A power-generation device comprising at least one cylinder, at least one cylinder head, at least one piston and an output shaft, having a central axis having a fixed angular relationship to the central axis of the cylinder. A swash plate, having a first swash plate surface having a normal axis disposed at a first fixed angle to the central axis of the output shaft, is fixed to the output shaft. At least one connecting rod is connected to at least one piston. At least one follower is secured to the second end of a connecting rod. The first follower surface contacts, and conforms to, the orientation of the first swash plate surface.

An internal combustion engine derives power from the volumetric compression of a fuel-air mixture, followed by a timed ignition of the compressed fuel-air mixture. The volumetric change generally results from the motion of axially-reciprocating pistons disposed in corresponding cylinders. In the course of each stroke, a piston will vary the gas volume captured in a cylinder from a minimum volume to a maximum volume. In an Otto cycle, or "four-stroke" internal combustion engine, the reciprocal motion of each piston compresses the fuel-air mixture, receives and transmits the force generated by the expanding gases, generates a positive pressure to move the spent gases out the exhaust port and generates a negative pressure on the intake port to draw in a subsequent fuel-air gas charge.
The modern internal combustion engine arose from humble beginnings. As early as the late 17th century, a Dutch physicist by the name of Christian Huygens designed an internal combustion engine fueled with gunpowder. It is believed that Huygens' engine was never successfully built. Later, in the early nineteenth century, Francois Isaac de Rivaz of Switzerland invented a hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine. It is reported that this engine was built, but was not commercially successful.
Although there was a certain degree of early work on the idea of the internal combustion engine, development truly began in earnest in the mid-nineteenth century. Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir developed and patented a number of electric spark-ignition internal combustion engines, running on various fuels. The Lenoir engine did not meet performance or reliability expectations and fell from popularity. It is reported that the Lenoir engine suffered from a troublesome electrical ignition system and a reputation for a high consumption of fuel. Approximately 100 cubic feet of coal gas were consumed per horsepower hour. Despite these early setbacks, a number of other inventors, including Alphonse Beau de Rochas, Siegfried Marcus and George Brayton, continued to make substantial contributions to the development of the internal combustion engine.
An inventor by the name of Nikolaus August Otto improved on Lenoir's and de Rochas' designs to develop a more efficient engine. Well aware of the substantial shortcomings of the Lenoir engine, Otto felt that the Lenoir engine could be improved. To this end, Otto worked to improve upon the Lenoir engine in various ways. In 1861, Otto patented a two-stroke engine that ran on gasoline. Otto's two-stroke engine won a gold medal at the 1867 World's Fair in Paris. Although Otto's two-stroke engine was novel, its performance was not competitive with the steam engines of the time. A successful two-stroke engine would not be developed until 1876.
In or around 1876, at approximately the same time that an inventor named Dougald was building a successful two-stroke engine, Klaus Otto built what is believed to be the first four-stroke piston cycle internal combustion engine. Otto's four-stroke engine was the first practical power-generating alternative to the steam engines of the time. Otto's revolutionary four-stroke engine can be considered the grandfather of the millions of mass-produced internal combustion engines that have since been built. Otto's contribution to the development of the internal combustion engine is such that the process of combusting the fuel and air mixture in a modern automobile is known as the "Otto cycle" in his honor. Otto received U.S. Pat. No. 365,701 for his engine.
Ten years after Klaus Otto built his first four-stroke engine, Gottlieb Daimler invented what is often recognized as the prototype of the modern gasoline engine. Daimler's engine employed a single vertical cylinder, with gasoline imparted to the incoming air by means of a carburetor. In 1889, Daimler completed an improved four-stroke engine with mushroom-shaped valves and two cylinders. Wilhelm Maybach built the first four-cylinder, four-stroke engine in 1890. The carbureted four-stroke multi-cylinder internal combustion engine became the mainstay of ground transportation from the early 1900s through the 1970s, ultimately being supplanted by fuel-injected engines in the 1980s.

Two-cycle swash plate internal combustion engine


A bone screw assembly includes a tulip-shaped seat, a bone fixation device, a ring-shaped washer, a rod and a cap. The tulip-shaped seat comprises a through opening dimensioned to receive the bone fixation device and a horizontal channel dimensioned to receive the rod. The washer is placed into the seat on top of the bone fixation device head and comprises first and second side tabs and a first pair of upward extending projections separated by a first gap and a second pair of upward extending projections separated by a second gap. The side tabs interface with a groove formed in the bottom portion of the seat. The rod is placed within the channel and positioned within a groove formed on the top surface of the washer. The cap includes first and second projections extending downward from its bottom surface and each of the first and second downward projections comprises first and second sidewise extending ridges. The first ridges of the first and second projections are aligned and placed within the first and second gaps of the washer, respectively, and interface with a first groove formed on the side portion of the seat and the second ridges interface with a second groove on the side portion of the seat when the cap is rotate.

The human spine comprises individual vertebras 30 (segments) that are connected to each other to form a spinal column 29, shown in FIG. 1A. Referring to FIGS. 1B and 1C, each vertebra 30 has a cylindrical bony body (vertebral body) 32, three winglike projections (two transverse processes 33, 35 and one spinous process 34), left and right facet joints 46, lamina 47, left and right pedicles 48 and a bony arch (neural arch) 36. The bodies of the vertebrae 32 are stacked one on top of the other and form the strong but flexible spinal column. The neural arches 36 are positioned so that the space they enclose forms a tube, i.e., the spinal canal 37. The spinal canal 37 houses and protects the spinal cord and other neural elements. A fluid filled protective membrane, the dura 38, covers the contents of the spinal canal. The spinal column is flexible enough to allow the body to twist and bend, but sturdy enough to support and protect the spinal cord and the other neural elements. The vertebras 30 are separated and cushioned by thin pads of tough, resilient fiber known as inter-vertebral discs 40. Disorders of the spine occur when one or more of the individual vertebras 30 and/or the inter-vertebral discs 40 become abnormal either as a result of disease or injury. In these pathologic circumstances, fusion of adjacent vertebral segments may be tried to restore the function of the spine to normal, achieve stability, protect the neural structures, or to relief the patient of discomfort.
Several spinal fixation systems exist for stabilizing the spine so that bony fusion is achieved. The majority of these fixation systems utilize rods that attach to screws which are threaded into the vertebral bodies or the pedicles. These systems can be extended along the sides of the spine by connecting two adjacent pedicles at a time similar to the concept of a bicycle chain. Spinal screw assemblies that allow support of stabilization rods without adding bulk to the lateral aspect of the spine or limiting access to the pars and transverse processes are desirable.

Spinal screw assembly and screw insertion tool


A boosting voltage control circuit includes a first charge pump coupled to an output node, and a second charge pump coupled to the output node, the second charge pump having an enable input to enable the second charge pump. The boosting voltage control circuit also includes a regulation circuit coupled to the output node, and a clock generator coupled to the regulation circuit, the first charge pump, and the second charge pump.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a boosting voltage control circuit for use in memory devices.
2. Background of the Related Art
In a flash memory device of a low power supply voltage, voltage boosting is performed in order to boost a word line gate voltage of the cell every time the read operation of the cell is performed. In other words, boosting is to boost a low power supply voltage (VCC) to a voltage level that could be used for the read operation. Generally, the boosting operation raises a voltage of 0V to 5.3V if a read command is inputted from the outside. However, in raising the voltage from 0V to 5.3V, lots of time is taken due to various delay components such as a RC delay, etc. within the boosting circuit.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A information recording and reproducing apparatus is capable of recording received audio data in real time in a recording medium, in a searchable state with respect to each piece of music, with simple processing. The information recording and reproducing apparatus receives a data stream including, together with an audio stream, additional information of the piece of music which is currently being transmitted by the audio stream. The additional information includes time information such as the musical performance time of the piece of music and the elapsed time. The information recording and reproducing apparatus records the received audio stream sequentially in an HDD, without change, and on the basis of the received additional information, the reception ending time of the piece of music which is currently being received in the audio stream is calculated. When the calculated reception ending time is reached, recording position information, which shows the recording position in the HDD of the data of the piece of music which is currently being received, is recorded in the HDD in association with additional information of the relevant piece of music as a head position of the piece of music which will be received next.

