In a document information processing apparatus handling a large amount of documents, when a document is registered, retrieval data for document retrieval is created for each registered document. Moreover, for each registered document, there is produced an access control table in which information indicating accessibility of groups including users as document retrievers for the document is registered. When a user desires to retrieve a document, accessibility of the user as the retriever is determined in accordance with the access control table for documents retrieved with retrieval data.

The present invention relates to document management to conduct an access control operation in which a document to be outputted as a retrieval result under a retrieval condition specified by a retriever and/or a document to be similarly displayed are/is restricted or controlled in accordance with an authorized level of the retriever. In relation to these application fields, the present invention relates in particular to a document management method and a document management apparatus for supplying a large amount of document information of an electronic library system and the like to users via a wide area network such as Internet and Intranet.
With recent rapid development and popularization of Internet, there can be seen a trend of supplying document information via a network to users. Particularly, in a large-sized document information system such as an electronic library system, there appears a need to provide a large volume of document information to users through a wide area network such as Internet and Intranet.
In such a situation, World Wide Web (WWW) using a protocol called Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) capable of delivering document information to any place in the world is increasingly employed in document management systems for various uses thanks to development of high-performance retrieval functions.
Furthermore, on the other hand, with increase in the amount of document information to be supplied to users, to provide a highly-developed service such as management of document information including secret information and management of charging operation, there is required an access control function in which a result of document retrieval and document to be displayed for a user are restricted in accordance with an authorized access level of the user.
In the prior art, there has been adopted a method of implementing the access control operation in which when a user accesses a document management system, authentication of the user is carried out to conduct an access control operation for each database registered to the system.
That is, when accessing a database in this method, the user inputs a user name and a password to the document management system. The system then achieves an operation to authenticate the user on the basis of the inputted user name and password. The system allows the user completely authenticated to access databases for which access authentication has been already established, thereby conducting the access control operation.
However, in the method above of accomplishing the access control operation for each database through the user authentication, there arises the following problem. Namely, it is difficult to carry out an access control operation in a plurality of levels corresponding to groups to which users belong. This problem becomes remarkable especially when the system includes a large-sized document database.
For example, in a case in which documents to be opened to users belonging to universities and public institutions are required to be discriminated from those to be opened to general users including private firms and companies, it is necessary to separately register these documents in the document management system.
Namely, when users having different authorized access levels are allowed to access a document, the document is required to be registered to a plurality of databases. This accordingly increases the quantity of necessary resources such as magnetic disks and memories, which results in a problem of increase in the cost of the document management system.
Additionally, processing steps such as data registration and backup steps become complex and hence there occurs a problem of conspicuous deterioration in the operation management and system maintenance. Furthermore, when an authorized access level is desired to be altered, document databases are required to be again registered to the system, which leads to a problem of a drawback in expandability.
These problems related to the cost, operation management, maintenance, and expandability of the system appear as far more serious problems when the number of access control levels is increased, for example, in a case in which documents to be supplied to users are limited or restricted in accordance with a contract fee of each user in a document management system conducting management of charging operation.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method of solving this problem in which for each document registered to the document management system, users allowed to access the document are registered as attribute information for each group to which the users belong.
In this method, however, when a user conducts a retrieval operation in the document management system, it is necessary to refer to the attribute information for all documents retrieved as a result of the retrieval operation to determine whether or not the user belongs to a group of users allowed to access the document. Consequently, there arises a problem of elongation in the retrieval time.
Moreover, in accordance with the present invention, there is specifically provided the following configuration. Thanks to the configuration, there can be implemented document management developing a remarkable advantage in the cost, operation management, maintenance, and expandability of the system for a large volume of document information of an electronic library system and the like in which the access control operation can be conducted in accordance with groups to which users belong.
The present invention provides the following configuration.
The configuration includes a text registration step of registering, at registration of a document, a registration document as text data; a data creation and registration step for data retrieval of creating retrieval data for the text data registered in the text registration step and registering the created data; and an access control table creation and registration step of assigning to the document completely registered through the text registration step and the data creation and registration step for data retrieval bit information corresponding to a user group beforehand registered and thereby creating and registering an access control table including information indicating whether or not a user belonging to the group is allowed to access the document.
In addition, there is included an access control table created by assigning bit information corresponding to a beforehand registered user group to a registered document, the table including information indicating whether or not a user belonging to the group is allowed to access the document; a document retrieval step of retrieving, in a retrieval operation of a document, the document by referring to retrieval data beforehand registered; an accessible document list creation step of extracting from the access table document lists including entries thereof associated with a user group to which a retriever of the document belongs, conducting a conjunction operation between the document lists, thereby creating an accessible document list including a list of documents which can be accessed by the retriever; and an access control step of accomplishing a disjunction operation between a document retrieval result obtained through the document retrieval step and the accessible documents created through the accessible list creation step and thereby conducting document access control processing for the retriever in association with the document retrieval result.
In this connection, the document retrieval step and the accessible document list creation step may be executed in an arbitrary order with respect to time. That is, these steps may be concurrently executed. In such a case, the steps may be overlapped with each other. Furthermore, it may also be possible to first execute any one thereof.
Additionally, the document management method may include a user management table indicating a correspondence between each retriever and the user group assigned to the retriever and a step of conducting a retrieval operation through the user management table in response to a specification from a retriever and extracting user groups to which the retriever belongs.
Moreover, there is provided a configuration which includes text registration means for registering, at registration of a document, a registration document as text data; data creating and registering means for data retrieval of creating retrieval data for the text data registered in the text registration step and registering the created data, and access control table creating and registering means for assigning to the document completely registered through the text registration step and the data creation and registration step for data retrieval bit information corresponding to a user group beforehand registered and thereby creating and registering an access control table including information indicating whether or not a user belonging to the group is allowed to access the document.
Incidentally, the configuration may be implemented as a document information processing apparatus capable of retrieving document information in response to an input from a user. The apparatus includes an access control table created by assigning bit information corresponding to a beforehand registered user group to a registered document, the table including information indicating whether or not a user belonging to the group is allowed to access the document, document retrieving means for retrieving, in a retrieval operation of a document, the document by referring to retrieval data beforehand registered, accessible document list creating means for creating from the access table an accessible document list including lists of documents which can be accessed by the retriever, wherein documents which are obtained as a result of the retrieval by the document retrieving means and which are associated with the accessible document list are allowed to be accessed by the retriever. In other words, at least one of the document retrieving means, the accessible document list creating means, and the access control table may be disposed in a device other than the document information processing apparatus.
Moreover, the configuration includes an access control table generated by assigning bit information corresponding to a beforehand registered user group to a registered document, the table including information indicating whether or not a user belonging to the group is allowed to access the document, document retrieving means for retrieving, in a retrieval operation of a document, the document by referring to retrieval data beforehand registered, accessible document list creating means for extracting from the access control table document lists including entries thereof associated with a user group to which a retriever of the document belongs, conducting a conjunction operation between the document lists, thereby creating an accessible document list including which is a list of documents which can be accessed by the retriever, and access control means for accomplishing a disjunction operation between a document retrieval result obtained through the document retrieval step and the accessible documents created through the accessible list creation step and thereby conducting document access control processing for the retriever in association with the document retrieval result.
The configuration may further include a user management table indicating a correspondence between each retriever and the user group assigned to the retriever and means for conducting a retrieval operation through the user management table in response to a specification from a retriever and extracting user groups to which the retriever belongs.

