant prior art is discussed here to establish the novelty and utility of the current invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,616 by Kowel (issued in 1986) teaches an adaptive liquid crystal lens that can be electronically corrected for both internal and external aberrations. Kowel teaches that the refractive index of the liquid crystal device can be controlled to bring entering light to a focus upon exiting the device. It is claimed that the device can be made to exhibit characteristics of both a positive lens and a negative lens. Details of the control approach are not presented, except that a "control means" is used to drive the active optical element, with control signals being developed by "a processor in response to a given program" and "using well known microprocessor control techniques". To correct for aberrations, a feedback loop was incorporated to command the liquid crystal lens based on measurements from a photoelectric sensor positioned after the device at its image plane. In contrast, the present invention uses a more efficient measurement of optical power within the fiber to which it is coupled, an adaptive controller is used to maximize power transfer, and a model-based feedback loop is not required, which avoids controller stability issues.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,253 by Chase (issued in 1991) teaches a light beam position control system that utilizes Kerr cells and Lummer-Gehrcke plates to produce sets of optical phased linear arrays for beam positioning and beam monitoring. This device is for beam steering only, but illustrates a common shortcoming of prior art, that being an efficient feedback signal for controlling the active device. In a Kerr cell, the index of refraction of a material can be changed by applying an electric field. Chase teaches a light beam control system wherein the angular position of the "controlled" beam is monitored by measurement of the angular position of a second beam. The output of the active cells and plates is split into a primary and secondary beam, the secondary beam being interrogated and used to adjust the voltage applied to the active elements to result in precise control of the primary beam. Chase teaches that the controller includes an image analysis means, including a television camera and means for generating first and second control signals, or an optical interface maximum fringe counter and digital counting means for determining monitor (secondary) beam position. Obviously, analysis of the monitor (secondary) beam is complex and no account is given of how angular position of the primary beam can be inferred or is related to analysis of the secondary beam. In contrast, the present invention uses a simpler and more robust approach for adaptively optimizing coupling with the fiber. Optical phased arrays require lower voltage levels than Kerr cells and Lummer-Gehrcke plates, and can be used for focusing a beam.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,673 by Vali (issued in 1993) relates to an optical phased array used to steer and focus an optical beam. However, instead of using a linear or planar optical phased array device to focus light energy into a fiber-optic, Vali teaches the use of an array of fiber-optic cables, wherein the relative phases along the optical paths are adjusted so that the light emitted from the fiber-optics is effectively focused. In contrast, the present invention uses an optical phased array device to focus light into a fiber-optic cable.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,421 by Roberts relates to beam steering using electro-optic phase modulators, optical phase array emitters, and electronic control circuits. Roberts states that a key problem with prior art approaches to electric beam steering is that control systems have been prohibitively complex. In contrast, the present invention uses a measurement of the optical power transmitted into the fiber to adaptively optimize the focal length and steered angle of the optical phased array. This allows tremendous flexibility, and the controller is able to compensate for dominant sources of wavefront error expected to be encountered during its service life.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,597,836 by Johnson teaches a control system for optical phased arrays that compensates for phase changes due to external perturbations such as vibration and thermal variations, as well as compensating for atmospheric aberrations external to the laser system. Johnson teaches an approach for compensating for wavefront errors as opposed to beam steering and focusing. Johnson uses analysis of the wavefront exiting the active device (that device being an optical phased array or phase modulator) to generate a control signal that is fed back to the active device. Johnson teaches that algorithms which are used in the known art to calculate phase measurements and corrections are computationally intensive, and therefore may not be capable of providing real-time feedback to the phase modulators. Johnson teaches the use of a personal computer or a plurality of personal computers to conduct analysis of the exiting beam to generate the necessary control signal. In contrast, the present invention does not require a measurement of the transmitted wavefront and subsequent analysis, which is prohibitively complex and computationally intensive. It will be shown that by maximizing the optical power transmitted into the fiber-optic, one is inherently compensating for the dominant modes of wavefront error, those being spherical aberration, tip, and tilt errors. Further, we avoid control stability issues by not using a feedback controller. Instead, an adaptive controller is used to make adjustments to the optical phased array in a feed-forward control architecture. This precludes the need to have an accurate system model for controller synthesis and allows for time-varying system dynamics.