This invention relates to an information recording and reproducing apparatus which receives a data stream including content data of programs and additional information including time information with respect to each program in the content data which is currently being transmitted, records it in a recording medium, and reproduces the recorded content, and a method of recording information to a recording medium.
In recent years, digital broadcasting by use of a communication satellite, etc. has become popular. In digital broadcasting, high quality signal transmission is possible, and in addition, multi-channel is realized by improvement of frequency utilization efficiency, and various content such as movies, sports, news, and music are multiplexed to go on the air.
As one example of such content, an all music radio program using digital audio data may be broadcast. For example, there may be a broadcast channel in which music audio data, which was compressed by use of an audio compression system such as MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group), is broadcast continuously. In addition, a service may be rendered in which data, including various additional information pertaining to the music being distributed, is distributed in parallel with the audio data, and thereby a user, who is listening to music, can visually recognize additional information as to the music, and can also record it in a recording medium together with the audio data of the music. The additional information may include, for example, the name of the music and the name of the artist, such as the musical performer.
On one hand, in recent years, high capacity recording apparatuses which use writable types of DVDs (Digital Versatile Disk) and HDDs (Hard Disk Drive), etc. have been marketed at low prices, and it has become possible to record in such recording apparatuses a number of songs which were distributed in the all music radio program as described above. For example, in the case of distributed music which was compressed and encoded by an MPEG-AUDIO-Layer 2 system, it has become possible to record approximately 700 hours of audio data to HDD with 80 Gbytes of storage.
In the case of recording distributed music in a recording apparatus, the recording is normally carried out by a music unit, and therefore, in the recording apparatus, it is desired to determine a boundary of music which is distributed continuously, and to automatically record audio signals received with respect to each piece of music. In the past, automatic recording of each piece of music was easily realized by automatically detecting a silent period between pieces of music on the basis of the level of audio data which was input. Further, there was also a data transfer system in which, in a receiving apparatus which receives broadcast content in music distribution, etc., the start point of a piece of music is determined from additional information which was transmitted in parallel with the audio data as described above, and an audio signal, which is output from a receiving apparatus to a recording apparatus, is made to be silent for a predetermined time period prior to the start point. Such system thereby enabled the boundary of the piece of music to be accurately determined in the recording apparatus. See, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. JP-A-2000-36184, described below.
In addition, since it is possible to record the audio data of a number of pieces of music in a high capacity recording apparatus, a technique for easily searching the recorded audio data has been sought. As an example of this, there was a recording apparatus which was configured in such a manner that, when audio data was recorded to a portable optical disk medium such as a DVD, in audio frame information in an audio packet in which a head of the audio frame is included, a fast access unit pointer, which shows a recording position of that head, has been recorded, and at the time of reproduction, it is possible to easily search the start position of the audio frame by use of the fast access unit pointer as a clue See, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. JP-A-9-251762 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,805,537), described below.
As described above, it is desired to record audio data of an arbitrary piece of music in a recording apparatus in real time at the same time as receiving an all music broadcast channel to listen to and view music, and further to easily search and reproduce audio data which was recorded in the recording apparatus in a music unit. However, during the recording of audio data, when a silent period is to be detected on the basis of the level of audio data which is input in order to determine a boundary of a piece of music, it may not be possible to surely detect the boundary when the silent period between pieces of distributed music is short, and inversely, when the silent period is lengthened and distributed, the number of pieces of music which can be distributed becomes small.
In this regard, it is desired to describe the performance time of a piece of music and the elapsed time, etc. in additional information which is distributed in parallel with the audio data, and to surely detect the starting point of the piece of music by the use of this information. However, in order to realize such automatic detection in a conventional system, processes such as the exchange of signals between a receiving apparatus which receives broadcasts and a recording apparatus, and the generation of information to be recorded, become complex. In particular, in recent years, apparatuses for recording video/audio data in an HDD have increased, and it is desirable to record audio and video data received through broadcasting in an HDD in real time with simple processing, and to easily search data which was recorded.
Meanwhile, in the recording apparatus which was disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. JP-A-9-251762, after an audio signal is input, that audio signal and control information are stored in an HDD, and thereafter, information which was read out from the HDD is multiplexed and recorded on a recording medium, and it is difficult to receive the input of an audio signal and record information which shows a head part of that audio signal and music, etc. in real time.

Method of sequentially recording programs using calculated reception ending times


The present invention provides a wet pressed paper web. The web has a first relatively high density region having a first thickness K, a second relatively low density region having a second thickness P, which is a local maxima, and a third region extending intermediate the first and second regions. The third region includes a transition region having a third thickness T, which is a local minima. The present invention also provides a method of making a wet pressed web. An embryonic web of papermaking fibers is formed on a foraminous forming member, and transferred to an imprinting member to deflect a portion of the papermaking fibers in the embryonic web into deflection conduits in the imprinting member. The web and the imprinting member are then pressed between first and second dewatering felts in a compression nip to further deflect the papermaking fibers into the deflection conduits in the imprinting member and to remove water from both sides of the web. The imprinting member can have a continuous, monoplanar web contacting surface for molding a wet paper web to have a continuous, relatively high density network and a plurality of relatively low density, discrete domes dispersed through the relatively high density network.

Disposable products such as facial tissue, sanitary tissue, paper towels, and the like are typically made from one or more webs of paper. If the products are to perform their intended tasks, the paper webs from which they are formed must exhibit certain physical characteristics. Among the more important of these characteristics are strength, softness, and absorbency. Strength is the ability of a paper web to retain its physical integrity during use. Softness is the pleasing tactile sensation the user perceives as the user crumples the paper in his or her hand and contacts various portions of his or her anatomy with the paper web. Softness generally increases as the paper web stiffness decreases. Absorbency is the characteristic of the paper web which allows it to take up and retain fluids. Typically, the softness and/or absorbency of a paper web is increased at the expense of the strength of the paper web. Accordingly, papermaking methods have been developed in an attempt to provide soft and absorbent paper webs having desirable strength characteristics.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,301,746 issued to Sanford et al. discloses a paper web which is thermally pre-dried with a through air-drying system. Portions of the web are then impacted with a fabric knuckle pattern at the dryer drum. While the process of Sanford et al. is directed to providing improved softness and absorbency without sacrificing tensile strength, water removal using the through-air dryers of Sanford et al. is very energy intensive, and therefore expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,954 issued to Justus discloses a web formed between an upper fabric and a lower forming wire. A pattern is imparted to the web at a nip where the web is sandwiched between the fabric and a relatively soft and resilient papermaking felt. U.S. Pat. No. 4,309,246 issued to Hulit et al. discloses delivering an uncompacted wet web to an open mesh imprinting fabric formed of woven elements, and pressing the web between a papermaker's felt and the imprinting fabric in a first press nip. The web is then carried by the imprinting fabric from the first press nip to a second press nip at a drying drum. U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,124 issued to Turunen et al. discloses a paper machine having a twin-wire former having a pair of endless fabrics, which can be felts. One of the endless fabrics carries a paper web to a press section. The press section can include the endless fabric which carries the paper web to the press section, an additional endless fabric which can be a felt, and a wire for pattern embossing the web.
Both Justus and Hulit et al. suffer from the disadvantage that they press a wet web in a nip having only one felt. During pressing of the web, water will exit both sides of the web. Accordingly, water exiting the surface of the web which is not in contact with a felt can re-enter the web at the exit of the press nip. Such re-wetting of the web at the exit of the press nip reduces the water removal capability of the press arrangement, disrupts fiber-to-fiber bonds formed during pressing, and can result in rebulking of the portions of the web which are densified in the press nip.
Turunen et al. discloses a press nip which includes two endless fabrics, which can be felts, and an imprinting wire. However, Turunen et al. does not transfer the web from a forming wire to an imprinting fabric to provide initial deflection of portions of the wet web into the imprinting fabric prior to pressing the web in the press nip. The web in Turunen can therefore be generally monoplanar at the entrance to the press nip, resulting in overall compaction of the web in the press nip. Overall compaction of the web is undesirable because it limits the difference in density between different portions of the web by increasing the density of relatively low density portions of the web.
In addition, Hulit et al., and Turunen et al. provide press arrangements wherein the imprinting fabric has discrete compaction knuckles, such as at the warp and weft crossover points of woven filaments. Discrete compacted sites do not provide a wet molded sheet having a continuous high density region for carrying loads and discrete low density regions for providing absorbency.
Embossing can also be used to impart bulk to a web. However, embossing of a dried web can result in disruption of bonds between fibers in the web. This disruption occurs because the bonds are formed and then set upon drying of the web. After the web is dried, moving fibers normal to the plane of the web disrupts fiber to fiber bonds, which in turn results in a web having less tensile strength than existed before embossing.
The following references disclose embossing: European Patent Application 0499942A2, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,556,907, 3,867,225, 3,414,459, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,967.
As a result, paper scientists continue to search for improved paper structures that can be produced economically, and which provide increased strength without sacrificing softness and absorbency.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for dewatering and molding a paper web.
It is another object of the present invention to provide initial deflection of a portion of a paper web into an imprinting member, and subsequently pressing the resulting non-monoplanar web and the imprinting member between two deformable water receiving members.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a wet pressed paper web having increased strength for a given level of sheet flexibility.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a non-embossed patterned paper web having a relatively high density continuous network, a plurality of relatively low density domes dispersed throughout the continuous. network, and a reduced thickness transition region at least partially encircling each of the low density domes.

Wet pressed paper web and method of making the same


A computer trains a neural network model. (A) Observation vectors are randomly selected from a plurality of observation vectors. (B) A forward and backward propagation of a neural network is executed to compute a gradient vector and a weight vector. (C) A search direction vector is computed. (D) A step size value is computed. (E) An updated weight vector is computed. (F) Based on a predefined progress check frequency value, second observation vectors are randomly selected, a progress check objective function value is computed given the weight vector, the step size value, the search direction vector, and the second observation vectors, and based on an accuracy test, the mini-batch size value is updated. (G) (A) to (F) are repeated until a convergence parameter value indicates training of the neural network is complete. The weight vector for a next iteration is the computed updated weight vector.