Information registration method and document information processing apparatus


An object of the invention is to provide a novel alkyl-modified PVA capable of exerting superior thickening properties while maintaining high water solubility, and also capable of having high water resistance in a state being hardened without using an especial crosslinking agent. In addition, another object is to provide a composition, a thickener, a coating material for papers, a coated paper, an adhesive and a film containing the alkyl-modified PVA. Provided is an alkyl-modified vinyl alcohol polymer containing (a) a monomer unit represented by the following general formula (I):

Vinyl alcohol polymers (hereinafter, may be also referred to as "PVA(s)") have superior film forming properties, interface characteristics and strength characteristics as a few water soluble crystalline macromolecules. Therefore, PVAs have been playing an important role as basic materials of thickeners, coating materials for papers, adhesives, fiber processing agents, binders, emulsion stabilizers, films and fibers, and the like.
Furthermore, in order to improve certain performances of PVAs, a variety of modified PVAs have been developed by way of controlling crystallinity as well as introduction of a functional group, etc. Among the modified PVAs, alkyl-modified PVAs having an alkyl group introduced thereto are known to present an alkyl group (hydrophobic group) interaction in an aqueous solvent, thereby increasing thickening properties (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. S55-47256). The alkyl-modified PVAs exhibit more superior thickening properties as the content of alkyl groups increases; however, a too high content of the alkyl groups leads to inferior water solubility. Therefore, in attempts to increase water solubility and the like, alkyl-modified PVAs having an ionic functional group introduced thereto were proposed (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication Nos. 558-15055, S59-78963 and H8-60137). In addition, for the purpose of increasing performances as an emulsion stabilizer, a modified PVA similarly having an alkyl group and an ionic functional group (carboxyl group) was proposed (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. H8-281092).
However, when an ionic functional group is introduced into an alkyl-modified PVA, a disadvantage may occur in the case in which the alkyl-modified PVA coexists with a substance having opposite ionicity, that binding with the substance results in deterioration of the thickening properties and storage stability. In addition, when used in, for example, films, adhesives, etc., the alkyl-modified PVA having an ionic functional group introduced thereto may have insufficient water resistance due to the presence of the ionic functional group, and when produced into films, for example, a disadvantage of deterioration of water repellency on the surface may also occur.
Furthermore, since PVAs are water soluble as described above, the case in which drying is carried out at particularly low temperatures is accompanied by a problem of insufficient water resistance of the coating film obtained. In order to solve this problem, a variety of improvements of PVAs or compositions thereof have been investigated. As a method for improving the water resistance, for example, a method in which a PVA is crosslinked with glyoxal, glutaraldehyde, a dialdehyde starch, a water soluble epoxy compound, a methylol compound or the like has been known. However, for making the coating film sufficiently water resistant by this method, it is necessary to carry out a heat treatment at temperatures as high as no less than 100° C., particularly no less than 120° C. for a long period of time.
In addition, according to a method in which a PVA-coating film is made water resistant by drying at low temperatures, a technique of preparing an aqueous PVA solution to give a strongly acidic condition such as for example, a pH of no greater than 2 has been known. However, in this case, a disadvantage of impaired viscosity stability of the aqueous PVA solution to result in gelation during use, and the like may occur, and also it would not be possible to attain sufficient water resistance of the coating film obtained.
Moreover, a method in which a carboxyl group-containing PVA is crosslinked with a polyamide epichlorohydrin resin; a method in which an acetoacetyl group-containing PVA is crosslinked with a polyvalent aldehyde compound such as glyoxal; a method in which crosslinking is permitted with a polyfunctional epoxy compound, a polyfunctional carboxy compound or a boron compound (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2010-111969); and the like have been also investigated. However, when the crosslinking agent used in each of these methods is employed, a disadvantage of impaired viscosity stability of the aqueous PVA solution (coating material), etc., may occur.
On the other hand, adhesives containing a PVA as a principal component are inexpensive and have superior adhesiveness, and have been used for adhering paper boards, corrugated cardboards, paper tubes, sliding doors (i.e., fusuma), wall papers, wood building materials, and the like. In addition, adhesives containing a mixture of various types of emulsion and a PVA have been used as adhesives for woodworking, for fiber processing and for papers, and the like. Accordingly, the aqueous adhesives containing a PVA (i.e., PVA type aqueous adhesives) have been used for a broad range of intended usage. However, also with regard to PVA type aqueous adhesives, in order to meet an increase in coating process speed and the like in recent years, further improvement of adhesiveness that includes initial adhesiveness, as well as storage stability (viscosity stability and dispersion stability), and the like has been desired.
Under such circumstances, (1) an adhesive containing a PVA, a clay and a water soluble boron compound as principal components (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. S62-195070), (2) a PVA type adhesive containing a certain metal salt (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. H4-239085), (3) an adhesive containing a modified polyvinyl alcohol having an ethylene unit in an amount of 1 to 20 mol %, a starch and a saccharide (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. H11-21530), and (4) an adhesive containing a vinyl alcohol polymer that includes 1.8 to 3.5 mol % 1,2-glycol bond in the molecule and has a degree of saponification of no less than 90 mol %, and an inorganic filler (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2001-164219) were proposed.
The adhesive (1) can improve initial adhesiveness and has been industrially used broadly in manufacture of corrugated cardboards, and the like. However, use of a boron compound by which influences on the environment are concerned has been gradually restricted in recent years, and thus an alternative thereof has been strongly desired. In addition, a large number of attempts to improve initial adhesiveness similarly by using a candidate compound of a crosslinking agent of a PVA (for example, urea-formalin based resin, etc.) have been also made. However, there are some cases in which safety of the compound used as a crosslinking agent is substantially concerned, and also viscosity stability of the composition is not yet sufficient in many cases under current circumstances.
In addition, although the adhesive (2) has improved initial adhesiveness, its storage stability is problematic, and is thus not industrially satisfactory enough.
Furthermore, the adhesives (3) and (4) also have improved adhesiveness and storage stability to some extent; however, they do not sufficiently meet demands for an increase in coating process speed in recent years.
Additionally, these PVA type adhesives may be used as a mixture with various types of emulsion as described above for the purpose of improving adhesiveness and the like by increasing the concentration of the solid content, etc., improvement of the aforementioned performances (i.e., adhesiveness, storage stability, and the like) have been still desired for these adhesives.

Alkyl-modified vinyl alcohol polymer, and composition, thickener, coating material for paper, coated paper, adhesive and film containing the same

Abstract: wherein, R1 represents a linear or branched alkyl group having 8 to 29 carbon atoms; and R2 represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms,and has a viscosity average degree of polymerization of no less than 200 and no greater than 5,000, a degree of saponification of no less than 20 mol % and no greater than 99.99 mol %, and a content of the monomer unit (a) of no less than 0.05 mol % and no greater than 5 mol %.


A connector is disclosed for providing power to a pump from a circuit in an ABS braking unit. The electrical connector includes a generally cylindrical housing having first and second ends and a length corresponding to the perpendicular distance between the circuit and the pump. In one embodiment, the first end includes a plurality of pins resiliently mounted therein and electronically connected to the second end. The pins are adapted to resiliently engage a corresponding plurality of pads mounted on the circuit for transmitting power to the second end. In a second embodiment, the second end of the connector also includes a plurality of pins resiliently mounted therein and adapted to engage a corresponding plurality of pads mounted on the pump for receiving power transmitted from the first end.

Modern anti-lock braking system (ABS) control units are constructed to minimize weight and space requirements of the unit. Current ABS units include three major parts: an electronic control unit; a hydraulic control unit; and an ABS pump. Typically, the ABS pump is spaced away from the electronic control unit by the hydraulic control unit. In order for the electronic control unit to supply power to the ABS pump during system activation, the pump must be electrically connected to a circuit within the electronic control unit. Past designs have used cables which are located exterior of the hydraulic control unit to electrically connect between pump and circuit. Electrical connections exterior of the hydraulic control unit are subjected to severe environmental conditions which may lead to degradation of the electrical connection and system performance. These cables may also be inadvertently disconnected due to jarring or vibration. Known designs also use electrical connections between the circuit and ABS pump which extend perpendicular from the circuit of the electronic control unit through an aperture in the hydraulic control unit to the pump. These electrical connections internal to the hydraulic control unit are fastened or fixed to the printed circuit through a soldering process at the time the electronic control unit is manufactured. The connection fixed to the circuit of the electronic control unit must therefore be adapted to pass through a hydraulic control unit and to establish an adequate connection to the ABS pump when the ABS system is assembled.
In current practice, the electronic control unit, the hydraulic control unit and the ABS pump are manufactured by different suppliers, and are assembled together at another location. Current electronic control unit designs require that any fixed electrical connection be soldered to the printed circuit of the electronic control unit, after which the fixed connection is sealed from the exterior environment. As a result, the pump electrical connector is attached to the printed circuit at the time the electronic control unit is assembled, before the electronic control unit is shipped to a final location for assembly into an ABS unit. Because fixed electrical connectors protrude perpendicularly from the electronic control unit, shipping precautions dictate the use of extra packaging space for shipping electronic control units to assembly points to prevent damage to the electronic control unit. Nevertheless, shipping and handling damage to the connector extending perpendicularly from the electronic control unit housing frequently occurs. Moreover, fixing and sealing the pump electrical connector increases the complexity of the electronic control unit manufacture process. In particular, the connector first must be soldered or otherwise fixed to the printed circuit during manufacture of the electronic control unit. Because power requirements of the ABS pump are large, the connector must be capable of transmitting the necessary power. As a result, the electrical contact between the printed circuit and the electrical connector may be relatively large and secure. In particular, soldering integrity between the printed circuit and the connector becomes very complex as the area of the connection increases, requiring increased heat and manufacturing attention in order to achieve a robust electrical connection. Also, once the connector is fixedly attached to the printed circuit, the attachment must be sealed from external environmental conditions. Typically, after the electrical connector is attached to the printed circuit, a seal is molded in place about the electrical connector which forms a seal between the connector and the housing of the electronic control unit. Molding this seal requires an additional manufacturing step, the integrity of which must be monitored closely to prevent unit failure during service lifetime.
Current designs of electrical connectors between ABS pump and electronic control units also limit serviceability of the ABS unit. Because the electrical connection is soldered to a printed circuit and then molded in place, the electrical connector is not a replaceable part. Should the electrical connection ever fail, due to environmental conditions or manufacturing defects, the entire electronic control unit would have to be replaced rather than simply replacing the electrical connector.


