Embodiments of the invention provide a method for discriminating between two types of encoding schemes for the frame control header (FCH) used in G3-type narrow band OFDM communications. The two modes for encoding are Differential with respect to the previous Symbol (DS) and Differential with respect to the Preamble (DP). This mode is sometimes referred to as “coherent” mode.

Embodiments of the invention are directed, in general, to Power Line Communication (PLC) systems and, more specifically, encoding frame control header in PLC systems.
Various OFDM-based standards exist for narrowband power-line communications, such as the G3-GENA, G.hnem, IEEE-P1901.2 standards.
Power line communications (PLC) include systems for communicating data over the same medium that is also used to transmit electric power to residences, buildings, and other premises, such as wires, power lines, or other conductors. In its simplest terms, PLC modulates communication signals over existing power lines. This enables devices to be networked without introducing any new wires or cables. This capability is extremely attractive across a diverse range of applications that can leverage greater intelligence and efficiency through networking. PLC applications include utility meters, home area networks, lighting, and solar.
PLC may also serve as an important enabling technology for the mass deployment of solar equipment by providing a communication channel to solar inverters for monitoring and managing power across the grid by utility companies. While radio frequency (RF) communications have made some progress in solar installations, PLC offers an ideal means for connecting equipment with high reliability and at a low cost on DC or AC lines.
PLC is a generic term for any technology that uses power lines as a communications channel. Various PLC standardization efforts are currently in work around the world. The different standards focus on different performance factors and issues relating to particular applications and operating environments. Two of the most well-known PLC standards are G3 and PRIME. G3 has been approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). IEEE is developing the IEEE P1901.2 standard that is based on G3. Each PLC standard has its own unique characteristics. PRIME is designed for low voltage lines with low noise and targets higher data rates. On the other hand, G3 is designed for medium voltage lines and targets lower data rates.

PLC FCH unitary circle differential symbol and preamble encoding determination


Provided is a connection structure for a power conversion device to be mounted in a vehicle, including: a casing of the power conversion device; an electric connection part, which is to be mechanically connected to the casing, and is configured to electrically connect the power conversion device and an external device to each other; and an electric conductor configured to electrically connect the power conversion device and the electric connection part to each other, wherein the casing and the electric connection part are mechanically connected to each other through intermediation of an anti-vibration structure, and wherein the electric conductor has such flexibility as to be able to follow a relative displacement between the casing and the electric connection part.

In a vehicle using an electric motor as a power source, power conversion devices such as an inverter and a converter are mounted to drive the electric motor with power of a battery. In those power conversion devices described above, in terms of reliability of electric connection to the battery or the electric motor, it is necessary to give full consideration to a conduction failure caused by, for example, mechanical breakage or dielectric breakdown due to intrusion of water or a conductive foreign substance in a connection portion, which may be caused by an external force such as vibration occurring while the vehicle is running.
The power conversion device described above adopts an anti-vibration structure for a mechanical connection portion to a vehicle in many cases especially when the power conversion device is mounted in an engine room where vibration conditions are severe (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).
Further, in view of connection reliability of an electrical connection portion, a harness having one end connected to an external device such as the battery or the electric motor is mechanically firmly fastened to the power conversion device through intermediation of a bracket integrated with the harness itself in many cases. With the adoption of the fastening structure described above, waterproofness between a casing and a joint portion of the harness is ensured (see, for example, Patent Literature 2).
Thus, in a related-art structure, for the electrical connection portion for which high reliability is demanded, an influence of the external force, which is generated under the severe vibration conditions, is alleviated with flexibility of the harness. Further, in the related-art structure, the casing and the harness are mechanically firmly connected to each other through intermediation of the bracket integrated with the harness to ensure the waterproofness.

Connection structure for power conversion device


The present invention is a decoy hunting blind and cart which both provides a goose blind structure and functions as a cart. The hunting blind and cart positions an enlarged decoy directly over a hunter reclining on a flexible hammock provided on the cart which holds the hunter slightly off the ground. Offset to one side of the cart is a support framework for the enlarged decoy, which is easily rotated out of the way permitting the hunter to shoot. The hunting cart is a wheel-barrow like structure which permits the hunter to transport all of his decoys which are set up in the field to various locations.

The invention relates to hunting blinds and more specifically to a goose blind for a single hunter which also functions as a cart for transporting decoys and other materials.
Open field hunting of geese requires the use of numerous goose decoys which are spread out in a field to attract overflying geese and a blind in some form to hide the hunter since the geese will shy from any visible human. Duck and geese blinds have been around since early times and they include a variety of different structures. Pits dug in the ground have very limited versatility since they are not movable and are frequently filled with rain water. Portable blinds such as small tent-like structures, which can be quickly thrown over have been developed in more recent times. The general idea of hiding the hunter inside a very large decoy is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,999. This complex structure provides a decoy shape larger than the hunter with a pair of outwardly swinging doors which can be opened at the time of shooting. Another type of decoy-like blind is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,913.
Goose-shaped blinds are also illustrated in Cabelas Master Catalog for 1997, which illustrate two additional blind configurations having the shape of a goose.
It's often necessary for hunters to travel substantial distances into various remote areas to hunt various types of game including ducks and geese. Game carrying carts for transporting either the game or equipment such as decoys have been around for many years as typified in U.S. Pat. No. 3,236,537; U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,720; U.S. Pat. No. 2,624,588; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,040.


A configuration method includes: receiving, by a first device of a network, a first control message having configuration elements for activating a dynamic routing protocol in the network; configuring by the first device setup parameters for establishing sessions according to the protocol used by the first device on the basis of configuration elements included in the first message; if the configuration elements in the message include a management instruction for handling sessions according to the protocol in the network, executing by the first device the at least one management instruction; and if the configuration elements in the message include a setting for directing propagation of the configuration elements in the network, dispatching by the first device in accordance with the propagation setting at least one second control message to at least one second device of the network, which includes all or some of the configuration elements.