For training deep learning models, stochastic gradient descent (SGD) is the most widely used optimization method though it can be very sensitive to hyperparameter values and is not straightforward to parallelize. Choosing the proper hyperparameters can require tuning procedures that result in high computation power consumption. SGD variants, such as ADAM-SGD and Momentum-SGD, have been proposed to improve SGD performance. Though these variants can be more efficient and more robust, tuning their hyperparameters remains a daunting task. As a type of quasi-Newton method, the limited memory Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno algorithm (L-BFGS) generally requires fewer iterations to converge, requires much less hyperparameter tuning, and is naturally parallelizable. Though there has been some progress recently in using stochastic L-BFGS for machine learning, stochastic L-BFGS overall may not be as efficient as SGD for deep learning. It may require a long training time due to an inaccuracy of a positive-definite approximation that makes updates less effective, and may produce large errors.


Feature-matching methods for attempting to match visual features in one image with visual features in another image. Feature-matching methods disclosed progressively sample the affine spaces of the images for visual features, starting with a course sampling and iteratively increasing the density of sampling. Once a predetermined threshold number of unambiguous matches has been satisfied, the iterative sampling and matching can be stopped. The iterative sampling and matching methodology is especially, but not exclusively, suited for use in fully affine invariant feature matching applicants and can be particularly computationally efficient for comparing images that have large differences in observational parameters, such as scale, tilt, object-plane rotation, and image-plane rotation. The feature-matching methods disclosed can be useful in object/scene recognition applications. The disclosed methods can be implemented in software and various object/scene recognition systems.

Automated feature-based image matching is a useful tool in many computer-implemented object/scene recognition applications from robotic vision to facial recognition, among many others. A number of feature-based image matching algorithms have been developed over the past 20 years. Many of these algorithms, such as the scale-invariant feature transformation (SIFT) algorithm, deal well with rotation and scaling as between a reference image and a query image. However, most of these algorithms are not robust enough to deal with full affine movement, for example when there is large movement of the camera and/or objects in the scene, and others that attempt to handle full affine movement are computationally very expensive and are, therefore, not practical for commercial and other real-world applications.
Several algorithms have been proposed that deal with the full affine movement and try to achieve robustness to affine movement by normalizing local patches, or regions, that have undergone an unknown affine distortion. Normalization transforms each of these regions into a standard form, where the effect of the affine transform has been eliminated. The best examples of such algorithms are the Harris-Affine and Hessian-Affine region detectors, and the "maximally stable extremal region" (MSER) algorithm. MSER, in particular, has been demonstrated to often have better performance than other affine invariant detectors (when a strong change of scale is present, however, SIFT still exhibits better performance than most other methods). It is important to note that none of these normalization algorithms are truly affine invariant because they start with initial feature scales and locations that are selected in a non-affine-invariant manner. In other words, even though these algorithms claim robustness or invariance to the affine model, their feature detection step is only invariant to the scale-plus-rotation model and thus they are not truly affine-invariant.
A very recent effort, the "affine SIFT" (ASIFT) algorithm, tries to achieve true affine invariance by searching the full affine space on a lower resolution version of the images. The best estimates for the affine movement are then tested on the full resolution images. In theory this algorithm is affine-invariant, but in practice it works by running the SIFT algorithm multiple times, which makes it slower and diminishes its applicability.

Systems, methods, and software implementing affine-invariant feature detection implementing iterative searching of an affine space


A pressure-contact type semiconductor device such as an insulated gate bipolar transistor. The device includes semiconductor chip, a gate electrode on a first surface of the semiconductor chip, an emitter electrode insulated and separated from the gate electrode, and an emitter sensing electrode on the first surface of the semiconductor chip. A collector layer is on the second surface of the semiconductor chip. The emitter sensing electrode monitors the emitter voltage. Because the emitter sensing electrode is on the semiconductor chip, the emitter sensing electrode is not influenced by inductance between an emitter and an emitter terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pressure-contact type semiconductor device and more particularly to an emitter voltage sensing electrode in MOS gate driving switching devices used in, for instance, IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor), thyristor, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a schematic pattern layout on conventional pressure-contact type IGBT chips. The cross-sectional structure along the line B-B in FIG. 1 is schematically shown in FIG. 2, and an equivalent circuit of said pressure-contact type IGBT is shown in FIG. 3.
In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, 60 shows an IGBT chip. On the top of this IGBT chip 60, there is formed an emitter electrode array 62 and a gate electrode 63 separately insulated from each other. 64 is a chip frame made of electrically insulate material to hold the outer edge of said IGBT chip 60; 65 is a first Mo (Molybdenum) plate so arranged that its one side is brought in contact with said emitter electrode array 62 of said IGBT chip 60; and 66 is a Cu emitter electrode plate so arranged that the other side is brought in compression contact with said first Mo plate 65.
67 is a second Mo plate so arranged that its one side is brought in contact with a collector electrode formed on the back of said IGBT chip 60, and 68 is a collector electrode plate so arranged that the other side is brought in compression contact with said second Mo plate 67.
69 is a gate electrode pull-out lead wire of which one end is brought in compression contact with a gate electrode 63 of said IGBT chip 60, the other end is taken out to the outside and its middle portion is covered by, for instance, an insulated tube 70 and is passing through a space enclosed by said chip frame 64 and emitter compression contact plates (the first Mo plate 65, the Cu emitter electrode plate 66).
Further, E is an emitter terminal connected to said Cu emitter electrode plate 66; C is a collector terminal connected to said collector electrode plate 68; and G is a gate terminal connected to said gate electrode lead wire 69.
In case of the pressure-contact type IGBT in said structure, an emitter compression contact plate composed of a single Mo plate 65 and a single Cu emitter electrode plate 66 is brought in compression contact with said emitter electrode array 62 on a single chip 60 and a collector compression contact plate composed of a single Mo plate 67 and a single collector electrode plate 68 is brought in compression contact a collector electrode on the back of the chip 60.
Therefore, like the equivalent circuit shown in FIG. 3, there exist inductance component L1 of the Cu emitter electrode plate 66 and inductance component L2 of the first Mo plate 65 in series between the emitter terminal E and the emitter electrode array 62 of the IGBT chip 60, and there exist inductance component L3 of the collector electrode plate 68 and inductance component L4 of the second Mo plate 67 in series between the collector terminal C and the collector electrode of the IGBT chip 10.
In a device using said pressure-contact type IGBT, an emitter voltage sensing terminal is needed to sense (monitor) voltage of an emitter electrode of the IGBT in order to detect overcurrent when applied to the IGBT. In a conventional compression contact structure, an emitter terminal ES is connected to the Cu emitter electrode plate 66.
However, as there exist inductance component L1 of the Cu emitter electrode plate and inductance component L2 of the first Mo plate in series between said emitter voltage sensing terminal ES and said emitter electrode array 62 as shown in FIG. 3, voltage is induced on said inductances L1 and L2 when emitter current changes.
In this case, if a time change of emitter current i like turn ON/OFF or current oscillation when the IGBT is in operation is expressed by di/dt, induced voltage V between both ends of said inductance components L1, L2 is expressed by the following expression: EQU V=-(L1+L2)di/dt
Here, if di/dt is large, a large induced noise is generated between the emitter terminal and the emitter electrode 62; an error is produced between a measured voltage value of the emitter terminal and a true emitter voltage value of the emitter electrode 62; and it becomes impossible to detect emitter voltage accurately. In this connection, in case of a device which operates at a high speed like an IGBT, di/dt is large and if it is operated at, for instance, 10000 A/us, induced noise as large as about 20 V is generated even when an inductance is as small as (L1+L2)=2nH.
As described above, in case of a conventional pressure-contact type semiconductor device in such a structure that an emitter compression contact plate is brought in compression contact with the emitter electrode array on a single semiconductor chip, there was such a problem that a large induced noise is generated if a time change of emitter current is large and it will become impossible to detect emitter voltage accurately as there exist inductance components of the emitter compression contact plate between the emitter terminal and the emitter electrode array.

Pressure-contact type semiconductor device


Computer system and method automatically generates a test source code for checking validity of an application written in an object oriented language. The application includes objects accessible through an interface implementing programming rules and object behavior rules. For each object, the invention extracts object methods and attributes of the object interface which are impacted by the object behavior rules and extracts the object identification. The invention fills the variable fields of a source code template with the extracted information. The template non variable source code is in conformance with the programming rules and implements a scenario for checking a set of object behavior rules; thus the filled template forms a generated test source code. For distributed applications, the specifications may be EJB or CORBA and the Test Generator uses templates for checking the life-cycle (creation, persistency, removal) of deployed objects.