A sensor for a textured surface (e.g., a fingerprint) is provided. The sensor includes a flexible substrate and a flexible membrane supported above the substrate by one or more spacers. The sensor also includes multiple pressure sensor elements responsive to a separation between parts of the membrane and corresponding parts of the substrate. The membrane is conformable to the textured surface being sensed, so the variation in separation between substrate and membrane is representative of the textured surface being sensed. Such pressure sensors can be included in fingerprint authentication subsystems including associated integrated electronic circuitry (e.g., encryption, image processing, fingerprint matching, communication and/or location determination circuitry). Such subsystems can be included in various access control systems (e.g., smart cards and mobile electronics). Unpackaged IC chips can be included on the flexible substrate or can be disposed on a separate electronics substrate attached to the sensor.

Security and identification often relies on fingerprint data. Accordingly, sensors for providing fingerprint images have been under development for some time. Many such sensors employ an array of sensor pixels making direct contact with a finger. Readout of the sensor pixels provides fingerprint image data. Known approaches for providing such sensor pixels include capacitive sensing (e.g., as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,694,269), and temperature or pressure sensing (e.g., as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,413). Further references relating to pressure sensing include: U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,287, U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,174, U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,436, and U.S. Pat. No. 2002/0121145.
In many cases, sensors based on pressure sensing include a flexible membrane that conforms to the valleys and ridges of an applied fingerprint. The membrane is typically suspended above a rigid substrate that provides mechanical support. Each sensor pixel is responsive to a separation between the membrane and substrate. The substrate often includes integrated electronic circuitry (e.g., pixel addressing circuitry). Known examples of this general approach include: U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,345, U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,046, U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,662, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,949. In practice, implementation of such sensor approaches is often excessively costly. A typical integrated fingerprint sensor chip dimension is 15 mm×15 mm to accommodate the size of a normal fingerprint and the area of the integrated processing circuitry. Such large chips are costly to fabricate, since the number of chips per semiconductor wafer is relatively low. Furthermore, sensors having rigid and breakable substrates (e.g., conventional silicon substrates) cannot be used for applications such as smart credit/identity cards where the sensor must survive a certain degree of flexure.
Another sensor approach is considered in an article by Young et al., entitled "Novel Fingerprint Scanning Arrays Using Polysilicon TFTs on Glass and Polymer Substrates", and published in IEEE Electron Device Letters 18 (1), pp 19-20, January 1997. In this work, the substrate is flexible, alleviating the above-mentioned breakage problem, and capacitive sensing is employed. Since capacitive sensing entails no significant relative motion of sensor parts in operation, mechanical complications resulting from substrate flexure are presumably avoided. However, the capacitive sensing in this work relies on integrated thin film transistors to amplify signals. Although thin film transistors deposited on flexible substrates are known (e.g., as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,680,485), it would be preferable to avoid the use of active devices integrated with the sensor array in order to reduce cost. In addition, the polymeric transistors used in such works can be unreliable in commonly encountered environmental conditions such as high humidity (which causes polymer transistor degradation). Furthermore, the fabrication of more traditional transistors, such as thin film transistors, requires exposure of the substrate to high temperatures during processing, which can cause degradation of typical polymer based flexible substrates.
Another flexible sensor is considered in an article by Engel et al., entitled "Development of polyimide flexible tactile sensor skin", and published in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, 13, pp 359-366, 2003. In this work, each pixel includes a relatively thin membrane that flexes (or doesn't flex) responsive to the presence (or absence) of a fingerprint ridge. Flexure of the membrane is sensed by a strain gauge integrated with the membrane. Since the strain gauge is in the membrane, the substrate is not a functional part of each pixel. Instead, the substrate provides overall mechanical support, and may include circuitry for reading out the sensor array. A disadvantage of this approach is that the strain gauge output is analog. It is often preferred for fingerprint sensors to provide inherently digital outputs, since a digital image is often required in practice and post-conversion of an analog sensor image to a binary image is frequently error-prone.
Accordingly, it would be an advance in the art to provide a flexible fingerprint sensor overcoming the above-identified shortcomings. More specifically, a flexible fingerprint sensor providing an inherently binary output would be an advance in the art. A further advance in the art would be a flexible fingerprint sensor providing an inherently binary output and having only passive components in the sensor array.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Authentication system having a flexible imaging pressure sensor


Disclosed by the present invention is a system and method for optical fiber transmission. The switching portion of the present invention adopts the single-layered integrated switching technology so as to ensure a relatively simple and easy maintenance compared with the switching in a traditional communication network where said switching is made in the service network layer and the bearer network layer, respectively. Moreover, the present invention implements data transmission via optical fiber throughout the entire telecommunication system such that demands for bandwidth resources are satisfied during the whole data transmission process and the QoS (Quality of Service) of different services as well as rapid and un-blocking switching of the services are ensured in the telecommunication system. Therefore, the present invention can implement on-demand allocation of bandwidth resources, enhancing the flexibility in network resource management while a subscriber can apply for bandwidth resources based on its demand, which satisfies the individual needs of the user.