The invention relates to the general field of telecommunications.
It relates more particularly to the configuration of devices of a telecommunications network implementing a dynamic routing protocol, such as the BGP (Border Gateway Protocol), OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) or even IS-IS (Intermediate System to Intermediate System) protocol, for the calculation, the selection and the establishment of routes intended to carry the traffic through the network.
Such routing protocols are commonly used in the telecommunications networks to communicate routing information between different autonomous systems (or AS). Typically, the Internet network currently consists of several tens of thousands of autonomous systems, each being operated by a specific administrative entity, called network operator or administrator. Each autonomous system is identified by a globally unique number called autonomous system number or AS number (or ASN for AS Number).
The BGP protocol is increasingly used today in the network infrastructures (also more simply referred to as "networks" hereinafter) on which the data centers (or DC) are based, and in particular the large data centers, also known as MSDC (Massively Scalable Data Centers) or HSDC (Hyper-Scale Data Centers). The BGP protocol allows within these network infrastructures to exchange routing information between the different pieces of equipment of the network (e.g. routers, controllers or switches). The network infrastructure of a data center can constitute a full-fledged autonomous system or be organized according to a set of autonomous systems that can for example form a "BGP confederation" when the infrastructure is massively distributed. Within such a network infrastructure, private AS numbers, i.e., numbers not visible in the Internet, are often used to facilitate the management of the BGP routing policy without having to require the assignment of a globally unique AS number. This makes it easier to distinguish the network infrastructure of the data center per se from the network to which this infrastructure is connected and to which a separate AS number is assigned. Within the network infrastructure of the data center, the same AS number can for example be used by several routers located on the same hierarchical level. Also, BGP extensions specific to the data centers (e.g. "allowas-in") have been developed by some manufacturers to be able to use the same AS number in different hierarchical levels.
The deployment of a data center requires a high level of automation of the resource production processes (e.g. dynamic production of virtual machines intended to host some virtualized network functions), in order to simplify the procedures for configuring the equipment of the network infrastructure of the data center and minimize the risks of errors. Such automation further allows improving the availability and stability of the network: any modification of the topology of the network infrastructure related to the introduction of new switching (e.g. switches, routers) or transmission (e.g. intra- and inter-center data links intended to provide more capacity to handle more traffic) resources must be done in a dynamic manner requiring minimal configuration effort or no configuration effort at all.
In addition, it is important to control the volumetry of the signaling traffic consisting in particular of configuration information emitted within the network infrastructure, typically by one or more network controllers when the data center is based on Software-Defined Networking (SDN) type architecture, for example. This signaling traffic can also comprise notifications emitted by some equipment of the network when they detect a modification in its topology, for example the breaking of a connection between two switches located within the same data center. It is imperative to make sure that the volumetry of the signaling traffic exchanged does not in any way penalize the availability of the service(s) that would involve resources hosted within the infrastructure of the data center.
In order to optimize the exploitation of the resources within a data center, the configuration of the equipment of the underlying network must comply with adequate procedures for the nomenclature of the interfaces, the addresses allocated to these interfaces, etc. Particularly, the implementation of a routing policy within the network infrastructure of the data center according to a routing protocol such as BGP is based on the establishment of BGP sessions between the different pieces of equipment of the network. These sessions are established on the basis of different configuration information such as the AS number to which each piece of equipment belongs: the AS number is mandatory information in order to establish a BGP session between two routers. Indeed, if a BGP router does not know the number of the autonomous system to which it belongs, it is unable to establish a BGP session with another router belonging to a neighbor autonomous system, but also with the other routers of the autonomous system to which it belongs. The establishment of BGP sessions between all the equipment of an autonomous system is imperative to guarantee a global and coherent vision of the topology of the network infrastructure, and the AS number conditions the establishment of such sessions. Note also that this AS number is also used to select the BGP routes and for the detection and the prevention of routing loops within the network infrastructure.
In the current state of the art, the process of configuring the characteristic functions of the activation of a dynamic routing protocol such as BGP within a network infrastructure (of a data center, or of any other network infrastructure), requires the explicit configuration of each piece of equipment of the network by the operator of the network. This configuration is made via the programming by the operator of the network of a plurality of elementary tasks; these elementary tasks consist in that the administrator of the network connects to each piece of equipment of the network in order to configure all the parameters that each piece of equipment needs for the establishment of BGP sessions with its peers. Such a configuration procedure is complex and therefore requires human, often time-consuming, intervention with high risks of errors which can prove to be harmful (for example, by penalizing access to the data center or to an equipment subset of the center). Particularly, the BGP peers must have their own AS number, the AS numbers of their neighbors, the IP address(es) of their neighbors, and an explicit instruction to activate the BGP protocol.
There is therefore a need for a process of automatically configuring the equipment of a network so that the latter can activate a dynamic routing protocol such as BGP. Such a process would not only significantly reduce the time spent on the configuration of the equipment, but also substantially limit the risks of errors to which complex configuration procedures are often exposed.

Configuration method for implementation in a network using a dynamic routing protocol


A digital registered data buffer is disclosed that has data paths each with a data input for receiving a digital data input signal (Dn), a clock input for receiving a clock input signal (CLK) and a data output providing a digital data output signal (Qn) for application to a data destination device such as memory devices. The buffer further has a clock output for providing an output clock signal (QCLK) to the data destination device and a phase-locked loop (PLL) with a clock input, a feedback input, a feedback output and a plurality of clock outputs. The buffer uses a pair of data registers, i.e. flip-flops (FF1, FF2) connected in series in each data path. The first data register in each data path is clocked by the clock input signal (CLK) and the second data register in each data path is clocked by one of the clock outputs (PDCLK) from the PLL.

The invention relates to a digital data buffer having a data path or a plurality of parallel data paths, each with a data input for receiving a digital data input signal, a clock input for receiving a clock input signal, and a data output providing a digital data output signal for application to a data destination device. The buffer is suitable for use with a data destination device that may be any device that requires a digital data input with an associated clock signal.
There is a need to have such a digital data buffer that is optimized in the setup/hold timing relationship and substantially free from phase jitter. There is a need for use of such a device in a memory system operating at clock frequencies as high as 800 MHz and above. Currently, a data buffer for this kind of application is not available.

Memory system with memory controller and board comprising a digital buffer wherein input/output data and clock signals are applied in parallel


A clamping ring for a cable gland has a first ring and a second ring, the first ring and the second ring being orientated coaxially relative to a common longitudinal axis. The first ring and the second ring are connected via a plurality of deformable ribs. The ribs are designed to deform in the direction of the longitudinal axis when the first ring and the second ring are brought into convergence one with the other.

The invention relates to a clamping ring for a cable gland and to a method of fitting a cable gland.
Cable glands are known from the prior art, and serve to fix electrically conductive cables to electrical plug connectors or to cable bushings in order to prevent any inadvertent separation of the cable from the plug connector or the cable bushing. Cable glands that serve simultaneously to seal a region between the cable and the plug connector or the cable bushing are also known.
Conventional cable glands are generally screwed onto the plug connector or the cable bushing far enough that a defined torque arises. This has the disadvantage that any check undertaken for correct fitting will be laborious, and require special tools. It has also proved to be the case that, after a certain storage period, an undefined loosening torque arises. In some circumstances, this can lead to the cable gland working loose.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide an improved clamping ring for a cable gland. This object is achieved by a clamping ring with the features of claim 1. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved cable gland. This object is achieved by a cable gland with the features of claim 5. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved method of fitting a cable gland. This object is achieved by a method with the features of claim 11. Preferred developments are described in the dependent claims.

Clamp ring, cable screw connection and method for assembling a cable screw connection


Disclosed is a physical downlink shared channel transmission method, and the method includes: a network side determines transmission parameters of a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) according to a relevant transmission mode of a DM-RS and/or relevant information of a scheduled UE, wherein the transmission parameters include one or more of: a resource mapping approach of the PDSCH, a downlink DM-RS antenna port in use, and a Scrambling Code Identity (SCID) and a scrambling code initialized value X desired when a downlink DM-RS port sequence is initialized; and the network side transmits data according to the determined antenna parameters of the PDSCH. Further disclosed is a physical downlink shared channel transmission system. The disclosure can implement selection of DM-RS antenna ports and use multiple DM-RS antenna ports to improve transmission reliability, eliminate interference, increase MU-MIMO multiplexing capacity and improve frequency selective gain.