To check a software work (e.g., program, routine, procedure, application or the like) the developers have to decide what needs to be tested and how. Traditionally, the developers generate unit tests for checking all the functions of the software. However, it is not realistic to consider that all the functions of the software will be tested with all the possible inputs. In the same way, when a software is written with an object oriented language, it is impossible to test all the methods of a class for all possible inputs. Thus, the developers try to design tests that highlight bugs in their software.
To help developers to write tests, software companies have created tools to automate the generation of tests. There are two interests in using these tools, they save time and induce reliability. However, in order to make these tests more efficient, there is a need to improve the logic behind the generation of test. The tests are automatically generated by these tools according to a logic which can be that the functions are systematically tested one after one with simple values such as 0 or null pointer as parameters. Other logics test functions in a random order or in the order they appear in the source code, or according to a source coverage, or according to a record of a previous execution of a function for a replay. So, one example is to create calls of all the methods of a class in the order they appear in the source code; calls to all the methods in a random order; calls to setter fields methods then the getters; etc. The input are taken either at random or in an set of values that are expected to be critical: null pointer, null integer value, negative or positive value, empty string, etc . . . .
In the U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,774 the tests are automatically created for detecting errors in the successive levels of calls of functions in which are given parameters. If the test is positive (e.g. no exception thrown or no bad assertion risen), the result of a first test is used to create the next test: these tests are not relevant because the scenario does not respect the business logic of the application. If a test is done on accordance with the semantic of the application, an execution error, for instance could be a good behavior for a test.
Ideally, to be more efficient, test generation should follow a scenario adapted to the business logic of the application operating that software. The difficulty to generate relevant tests is that the nature of the test is closely related to the semantic of the application under test. Unfortunately, it is quite impossible to create test generators which can adapt to the semantic of the application. The test tools cannot discover this semantic and the generated tests are far from the test that would be performed by the programmer who has the knowledge of the semantic of the application under test. For example, in an application managing bank accounts, a class Account is written with methods deposit( . . . ), withDraw( . . . ), getBalance( ) and getMaxDeficitAllowed( ), it would be particularly relevant to check that one cannot withdraw an amount X if X is greater than getBalance( ) unless this amount is less than getMaxDeficitAllowed( )+getBalance( ).
However to improve test efficiency, there is a need for a method to create test generators which can be used to test an application independently from its particular semantic but with a test scenario which is close to the logic of the programming of the application.

Computer method and system for automatically creating tests for checking software

International Business Machines Corporation


An image sensor has light receiving elements, switching elements for reading out output signals from the light receiving elements, a scanning circuit array for driving the switching elements, and a common signal line connected to the switching elements for transmitting the output signals from the light receiving elements. An operational amplifier is connected to the common signal line through a chip selection switch and is operated by a single power supply under the GND power supply standard common to the image sensor for outputting the output signals to an image signal output terminal. A reset switch is connected to the common signal line for supplying a reference voltage to the common signal line. The reset switch and the switching elements turn ON to reset the light receiving elements to the reference voltage after reading out the output signals from the light receiving elements to the common signal line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a one-dimensional image sensor that receives reflection light from an original to which light is irradiated, and converts a light signal into an electric signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional image sensor IC uses a method of reading out the outputs of photoelectric conversion elements to a third common line SL3 by sequentially turning on switches SW2n to SW2 (n+1)+1, as shown in FIG. 6. The third common line SL3 is connected to a first terminal of a reset gate RG, and a second terminal of the reset gate RG is connected to a GND terminal. The reset gate RG is used by clamping the third common line SL3 to a GND potential, in accordance with a control signal Q2 of a control circuit CC (see JP 02-262760 A).
In the one-dimensional image sensor which is configured such that a plurality of image sensors IC are straightly mounted on a substrate, the common line of output terminals becomes a long wiring. Thus, capacitance and resistance components of the output terminals serve as a load, which reduces the signal level of the output signal. The above-mentioned one-dimensional image sensor has a built-in amplifier so that the drop in the signal level of the output signal is suppressed.
When the IC is driven by a single power supply in such a way that the signal line connected to an input terminal of the amplifier belongs to a linear region of the amplifier, a light receiving element is reset to a reference voltage value, or a common signal line is reset. Consequently, an offset is given, thereby adjusting an input voltage range.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional method, the process variation inside a wafer surface brings about the variation in the offset voltage for each IC, and this consequently makes the output voltage of the IC different for each unit block, and results in a problem that the output voltages are stepped.
FIG. 7 is the circuit example using the conventional image sensor. A plurality of image sensors IC of unit blocks 25 are connected to each other. Respective clock signal terminals CLK are connected to a CLK common line 19, an image signal terminal SIG is connected to an SIG common line 20, and the SIG common line 20 is connected through an external image output terminal SIG to a non-inversion input terminal of an operational amplifier 21 operated by a single power supply under a GND power supply standard of the image sensor. Then, at a ratio of a resistor 22 of a resistance value R3 to a resistor 23 of a resistance value R4, a non-inversion amplification is performed on the image signal SIG, and it is outputted from a VOUT terminal. A capacitance 24 is a pseudo capacitance CCPL of the CLK common line 19 and the SIG common line 20.
FIG. 8 shows the output waveform in which the image sensor shown in FIG. 7 is used. When it is configured such that an amplifying circuit is not built in the IC in order to avoid the stepped situation of the output voltages as mentioned above, a high resistance state occurs at the time of the signal output, which receives the influence of the wiring layout of the substrate. In particular, when the pseudo capacitance CCPL between a CLK control signal line and the SIG common line is large, a potential VSIG of the image signal terminal SIG receives the influence of the under-shoot-noise of a CLK signal, and may be possibly equal to or less than 0 V of the GND voltage.
When an external amplifier in which the GND voltage is driven by a common single power supply is used under this condition, the under-shoot-noise of the potential VSIG as mentioned above becomes equal to or less than the input voltage range of the external amplifier, and because of the circuit configuration, a response signal is delayed, and in particular, this results in a problem that as the speed of the operation is faster, the image signal receives the severer influence.


A color image forming apparatus having a function for duplicating an image in two desired colors. A color of an image of an original document is read into color elements of a red (R), a green (G), and a blue (B) color, represented by corresponding image signals R, G, and B, respectively. The image processing unit distinguishes between a first case that the read color is a chromatic color and a second case that the read color is an achromatic color. When the color is distinguished as a chromatic color, the image processing unit converts the color into one of two predetermined colors, each defined by color elements C, M, Y, and K corresponding to image signals C, M, Y, and K, respectively. When the color is distinguished as an achromatic color, the image processing unit converts the color into the other one of the two predetermined colors. In accordance with such conversion of colors, the image processing units outputs image processing signals C, M, Y, and K representing corresponding color elements C, M, Y, and K, respectively, defining each of the two predetermined colors to reproduce an image in the two predetermined colors.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a color image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a color image forming apparatus such as a color copying apparatus having a function for duplicating an image in two desired colors.
2. Discussion of the Background
With respect to a color image forming apparatus, such as a color copying apparatus capable of duplicating an image in two desired colors from an image of an original document, a first reference is made to an image reading apparatus disclosed in the official gazette for Laid Japanese Patent Application TOKUKAI HEI 5-37797. This image reading apparatus includes a function for converting image data into binary value data representing an achromatic color and another function for converting image data into binary value data representing a chromatic color. When reading an image of an original document, the image reading apparatus separates the image into plural color elements of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) and generates corresponding image signals of R, G, and B. The image reading apparatus then analyzes whether the image signals of R, G, and B are in a ratio of one to one to one, and, depending upon the result, selects one of the above-mentioned two functions to be implemented.
A second reference is made to an image forming apparatus disclosed in the official gazette for Laid Japanese Patent Application TOKUKAI HEI 6-152995. This image forming apparatus includes a function for converting image data into a black color signal and a red color signal to reproduce an image in a black and a red color. When reading an image of an original document, the image forming apparatus separates the image into plural color elements of cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) to generate corresponding image signals of C, M, and Y. The image forming apparatus further generates a black color signal from a least value and the like of C, M, and Y and a red color signal by subtracting the least value and the like of C, M, and Y from the image signals of C, M, and Y.
A third reference is made to a product of a digital color copying apparatus referred to as PRETER 550 manufactured by Ricoh Company, Ltd., in Japan. This digital color copying apparatus includes a function for converting a color of an image of an original document into a different color of a duplicate image and, further, for designating such a color of the image of the original document and such a different color of a duplicate image when such conversion is executed.
However, in this apparatus a user may have difficulty in obtaining an image in superior color quality on the image reading apparatus of the above-mentioned first reference. This is because analysis as to whether the image signals of R, G, and B are in a ratio of one to one to one is too simple to determine a case of an achromatic color image and another case of a chromatic color image. More specifically, when an image is made of a black color or a high density gray color, each color element included in the image signals of R, G, and B is relatively small and the analysis therefore becomes inaccurate. In this case, an image which should be determined as an achromatic color image is improperly determined as a chromatic color image.
Also, in the image forming apparatus of the above-mentioned second reference, a problem is brought to a user in a way that an image portion to be printed in a red color is printed in a black color. This is because a black signal is generated from a least value and the like of C, M, and Y and a red color signal is generated by subtracting the least value and the like of C, M, and Y from the image signals of C, M, and Y. More specifically, when an image is made of a dark color, such as, for example, a dark red, a dark blue, or the like, each color element of C, M, and Y is relatively small and the analysis of the least value of C, M, and Y becomes inaccurate. In this case, an image which should be determined as a red color image is improperly determined as a black color image.
Also, in the digital color copying apparatus of the third reference, the two color copying function is complex to use. This is because that, in addition to selection of a color desired to be printed in a duplicate image, the user is required to select a color of an image of an original document.
Therefore, a background color image forming apparatus such as a color copying apparatus presently is not capable of reproducing an image in two desired colors in superior quality from an image of an original document, in a relatively simple operation.