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,079,203 by Huang teaches an electronically tunable micro-lens device that uses an inhomogeneous, concentrated, polymer network with nemantic liquid crystal. Huang asserts that micro-lenses are one of the most important components in the micro-optics field for optical fiber coupling. Huang teaches a gradient-index liquid crystal lens with a tunable focal length and low voltage requirements. The device is polarization independent, and capable of being used as either a positive or negative lens. Huang suggests implementation of the device in applications spanning optical communications, fiber-optic coupling, adaptive optics, wavefront error correction, and electronic beam steering, although no discussion of practical implementation or limitations is presented. U.S. Pat. No. 7,327,434 by Ren also teaches an electronically tunable lens device that uses uneven, homogenous liquid crystal droplets. Ren teaches a gradient-index liquid crystal lens with a tunable focal length, independent of polarization, and capable of being used as either a positive or negative lens. Such devices as taught by Huang and Ren are directly applicable to optical phased arrays that can be used for wavefront correction, beam steering, and adaptive lensing. These inventions are cited to demonstrate the progressing state-of-the-art in optical phased array devices. It is possible to achieve polarization-independent, variable focusing, and precision beam steering devices. There is clearly a need for an improved method of using such devices to optimize coupling of optical energy into an optical fiber, one that uses a simple and efficient adaptive control approach.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


A drawer slide comprising a guide rail (1) and a drawer rail (10), the rails engaging in each other, the guide rail having an upper guiding web (6), a lower guiding web (5) and a web (4) connecting the upper and lower guiding webs. The drawer rail has an upper rolling web (9) supported on a first track roller (8) in a front end portion of the guide rail and the drawer rail carries a second track roller (11) in a rear end portion thereof, the second track roller rolling between the upper guiding web and the lower guiding web of the guide rail. A device for preventing the drawer rail from being lifted off the guide rail comprises a marginal web (13) consisting of a bent edge portion of the upper rolling web of the drawer rail, and a supporting stop (14) disposed on the connecting web of the guide rail and overlapping the marginal web whereby the supporting stop is adapted to be engaged by the marginal web.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a drawer slide comprising two rails engaging each other, namely a guide rail and a drawer rail, which with an upper rolling web is supported on a track roller in the front end portion of the guide rail, and in the rear end portion carries a track roller rolling between an upper and a lower guiding web of the guide rail, the drawer slide further comprises a lifting protection consisting of a marginal web of the one rail and a supporting stop of the other rail, which cooperate with each other.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The drawer rail of usual drawer slides of this type, which is disposed on the bottom of the drawer, is supported with an upper rolling web on a track roller disposed in the front end portion of the guide rail, and a track roller provided at its rear end engages between two guiding webs of the guide rail, so that the drawer is supported on the front track roller, and in the area of the rear end of the drawer the same is supported by the track roller of the drawer rail either on the lower or on the upper guiding web of the guide rail, depending on the direction of the tilting moment of the drawer about the front track roller of the guide rail, which depends on the pull-out length of the drawer. The track roller guided between the two guiding webs of the guide rail, however, cannot prevent the rolling web from being lifted off the front track roller of the guide rail about the rear track roller of the drawer rail acting as axis of rotation. To obtain a lifting protection for the drawer, it is known (AT 000 648 U1) that tabs protruding against the guide rail are provided as supporting stops on the drawer rail below the upper guiding web of the guide rail. In the case of an attempt at lifting the drawer, these tabs strike against the marginal web of the guiding web and thus prevent the drawer from being lifted off. A disadvantage of this known construction is, however, that when drawing out the drawer, the supporting stops provided on the drawer rail must be moved past the front track roller of the guide rail, which either considerably limits the admissible engagement of the supporting stop over the marginal web, or involves the risk that the supporting stop is urged against the track roller of the guide rail, so that on the one hand the lifting protection of the drawer and on the other hand the functional reliability of the drawer slide are at risk.


A complementary energy path adiabatic logic (CEPAL) includes an evaluation network and a power clock network. The evaluation network is a logic circuit composed of P-type MOS transistors and N-type MOS transistors. The power clock network includes a P-type and N-type MOS transistors and additional P-type and N-type MOS transistors, with each of the transistors involved in the power clock network acting as an active diode.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a logic circuit and, particularly, to a complementary energy path adiabatic logic (CEPAL) capable of improving reliability and energy efficiency and increasing the throughput thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
The conventional reversible adiabatic logic has a control signal feedback from the next stage thereof. Thus, design cost for large systems using such logic is expensive. Although an irreversible adiabatic logic has the advantage of not needing use of the next-stage control signal in implementation, almost all such circuits have the characteristics of dynamic circuit and the problem of relatively higher switch activities, which are related to a ratioed logic. In addition, most of the irreversible adiabatic logic circuits have the requirements of multi-phase and multi-clock, making use not favorable to circuit designers in terms of design complexity and required area for realization. In response to that, a quasi-static energy recovery logic (QSERL) circuit has been suggested to overcome the shortcomings of the irreversible logic circuit above mentioned. The conventional QSERL circuit mainly comprises an evaluation network and a power clock network. The power clock network comprises a diode-connected P-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor, a diode-connected N-type MOS transistor and two power clocks (or two diodes and two power clocks). The evaluation network is a logic circuit combined with P and N-type MOS transistors. In operation, the evaluation network follows the two inputted power clocks to perform evaluation and operation jobs.