In wireless communication techniques, when a base station side (for example an Evolved Node BeNB) transmits data through multiple antennas, data transmission rate can be improved through spatial multiplexing, i.e., transmitting different data at different antenna locations using same time-frequency resources on the transmission end, and a reception end (for example a User Equipment UE) also use multiple antennas to receive the data. In the case of a single user, resources of all antennas are assigned to a same user, the user occupies exclusively, during a transmission interval, physical resources assigned by the base station side, this transmission mode is referred to as Single User Multiple-Input Multiple-Out-put (SU-MIMO); in the case of multiple users, spatial resources of different antennas are assigned to different users, one user and at least one other user share, during a transmission interval, physical resources assigned by the base station side, and the way of sharing can be SDMA or space division multiplexing, this transmission mode is referred to as Multiple User Multiple-Input Multiple-Out-put (MU-MIMO), wherein the physical resources assigned by the base station side refer to time-frequency resources.
Standards of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) define a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) configured to carry Downlink Control Information (DCI) including uplink/downlink scheduling information and uplink power control information. Formats of DCI in LTE Release 10 include: DCI format 0, DCI format 1, DCI format 1A, DCI format 1B, DCI format 1C, DCI format 1D, DCI format 2, DCI format 2A, DCI format 2B, DCI format 2C, DCI format 3, DCI format 3A and DCI format 4. With the development of CoMP techniques, LTE Release 11 puts forward an enhanced PDCCH, namely ePDCCH, the time domain starting position and frequency domain starting position of which are quite different from those of the PDCCH.
LTE also defines Transmission Mode (TM) selected by each UE PDSCH transmission. At present, Release 10 defines 9 transmission modes including TM 1 to TM 9, wherein the DCI Format 1A, serving as a fallback for each transmission mode, is mainly used when channel measurement is not reliable.
In addition, in LTE Release 10, the MIMO transmission mode uses by default a Demodulation Reference Signal (DM-RS) as a pilot carrier for demodulation, and a UE needs to acquire the position of the pilot carrier so that channel and interference estimation can be made on the pilot carrier; at a starting of a subframe, an initialized value of a DM-RS sequence is cinit=(└ns/2┘+l)·(2NIDcell+1)·216+nSCID, wherein nSCID represents a Scrambling Identity (SCID) configured to support two different scrambling sequences, and the eNB can assign these two scrambling sequences to different users so that a same resource can be multiplexed by multiple users; NIDcell represents a cell Identity (ID) with values being integers between 0 and 503; as the development CoMP techniques, LTE Release 11 puts forward enhancement of the DM-RS, which exhibits that the initialized value of the DM-RS sequence is changed to:
Cinit=(└ns/2┘+l)·(2X+l)·216+nSCID, wherein a scrambling initialized value X is a scrambling initialized value used when the DM-RS sequence is initialized, it can take two values x(0) and x(1), x(n) takes an integer between 0 and 503, which is configured by a higher layer.
With the development of LTE-A carrier aggregation techniques, LTE R11 puts forward a new type of carrier, which is still under discussion, it can be determined that for the new carrier, a single port Cell Reference Signal (CRS) according to LTE R8/R9/R10, which has a period of 5 ms, is used to perform synchronous tracking, and in a transmission mode, demodulation is performed based on the DM-RS, and channel measurement is performed based on the CSI-RS; it is determined that DCI Format 1A and DCI format 2C can be used in scheduling of a PDSCCH, and transmission modes supported in Coordinated Multi-Point (COMP) are specified and it is specified that DCI format must be supported in the newly added carrier, thus it can be learned that the enhancement of the DM-RS is also desired to be supported in the newly added carrier.
At present, for transmission of new carriers, it is specified that the DCI Format 1A schedules a PDSCH of the UE using an approach of single DM-RS antenna port transmission, but a specific DM-RS antenna port is not specified, and multiple DM-RS antenna ports are needed for implementing PDSCH transmission diversity to ensure the reliability of transmission in the future; for reasons of interference elimination and increase of multiplexing capacity for MU-MIMO, it is desired to select dynamically transmission parameters of the PDSCH such as a DM-RS antenna port in use, and an SCID and a scrambling code initialized value X desired when a DM-RS port sequence is initialized. However, so far no new PDSCH transmission method has been proposed by related techniques so as to solve problems such as selection of DM-RS antenna ports, improvement on transmission reliability using multiple DM-RS antenna ports, interference elimination, increasing of multiplexing capacity and improvement on frequency selective gain.

Physical downlink shared channel transmission method and system


A memory device includes a storage unit in which a plurality of semiconductor chips each comprising a plurality of memory blocks respectively arranged in a planar direction and a plurality of redundant blocks respectively arranged in a planar direction are stacked, a detecting unit configured to detect a defect of each of the memory blocks in the storage unit; a checking unit configured to check free capacity in each of the redundant blocks in the storage unit, and a determining unit configured to determine a substitute block to be substituted for the memory block in which the defect has been detected from the redundant blocks having the free capacity.

In accordance with downsizing of an information processing device such as a personal computer, there is a need for downsizing of a main memory. Memories which meet the need for downsizing of the main memory include a three-dimensional stacked memory (a 3D memory).
[Patent document 1] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2011-159192
[Patent document 2] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-319296

Memory device, storage method and control device


Ink-jet recording ink improved in releasability of bubbles and the like. The ink comprises water, a colorant and a water-soluble organic solvent. The surface tension of the ink at 20.degree. C. is higher than the surface tension of a composition which comprises the components for the ink except the colorant. Ink-jet recording is effected by making use of the ink and, for example, a heating system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ink-jet recording ink and an ink-jet recording method using the same.
2. Description of Related Art
A so-called ink-jet system printer, which jets a liquid or fused solid ink from a nozzle, slit, porous film or the like and conducts recording on a paper, cloth, film or the like, has various advantages such as realization of small size, low cost and silent running. A large number of such printers are commercially available as printers for black or full color. Among such printers, a so-called piezo-ink-jet system printer using a piezoelectric device or a so-called thermal-ink-jet system printer which conducts recording by applying thermal energy act onto ink, thereby forming droplets has many advantages including the provision of high-speed printing and high resolution.
Ink-jet recording ink is requested to have many properties and among these properties, to provide a print image free from any defect is important regardless of printing speed and printing pattern.
To satisfy such a requirement, many attempts have so far been made and also put into practical use. For example, it is proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No.63-139963 that ink is prepared so that the stability of foams (that is, the height of the remaining foams) after five minutes from start will become 0 mm as measured by the Ross-Miles Test in accordance with JIS K 3362. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2-97577, it is proposed that defect of a print image are prevented by specifying a nitrous acid concentration in ink as 0.2 ppm to 10 ppm. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 5-17712, it is proposed that a dissolved gas in ink is removed by permeation through a gas permeation film. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 4-239067 suggests ink containing a surfactant having an HLB of from 10 to 20. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 7-102201, it is proposed that for a specific ink cartridge, an amount of a surfactant added to ink is defined.
In the above exemplified methods, it is considered that the defect of a print image can be prevented to some extent by various actions. It cannot always be said that these methods can suppress the generation of bubbles or foams in the ink, which will cause the defect of a print image by disturbing the jet of the ink from a nozzle, satisfactorily.
Various causes for the generation of bubbles or foams in the passage for ink are known but those attributable to the ink can be classified roughly into the following three causes:
(1) The solubility of a gas represented by air in an aqueous liquid such as ink generally lowers with increase in temperature. Accordingly, when the temperature in the ink in the passage rises, the gas, or air, dissolved in the ink is discharged and becomes bubbles. PA1 (2) When the wettability of the ink with the passage is inferior, air is trapped in the part of the passage inferior in the wettability and becomes bubbles. PA1 (3) When the surface activity of the ink is high, the ink foams at the time of being mixed with outside air, thereby forming not easily removable foams. PA1 (1) when the bubbles formed were small in size and large in number, some bubbles tended to remain in the passage without being released; PA1 (2) when the bubbles showed an excessive increase in size, they blocked up the passage or broke at the time of removal thereof and therefore could not be removed completely; and PA1 (3) when the bubbles had an appropriate size, they did not break and could be removed easily. PA1 (i) having a molecular weight of about 500 or higher, PA1 (ii) having at least one carboxylic acid per molecule, and PA1 (iii) having a laterally symmetric dye structure.
It is, in fact, difficult to remove all of these causes ideally. Particularly in the thermal ink-jet system, ink is subjected to rapid heating by a heater and is then jetted by the pressure of the bubbles formed by boiling of the ink. Heat is then accumulated mainly in the vicinity of the heater, which tends to heighten the temperature of the ink in the passage. Consequently, it is particularly difficult to control the cause described above in (1).
In this way, it is difficult to prevent the very generation of bubbles or foams. Structural countermeasures are therefore generally taken, for example, by designing the structure of the passage so that the bubbles formed in the passage can be released spontaneously from a nozzle opening during printing or by providing a means for removing the bubbles compulsorily from the nozzle opening by suction or the like operation.
Even by the above-described countermeasures in the structure of the apparatus, however, it is in some cases impossible to suitably release and remove the bubbles or foams. Particularly, depending on the kind of the ink used, such defects are recognized frequently.
There remains another problem to be solved relating to a heater failure. Specifically, deposition (so-called kogation) onto the heater (i.e. a section where bubbles are formed and are allowed to grow by heating) generated by a temperature change causes short-frequency of a working electrode of the heater section, thereby making the heater unoperable.
Many proposals have been made as methods to prevent kogation. For example, it is proposed in Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-B) No. 3-48950 to Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-B) No. 3-48954, kogation can be prevented by reducing the amounts of iron, silicon, magnesium, calcium and the like in ink which originate from a dye contained therein. However, the kogation occurs depending on the chemical structure of the dye, even if the amount of these substances are reduced. There is accordingly a demand for the development of the ink which does not easily cause kogation even if various dyes are used as colorants.