At present, optical fiber transmission has been widely used in telecommunication system. In access layer, the commonly used modes are "optical fiber+category 5 cabling LAN (Local Area Network)", "optical fiber+xDSL (x Digital Subscriber Line)" or "optical fiber+Coaxial-Cable", in which all User Equipments (UEs) connect with optical fiber through cables rather than directly. Therefore, these modes can never completely shake off the limitations caused by transmission bandwidth of cables and make full use of the advantages of the optical fiber in bandwidth. Along with the parallel developments of voice, data and video services, bandwidth limitations of transmission cable have become a big obstacle to the development of telecommunications.
The "optical fiber+category 5 cabling LAN" mode provides subscribers with 10M/100M Ethernet network interface to support broadband data access, where the transmission distance of category 5 cabling is no longer than 200 meters.
The "optical fiber+xDSL" mode provides, via a copper twisted-pair, subscribers with interface of which the rate is from several hundred kbps to less than one hundred Mpbs, where the transmission distance is often less than 10 km and the transmission rates and transmission distances of different types of DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) are diversified.
The "optical fiber+Coaxial-Cable" mode provides subscribers with broadband services, which are mainly cable television (CATV) signals, as well as voice and data transmission in some countries through coaxial cable, where the rate is up to 40 Mbps but the transmission distance is also less than 10 km.
Therefore, in all the present optical fiber transmission modes, optical fiber is used for data transmission only in part of a communication network while other low bandwidth transmission media still exist between UE and optical fiber. As a result, on one hand, compared with the transmission bandwidth of optical fiber, the bandwidth of less than 155M of these low bandwidth transmission media such as copper cables can guarantee neither enough bandwidth that is needed for data transmission in the entire communication networks nor upgrading and capacity expansion of the communication network; on the other hand, the transmission distance of less than 10 km of these low bandwidth transmission media can also gravely limit the development of communication networks.
In order to overcome the shortcomings in the above commonly used optical fiber transmission modes, the FTTH/D (Fiber to the Home/Desktop) concept is put forward. At present, the major technique that is used in FTTH/D is BPON (Broadband Passive Optical Network). In terms of transfer protocol and transmission rate BPON can be further divided into APON (ATM Passive Optical Network), EPON (Ethernet Passive Optical Network) and GPON (Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network).
The APON is one kind of optical fiber transmission technology that is based on ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode); APON system comprises OLT (Optical Line Terminal) at the service side, ONU (Optical Network Unit) at the subscriber side and ODU (Optical Distribution Unit) between said ONU and OLT, where ODU provides one or more optical transfer paths between the OLT and the ONU.
The EPON technology implements optical fiber transmission based on Ethernet and mainly comprises OLT, ONU and POS (Passive optical Splitter/Coupler); wherein, said OLT locates at CO (Central Office) and may provide interfaces between EPON system and the kernel data, video and telephone network of the service providers; the ONU locates at Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), and provides interfaces between the EPON and the data, video and telephone network of the subscriber; while said POS is a passive device that links the OLT and the ONU with the functions of distributing downlink data and converging uplink data.
Therefore, the present optical fiber transmission technology has provided relatively mature methods of data transmission through optical fiber and reliable technical supports for widespread applications of optical fiber transmission in network communication systems. However, the problems that need to be solved in applications of optical fiber transmission in an entire network communication system include not only the problem of how to transfer data in the optical fiber, but also that of how to packet the data to be transferred in a user terminal, how to distribute the data when the user terminal receives a data packet that contains different types of data, how to switch the data after the data have been transferred through the devices at the network side and etc.
In an existing communication network, optical fiber transmission technology is used for only part of the network. If optical fiber transmission is to be used in the entire communication network, adaptive adjustment is needed for the packet processing at the user terminal, for data switching after the data are transferred to CO, and for other corresponding functions in the existing network.
In an existing communication network, the switching portion of the network corresponding to optical transmission unit can only implement switching of bearer network level granularity, for instance, switching of VC4 or VC12, rather than the switching of service network level granularity, which means that the switch unit in the existing optical fiber transmission process can only accomplish part of the switching task in communications. The service network level granularity is the minimum bandwidth unit that is transferred and switched in the service layer of an existing communication network, and cannot be recognized, multiplexed or de-multiplexed by the bearer network, for instance, a transmission network with the granularity of 2M cannot recognize, multiplex or de-multiplex the 64 Kbps cross granularity in a voice service network. Moreover, the terminals in existing optical transmission networks are usually access devices or switching equipments rather than real client terminal devices.
An existing communication network can be divided into two layers, the bearer network and the service network, wherein the bearer network can be further divided into circuit switched SDH/WDM (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy or Wave Division multiplexing) transmission network and packet/cell switched IP/ATM (Internet Protocol/Asynchronous Transfer Mode) data network. An SDH/WDM transmission network can provide carrier-class services with excellent QoS (Quality of Service) and security characteristics while the complicated layered network architecture of its switching portion increases the cost of network construction and maintenance.
The above transmission network may be divided into access transmission layer, convergence transmission layer and core transmission layer, as shown in FIG. 1. The access transmission layer implements the access of dispersed subscribers to the local switch while convergence transmission layer and core transmission layer accomplish transmission across switches and transmission of long distance services. Therefore there is switching operation in each transmission layer.
The core switching layer of the above-said IP data network comprises high-rate routers and takes the form of Mesh network mostly while the convergence layer and access layer thereof comprise edge routers, three-layered switches, broadband access servers, and two-layered switches. So the network architecture is very complex.
The service networks in an existing communication network can be divided into voice, data and video service networks, which are above the bearer network and implement the processing and switching of the service layer, and the devices thereof include voice switches, two and three-layered data switches (L2/3), routers, and video switching platforms. Existing service networks usually construct and maintain their own networks respectively. In one word, layered network architecture and separate networking of the three major services make the overall networking cost and overall maintenance cost of existing communication networks remain high while problems in QoS of IP networks lowers the transmission quality of real-time services including video phone, video conference, and etc.
Therefore, applications of optical fiber transmission technology at present have the following problems:
1, the complicated layered network architecture makes the overall cost of network construction and maintenance remain high;
2, the separate construction of the layer of voice, data and video service networks in network communications brings about higher overall cost of network construction and maintenance, resulting in wastes caused by redundant network construction;
3, the relatively low bandwidth transmission media existing in the entire communication network, compared with the transmission bandwidth of optical fiber, can not meet the bandwidth requirement of subscribers, making it impossible to guarantee the QoS in network communications, for instance, there are relatively serious time delay and jittering in videophone and videoconference services;
4, the commonly used ring structure in network communications has relative poor protecting effects on data transmission;
5, neither application for bandwidth resources based on each call nor allocation of bandwidth resources on demand is supported in existing network communications, making it impossible to satisfy the diversified needs of users;
6, the electric magnetic radiation generated from copper transmission cables commonly used in communication networks damages the surrounding environment while surrounding electric magnetic radiation can also interfere with the signals transferred through copper cables.

System, method and terminal processing apparatus for optical fiber transmission


A servoing system is provided for use in an arcuate scanner having an arcuate scanner head assembly (ASHA) that has least one transducer on a rotatable drum. The servoing system includes a first detection circuit, a second detection circuit, logic, and a positioning apparatus. The first detection circuit is coupled to the transducer and detects alignment identifiers that are recorded on the tape and sensed by the transducer. The second detection circuit is also coupled to the transducer and detects an envelope of the scanned signal during the scan. The logic compares the alignment identifiers to determine if the ASHA is properly aligned with the tracks on the tape, and in response outputs a fine error signal. The logic also compares the envelope as detected during the scan with a threshold value and outputs a coarse error signal in response. Based on the arrangement of the logic, the fine error signal identifies that either a minor misalignment of the transducer to the tape exists or a proper alignment exists. The coarse error signal identifies that a significant misalignment of the transducer to the tape exists. The positioning apparatus, in response to either the fine error signal or coarse error signal, changes the position of the arcuate scanner head assembly with respect to the tape as a function of the received error signal.

A number of magnetic tape drive systems have been developed to provide mass data storage, for example for personal computer systems. One emerging technology providing high density storage, preferably on quarter inch magnetic tape, utilizes arcuate scanning. With this type of scanning, read and write scanner heads are mounted near the periphery of a circular planar surface and rotated thereon about an axis passing through the center of the circular surface and through the plane of a longitudinally-moving tape. In writing data on a tape, arcuate scanners produce a sequence of arcuately-shaped tracks which are transverse to the longitudinal axis of the tape.
Examples of arcuate scanning tape drives are described, for example, in: U.S. Pat. No. 2,750,449; U.S. Pat. No. 2,924,668; U.S. Pat. No. 3,320,371; U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,886; U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,993; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,681.
International Application WO 93/26005 to Lemke et al. discloses an example of an arcuate scanning tape drive for computer data storage. In the Lemke et al. arcuate scanning tape drive, a number of scanner heads are provided around the periphery of the circular planar surface. As the scanner rotates and the tape moves past the rotating scanner surface, the read and write heads alternately pass over the tape. The operation of the scanner is commutated or switched from "write" to "read" to alternately activate the appropriate operation through alternate ones of the scanner heads.
To effectively read and write data in arcuate tracks on a longitudinally moving tape requires (1) writing the tracks in an agreed format, position and alignment on the tape, and (2) corresponding positioning and alignment of the read heads during the read operation to locate and recover the data written on the tracks. In an arcuate scanner of the type described by Lemke et al., there are a number of variables which affect both the read operation and the write operation. These include tape speed, rotational speed of the scanner head and orientation or positioning of the scanner head with respect to the tape. Several of these variables are affected by external factors. For example, if there is some vibration of a scanner during the writing operation, it may be difficult to align the head with the data tracks during a subsequent read operation, particularly if the read operation is performed by a different scanner.
The above cited Lemke et al. document discloses a technique for controlling several of these variables during the read and write operations. In the Lemke et al. arcuate scanner, for example, the positioning of the ASHA is controlled via a servoing mechanism that senses specific servo burst information from one or more previously written tracks. For example, low frequency servo burst information is detected at either the beginning and/or at the end of a scan over the track via a transducer (e.g., a read head). Based on a corresponding low frequency servo burst signal(s), the location/alignment of the ASHA with respect to the tape/tracks is then determined. If the ASHA is not properly aligned, then adjustments are made to correct the positioning of the ASHA.
In arcuate scanning it is necessary to stay on track for recording, and on replay, it is necessary to match the pointing of the reading scanner with the pointing of the scanner that wrote the information on the tape. Both the read and write operations are therefore substantially affected by the angular position of the ASHA with respect to the tape. Misalignment often prevents accurate recovery of stored data. By relying on the low frequency servo information recorded within the tracks, the above-cited technique provides for fine-tuning and/or final alignment of the ASHA with respect to the tape. However, if the initial or a later misalignment of the ASHA with respect to the tape is significant enough, then the above-cited technique may not adequately recognize and/or correct the misalignment.