Color image forming apparatus having function for duplicating image in two desired colors


A computer-implemented method and system for a telephony server to provide services based upon a call from a user. A user communicates with the telephony server over a telephone communication device. The telephony server retrieves a voice application over a computer network from a remote web site and uses it to have a speech-based conversation with the user. The conversation results in obtaining service data from the user. The retrieved voice application performs the requested service based upon the user-provided service data. After the requested service is performed, the voice application and the user service data are removed from the telephony server.

1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed to Internet-based voice systems. More specifically, the present invention is directed to Internet-based voice systems that are used within computer server networks.
2. Description of Related Art
Telephone users are steadily increasing their demands for services that are accessible through their telephones. Telephone users want to access the range and types of services that they are accustomed to accessing over the Internet. Internet applications include for example content searching applications as provided by such companies as Yahoo or Infoseek. Other applications include address or phone number lookups.
The Internet provides users with visually-based interfaces to access the service applications. However, telephone users have difficulty in using Internet applications due to their devices not being adept to interacting with the visually-based interfaces of the Internet applications. For example, cell phone users have relatively small displays within which to view Internet information.
Telephony servers provide the computer software and hardware infrastructure for handling telephone calls over Internet networks. However, current telephony servers exhibit many disadvantages in processing telephone calls. An exemplary disadvantage is that many current telephony servers are limited in the range and flexibility of the services they offer. Such telephony servers have only a fixed number of applications to interact with the users.
This arises due to telephony servers typically relying upon "hard-wired" solutions where the telephony servers use only a pre-selected number of voice applications whose operational requirements are known beforehand. Limiting the pool of voice applications to a certain pre-selected number is an undesirable trait of the current telephony approaches. These disadvantages as well as others render current telephony systems less efficient and effective to service the needs of users.

Computer-implemented voice markup language-based server

Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc.


The present invention proposes an optical head apparatus provided with light-blocking structure that can reliably prevent nonessential light from reaching the photo detector, without being an impediment to miniaturization and flattening, moreover, without increasing manufacturing cost. In an optical head apparatus, and in a lens holder, light-blocking section is provided that blocks nonessential light from passing outside the effective diameter of objective lens. This light-blocking section is constructed so that it extends only in tracking direction T of objective lens 5. Further, light-blocking face of light-blocking section slants at an angle of 1° or more toward the face orthogonal to the optical axis, consequently, nonessential light is reflected in a direction other than the direction of photo detector.

a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to optical head apparatus used in regeneration, etc. of optical recording disks such as CD and DVD types. In more detail, in optical head apparatus, the inventions relates to light-blocking structure toward nonessential light in light emitted from the light source that passes outside the effective diameter of the objective lens and proceeds toward the optical recording disk.
b) Description of the Related Art
In optical head apparatus used in regeneration, etc. of optical recording disks such as CD and DVD types, objective lens having relatively large aperture was used heretofore; however, in recent years, in order to respond to demand for miniaturization and high-speed access, the trend has been to miniaturize and flatten the objective lens and lens holder, while leaving the movable range of the lens holder (movable range of objective lens) unchanged.
Nonetheless, when objective lens and lens holder are miniaturized and flattened to achieve weight reduction, it is possible to increase servo performance, but when the objective lens is moved in the tracking direction, laser light passes outside the effective diameter of the objective lens to reach the optical recording medium, is reflected by the optical recording medium and enters the photo detector. Such nonessential light, even when received by the photo detector, does not contain regeneration information because it has not received modulation from the recording pit; it is not usable in information regeneration, and moreover, gives rise to large offset in the regenerated signal, and becomes the cause of errors such as level changes at the time of information regeneration. Further, nonessential light also causes offset to occur in tracking error signals and focusing error signals.
As a measure to resolve such problems, as shown in FIG. 4, structure has been proposed wherein, by means of attaching ring-shaped light-blocking plate 103 to lens holder 102 retaining objective lens 101, even when objective lens 101 undergoes maximum movement in tracking direction T, unnecessary light does not reach the optical recording medium by passing outside the effective diameter of objective lens 101.
Moreover, in the optical head apparatus disclosed here, light-blocking plate 103 is located orthogonally to optical axis of objective lens 101; light-blocking face 105 of light-blocking plate 103 is coated wih light-blocking paint, or surface-roughening treatment is implemented to scatter light from the roughened surface. Consequently, nonessential light does not proceed toward photo detector by reflection at light-blocking face 105; therefore, error, etc. caused by nonessential light at the time of information regeneration can be prevented.
Problems To Be Solved By The Invention
Nonetheless, light-blocking plate 103 used in conventional optical head apparatus is a large part that surrounds objective lens 101 at the same width all around, thus there is the problem of having an impediment to miniaturization and weight reduction of the optical head apparatus. Further, in light-blocking plate 103 used in conventional optical head apparatus, there is need to coat light-blocking face 105 with light-blocking paint, or implement roughening treatment of the face, consequently, the problem of high manufacturing cost results.


The present disclosure is relates to an artificial leather and a method of manufacturing the same. The manufacturing method of the artificial leather includes steps in which TPU particles are provided. The method continues with step in which the TPU particles are heated to be melted. The method continues with step in which a first TPU mesh layer is formed by meltblowing the melted TPU. The method continues with step in which a second TPU mesh layer is meltblown on the first TPU mesh layer so as to form a multi-layer TPU mesh layer structure. The method continues with step in which the multilayer TPU mesh layer structure is heat pressed to form the artificial leather.

In the prior art, a multilayer artificial leather is universally manufactured by using a plurality of different manufacturing processes, and solvents need to be used in some manufacturing processes, for example, manufacturing processes that include resin impregnation or fiber dissolving and removing. However, the foregoing manufacturing method makes a manufacturing process more complex, and does not meet a requirement for environmental protection.

Artificial leather and manufacturing method thereof


An external auxiliary fuel tank for aircraft including a crashworthy bladder carried within an elongated shell. A center structure is carried by the shell intermediate opposing ends thereof, through which the bladder passes. A mounting assembly is carried by the center structure for attaching the fuel tank to an aircraft.

This invention relates to aircraft fuel systems.
More particularly, the present invention relates to external auxiliary fuel tanks.
In a further and more specific aspect, the instant invention concerns crashworthy fuel tanks.
Auxiliary fuel tanks have been used on aircraft for many years. Internal auxiliary fuel tanks have been developed to be safe and effective, employing crashworthy bladders. In other words, in a survivable crash for the occupants, the tank typically will not rupture and will not contribute to a post-crash fire that may injure or kill the occupants. External auxiliary fuel tanks are conventionally, simply fuel tight containers meeting the requirements of being aerodynamic in shape and securely attachable to the aircraft. Traditionally, crashworthiness has not been a significant consideration since external auxiliary fuel tanks are intended to be dropped or jettisoned before a dangerous situation, such as combat or impending crash.
In the situation of an impending crash of a low flying aircraft, particularly a helicopter, there is often insufficient time to jettison an external fuel tank. If a tank is jettisoned from low altitude, it may often impact close to the crash site. If the tank ruptures, the fuel may contribute to a post crash fire that may injure or kill the occupants. Needless to say, this occurrence is undesirable, as the survivability of the crash will be greatly reduced.
In the situation of combat or the possibility of being struck by bullets from common small arms or man-portable weapons (xe2x80x9csmall armsxe2x80x9d) fire, conventional external auxiliary fuel tanks will rupture and leak fuel. To avoid this situation, the tank is dropped prior to the occurrence or the risk of leakage is accepted.
It would be highly advantageous, therefore, to remedy the foregoing and other deficiencies inherent in the prior art.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved external auxiliary fuel tank.
Another object of the invention is to provide a crashworthy external auxiliary fuel tank.
And another object of the invention is to provide an external auxiliary fuel tank that will be self-sealing upon the impact of small arms fire.
Briefly, to achieve the desired objects of the instant invention in accordance with a preferred embodiment thereof, provided is an external auxiliary fuel tank for aircraft. The tank includes an elongated shell having a forward shell portion, a rearward shell portion, and an upper side. The forward shell portion and the rearward shell portion are joined by a center structure. The center structure, being generally tubular in shape, defining a central opening and having a longitudinal gap formed opposite an upper side thereof, joins the forward shell portion to the rearward shell portion at a midpoint. A crashworthy bladder having a first end, a second end, and an upper side, is carried within the shell and extends between the forward shell portion and the rearward shell portion through the central opening of the center structure with the upper side of the bladder adjacent the upper side of the shell. A mounting assembly is carried by an upper side of the center structure for attaching the fuel tank to an aircraft.