Ink-jet recording ink and ink-jet recording method using the same


A method for manufacturing a color filter (30) includes: preparing a transparent substrate (34); forming a black matrix (33) on the transparent substrate, the black matrix including an antireflection layer (332) formed on the transparent substrate and a light-shielding layer (333) formed on the antireflection layer, the antireflection layer including a first antireflection film (3321) having a first index of refraction, and a second antireflection film (3322) having a different second index of refraction, the black matrix defining a plurality of apertures arranged in an array; and coating a color resin layer (32) on the transparent substrate and the black matrix.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to methods of manufacturing color filters and associated liquid crystal display (LCD) devices.
2. The Prior Art
In general, a monochrome or a color LCD device has the advantages of thinness, light weight and low power consumption. For this reason, LCD devices are widely used in various types of electronic equipment, from pocket calculators to large-scale office automation equipment.
Conventionally, a color LCD device includes a color filter at a position opposite to a liquid crystal layer. The color filter has three kinds of color (red, green and blue—RGB) resins separated by a black matrix having a plurality of apertures. The visibility of the LCD device mainly depends upon the characteristics of the black matrix of the color filter.
The basic structure of a conventional color filter is shown in FIG. 4. The color filter 20 includes a transparent substrate 24 with a black matrix 23 deposited thereon, the black matrix 23 defining a plurality of apertures (not labeled) therein. RGB color resins 22 are filled in the apertures of the black matrix 23 in a sequential repeating pattern. The RGB color resins 22 filter light beams passing therethrough, thus producing respective RGB color light beams.
The black matrix 23 functions as a light-shielding mask, to improve the contrast ratio of an LCD device using the color filter 20. In particular, the black matrix 23 increases the OD (Optical Density, i.e. light-shielding) value, and reduces optical reflectivity of the top and bottom surfaces thereof. However, the black matrix 23 is conventionally made from a metal whose optical reflectivity is too high, or is made from a resin whose OD value is too low. Thus, modified color filters have been developed to solve the above-described problems.
Referring to FIG. 5, a color filter as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,285,424 issued on Sep. 4, 2001 is illustrated. The color filter 1 comprises a black matrix 9 formed on a transparent substrate 2. The black matrix 9 comprises a first antireflection film 3, a second antireflection film 4 and a metal screening film 5 formed one on top of the other in that order. The antireflection films 3, 4 are made of different kinds of metallic compounds having mutually different compositions. At least one of the films 3, 4, 5 contains chromium (Cr). In addition, RGB color resins are separately filled in apertures of the black matrix 9. A protective layer 6 and a conductive layer 7 are sequentially formed on the RGB color resins and the black matrix 9. The protective layer 6 functions as a layer flattening the color filter 1, and as an insulator.
In manufacturing of the color filter 1, firstly, the black matrix 9 having a plurality of apertures is formed on the transparent substrate 2 using exposing and developing technology. Then the RGB color resins are repeatedly and respectively filled in the apertures of the black matrix 9, so that every three adjacent apertures have three different color resins and cooperatively define a pixel. Then the protective layer 6 is formed on the RGB color resins and the black matrix 9, to provide an even outer surface for the color filter 1.
The multi-layer antireflection structure of the black matrix 9 can decrease the optical reflectivity of the surface thereof adjacent the transparent substrate 2. However, the optical reflectivity of the other surface thereof opposite to the transparent substrate 2 is still generally too great. That is, the optical reflectivity of the outer surface of the metal screening film 5 is too great. When the black matrix 9 is used in an LCD device, back light beams are reflected by the outer surface of the metal screening film 5 to an excessive degree. This creates light interference, which reduces the visibility of the LCD device.
Therefore, it is desired to obtain a color filter with low reflectivity on both surfaces thereof, and to obtain an LCD device incorporating such color filter.

RGB resins covering the black matrix and filling three contiguous aperture, each jointing adjacent resins and forming a continuous flat surface


A cascode bootstrapped analog power amplifier circuit includes a first MOSFET and a second MOSFET connected in series and coupled between a dc voltage source terminal and a common terminal. An rf input signal terminal is coupled to a gate electrode of the first MOSFET and a dc control voltage terminal is coupled to a gate electrode of the second MOSFET, with a unidirectionally-conducting element such as a diode-connected MOSFET being coupled between a drain electrode and the gate electrode of the second MOSFET. The output of the amplifier circuit is taken from the drain electrode of the second MOSFET. This circuit configuration, permits he first and second MOSFETs to withstand a larger output voltage swing, thus permitting the use of a higher supply voltage and resulting in a substantially increased maximum output power capability for a given load value.

The invention is in the field of transistor amplifier circuits, and relates more particularly to power amplifier circuits suitable for use in nigh-frequency applications.
Analog power amplifier circuits (as distinct from Class E or switching circuits) used in high-frequency applications are typically operated in Class A, AB, B, C, or F, with the active component being operated as an analog amplifier over the selected conduction angle. Such power amplifiers have been used in wireless communications apparatus and have been designed in both GaAs MOSFET and deep-submicron CMOS technology.
In such power amplifiers, the signal swing at the drain of the output transistor can typically be as much as three times the power supply voltage. This imposes a limitation on the maximum supply voltage that can be used to avoid gate-drain breakdown in MOS transistors. Thus, for example, in a 0.25 micron CMOS process, the nominal supply voltage is 2.5 volts. However, a 2.5 volt Class B amplifier cannot be designed in this process, as the gate breakdown voltage is 6 volts. In conventional cascode-configured amplifiers, where one transistor is in a common-source configuration and the other is in a common-gate configuration, with the common-gate transistor having a constant dc gate voltage and the gate being essentially at ground at the operating frequency, the breakdown problem is reduced but not eliminated.
Although various prior-art techniques exist for improving circuit performance using series-connected transistors and bootstrapptng techniques, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,268,827; 4,100,438; 4,284,905; and 4,317,055, these references do not address the issue of how to maximize usable power supply voltage in cascode analog power amplifier circuits. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a cascode power amplifier circuit in which power output is not limited by operating the output stage at less than he nominal supply voltage due to component breakdown restraints.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a cascode analog power amplifier circuit in which the useable power supply voltage is maximized, so that power output is not limited by voltage constraints imposed by component breakdown characteristics.
In accordance with the invention, this object is achieved by a new analog power amplifier circuit in a cascode bootstrapped configuration in which a first MOSFET and a second MOSFET are connected in series and coupled between a dc voltage source terminal and a common terminal, with an rf input signal terminal being coupled to a gate electrode of the first MOSFET and a dc control voltage terminal being coupled to a gate electrode of the second MOSFET. In order to provide a bootstrapping effect, a unidirectionally-conducting element is coupled between a drain electrode and the gate electrode of the second MOSFET, and an output of the amplifier circuit is taken from the drain electrode of the second MOSFET.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the dc control voltage source terminal is coupled to the gate electrode of the second MOSFET by a resistor, and the rf input signal terminal is coupled to the gate electrode of the first MOSFET by a capacitor.
In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the unidirectionally-conducting element is a diode-connected MOSFET, which implements the bootstrapping effect.
In yet a further preferred embodiment of the invention, a resistor is coupled in series with the unidirectionally-conducting element.
A cascode bootstrapped analog power amplifier circuit in accordance with the present invention offers a significant improvement over prior-art analog power amplifiers in that the useable power supply voltage is maximized to achieve substantially increased power output.
These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.