Methods and apparatus for track centering an arcuate scanner head assembly


A portable remote sensing system for real-time assessments of total suspended solids (TSS) in surface waters using above-water hyperspectral measurements. The system combines a miniature high signal-to-noise ratio spectrometer coupled to a credit card-size computer, lens, rechargeable battery, GPS, display panel, and dedicated software to derive TSS from above-water spectral measurements.

Water quality impacts both human health and socioeconomic development. Inland water quality monitoring of sediment loads is required for providing safe water for human consumption and as an indicator of the health of aquatic ecosystems. There is a current need for a rapid and cost-effective method and/or system for assessing water quality indicators such as total suspended solids (TSS) in lakes, streams, reservoirs and coastal waters. Traditional monitoring methods for water quality depend on field sampling and time-consuming laboratory analyses that cannot provide real-time results. Existing field sensors for the estimation of turbidity are expensive, hard to use, require technical expertise, frequent calibration in the laboratory using standards, and can only operate submerged. For example, existing field instruments for estimating TSS, such as the ones described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,890,484, 5,032,794, 5,790,471, 9,448,152 and 9,493,370 are hard to use, require technical expertise, frequent calibration in the laboratory using standards, and can only operate submerged.
Furthermore, there is a need for a method and/or system that provides considerable savings to end-users (e.g., scientists, researchers) by 1) eliminating the need for laboratory facilities and instrumentation required in the traditional analysis of TSS; 2) reducing the amount of time (person-hours) in the field and laboratory; and 3) eliminating the need for trained technicians, frequent equipment calibration, laboratory supplies, and standards required when using existing field sensors that measure turbidity.
As such, there is a need to provide a field remote sensing system for real-time quantification of total suspended solids in surface waters from above-water spectral measurements that allows end-users to obtain accurate data in real time.

Field remote sensing system for real-time quantification of total suspended solids (TSS) in surface waters from above-water spectral measurements


The present invention relates to 3,4-disubstituted coumarin and quinolone derivatives and processes for their preparation. The invention also related to methods for treating infection of Hepatitis C virus by administering a 3,4-disubstituted coumarin or quinolone derivative.

Strategies in new drug discovery often look to natural products for leads in finding new chemical compounds with therapeutic properties. One of the recurring problems in drug discovery is the availability of organic compounds derived from natural sources. Techniques employing combinatorial chemistry attempt to overcome this problem by allowing the high throughput synthesis and testing of hundreds or thousands of related synthetic compounds, called a chemical library. In designing the synthesis of a prospective therapeutic compound or a chemical library, one often looks to natural chemical motifs which are known to have broad biological activity. Coumarin and Quinolone derivatives are of particular interest due to their frequent occurrence in nature and range of biological activities.
Coumarins are widely distributed in the plant kingdom. Approximately 50 naturally occurring coumarin derivatives have been identified. Derivatives of both coumarin and quinolone posses a range of biological activities. To avoid confusion, the coumarin and quinolone derivatives described herein are numbered according to the following convention:

Infection with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) represents a serious world-wide health crisis. In more than 70% of infected individuals, the virus evades clearance by the immune system leading to a persistent HCV infection. The long term effects of persistent HCV infection range from an apparently healthy carrier state to chronic hepatitis, liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and eventually hepatocellular carcinoma. HCV is a leading cause of chronic liver disease. The best therapy currently available for treatment of HCV infection uses a combination of pegylated α-interferon and ribavirin. However, many of the patients treated with this therapy fail to show a sufficient antiviral response. Additionally, interferon treatment also induces severe side-effects (i.e. retinopathy, thyroiditis, acute pancreatitis, depression) that diminish the quality of life of treated patients. Thus, it is vital that more effective treatments be identified.

3,4-disubstituted coumarin and quinolone compounds


A manually powered fastening tool which stores and instantly releases the energy of a spring such that it may force a staple type fastener into an object by an impact blow. In the present invention the squeeze handle is hinged near the end of the tool body opposite the end from which the staples exit. The user grips the tool near the staple exit end and pushes the squeeze handle toward the intended staple impact point. This novel arrangement causes the user to force the staple into the receiving object with the same hand that pushes the squeeze handle toward the tool body, while the prior art typically requires use of a second hand to hold the tool firmly upon the staple impact point. Improving from the prior art, the present design ensures that the staple exit end of the tool body will not lift away from the receiving object. The energy storage spring and handle engagement linkage are located remotely from the plunger in the present design. This allows the user to fully grip the tool near the staple exit end of the tool body. The motion of installing a staple with this novel staple gun is therefore similar to the intuitive motion used with a common desk top stapler.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to manually powered impact stapling and tacking machines.
2. Description of Prior Art
Manually powered impact type stapling and tacking machines are well known. Such devices generally comprise a body, an energy storage spring, a fastener feeding system, a movable operating handle to deflect the energy storage spring, a mechanism to rapidly disengage the handle from the deflected spring, and a sliding plunger linked to the spring to impact the fastener.
The prior art demonstrates numerous means to link the operating handle to the mechanism of the machine. Typically the handle is hinged near the front of the body, front being the end from which the staple exits. To move the handle, the user presses downward and rearward with the palm of the hand. A second configuration has the handle and gripping portion of the tool body reversed so that the handle is pulled upward with the fingers while the palm of the hand presses downward upon the body. Either configuration is limited in utility because of the manner in which the forces must be applied by the operating hand.
By the first arrangement the operating hand must press toward the rear of the tool since leverage is available on the handle only behind the frontwardly mounted handle pivot. Therefore, to effectively install a fastener with this arrangement, a second hand is often required to push on the front of the tool to press the fastener into the installation point. The second hand also serves to prevent the staple exit end of the tool body from jumping away from the ejecting staple. Efficient one handed operation of such prior art staple guns is not possible. To press down upon the front end, the single operating hand must move closer to the handle pivot point. However, such a position reduces the leverage available to deflect the energizing spring.
Abrams U.S. Pat. No. 2,617,215 attempts to address this issue by placing the handle pivot further toward the front of the body and adding various linkages to enable such a handle to lift the plunger. The extreme forward pivot placement allows for leverage on the handle at a more forward position on the tool body. However, Abrams' design only marginally improves upon the prior art to allow efficient one hand operation.
In this configuration, a single hand may both pull the operating handle and push forward on the tool body. But since the operating handle must be pulled by just the finger, the power of the user's arm is not available to compress the energy storage spring in the tool.
Libert U.S. Pat. No. 2,769,174 and Krantz U.S. Pat. No. 2,326,540 approach a solution to the force application issue by placing the operating handle pivot at the rear of the tool body. However, these versions retain the typical front mounted energy storage spring and linkages. The hand grip of the tool must therefore be set back from the front to allow space to accommodate the spring and related linkages. These versions therefore only partially address the issue of efficient force application. The designs of Libert and Krantz do not allow the user's hand to push the handle from a position directly over the exiting staple. Hence they do not fully realize benefits from a rearwardly hinged handle design.
Prior innovations comprise use of plastic, or stamped metal combined with plastic, to form the body of a staple gun. The goal of the prior efforts was to take advantage of the formability and low cost of plastic. Plastic has been added to mostly stamped metal housings to provide a more comfortable hand grip.
Fealey, U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,388 claims a staple gun which is constructed of a "molded plastic body . . . between sheet metal sides." Fealey cites several prior art uses of molded plastic and notes that molded plastic "simplifies assembly" but that too much plastic causes "clearly some sacrifice in the reliability and durability of the device."
Ewig, U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,620, shows a stapler where the housing frame is formed of plastic to "provide the major support and guide elements." Such a tool will be low cost and may readily provide compound curves in the grip opening region. However, such a tool feels light weight and flimsy, provides poor shock damping, wears poorly and generally feels low quality. Such all plastic tools will not be considered "professional" and in fact are presently sold only as "economy" products.
Judge, U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,108, shows a housing of stamped metal enveloped by plastic covers. The outside shape can thereby be aesthetically pleasing and comfortable. The metal frame provides the structural function while the plastic provides the form.
Michkelsson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,260, shows a plastic insert added to a stamped housing to provide a contoured hand grip. This feature is presently common in other stapled gun products.
Prior workers have clearly recognized the advantage and disadvantage of molded plastic in staple guns. However, the prior art does not realize the solution to this dilemma, a die cast metal staple gun housing.
Steiner et. al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,451, described a desk top stapler and hole punch which may be die cast. Similarly U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,428 discloses a desk top stapler with a die cast base. A die cast main body and base are further disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,136,374 for a heavy duty desk top stapler.
Smith et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,622, shows a power tool with a die cast housing. Such a housing is common among power tools.