Crashworthy external auxiliary fuel tank for aircraft


An exposure apparatus includes a stage, a table mounted on the stage and having a fiduciary mark and a moving mirror, a holder mounted on the stage for holding a substrate, and a temperature control system for regulating heat transfer to the moving mirror and the fiduciary mark and installed in the holder and the table.

1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus for use in the manufacture of integrated circuits and liquid crystal displays, and more particularly, to maintaining thermal stability of a holding stage on which a substrate is positioned.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
FIG. 6 shows a wafer stage 100 holding a photosensitive substrate such as a wafer 102. The wafer 102 is fastened in place on a wafer holder 104 by means of vacuum suction. The wafer holder 104 is supported on a wafer table 106, and the wafer table 106 is fastened to a base 108.
The wafer table 106 also includes a moving mirror 110 for measuring a position of the wafer stage 100 by means of an interferometer, a fiduciary mark 114 used in a base line checking sequence for measuring a positional relationship between an alignment system (not shown) and a projection optical system 112, and an irradiation monitor 118 for measuring a quantity of light passing through a reticle 116 and the projection optical system 112 in order to control magnification and focus of the projection optical system so as to maintain them at constant levels.
When exposure is initiated, energy of the exposing light is absorbed by a photosensitive material (such as a photoresist) coated onto a surface of the wafer 102. A chemical change occurs in the photosensitive material, and heat is generated in the process. As shown by arrows in FIG. 6, the heat is transferred from the wafer 102 to the wafer holder 104, and from the wafer holder 104 to the wafer table 106. As a result, the moving mirror 110 and the fiduciary mark 114 are heated. Also, if the energy of exposing light is measured by the irradiation monitor 118 prior to the initiation of exposure, heat is similarly transferred to the wafer table 106, so that temperatures of the moving mirror 110 and the fiduciary mark increase.
Furthermore, the wafer stage 100 is driven by a driving means (not shown), such as a DC motor or a linear motor, and heat is also generated when the motor is in operation. Accordingly, even movement of the wafer stage 100 raises the temperature of the wafer table 106, so that the temperatures of the moving mirror 110 and the fiduciary mark 114 increase.
It is important to measure the position of the wafer 102 accurately during exposure of the wafer 102. However, when the temperature of the wafer stage 100 increases for the reasons described above, relative positional relationship of the wafer 102, the moving mirror 110, and the fiduciary mark 114 may change, and the position of the wafer 102 cannot be measured accurately. Accordingly, it becomes impossible to achieve accurate alignment and positioning during the exposure.


A composite containing hollow ceramic spheres and a preparation method are provided. The composite includes an impact-resistant gradient complex part containing a hollow ceramic sphere complex, prepared by using a 3D printing method and a hollow ceramic sphere-high polymer complex dielectric material obtained in a blending and fusing way. The obtained composite has the characteristics of relatively low density and high strength. The impact-resistant gradient complex part is a layered complex, the composition and properties of the complex may be regulated in a direction vertical to a layer according to a design, for example, mechanical properties of the complex are transitioned from soft to hard to form gradient change by regulating the change of the composition, and meanwhile, the thickness among layers with different properties is accurately controlled as required. The dielectric, heat conducting and mechanical properties of the hollow ceramic sphere-high polymer complex dielectric material are greatly improved.

Hollow ceramic spheres are novel materials which may be prepared on a large scale and are currently and mainly used as a propping agent for petroleum and natural gas exploitation. The hollow ceramic spheres have the characteristics of low density and high strength and have a huge application potential in the development of novel complexes. If the hollow ceramic spheres are added into an organic dielectric material such as epoxy resin, the heat conductivity coefficient, dielectric properties and mechanical strength of these organic matters may be improved. If the hollow ceramic spheres are added into a metal material, the mechanical properties of the metal material may be effectively improved to prepare a composite which is low in density, high in strength and resistant to impact, and the material serving as a structural material has an important application value in many fields. When being used as protecting materials, the hollow ceramic spheres are combined with other materials to form a gradient layered structure, so that the properties can be further improved. For example, a surface layer is a high-hardness metal material, a middle layer is a complex, and a bottom layer is a high polymer soft material, so that the impact resistance of the material may be greatly improved. 3D printing is a rapid forming technology and is used for constructing an article in a layer-by-layer printing way, and the properties of the material may be precisely designed and controlled by regulating the composition and structural parameters of a layered structure.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Composite containing hollow ceramic spheres and preparation method of composite


A testing table that allows testing lights along its length. The testing table can be used to convey lights along the direction, and to test the lights at different locations along the direction along the conveying. The lights can be cleaned and tested. Empty tubs can be returned.

Stage lights are often used for mobile setups in which the state lights are rented for an event and then returned. Once returned, the stage lights should be tested in order to get them ready for the next rental cycle.
The stage lights can be heavy, and can include multiple different parts, all of which need to be inventoried and made ready for their next rental.

Conventional table for testing lights along a conveyor path


A method of providing a certificate from a client to a server is disclosed. The method comprises receiving a request for a certificate from the server and forwarding the request to a biometric certification server (BCS). The method further includes receiving a biometric identification from the client and forwarding the biometric identification to the BCS. If the biometric identification matches a registered user on the BCS, receiving a certificate including a public key of the client certified by the BCS, and forwarding the certificate to the server, thereby identifying the client to the server.

As more and more information is moving into electronic form, encryption is becoming more common. One prior art method of encryption is public key encryption—an encryption scheme in which each person gets a pair of keys, called the public key and the private key. Each person's public key is published while the private key is kept secret. Messages are encrypted using the intended recipient's public key and can only be decrypted using the recipient's private key. Messages are signed using the sender's public key and can only be decrypted using the sender's public key. The need for sender and receiver to share secret information (keys) via some secure channel is eliminated—all communications involve only public keys, and no private key needs to be transmitted or shared. Public-key cryptography can be used for authentication (digital signatures) as well as for privacy (encryption). Other encryption schemes, such as symmetric key encryption rely on an exchange of keys.
FIG. 1 is a diagram of a prior art network. The client 110 connects to a server 130 through network 140. A certification authority 150 provides a private/public key pair for the user. The certification authority 150 further provides certificate 115 to the client. The certificate 115 is a copy of the user's public key, signed by the certification authority 150, to prove its authenticity. The certificate 115 and the user's private key 120 are stored on the client system 110. Private keys generally are 64 bit numbers or larger and users do not memorize their keys. Because computer systems are rarely truly secure, the key may be taken from a computer system. In order to prevent this, the key may be stored in a password protected file. However, passwords may be broken. Additionally, the system is only as secure as the least secure level. For one embodiment, the user types in the password 125, to release the private key 120, so the user can use the private key.
Client II 160 illustrates the same user roaming, i.e. on a different computer system, connecting to a server 130 through the network 140. Client II 160 does not have the user's private key or certificate. Therefore, the user has to carry a smart card or diskette 170 on which the user's certificate and private key are stored. Again, the certificate and private key may be protected by a password. However, smart cards can be lost, and require a user to remember to carry something.
Furthermore, generally the keys are stored on a computer system, and are thus connected to the computer system, rather than an actual user. In the prior art, a user could pass to an impostor his or her password, accidentally or on purpose, and that impostor could then "prove" that he or she was the user.
Furthermore, because each user's private key is stored on his or her computer system, administering the keys is difficult.
In addition, a single mistake, i.e. accidentally granting access to an unauthorized user, permanently breaches the security of the private-public key pair, since the private key is revealed.

Crypto-proxy server and method of using the same


A composite dielectric structure having one or more Leakage Blocking Layers (LBL) interleaved with one or more Laminate Dielectric Layers (LDL), Alloy Dielectric Layers (ADL), or Co-deposit Dielectric Layers (CDL). Each LDL, ADL, and CDL includes dopants incorporated in a respective base dielectric layer (BDL); where LDLs are formed by incorporating a doping layer into a BDL using a laminate method, ADLs are formed by incorporating a dopant into a BDL using an alloying method; and CDLs are formed by pulsing a BDL base material and a dopant together using a co-deposit method.

In semiconductor manufacturing processes for devices beyond the 30 nm node, high dielectric constant (so-called "high-k") materials are needed to meet performance requirements for high capacitance, low leakage, and low power consumption. High-k films are typically used to form capacitor dielectrics in Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) devices, gate insulator layers in Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) or tunnel gate dielectrics in flash memory circuits, among other applications.
Hafnium oxide (HfO2) and zirconium oxide (ZrO2) are widely used high-k materials and offer higher dielectric constants than those of SiO2 and Al2O3, wide band gaps, high refractive indices, and good thermal stability. To further increase the dielectric constant of oxide materials, implantation of doping materials into HfO2 and ZrO2 have been explored, but the challenge remains of how to increase the k value, while maintaining low leakage current and high breakdown voltage.
A method of forming an apparatus having a dielectric containing cerium oxide and aluminum oxide is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,754,618. Methods of forming crystallographically stabilized doped hafnium zirconium-based films are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,833,913. U.S. Pre-grant publication 2012/0127629 describes a doped ZrO2 capacitor.