As shown in FIG. 7, the power clock network has MOS transistors QP1, QN1, QP2 and QN2, and four inverting circuits work with the power clock network to jointly realize a QSERL inverter chain with the MOS transistors QPI, QN1, QP2 and QN2. The inverter chain is formed by four cascaded stages of inverters. In the inverter chain, the first, second, third and four-stage inverters are composed of MOS transistors MP5 and MN5, MP6 and MN6, MP7 and MN7, and MP8 and MN8, respectively. This QSERL has simple and static logic-like characteristics, lending itself to have considerably reduced design complexity and switch activity. The design with the complementary power clocks has higher energy efficiency as compared with the prior art having more clocking phases. However, such QSERL has to alternatively maintain a "hold" phase, causing the output to be floated in operation and, thus, has the reliability issue regarding the operational correctness to be considered. Although this problem can be overcome by introducing an additional feedback keeper controlled by additional clocking signals into each of the QSERLs, energy efficiency is correspondingly reduced. Furthermore, the required implementation area and overhead for the additional keepers and the control signals may considerably limit the QSERL's applications. As may be seen from above, the conventional adiabatic logic still has problems to be solved and, thus, has to be improved.

Complementary energy path adiabatic logic


Power-efficient, pulsed driving of capacitive loads to controllable voltage levels, with particular applicability to LCDs. Energy stored in a portion of the capacitive load is recovered during a recovery phase. Time-varying signals are used to drive the load and to recover the stored energy, thus minimizing power losses, using processes named adiabatic charging and adiabatic discharging.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to driving capacitive loads and, more particularly, to driving liquid crystal displays ("LCDs").
2. Description of Related Art
LCDs are in widespread use today, and their popularity is expected to increase. These devices operate by controlling the amount of light that is passed or reflected by a set of liquid crystal (LC) elements arranged in rows and columns in the display. Each LC element comprises a pair of plates surrounding liquid crystal material. The amount of light that is passed or reflected by an LC element is controlled by the voltage that is delivered to the plates of that element.
To maintain the amount of light passed or reflected by the LC element at a constant level, the voltage across the element must usually be reversed in polarity periodically. As a result, an AC signal is typically used to drive the element, the magnitude of the signal determining the amount of light that is passed or reflected.
A typical LCD has hundreds of thousands of LC elements arranged in hundreds of rows and columns. To reduce the amount of circuitry that is needed to drive each LC element, all LC elements in the same row typically communicate through a single row line, while all elements in the same column typically communicate through a single column line. Each LC element is thus uniquely defined by the row and column line that intersect at its location. The voltage across each element is regulated by controlling the amount of charge that is delivered to it through its coordinating row or column line.
The picture displayed by an LCD is typically painted by sequentially scanning each line of the display, somewhat like the way a picture is painted in a television set. For example, the first row line might be activated, followed by the delivery of the desired signal to the first column line, thus establishing the desired voltage across the first element in the first row. While the first row line is still activated, the desired signal would then be delivered to the second column line, thus establishing the desired voltage across the second element in the first row. This process would typically continue until all of the elements in the first row are set to their desired levels. Alternatively, the desired voltage across all of the elements in a row can be applied at the same time.
The second row line would then be activated, followed by the sequential or simultaneous charging of each LC element in the second row. This process would continue until the voltages across all of the LC elements in the display are set to their desired levels. This entire cycle would then repeat itself a short time later, but with the voltages being of opposite polarity, to provide the refreshment needed for each LC element.
Electronic switches are often used to controllably connect and disconnect each element to its associated column line. The control input to these switches is typically connected to the row line at which each switch resides. These switches, however, also often have intrinsic capacitance.
Although only one LC element in a column is typically charged at a time, the switches that are associated with the elements that are not being driven typically also impose a significant amount of capacitance on the column line through which the voltage is being delivered to the single element that is being driven. Because there are typically hundreds of rows of LC elements that are connected to the column line through which the voltage is being delivered to the single element, the combined effect of the capacitance imposed by these inactive switches often imposes hundreds of times the amount of capacitance that is exhibited by the single element that is being driven.
There is also often significant intrinsic capacitance between the lines that control the LC elements and the backplane of the display.
This very large amount of combined capacitance on the column lines often causes large amounts of energy to be dissipated during the use of the LCD. As the voltage on each LC element is being reversed in polarity, the voltage on the much-larger capacitance that is imposed on the line must also usually be changed. This typically requires a large amount of current. In turn, the passage of this current through the resistances of the switching devices and other components that are necessary to drive the LCD causes large amounts of energy to be dissipated.
As a result, hundreds of times the amount of energy that is actually needed to drive each LC element is often wasted because of the large capacitance that is associated with the lines through which the voltages to the elements are delivered.
This large wasted energy is particularly problematic in applications in which energy dissipation needs to be minimized, such as in portable laptop computers. As is well known, the time a single charged battery can run a laptop is a very important specification. The significance of the energy being wasted in driving the lines of an LCD is becoming even more important in view of new technologies that are reducing the energy needed in other areas of the laptop computer. This includes new technologies that are eliminating the need for backlighting of displays and new technologies that are reducing the energy consumed by the microprocessor circuitry and associated storage devices.