A composite substrate having silicon substrate with excellent crystallinity and a method of manufacturing the composite substrate and an electronic component using the composite substrate are provided. A composite substrate (1) is configured to bond a support substrate (10) having electrical insulating property, and a silicon substrate (20) which is overlaid on the support substrate (10). The semiconductor substrate (20) of the composite substrate (1) includes a plurality of first regions (20x) in which a device function unit functioning as a semiconductor device is formed, and a second region (20y) located between these first regions (20x). In the semiconductor substrate (20) of the composite substrate (1), an amorphous form (22) containing silicon and a metal is present in the second region (20y).

In recent years, in order to achieve performance improvement of a semiconductor device, a technique for decreasing parasitic capacitance has been developed. As a technique for decreasing parasitic capacitance, a silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) structure is known. As a method of forming the SOS structure, for example, a technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 10-12547 (1998) is known.

Composite substrate, electronic component, and method of manufacturing composite substrate and electronic component


Provision of abutments on exposed and/or unexposed portions of roof and side outer members at a boundary portion causes the members not to be vertically overlapped to each other at the boundary portion. Therefore, the roof member can be placed on the side outer member from right above with no trouble since the unexposed surface portion of the roof member does not interfere with the exposed and unexposed surface portions of the underlying side outer member.

The present invention relates to a roof structure of a vehicle.
A roof structure with a drip channel has been prevailingly adopted for a vehicle such as passenger car or bonnet truck.
An example of such roof structure with a drip cannel is shown in FIGS. 14 to 17.
More specifically, for a door opening 2 in a vehicle body 1 as shown in FIG. 14, a drip channel 4 is spot-welded at 5 as shown in FIG. 15 to a side outer member 3 which provides a lateral surface of car cabin. A roof member 6 is placed on the side outer member 3 from right above and is spot-welded at 7 to the drip channel 4.
A pillar 8 as shown in FIG. 14 is provided such that the roof member 6 placed on the side outer member 3 from right above is coupled to the member 3 at 9 by brazing or arc brazing as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17.
In the figures, reference numeral 10 denotes a side inner member.
With the above arrangement, a boundary between the members 6 and 3 are verically coupled together at the pillar 8 so that placement of the member 6 on the member 3 from right above causes no structral problems; however, there are problems in that the drip channel 4 is needed to mount the roof member 6 and that troublesome working such as brazing or arc brazing is required.
For this reason, a roof structure with no drip channel has been proposed and employed in recent years.
In this roof structure with no drip channel, as shown in FIGS. 18 to 21, a boundary 13 between a roof member 11 and a side outer member 12 is at a roof 14. The members 11 and 12 are respectively formed with groove-defining side walls 15 and 17 and groove-defining bottoms 16 and 18. The bottom 16 of the roof member 11 is placed on and spot-welded to the bottom 18 of the side outer member 12 to provide the boundary 13 in the form of a groove 20 substantially extending in a longitudinal direction 19 of the vehicle. The groove 20 is filled with molding (not shown) made of rubber or synthetic resin to hide the boundary 13.
Thus, the use of the roof structure with no drip channel eliminates the need for the drip channel 4 as well as troublesome working such as brazing or arc brazing.
However, the roof structure with no drip channel as described has a below-mentioned disadvantage.
Generally, a vehicle has, on its front and rear sides, windows 21 (particularly, a substantially vertical window on the rear side in the case of a bonnet truck). Accordingly, the members 11 and 12 must be provided at their longitudinal ends with unexposed surface portions 26 and 27 as shown in FIG. 19 which comprise inner bents 22 and 23 for engagement with a pane of glass for the window 21 and lower margins 24 and 25 for support of the glass pane, respectively.
The unexposed surface portions 26 and 27 are inevitably receded relative to exposed surface portions 28 and 29 of the roof 14. Hence, there is a fair possibility that the roof member 11 cannot be placed on the side outer member 12 from right above since the unexposed surface portion 26 of the roof member 11 interferes at 30 with the exposed and unexposed portions 29 and 27 of the member 12.
The present invention was made in view of the above and has its object to provide a roof structure for a vehicle in which a roof member can be placed on a side outer member with no trouble.
In a first aspect, the present invention provides a roof structure for a vehicle which comprises a side outer member and a roof member combined at side portions thereof to provide a groove extending over at least midway of a boundary between said members, said groove being defined by overlapped portions of said members, boundary portion on at least either of front and back ends of the members being provided by abutments on said members which are not overlapped to each other.
In a second aspect, the present invention provides a roof structure for a vehicle which comprises a side outer member and a roof member combined at side portions thereof to provide a groove extending over at least midway of a boundary between said members, said groove being defined by overlapped portions of said members, the side portion of the roof member being diagonally cut out to provide a diagonally cut portion downwardly directed toward the center axis of the roof member such that a corner defined by the cut portion and exposed and unexposed surface portions of the roof member is substantially aligned with a corner defined by the exposed and unexposed surface portions of the side outer member, said unexposed surface portions of said members having abutments which are not overlapped to each other.
In a third aspect, the present invention provides a roof structure for vehicle which comprises a side outer member and a roof member combined at side portions thereof to provide a groove extending over a boundary between said members, parts of an inner bent and a lower margin constituting an unexposed surface portion of the roof member being cut out to provide a cut-out such that in use a lower edge of said cut-out is spaced apart from an edge of a groove-defining portion of the side outer member toward a center axis of the vehicle, an inner bent and a lower margin constituting an unexposed surface portion of the outer side member being extended to provide an extension toward the center axis of the vehicle, said inner bents and said lower margins of said unexposed surface portions of said members being mutually overlapped with those of said roof members being inside.
In the above-mentioned first aspect, provision of the abutments on the exposed and/or unexposed portions of the members at the boundary portion causes the members not to be vertically overlapped to each other at the boundary portion. Hence, the roof member can be placed on the side outer member from right above with no trouble since the unexposed surface portion of the roof member does not interfere with the exposed and unexposed surface portions of the underlying side outer member.
In the above-mentioned second aspect, the unexposed portion of the roof member is not vertically overlapped with the exposed and unexposed surface portions of the side outer member since a diagonally cut portion downwardly directed toward the center axis of the roof member is provided such that the corner defined by the cut portion and the exposed and unexposed surface portions of the roof member is substantially aligned with the corner defined by the exposed and unexposed surface portions of the side outer member, said unexposed surface portions of the members having the abutments which are not overlapped to each other and can be abutted to each other in a widthwise direction. This enables the roof member to be placed on the side outer member from right above without any trouble since the unexposed portion of the roof member does not interfere with the exposed and unexposed portions of the underlying side outer member.
In the above-mentioned third aspect, the roof member can be placed on the side outer member without any trouble since the unexposed portion of the roof member does not interfere with the underlying side outer member. This is due to the fact that parts of the inner bent and the lower margin constituting the unexposed portion of the roof member is cut out to provide the cut-out such that in use the lower edge of said cut-out is spaced apart from the edge of the groove-defining portion of the side outer member toward the center axis of the vehicle, the inner bent and the lower margin constituting the unexposed portion of the outer side member being extended to provide the extension toward the center axis of the vehicle, said inner bents and said lower margins of said unexposed surface portions of said members being mutually overlapped with those of said roof members being inside. No putty sealer or the like is needed to apply since there is no gap between the unexposed surface portions of the roof and side outer members.