Method and apparatus for fabricating dielectric structures


Embodiments illustrated and described herein provide systems, methods, and software of a system platform that enables apps, applications, processes and the like with functionality and data present in an enterprise-class computing system, such as an Enterprise Resource Planning system. Some such embodiments include a hybrid object that exists in part within a web infrastructure and in part within the enterprise-class computing system. The portion of the hybrid object in the web infrastructure exposes resources of the enterprise-class computing system outside of the enterprise-class computing system to be accessible by apps and other data processing assets. These and other embodiments are illustrated and described herein.

Modern enterprise-class computing systems, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, are highly capable of performing processing functions for many organizations. However, for many different reasons user interaction with such systems has generally required users to at least be connected to a particular network or utilize a thick-client application. Thus, despite the modem-nature of enterprise-class computing systems, users have not been able to interact with these systems according to modem application delivery models, such as through apps delivered via one or both of a web browser and device apps, such as an app that executes on a smartphone-type device.
However, even when users are able to interact with such enterprise-class computing systems, functionality is delivered at the client-level, whether that is through a web browser, a thick client application, or device app. This has resulted in a duplication of functionality that previously existed in a backend portion of the enterprise-class system. Such duplication is also compounded when the functionality is delivered to multiple client-types. Duplication of functionality is expensive and time consuming not only in development, but also in maintenance as anytime a functional change or fix is made, the functional change or fix must be replicated and deployed for each supported client-type.


A method and a composition for the preventative treatment of osteoarthritis comprising the periodic administration to a mammal suffering of this disease of a composition comprising an amount of Human recombinant Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist effective for reducing the progression of lesions and cartilage degradation.

Osteoarthritis, which is also called "degenerative joint disease", is the most common rheumatic disease and is characterized by a chronic inflammation of the articulation and a progressive depletion of articular cartilage matrix macromolecules. Together with the cartilage degeneracy, osteophytes (small abnormal body outgrowths) occur and develop on the stripped part of the articular bones. Symptoms of osteoarthritis occur in many people over the age of 65, and women are affected twice as often as men. These symptoms are pain, swelling and stiffness of the articulation. In a further stage of the disease, movement of articulations is limited and becomes painfil.
The most commonly used drugs for the treatment of osteoarthritis are the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAID). Even though these drugs have proved effectiveness in relieving the symptoms of osteoarthritis and in decreasing osteoarthritis cartilage catabolism, some of them, like sodium salicylate, have shown inhibiting properties of the proteoglycan synthesis which may jeopardize the cartilage repair process. Other drugs, such as tiaprofenic acid, which do not inhibit the proteoglycan synthesis and have shown in vitro that they are able to decrease osteoarthritis cartilage catabolism, (Jean-Pierre Pelletier et al. The Journal of Rheumatology 1989;16:5, 646-655), have been unable to provide any preventing effect in development of osteoarthritis when administrated to patients suffering from the latter, (Edward C. Huskisson et al. The Journal of Rheumatology 1995; 22:10-1941-1946). Doxycycline, a member of the tetracycline family, was also shown to reduce, in vivo, the severity of osteoarthritis lesions in the dog ACL model while reducing metalloprotease activity, (Yu LP Jr et al. Arthritis Rheum 35:1150-1159, 1992). Recent data suggests that the action of corticosteroids is associated with a reduction in the synthesis of stromelysin-1 by chondrocytes. (see: Pelletier et al., J Arthritis Rheum 37:414-423, 1994; and Pelletier et al., J Lab Invest 72:578-586, 1995).
Accumulating evidence suggests that an important component of the matrix loss process is related to proteolytic enzyme activity which degrades the principal matrix macromolecules such as collagens and proteoglycans (aggrecans). Several matrix metalioproteases including stromelysin, collagenase, and gelatinase are believed to play an important role in matrix degradation. Support for the role of these enzymes in the arthritic process is found in observations showing that these proteases can be synthesized by chondrocytes and are present in increased amounts in pathological cartilage. Another important factor in osteoarthritis is the occurrence of synovial inflammation. There is compelling evidence that soluble inflammatory mediators such as cytokines, interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor-.alpha. a (TNF-(.alpha.), are involved in the osteoarthritis process. See for example:
Pelletier JP et al. A textbook of Rheumatology. Twelfih edition. Edited by DJ McCarthy, WJ Koopman. Philadelphia, Lea & Febiger, 1993; PA1 Pelletier JP, et al. J. In, Osteoarthritis, Edition of Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North Ameria. Edited by R W. Moskowitz. Philadelphia, WB Saunders, 1993; PA1 Pelletier JP et al. J. Rheumatol 22:109-114, 1995; and PA1 Lanick JW et al. Kunkel SL. Pharm Res 5:129-139, 1988.
While cytokines and other mediators have been implicated in the core of the synthesis and release of matrix metalloproteases, IL-1 has also shown other deleterious effects on cartilage matrix metabolism. This cytokine, a product not only of mononuclear cells but also of synoviocytes and chondrocytes, has the ability to suppress the synthesis of collagen type II, characteristic of hyaline cartilage, while augmenting the synthesis of collagen type I collagen, characteristic of fibroblast cells (Goldring MB et al., J Clin Invest 30 82:2026-2037, 1988). In addition, IL-1 reduces aggrecan synthesis (Tyler JA. Biochem J 227:869-878, 1985. and Dingle JT et al., Cell Biochem Funct 9:99-102, 1991), the macromolecule largely responsible for the mechanical properties of articular cartilage.
Thus, this cytokine contributes both to reduce anabolic and enhance catabolic activities in affected joints.
A substance having inhibitory effects on the activity of IL-1 was found in conditioned monocyte medium: Arend WP et al., J Immunol 134:3868-3875, 1985, and in the urine of febrile patients : Balavoine JF et al., J Clin Invest 78:1120-1124, 1986. Characterizations of this molecule has revealed a 22 Kd protein and a specific competitive inhibitor of IL-1 known as IL-1 receptor antagonist or IL-Ira: Carter DB et al., Nature 344:633-638, 1990; and Hannum CH et al., Nature 343:336-340, 1990. This antagonist protein is a product of several cell types including monocytes, synoviocytes and chondrocytes and acts as a competitive inhibitor of IL-1 at the receptor level. In addition, IL 1ra binds with a greater affinity to the type 1 as compared to the type II IL-1 receptor. It has been shown that IL-1ra is capable of blocking some of the effects of IL-1, including the induction of matrix metalloproteins, nitric oxide, PGE.sub.2 synthesis, as well as the expression of other cytokines (Smith RJ et al., Adv Immunol 54:167-227, 1993; Arend VP etal., J Clin Invest 85:1694-1697, 1990; and Evens CH et al. Receptor 4:9-15, 1994). Most of the above mentionned studies have demonstrated a relative deficit in the synthesis of IL-1ra vis-a-vis IL-1 in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovium.
To date, the majority of the studies exploring the effects of IL-1ra have been in vitro. Its in vivo effects have not been studied yet. Moreover some studies carried out in vivo have failed to demonstrate a therapeutic potential for rhIL-1ra in the treatment of arthritis. For instance, Arner, et al in J Rheum 22:1338-1346, 1995, reported that rhIL-1ra administrated intravenously fails to inhibit cartilage proteoglycan breakdown in polycation induced arthritis in the rabbit. Similarly it has been reported that intraperitoneal injections of rhIL-1ra does not affect the pathogenesis of antigen induced arthritis in mice (Wooley, et al, Arthritis Rheum. 36:1305-1314, 1993).
While the before mentioned drugs have met with limited success in the preventative treatment of osteoarthritis, new and improved method and pharmaceutical compositions are constantly being sought which may effectively reduce the progression of lesion and cartilage degradation in a mammal suffering from osteoarthritis. It is to such a method and a composition that the present invention is directed.
Surprisingly, the inventors have found that the periodic administration to a mammal of a composition comprising an amount of human recombinant Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (rhIL-1ra) is effective for reducing the progression of lesions and cartilage degradation in a mammal suffering of osteoarthritis.