Cascode bootstrapped analog power amplifier circuit


This invention relates to an improved bed and in particular to one which is integrally made of foamed polyethylene and includes an upper member having a plurality of ventilation holes, a lower member having a plurality of ventilation holes, and a plurality of cylindrical members between the upper member and the lower member, whereby the bed is comfortable in use and may even be cleaned with water.

It has been found that the spring bed sold in the marketplace is one containing spiral springs in a rigid frame. However, such a bed has the following inevitable drawbacks:
1. The springs will become fatigued after having used for a certain period of time thereby slanting the top surface of the bed to one side and therefore making the user uncomfortable in sleeping. PA1 2. Such bed is heavy in weight thereby making it inconvenient and difficult to move from one place and another. PA1 3. It takes a rather long period of time to make the user feel warm. PA1 4. Such a bed does not have sufficient and desirable ventilation hence making an user feel cold in the winter and hot in the summer. PA1 5. It does not possess desirable cushioning effect. PA1 6. Such a bed cannot be cleaned with water thereby making the user live under insanitary conditions. PA1 7. It cannot be retrieved when given up.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bed which may obviate and mitigate the above-mentioned drawbacks.


A sinking type electrical connector is adapted for coupling to a circuit board. The sinking type electrical connector includes a body and at least one limiting unit. The body has a front end portion, a connecting portion provided in the front end portion, and a top surface. The limiting unit is provided at one side of the body and includes a plurality of limiting portions respectively located at different levels. A selected one of the limiting portions of the limiting unit which are at different levels is brought to engage the circuit board so that a distance from the top surface of the body to the circuit board is changeable.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sinking type electrical connector, more particularly to a sinking type electrical connector that permits adjustment of a depth to which the electrical connector can sink below a circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
In view of users' requirements for electronic products with reduced sizes and weights, a number of ultra-thin notebook computer designs have been released in the notebook computer market, bringing the trend of the notebook computer market toward miniaturization. However, in order to realize a miniaturized design, the height of a standard electrical connector is usually a primary problem in the arrangement of internal structures. Therefore, sinking type electrical connectors have been developed.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional sinking type electrical connector 11 achieves an effect of "sinking" below a circuit board 12 by means of two tabs 111 (only one is shown) protruding from two sides thereof and mounted on a top surface of the circuit board 12 so that a part of the electrical connector 11 sinks into a space present between the circuit board 12 and a housing (not shown) of an electronic product. However, since there is only one tab 111 provided at each side of the electrical connector 11, the depth to which the electrical connector 11 can sink below the circuit board 12 (or referred to as a sinking depth) is fixed and cannot be varied. Therefore, if the electrical connector 11 needs to have a different sinking depth, developing a new electrical connector is required, which means additional cost and time. In addition, since a production unit is required to prepare electrical connectors having different specifications for different types of notebook computers, inventory cost is relatively high. Thus, there is still room for improvement.

Sinking type electrical connector and assembly of the sinking type electrical connector and a circuit board


A method for remote services authentication in an internet hosted environment includes a high level process and functionality for a secure, practical and logically optimized inter-network authentication mechanism by employees, partners and customers of an enterprise into the hosted Internet site. The lightweight authentication and authorization mechanism can be most effectively implemented in Java as part of the application or web server servlet. The method for remote services authentication includes initial secure password establishment, subsequent authentication and authorization, as well as authentication and authorization upon resuming previously run sessions with the hosted server using Internet cookies.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to authentication and access management, in general, which combines processes, technologies and policies to manage digital identities and specify how they are used to access resources. More specifically, the methods and apparatus are related to authentication into Internet hosted environments via remote login. They involve an enterprise, i.e. the owner of the hosted site (or operations center), an enterprise's customers' mission-critical web applications or services hosted into the site, and partner companies working with the enterprise in the hosted environment delivering services to the customers. The customers may have end users logging into the site along with the customer, partner and enterprise's employees.
2. Relevant Background of the Invention
Authentication is any process by which the identity of someone is claiming that identity is verified. This usually involves a username and a password. However, it can also include any other method of demonstrating identity, such as a smart card, a retinal scan, voice recognition, or fingerprints. Authentication is equivalent to showing a drivers license at the ticket counter at the airport. Authorization is finding out if the person, once identified, is permitted to use a particular resource. This is usually determined by finding out if that person is a part of a previously established group with predefined characteristics, or has a particular level in the predefined set of security privileges. Finally, access control is a much more general way of defining the controlled access to a resource. Access can be granted or denied based on a wide variety of criteria such as the network address of the client, the time of day, the browser which the visitor is using, and the like. Access control is controlling a user's reach to a desired resource by some arbitrary condition which may or may not have anything to do with the attributes of that particular user.
Because these three techniques are so closely related, generally, in most real applications, it is difficult to analyze them separately from one another. In particular, in most of the real-world implementations, authentication and authorization are inextricably linked.
Basic authentication, which involves sending client-browser-stored passwords to a server over the Internet, and digest authentication, which implies sending digests of the passwords (such as MD5) to a server over the public wire, both suffer from the same major flaw. The password or its digest traversal may happen over an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) protocol. There are also temporary passwords sent for initial login (usually by email) "in the clear" or over unsecured networks. Encrypted or not, smart hackers can figure out how to use the password and/or the alongside content information traveling over the Internet. Secondly, text files are used to store authentication information. The problem with this technique is the burden of looking something up in a text file that has no index. Every user request needs to go through this time-costly operation. Since HTTP is stateless, authentication has to be verified every time that content is requested. This can be prohibitively slow, particularly for large numbers of users. In many cases, a valid username/password is rejected because the authentication module just had to spend so much time looking for the username in the file that the server timed out and returned a failed authentication. So, typically, an alternative is to use some variety of databases which are optimized for looking for a particular piece of information in a very large data set. The database builds indices in order to rapidly locate a particular record, and has query languages for swiftly locating records that match a particular criteria. There are numerous modules available for servers to authenticate using a variety of different databases. On a large scale, in the United States, there is for example, National Science Foundation's (NSF) "Participants for Advanced Computational Infrastructure", or PACI.
The focus of the present invention, however, is on small to medium sized, cost-effective Internet hosted shared environments; the types used by Application Service Providers (ASPs) where employees, customers and partners work together to provide and access business services based on Internet-based applications.
The economies of scale have driven computing platform vendors to develop products with very generalized capabilities. As a result, these products can be utilized in a wide variety of ways to accomplish a given set of business goals. These products possess varying ranges of privileges to operate on the resources in a given environment making the environment complex in terms of security and privacy. Secondly, most authentication mechanisms end up being cumbersome in the process of designing them to be highly secure. Some have easy-to-use but weak authentication and some employ overly complicated multiple login steps or packaged solutions that may have customization and administrative overhead. When employees as well as business partners and/or customers of an enterprise share a common business system for use, it becomes necessary to develop an overall authentication mechanism that is not only secure to protect the interests of the business entities, but also very friendly and easy to use and maintain. In addition, role-based access control helps to define authorization using people's roles and their functional characteristics in the operational environment of the hosted site. Access is the ability to do something with a computer resource (e.g., use, change, or view). Access control is the means by which the ability is explicitly enabled or restricted in some way (usually through physical and system-based controls). Computer-based access controls can prescribe not only who or what process may have access to a specific system resource, but also the type of access that is permitted. These controls may be implemented in the computer system, in external devices or software artifacts.
As shown below in FIG. 1, the context and background of the present invention includes primarily five types of inter-networked environments on the Internet: an Enterprise's corporate intranet—"Network1" 102; a Web Service provider network for customer's application hosting in the Customer Application Operations Center ("CAOC") by the enterprise—"Network2" 104; an Enterprise's (Business) Partner Network—"Network3" 106; an Enterprise's Customer Network—not explicitly shown in FIG. 1; and the Internet 108. All communication from Network 102 and Network 106 to Network 104 is via SSL over the Internet 108. There are also remote enterprise, partner and customer users, along with CAOC administrators communicating with the CAOC over the Internet 108.
The customer's web service or application resides at the enterprise's CAOC site. The primary components of the system are the web application, the application server which hosts the application and web server on the same or a different host as the application's host, the database server (where the passwords are stored) and two supporting application servers for data and system management and administration.
Enterprise employees, customers and partners as users of the web application log into the application over Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol (using browsers supporting SSL 3.0 or higher) from an enterprise's, partner's or customer's corporate network, or from the Internet. The user's IDs and passwords traverse the networks in encrypted form. The users of the service are the customers and their end users who subscribe to the application, but note that overall users includes employees of all tenant companies, partners and customers, as well as those of the enterprise. Administrators of the hosted site are either the enterprise or the partner employees, and follow the rules for employees and partners respectively. The partner users login from within their network, Network3, or from the Internet, as shown above. Similarly, customers login from their corporate networks or from the Internet.
While there are role-based access control mechanisms on the Internet, they do not provide multi-tenant, highly secure methods for a hosting environment that combine business unit information into the role definition, making the role unique across all tenants and useful for flexible role building and authorization policy deployment. What is desired is that the role can be realistic while being unique. Therefore, it can be basic but also flexible and combinatorial, and is able to be the foundation for authorization and re-authorization during the process of resuming a session. In addition, it should be able to be represented in a standardized language for hosting site policy enforcement and usage without injecting complexity into the process of development and maintenance.