A plurality of interdigitized conductive fingers are arranged to form a substantially square configuration in each of a plurality of layers separated by a high dielectric constant material, wherein each of the plurality of interdigitized conductive fingers includes at least one bend of substantially ninety degrees. The plurality of interdigitized conductive fingers includes a first set of fingers that are connected to an anode terminal, and a second set of fingers that are connected to a cathode terminal. The plurality of layers includes a bottommost layer that is in closest proximity to a substrate relative to other layers of the plurality of layers. The bottommost layer does not include any fingers connected to the anode terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to microelectronic capacitors and, more particularly, to capacitors formed using back-end-of-the-line (BEOL) processes.
2. Description of Background
Capacitors are employed to implement any of a wide variety of functions within electronic circuits. These include resonant circuits, filters, voltage-controlled oscillators, coupling between amplifier stages, and bypassing. Microelectronic capacitors are often fabricated as part of a back-end-of-the-line (BEOL) process. BEOL refers to integrated circuit fabrication steps where components such as transistors, resistors, and diodes are interconnected with wiring on a semiconductor wafer. More specifically, BEOL begins when a first layer of metal is deposited on the wafer. BEOL includes contacts, insulator, metal levels, and bonding sites for chip-to-package connections.
Some characteristics by which capacitors are evaluated include capacitive density, parasitic capacitance to ground, and the extent to which one or more functional parameters are influenced by device orientation. Existing BEOL capacitors have several shortcomings. In a standard BEOL comb capacitor, the device is not symmetric in both directions, leading to orientation-dependent operation, undesired parasitic capacitances, and circuit mismatches. The asymmetric topology can also lead to increased area requirements. Moreover, existing BEOL capacitors have an undesirably large parasitic capacitance associated with the bottommost layers of the capacitor anode coupling to the semiconductor substrate.

Orientation-independent multi-layer BEOL capacitor

International Business Machines Corporation


The therapeutic use of new salts of physostigmine in the treatment of syndromes related to changes in cerebral metabolism in the elderly is described. The new salts of physostigmine, which are based on phosphatidic acid, are highly lipophilic and exhibit excellent bioavailability when administered orally, transcutaneously or transepidermally.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to new derivatives of physostigmine, to processes for their production and to novel pharmaceutical compositions and dosage forms containing them. The invention further relates to the therapeutic use of the novel physostigmine derivatives of the invention in the treatment of syndromes related to changes in cerebral metabolism in the elderly.
2. Description of Related Art
Physostigmine (I) is a well-known alkaloid which has been used as a myotic agent since the beginning of this century. The substance has now almost completely been abandoned for its original therapeutic use. However over the last 15 years it has been found that physostigmine's significant anticholinesterase activity makes it particularly valuable in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and the severe effects of various forms of senile dementia, since it improves the cholinergic deficit found in the brain of affected patients. ##STR1##
A number of clinical studies (Davis, Am. J. Psychiat., 139, 1421, 1982; Jotkowitz, Ann. Neurol., 14, 690, 1983; Davis, New Engl. J. Med., 308, 721, 1983) have shown that the intravenous administration of repeated daily doses of physostigmine produced significant improvements in memory. It was also found that when the alkaloid is administered subcutaneously or by mouth, it is degraded rapidly, with the result that treatment must be repeated at short intervals. A further disadvantage of both the intravenous and subcutaneous routes of administration is that both are uncomfortable and impractical for use over long periods.
It is known that physostigmine is capable of passing through the blood-brain barrier to reach the nuclei where it exerts its effect. The physostigmine derivatives currently used for this purpose include salts such as those traditionally described in pharmacopeias for formulating basic alkaloids. These include the salicylate, the sulphate or the nitrate, though more lipophilic derivatives of physostigmine, such as the heptyl derivative (IT 047780) or its analogues have been developed.
Other derivatives include those described in EP-A-0 298 202. This document describes derivatives of physostigmine in which the methyl carbamate group is replaced by a C.sub.2-12 alkyl carbamate group and claims organic salts of such derivatives with organic acids selected from tartaric, maleic and citric acids.
A further class of physostigmine derivatives are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/166,824, made publicly available by the Department of Health and Human Services through the National Technical Information Service, including (-)-N(1)-norphysostigmine, (-)-N(1)-alkylphysostigmine and (-)-N(1)-phenylethylphysostigmine.
The compounds of application Ser. No. 07/166,824 are represented by the formula ##STR2## wherein R.sup.1 =H, R.sup.2 .dbd.CH.sub.3
R.sup.1 =Bz, R.sup.2 .dbd.CH.sub.3 PA1 R.sup.1 =Bz, R.sup.2 .dbd.OH PA1 R.sup.1 =Bz, R.sup.2 .dbd.OCONH--CH.sub.3 PA1 R.sup.1 =H, R.sup.2 .dbd.CONH--CH.sub.3 PA1 R.sup.1 =CH.sub.2 .dbd.CH--CH.sub.2, R.sup.2 .dbd.CONHCH.sub.3 PA1 R.sup.1 =CH.sub.2 --CH.sub.2 --Ph, R.sup.2 .dbd.CONHCH.sub.3.
JP-0-1279830 discloses the use of physostigmine-containing compositions wherein pentaenoic and/or hexaenoic acids and phosphatidyl choline are included as excipients.
A disadvantage of the salts of physostigmine and the derivatives and compositions described hitherto is that they have an extremely short half-life and are eliminated from the blood completely within 2 hours. Physostigmine is also a highly toxic product with a small therapeutic margin, and the doses administered by conventional routes must therefore necessarily be low. We have now attempted to rationalize the use of physostigmine by devising new salts and also by administering the drug in such a way that it gains a more direct access to the brain for prolonged periods in non-toxic concentrations. In making this invention, it was surprisingly found that certain lipophilic salts of physostigmine, which are specifically the subject of the invention, when administered in an appropriate manner, can prolong the mean life of the alkaloid, so bringing significant therapeutic advantages.

Derivatives of physostigmine, their use and pharmaceutical formulations containing them


Responding to an account reactivation request includes receiving an account reactivation request from a former subscriber having a deactivated account and automatically accessing stored account information related to the deactivated account based on the account reactivation request. The stored account information is compared with a reactivation standard to produce a comparison result. Based on the comparison result a response to the reactivation request is provided. The receiving, accessing, comparing, and responding may be performed by a computer without interaction between the former subscriber and a service representative.

A recipient of an account activation request may determine that a deactivated account corresponding to the account activation request exists and that the account activation request may be satisfied by reactivating the deactivated account. For example, a previous subscriber to a service or product may contact the service or product provider when seeking to subscribe again to the service or product. When contacted, a representative of the service or product provider may collect caller identification information and information from the previous subscriber regarding the purpose of the contact. The representative may use the information provided by the previous subscriber to identify account information associated with the previous subscriber. Upon identification of the account information, the representative may respond appropriately to the reactivation request of the previous subscriber based upon the account information.