Method of treatment of osteoarthritis with interleuken-1 receptor antagonist


A method and an apparatus allows multiple users to share one or more data communication lines without requiring the users to actively participate in the arbitration. The preferred embodiment comprises an ISDN Port Connection Manager (PCM) for managing the use of each of the individual channels of one or more line ports having ISDN service thereon. The ISDN PCM manages the use of the channels between applications using such distinct access methods as IBM's Virtual Telecommunications Access Method (VTAM), TCP/IP, and Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) access methods. The ISDN PCM determines that an application needs access to an ISDN channel, determines the availability of the ISDN network and sets up the communication between the application and the network if the channel is available. If no channel is available at that time, the ISDN PCM indicates to the application when the channel becomes available so that the application may determine whether it still needs access.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to telecommunications systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for sharing one or more telecommunications channels among multiple users.
2. Prior Art
Subscribers to telecommunications services are offered a wide array of different kinds of services from a multiplicity of vendors. Wide Area Telephone Service (WATS), Foreign Exchange Service (FEX), and plain old telephone service (POTS) are examples of services offered to the public.
The services are provided over either a leased or a dial-up line. A leased line is one which the subscriber contracts for on a monthly basis, while a dial-up line uses the carrier circuit-switching facilities to establish a circuit every time the subscriber wants to communicate between specific transmitting and receiving locations. In either case, one or more telephone lines are brought to the subscriber's home or office so that the subscriber may interface with the telephone system.
At the subscriber's premises, the subscriber has, many times, a variety of different needs for using the telephone line. For instance, the subscriber may need to use the line for voice communication using a telephone or for data communications through a modem. In other situations, a subscriber, such as a large business, may have one or more host processors having many applications which need access, from time to time, to a telecommunications channel via a communications controller. A telecommunications access method, such as IBM's Virtual Telecommunications Access Method (VTAM), resides in the host processor and provides an interface between the host processor and other resources in the communications network.
FIG. 1 illustrates, in a simple block diagram, communications between a number of host processors and the communications network. A number "N" of physical line ports 10 are connected at the subscriber's premises 12 for connection to the communications network 14. Each host processor 18 has an associated communications access method (AM 1, AM 2, . . . AM N) 20. Examples of communications protocols supported by the various access methods include SNA, TCP/IP, and OSI. Each access method 20 supports a plurality of applications (A 1, A 2, . . . A z) 22 which need access to the telecommunications network 14. Examples of situations where an application needs access to the telecommunications network include a stock broker needing to access real-time stock prices and a doctor wishing to obtain a patient's records located at the main hospital across town. FIG. 1 is shown as an example of a network configuration. Networks may be confiqured in many other ways: for example, a host processor may have more than one access method.
Each access method 20 "owns," or controls, one or more of the physical line ports 10 for allowing an application to access the communications network. The number of line ports 10 and the type of service supported on each is dependent upon the extent and type of use by the host processor 18 and the access method 20. Until now, there was no way for the different communications access methods (different protocol stacks) to "share" a line port without the access methods actively sharing information with one another. Because access methods are not designed to coordinate their use of network resources with one another, telecommunications lines cannot be shared between them.
In other words, an application using one access method could obtain access only to the communications channels controlled by that one access method. The application could not access other communications channels controlled by other access methods. This is the result of the access methods not being designed for communicating with one another. As an example, an application operating on VTAM using IBM's System Network Architecture (SNA) can obtain access to the telecommunications network only via the telecommunications channels controlled by the VTAM. VTAM cannot obtain access to the telecommunications channels controlled by other access methods such as TCP/IP or OSI. Thus, the line ports which are paid for by the subscriber cannot be optimally used, as the telecommunications activity cannot be distributed among the available lines. Rather, some lines may be idle while others are congested.
This problem, until recently, was not serious as the cost of leasing the line ports and their associated services was relatively inexpensive. This problem, however, is especially exacerbated with the advent of the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN).
With ISDN, voice and data are integrated over digital lines thereby promising to replace multiple (often under-utilized) dedicated voice and data lines entering customer premises with one or a few lines using ISDN technology. Using the ISDN basic rate interface (BRI), the same wires which once could carry only a single voice conversation (or a data call simulating voice with a modem) now can carry two individual voice conversations and a separate signalling or data transmission. With basic rate access, one "D" channel (which is available for signalling and data) and two "B" channels (which each can carry an independent voice or data call) can be utilized at the same time on the single telephone line. The ISDN primary rate interface (PRI) offers twenty-three (thirty in European systems) B channels and one D channel and is designed for customers requiring greater capacity than provided by the basic rate interface. Thus, through the use of either the ISDN BRI or ISDN PRI, multiple applications at the ISDN subscriber's premises could access the same telephone line at the same time.
Presently, however, the physical port through which the subscriber obtains the ISDN service can be controlled by only a single access method. For example, where a customer subscribes to the ISDN PRI service, it has access to twenty-three independent B channels and one D channel. The customer cannot however distribute access to those channels over several access methods, because one access method controls the physical port. This is quite inefficient: one physical port at the user's premises may be fully utilized while others may be at least partially inactive. Using the present technology, the applications of the first access method have access only to their dedicated port and not to the remaining physical ports.

Method and apparatus for sharing a telecommunications channel among multiple users

International Business Machines Corporation


An easily disassembling cooling apparatus is assembled onto a circuit board. The circuit board has an electronic element. The cooling apparatus includes a pair of fastening blocks, one or two heat conducting blocks, a heat pipe, a fastening plate, and a plurality of locking elements. The fastening blocks are fastened onto the circuit board and each has a track slot. The heat conducting block is installed between the fastening blocks and contacts the electronic element. One end of the heat pipe is installed with the heat conducting block. The fastening plate is installed in the track slots of the fastening blocks, and has a flexible arm that flexibly presses onto the heat pipe. Each of the locking elements respectively is combined with the fastening block. Thereby, the welding process is not required in the assembling process. The electronic element is reliably cooled, and the assembling time is reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling apparatus. In particular, this invention relates to a cooling apparatus that is installed on an electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The circuit board of an electronic device has a variety of electronic elements, such as a central processing unit (CPU). As the electronic industry has been developed, the operation speed of CPUs rapidly increases and thus the heat generated by CPUs also increases. Because electronic devices are generally enclosed by a housing, the temperature inside the housing rises substantially. Therefore, a cooling apparatus is required for the electronic elements in order to make the electronic device operate normally.
A variety of cooling apparatuses are developed for electronic elements. For example, Taiwan patent No. M288399 discloses a cooling apparatus. The cooling apparatus includes a cooling module, a plurality of heat pipes, a heat-absorbing module, a jig and a fastening module. The cooling module is made of a plurality of cooling fins that are disposed in parallel. One end of each of the heat pipes is assembled with the cooling module, and the second end of the heat pipe is located in the heat-absorbing module. The jig fastens onto the outer side of a heat-generating part (an electronic element) and the heat-absorbing module. The fastening module is installed between the heat-generating part and the heat-absorbing module for fastening the heat-generating part to the heat-absorbing module. Furthermore, the heat-absorbing module is welded to the heat pipes.
Although the cooling apparatus of the prior art can dissipate heat generated by the electronic elements, the heat-absorbing module still needs to be welded to the heat pipes. When the cooling apparatus is assembled with the electronic device, the assembler needs to weld the heat-absorbing module to the heat pipes and then assemble the other parts onto the electronic device. Therefore, the assembler needs to be skilled in the art of welding. Furthermore, it is inconvenient for the assembler.
Moreover, because the welding process is a lead soldering process, the soldering material contains lead. Recently, lead has been forbidden in electronic devices by the Europe Union. In order to meet the requirement for a lead-free manufacturing process, a new apparatus manufactured without lead is required.


Production of polysuccinimide by reacting maleic anhydride and ammonia at elevated temperatures. The base hydrolyzed polyaspartic acid product.

Polyaspartic acid has been formed by a number of methods. Koskan et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,513, teaches the formation of polyaspartic acid by the polymerization of aspartic acid powder. The polymerization produces a polysuccinimide, which can then be base hydrolyzed to polyaspartic acid.
Boehmke et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,461, teaches the production of polyaspartic acid by reacting maleic acid and ammonia in a molar ratio of 1:1 to 1.5 at 120.degree.-150.degree. C.

Production of polysuccinimide and polyaspartic acid from maleic anhydride and ammonia


The disclosed technology includes using horizontal components and vertical components of a velocity vector associated with movement of an input gesture to determine a user's intended, dominant direction of movement and corresponding control function at various points during the input gesture. Thresholds may be dynamically adjusted to prevent a user from unintentionally changing control functions during the input gesture. By adjusting the sensitivity associated with changes in a direction of movement of a continuous input gesture, it can be made effectively more difficult for the user to unintentionally cause a change in control functions. In example implementations, one or more thresholds associated with changing a control function may be increased or decreased during a continuous input gesture. For example, the thresholds may be increased or decreased in proportion to an increase or decrease in a velocity vector component.

A computing device may perform one or more control functions for a user, thereby allowing the user to interact with the computing device. For example, control functions may include scrolling displayed content that includes text or images, navigating through selections in a displayed list of menu items, relocating one or more displayed objects, or various actions that require use of a cursor or other tool for selecting and/or acting upon certain objects. While using some computing devices, a user may employ an input object (such as a stylus or the user's finger or hand) to perform an input gesture to cause the computing device to perform a control function. Such input gestures may include a directional interaction such as a slide gesture performed at an input device associated with the computing device (e.g., a presence-sensitive input device such as a touch pad, track pad, or touchscreen).
Some approaches to direction-based control functions may require that a user must stop a first input gesture before he or she can effectively change control functions by performing a second input gesture. For example, the user may be required to stop a slide gesture in a first direction of movement by removing an input object from the input device, and then perform a second input gesture in order to cause a control function to be performed in accordance with a second direction of movement of the second input gesture. Such approaches may therefore not allow for the seamless switching of control functions during an input gesture.
Further, some users may perform an input gesture in a direction of movement that is unintentionally not aligned with a particular axis. (More specifically, the movement of such input gestures may slightly deviate from an intended direction at one or more points.) In some such systems, such slight deviations from a predetermined path may cause the system to incorrectly interpret the deviation as an intention by the user to change control functions, resulting in performance by the system of one or more control functions that may not be consistent with the user's intentions.

Systems and methods for changing control functions during an input gesture