Role-based access using combinatorial inheritance and randomized conjugates in an internet hosted environment


The present invention provides a non-cyanide aqueous acidic immersion plating solution having a pH of from about 3.5 to about 6.5 and comprising zinc ions, nickel ions and/or cobalt iron ions, and fluoride ions. In one embodiment the immersion plating solutions of the invention also contain at least one inhibitor containing one or more nitrogen atoms, sulfur atoms, or both nitrogen and sulfur atoms. The present invention also relates to methods for depositing zinc alloy protective coatings on aluminum and aluminum alloy substrates comprising immersing the aluminum or aluminum alloy substrate in the non-cyanide acidic immersion plating solutions of the invention. Optionally, the zinc alloy coated aluminum or aluminum alloy substrate is plated using an electroless or electrolytic metal plating solution.

One of the fastest growing worldwide markets in the metal finishing/electroplating industry is the processing and plating of aluminum and its alloys. Aluminum's unique physical and mechanical characteristics make it particularly attractive for industries such as automotive, electronics, telecommunications and avionics, along with a plethora of decorative applications. Among aluminum's most endearing properties include it's low overall density (2.7 g/cc), high mechanical strength achieved through alloying and heat treating, and its relatively high corrosion resistance. Additional properties of aluminum include; high thermal and electrical conductance, its magnetic neutrality, high scrap value, and its amphoteric chemical nature. Aluminum articles for many applications are made from a variety of aluminum alloys with alloying elements including: silicon, magnesium, copper, etc. These alloying mixes are formed in order to achieve enhanced properties such as high-strength or ductility.
The plating of aluminum and its alloys requires specific surface preparations for successful electrolytic and electroless deposition. The most common practice used in order to achieve successful electrodeposition is applying an immersion zinc coating (better known as zincate) to the substrate just prior to plating. This procedure has long been considered the most economical and practical method of pre-treating aluminum. The major benefits of applying a zincate layer for pretreatment are the relative low cost of equipment and chemistry, wider operating windows for processing, and ease of applying a controlled deposit.
The presence of other metals in the zincate solutions has an affect on the rate and efficacy of the zinc deposition. Small amounts of alloy components (i.e. Fe, Ni, Cu) improve not only the adhesion of the zincate deposit, but also increase the usability of the zincate on a variety of aluminum alloys. For example, the addition of Fe ions improves the adhesion on magnesium containing alloys. The presence of nickel in the zincate improves the adhesion of nickel plated directly onto the zincate, and similar effects can be found with addition of copper in the zincate and subsequent copper plate. In general, however, the alloying of zincate has shown to provide thinner and more compact deposits which effectively translate into better adhesion of downstream electroless/electrolytic plating. On the other hand, the composition of an alloying zincate becomes more and more complicated with the additional metal ions in the composition. It makes selection of complexing agents more complicated and critical for the overall performance of the zincate. A zinc-iron-nickel composition is more sensitive than zinc-iron compositions for the selection of complexing agents and ratio of metal ions in the composition. This becomes even more critical with the addition of the cooper ions in the alloy zincate. Due to its noble position in the galvanic series, the deposition rate of copper in the immersion zincate deposition is much higher than the other elements in the zincate. Therefore, control of the deposition rate of copper becomes important. It is possible to control the deposition rate of copper by the selection of the right complexing agent(s) for copper ions and adequate ratio with the other metal ions. There are few strong complexing agents for copper ions which offer good stability and performance of the alloying zincate, and cyanide appears to be the best candidate. Cyanide is a complexer of choice for the copper containing zincate compositions and it has been the industry standard for that application for many years. A negative aspect for the use of cyanide is the extremely toxic nature of cyanide, and therefore, like other metal finishing products, the search for a cyanide replacement in the alloying zincate has been a topic of interest for many years.
In recent years there are some non-cyanide alloy zincate compositions that have been developed but these compositions still contain hard complexing agents such as EDTA, NTA, ethylene diamine, etc. to keep the multi-ion system in the stable form which makes waste treatment of spent zincate solutions as well as its rinses more difficult. Zincate treatments also generally perform better under multiple treatment modes. Aluminum pretreatment with a single dip in the zincate doesn't produce as good results as the process with double or triple dips in the zincate prior to the subsequent plating step. Such multiple zincate process requires more processing steps and time, and means a more complicated and less productive and economical process. Therefore, like other metal finishing products, search for replacement of conventional alkaline cyanide or non-cyanide alloying zincate for the plating on aluminum has been a topic of interest in recent years.

Aqueous acidic immersion plating solutions and methods for plating on aluminum and aluminum alloys


A method for obtaining cores from an open borehole including rotary drilling a borehole, replacing the drill bit with an open face whipstock secured to the lower end of the drill string, positioning the whipstock above the formation to be cored and running a coiled tubing unit carrying a drilling motor and coring bit down the interior of the drill string and past the whipstock into the formation at an angle to the axis of the drill string and open hole.

The usefulness of cores of substantial length and in uncontaminated condition is well known in the oil and gas drilling arts. Sidewall coring produces cores of short length (on the order of one to two inches) from the side of an open hole and can sometimes become contaminated by the fluids used in drilling the borehole. Additionally, the smaller the core sample, the faster gases and fluids from a formation core can be lost. The industry has sought methods to obtain longer cores taken away from the borehole which may be retrieved rapidly to the surface. Additionally, the industry has sought economical solutions to the problem of separate "guide" or "carrier" strings of pipe or casing normally used in connection with other coring methods.