Online reactivation of an account or service


A pattern inspection method includes: irradiating a first region of a surface of a sample having a pattern to be inspected with a charged particle beam; acquiring a first two-dimensional image showing a state of the surface of the sample; searching for a pattern similar to a previously prepared reference image within the first two-dimensional image; when the pattern similar to the reference image is not detected in the first two-dimensional image, irradiating a second region of the surface of the sample that has not been irradiated with a charged particle beam; acquiring a second two-dimensional image showing a state of the surface of the sample; and searching a pattern similar to the reference image within the second two-dimensional image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pattern inspection method, a pattern inspection apparatus, a semiconductor device manufacturing method, and a program, and is directed to the measurement and inspection of, for example, a semiconductor pattern using a charged particle beam.
2. Related Background Art
When a semiconductor pattern is automatically measured using a scanning electron microscope, automatic focusing processing or pattern recognition processing, for example, may fail in the middle of the measurement, so that a measurement value results in an abnormal value. In such a case, if the measurement is judged to be an error and remeasurement is automatically carried out when the measurement value exceeds a certain range, the automatic measurement can be continued without troubling an operator.
However, if a measurement point where the measurement error has occurred is remeasured as it is, the measurement point is irradiated with the electron beam twice, which is a significant problem in the case of measuring a pattern made of a material greatly damaged (volume shrinkage due to the desorption of a protecting group) by the irradiation of the electron beam such as a resist for ArF excimer laser exposure devices or a low-k material. Moreover, even in the case of a material which is not damaged by the irradiation of the electron beam, the shape of the pattern changes due to a contrast change caused by a charge-up and contamination caused by the irradiation of the electron beam, so that it is impossible to accurately measure the pattern.

Pattern inspection method, pattern inspection apparatus, semiconductor device manufacturing method, and program


An animal restraining apparatus having a belt which forms an opening. A girth of an animal is positioned within the opening. The belt is constricted around the girth of the animal by forcing opposite free end portions of a line apart from each other. A guide element maintains a position of the line with respect to the belt. The line is moveably mounted with respect to the belt. A keeper element can be used to maintain the free end portions of the line in a desired position. Preferably but not necessarily, the free end portions overlap each other near the keeper element.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for restraining an animal, such as a dog, that can be used in combination with a conventional collar.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Many different conventional collars are used to restrain a dog or other household animal when training and/or exercising the animal. Conventional collars are adjustable, for example with a buckle, with a hook-and-loop strap or any other suitable adjustable fastener. Other conventional collars include a choke chain.
During training or exercise, a leash is attached to the conventional collar. When the leash is pulled, the collar restrains the animal. However, many conventional collars choke or otherwise apply undesirable forces to a neck portion of the animal. It is apparent that there is a need for an animal restraining device that causes less harm and/or irritation to the animal, particularly to the neck area of the animal.


A pivot rod for a sun visor having a lighted vanity mirror which is constructed with two L-shaped semi-cylindrical members so that both wires for the circuit can be inserted into a channel prior to assembly. A connector is applied to the wires extending from the mounting socket end of the pivot rod, and the wires extending from the longer leg of the L-shaped pivot rod which is inserted into the sun visor are connected to the lighting circuit in the sun visor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to vehicular sun visors, and, more particularly, this invention relates to a pivot rod for use with a sun visor having a lighted vanity mirror.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pivot rods for vehicle sun visors are used to mount the visor to the vehicle roof through a mounting bracket. Typically, as shown in our U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,983, the pivot rod is L-shaped. The shorter leg of the L-shaped pivot rod is received in the mounting bracket for rotation of the rod to swing the sun visor from a windshield position to a side window position. The longer leg of the L-shaped rod carries the visor for pivotal motion between a storage position adjacent to the vehicle roof to a use position shading the sunlight from the occupants, to a position in which the visor is parallel to the windshield.
When the sun visor has a lighted vanity mirror, it is necessary to make and electrical connection between the vehicle battery and the lights mounted in the sun visor. Typically, a single lead has been brought through the mounting bracket and pivot rod or through a counter bearing at the end of the visor opposite to the pivot rod, and the ground connection is supplied through the vehicle frame. Where a single lead has been brought through the mounting bracket it is normally routed out of the elbow member of the pivot rod directly to the lighting circuit. In other cases where the lead passes through the horizontal axle portion of the pivot rod, the axle portion and pivot elbow are two separate pieces to permit such an assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,864 brings the hot lead through a counter bearing to avoid the extremely expensive machining operation to bring the lead through the pivot shaft and the high assembly costs. The ground is through the metal pivot shaft and a metal reinforcing frame work in the visor. An alternative is also shown bringing both leads through the counter bearing. With either construction, the user must position the visor and effect snapping the counter bearing into a mounting clip to receive power for the lights.
In our U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,839 we show a unique pivot rod constructed by injection insert molding a metal tube at the center of a plastic pivot rod. The metal tube forms one of the input leads to the lighting circuit, and a wire inside the tube forms the other input power lead to the lighting circuit.
With the ever increasing sophistication of electronic equipment in vehicles, a need has emerged for supplying both leads to the visor without resorting to the frame ground of the vehicle.


A linear actuator using a metal beam-type piezoelectric material, and an apparatus and a method for actuating the same. The piezoelectric actuator includes: a moving member having a predetermined length and moving in a forward or a backward direction; and a piezoelectric portion contacting the moving member and moving the moving member linearly using a vibration generated when a piezoelectric element contracts or expands in response to an electrical signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a linear actuator using a metal beam-type piezoelectric material, and an apparatus and a method for actuating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Piezoelectric actuators have the advantages of low noise, small number of components, compact bulk structure, high precision, stabilizing compensation, and precise control. Thus, piezoelectric actuators are used instead of conventional actuators in many areas. In particular, the use of piezoelectric actuators in the field of digital cameras and CCTV cameras and aerospace applications has grown rapidly. Additionally, piezoelectric actuators that generate a linear force without conversion from a rotation motion to linear motion such as those in a conventional DC or step motor are expected to be used in core technologies for future industries.
Conventional methods of generating a linear motion in a piezoelectric actuator can be classified into three methods.
First, a linear motion is generated in the piezoelectric actuator by using a rotation motion. The rotation motion is generated using friction between a rotator and a stator such as that in a conventional DC or step motor. Then, a linear force is generated using a thread of a shaft. The method of generating the linear motion is the same as a conventional method using a motor; however, because a rotation force is generated when a piezoelectric material is excited at an ultrasonic bandwidth using a property of the piezoelectric material, the method has important advantages such as low noise, high resolution, stabilizing compensation, and precision.
Second, a linear motion is generated by friction with a surface of an external object. In this method, surface portions of components of an object to move linearly make point contact with an actuator, and the object is moved linearly by friction. In this case, a surface of the object that is in point contact with the actuator has a predetermined hardness so as to withstand frequent friction caused by a high-frequency motion of the actuator. Moreover, additional components should be powered to stop or fix the object.
Third, a linear motion is generated using a bulk (single-layer, stack) type piezoelectric actuator by lifting an object linearly. In this case, there is no friction with an external object. To obtain a linear motion, an additional support needs to be installed. An example of a liner motion obtained using this method is the up and down linear motion of a helicoil. Because the motion is a bulk-type motion, the displacement is limited. Also, additional elements should be powered to stop and fix the object. Since the bulk structure includes a piezoelectric material, which is a kind of a dielectric material, and an electrode between piezoelectric layers serves as a capacitor, less power is required for stopping and fixing the object.
In the piezoelectric actuator using a rotation motion disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-181377, to obtain a linear motion from the rotation motion, additional mechanical elements are needed. That is, a shaft is installed on a spindle connected to a rotor of the piezoelectric actuator and interlocks with a thread of the object to move so that the object can move linearly. When the rotation motion is used without changes, power should be transmitted to the object to move while being engaged with a gear train or a thread of an object to be rotated. In addition, noise is generated when the mechanical components contact each other during the operation of the piezoelectric actuator.
In the piezoelectric actuator disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,140, a linear motion is generated through surface friction between an external object and an object to move. Thus, the surface of the object should be specially coated or a material having great hardness should be used on the surface of the object so that when a power transmission tip of the piezoelectric actuator contacts the surface of the object, power is transmitted without any loss and the surface of the object is not damaged. In this case, due to additional processes for manufacturing the object, the manufacturing cost of the piezoelectric actuator increases, the manufacturing time increases, and due to the increase of weight of the object, other design parameters should be further considered.
In the bulk-type actuator disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,512,321, the displacement of an object is limited because the displacement of the object is proportional to the stack structure of a piezoelectric portion of the actuator and the intensity of an applied electric field. That is, if you want to obtain a larger amount of displacement from the actuator, since the actuator should be designed by stacking more piezoelectric layers and a high voltage should be applied to the actuator, the size of the actuator increases, costs increase, and much power is consumed.

Piezoelectric actuator, and apparatus and method for actuating the same