A combined garage door screen and garage door and method is disclosed wherein the garage door screen can be selectively fixedly attached to the back of the garage door in either a lower (closed screen) position when the bottom portion of the garage door is spaced from the ground or an upper (screen up) position when the bottom portion of the garage door screen is raised to a level at least equal to the level of the bottom portion of the garage door.

In the past, people have recognized the desirability of having garage doors partially opened in order to provide introduction of fresh outside air within the garage area. However, unless a person is in the garage area, leaving a garage door partially open provides a risk of permitting a thief to gain access to the garage area where bicycles, tools, etc. may be located. Even if a person was in the garage area, leaving a garage door partially open is an invitation to permit animals and insects to penetrate into the garage area through the partial opening created by the garage door being partially open.
As a result, people have sought to block the opening created by the garage door being partially open with a screen which prevented an entry by insects and animals. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,169 disclosed a garage door screen which contained a passageway provided by a pair of zippers. However, the garage door screen was not attached to a garage door, but served only to cover the garage door opening. U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,449 is similar to U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,169, but discloses a different form of attachment. U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,566 discloses top and bottom screens for a garage door, however, the bottom screen can only be attached to the garage door either when the bottom screen is in its upper (elevated position) with the garage door open or when the garage door is lowered to its lowest (at ground) position with the screen also at its lowest (ground) position. However, there is no provision for locking the screen to the garage door when the screen is in its lowest position and the garage door is open. Thus, a potential thief or burglar can lift the bottom screen, when the garage door has been lifted, to an elevated level above ground or where the bottom portion of the bottom screen is at the same level as the bottom portion of the garage door. U.S. Design Pat. No. 357,071 discloses a garage door drop screen similar to the screens disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,427,169 and 5,271,449.
Currently, electrically controlled garage doors that are operated by remote controlled devices for opening and closing these garage doors are required to provide a sensing system located adjacent the bottom portion of the garage door opening which is used to detect if a person, animal or object is located adjacent the bottom portion of the garage door opening and function to prevent the electrically controlled garage door to strike such a person, animal or object when moving towards a closed position. Thus, using a bottom screen on an inside portion of a garage door created a problem because the garage door and attached bottom screen were not sensed by the sensing system and, therefore, they were both lowered together and the electrically controlled garage door continued to its closed position. Consequently, the bottom screen could not, in the past, be fixedly attached to the garage door to extend below the bottom portion thereof because the garage door moving to its bottom closed position would crush or severely damage the attached (lower positioned) bottom screen.
Accordingly, a need existed to provide a combined garage door screen and garage door and method which permitted a garage door screen or bottom screen to be attached to the inside portion of the garage door and to be movable relative to the garage door to be selectively locked both into an upper position where the bottom portion of the bottom screen does not extend below the bottom portion of the garage door and into a lower position where the bottom portion of the bottom screen closes the opening located between the bottom portion of the garage door spaced from the ground.

Combined garage door screen and garage door and method


An arm mechanism includes a drive control mechanism that uses an end effector coordinate system and has an end effector drive control mechanism. The drive control mechanism includes an end effector rotational drive control mechanism and an end effector coordinate system translational drive control mechanism. The rotational drive control mechanism has three rotational actuators for driving end effector rotation about each axis separately. The end effector coordinate system translational drive control mechanism has an end effector coordinate system translational actuator to drive translational motion of the object. The drive control mechanism further includes an orientation maintenance mechanism that maintains the orientation of the target object on the absolute coordinate system and two absolute coordinate system translational actuators supported on the orientation maintenance mechanism for providing translational motion of the object along two orthogonal axes on the absolute coordinate system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arm mechanism in which translational motion for controlling position and rotational motion for controlling orientation are independently controlled. The arm mechanism of this invention can be applied to manipulators for manipulating cells and other fine operations, manipulators used in micro-assembly and other such manipulators.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The position and orientation of an end effector of a manipulator have to be controlled in order to manipulate an object with the end effector. In a conventional manipulator an end effector tip is provided on the end of an arm which has a serial link mechanism comprising a plurality of joints and link members extending from a base to the tip. The entire arm is driven to effect translational and rotational motions to set the position and orientation of the end effector. In this type of manipulator arrangement, there is interference between the end effector translational and rotational motions. Namely, changing the orientation of the end effector by rotating the end effector around one of the three axes of the orientation coordinate system affects the orientations (not to be changed) around the remaining two axes and the positions of the three axes of the rotation coordinate system. Similarly, changing the position of the end effector by translational motion of the end effector along one of the three axes of the position coordinate system affects the orientations around the three axes of the orientation coordinate system and the positions (not to be chagned) of the remaining two axes. This interference between translational and rotational motions reduces the accuracy of the end effector tip positioning and generated force. This has given rise to a demand for an arm mechanism that has independent control of position and orientation with no interference between translational and rotational motions.
Conventional arm mechanisms with independent control of position and orientation that have been devised include (1) a rotational arm mechanism that combines an absolute coordinate arm translational mechanism and a gimbal mechanism (pp 150-151 of the Collected Papers (V) of the 73rd General Meeting of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (1996)); (2) a rotational arm mechanism that combines an absolute coordinate arm translational mechanism and a pantograph mechanism (Proc. of 1995 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 3, pp 3081-3088, (1995)); and (3) a mechanism that combines an absolute coordinate arm translational mechanism, a mechanism for rotating the arm without moving the tip, and a table translational and rotational mechanism (Robotics and Mechatronics Lectures of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, Vol. B, pp 1386-1389, (1995)).
However, with the coordinate systems of these technologies being absolute coordinate systems, it is not always easy for an operator to ascertain the position and/or orientation of a target object or an end effector, making it difficult to achieve improvements in task efficiency and accuracy. In tasks such as the task of inserting a needle or rod in a hole, task efficiency and accuracy could be improved by using an end effector arrangement that enables coordinate systems to be established on the end effector that is always axially oriented toward the target point P on the object. However, since conventional manipulators are based on an absolute coordinate system, as described above, changing end effector orientation generates absolute coordinate system motion that differs from the end effector coordinate system motion required for the task, thwarting any improvement in task efficiency and accuracy.
A principal object of the present invention is to provide an arm mechanism with improved task efficiency and accuracy that offers improved accuracy of end effector tip positioning and generated force and facilitates operator comprehension of the position and orientation of a target object and the end effector.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an arm mechanism with improved task efficiency and accuracy that can maintain an end effector at a prescribed target point on an object.

Arm mechanism with independent control of position and orientation

Agency of Industrial Science & Technology, Ministry of International Trade & Industry


Provided are scan device and method of diagnosing scan chain fault. The scan device for diagnosing a fault includes a scan partition including a plurality of scan chains which include path control scan flipflops connected to scan flipflops in cascade. In the scan partition, connection paths of the scan flipflops are controllable. The connection paths of the path control scan flipflops are controlled to detect a position of a fault such that a fault range in the scan partition is reduced to diagnose the fault.

The present invention relates to a scan device capable of fault diagnosis and a method of diagnosing a scan chain fault.
According to existing hardware-based scan chain fault diagnosis methods, a diagnostic resolution for fault diagnosis may be maximized using additional hardware. However, most of the methods focus on single fault diagnosis in a scan chain. According to a method of diagnosing multiple faults, it is possible to make multiple diagnoses, but many test pins are additionally required for structural application. Also, with an increase in the number of faults in circuitry, the diagnostic resolution drastically degrades.
In an initial processing stage before processing stabilization, a large number of faults occur in practice. Without a method of accurately making diagnoses on such a large number of faults at a high resolution, time and costs required for physical analysis on fault candidate positions which are diagnosed later remarkably increase.
One of the problems to be solved by this embodiment is to providing a scan device and method for diagnosing a single scan chain fault and a plurality of scan chain faults at a high resolution.

Scan apparatus capable of fault diagnosis and scan chain fault diagnosis method

UIF (University Industry Foundation), Yonsei University


A low crystallinity calcium phosphate powder is prepared by mechanically grinding a calcium phosphate solid under grinding forces local heating sufficient to mechanically alloy the calcium phosphate solid and reduce the crystalline domains of the calcium phosphate solid to less than about 100 nm. The method is useful for making any calcium phosphate material by solid-solid mixing and high energy grinding.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention is bone repair and replacement. More specifically, the invention relates to nanocrystalline calcium phosphate powders useful as bone substitute materials and methods of their manufacture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Naturally-occurring bone mineral is made of nanometer-sized, poorly-crystalline apatitic calcium phosphate with a Ca/P ratio between 1.45 and 1.75. See, Besic et al. J. Dental Res. 48(1):131 (1969). These properties impart solubility to bone tissue that allows it to be repaired continually by osteoclasts and osteoblasts. Natural bone grafts are incorporated into a patient's bone through this continual remodeling process in vivo. However, natural bone grafts are associated with problems such as limited availability and painful, risky harvesting procedures for a patient's own autogenous bone, and risks of viral transmission and immune reaction for allograft bone from a cadaver.
Synthetic bone graft materials have been used to avoid the problems associated with natural bone grafts. Desirable properties for synthetic bone graft materials include biocompatibility with natural bone; structural integrity, so that the graft remains in place and intact until bone heals around it; resorbability, so that the graft material is replaced by bone and is accessible to osteoclasts, osteoblasts, and other bone-forming cells; and compatibility with low-temperature processing, which is desired for incorporating heat-sensitive bone growth proteins or other growth factors.
Bioceramics have been used as bone graft substitute materials. Most commonly used have been calcium phosphate ceramics, such as hydroxyapatite and tricalcium phosphate. Highly crystalline hydroxyapatite is dense, and therefore strong. Such crystalline hydroxyapatite is essentially non-resorbable in vivo, and thus is not replaced by natural bone. Hydroxyapatite solids of lower crystallinity have been reported that are resorbable and chemically similar to the mineral component of natural bone. However, these materials are not strong enough for load bearing applications or other applications requiring high-strength materials. Similarly, tricalcium phosphate materials generally are degraded rapidly in vivo, but lack sufficient strength for weight-bearing applications. Combinations of hydroxyapatite and tricalcium phosphate have been reported, which attempt to mitigate the shortcomings of the individual calcium phosphate components.
Recent developments in bone graft substitute materials include the use of amorphous calcium phosphates. Compositions for use in skeletal repair including an amorphous calcium phosphate and a crosslinkable organic polymer have been reported. Amorphous calcium phosphates have also been combined with more crystalline calcium phosphates to form self-setting ceramic cements. In these cases, preparation of amorphous calcium phosphate is accomplished by low temperature double decomposition between calcium and phosphate ion sources, typically under basic conditions.
New sources for low crystallinity or amorphous calcium phosphate powders for use as bone substitute materials are needed. In particular, nanocrystalline calcium phosphate materials useful in the preparation of high strength calcium phosphate articles are desired.
The preparation of metal alloys by intensive grinding (or milling) of a mixture of metal powders, also called mechanical alloying or mechanical grinding, is a well-known technique. Ball mills and attritors are used to produce fine powders. Ball milling also is used to promote solid state reactions, which result in synthesis of new alloys from elemental powders, or to alter the alloy structure.
When mechanical alloying is used to produce new materials, there is a combination of repeated welding, fracturing and rewelding of the mixture of powder particles mixtures, thereby providing powders of a fine microstructure and facilitating rapid interdiffusion between the particles. Mechanical alloying has been used to form finely divided metal alloys and to promote the formation of intermetallic compounds. High energy milling has even been reported for ceramic materials, for example, to induce chemical reactions between the component ceramic powders and thereby synthesize fine particle-size reacted product.

Synthesis of calcium phosphates by mechano-chemical process


Methods and apparatus for a vibration dampening system having an adaptor with a user contact surface and a power tool contact surface. The adaptor can include a core to reduce vibration transfer from the tool to the hands of a user. In embodiments, the core comprises a viscoelastic material that lightens a base elastomer to form liquid-filled closed cells structures.

As is known in the art, Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) is an important but difficult to prevent work related injury. According to the Medical research Council, about 300K employees in the UK need protection from such vibrations. In the U.S., there are about 1.2 million workers in need of this protection according to The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. A single claim against an employer can cost upwards of seventy thousand dollars. Despite its ubiquity there are few good solutions for workers. Glove based vibration isolators tend to not work for workers. Workers often say they need to feel their tools and workpieces. As a result, they often cut off the fingertips of vibration reducing gloves. However, HAVS begins at the tip of fingers, thus, defeating the utility of vibration reducing gloves.
Making custom vibration dampers, however, is difficult. Many known dampening materials require casting and molding processes. Given the large number of different power tools, it may be prohibitively expensive to make molds for each power tool.
Furthermore, many vibration damping materials add mass to an elastomer substrate. This is not desirable in a power tool grip as adding mass means making the workers lift heavier loads.


A method comprises the steps of receiving a set of process metrics, evaluating the set of received process metrics to determine a set of process classifications, determining a set of process parameters, and generating one or more processes based at least in part on the set of process parameters and the set of process classifications, each of the one or more processes having respective sets of process metrics similar to the set of received process metrics. The receiving, evaluating, determining and generating steps are performed by at least one processing device.

A wide variety of entities use a set of processes to perform common tasks and deal with particular issues. For example, a business such as an insurance company may have a standard process for dealing with new claims. Retail businesses may have standard processes or policies for customer service and support. New and existing businesses and other entities may create new processes to handle new tasks and issues or to replace obsolete or underperforming processes. As a business or other entity grows or expands, new or updated processes may also be needed. Mergers of entities may require creation of new processes to handle interaction among sub-entities or divisions of an entity. New and changing regulations, laws and standards may also require the creation of new processes.
The creation of business processes, policies and other procedures is performed manually. Consultants or other individuals and entities responsible for the creation of business processes, policies and procedures typically use portfolios of industry best practices or existing processes from a former project as a basis for the manual creation of new business processes, policies and procedures.

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention relates a method for the enumeration of in vivo gene mutation. The method utilizes differential staining of GPI-anchor deficient erythrocyte populations to distinguish between wild-type and pig-a gene mutants. Quantitative analyses can be conducted on erythrocytes and/or reticulocytes, and is based upon fluorescent emission and light scatter following exposure to an excitatory light source. Counting of mutant erythrocytes or reticulocytes relative to the number of total erythrocytes or reticulocytes can be used to assess the DNA-damaging potential of an exogenous chemical agent, the DNA-damaging potential of an exogenous physical agent, the effects of an exogenous agent which can modify endogenously-induced DNA damage, and the effects of an exogenous agent which can modify exogenously-induced DNA damage. Kits for practicing the invention are also disclosed.

DNA damage can result in mutation, and this is a primary mechanism by which cancers arise. These events have also been implicated in diseases such as atherosclerosis, and processes such as aging. Therefore, there is an important need for sensitive methods which are capable of identifying chemical or physical agents that can mutate DNA. Given the tremendous cost of long-term chronic studies such as 2-year carcinogenicity tests, short- and medium-term systems for predicting DNA reactivity play a vital role in tumorigenic agent identification.
Although sensitive assays for measuring in vitro mutation exist (e.g., Salmonella reverse mutation test, mouse lymphoma forward mutation assay), in vivo methods are needed to form a more complete understanding of risk. Thus, while there are National Institutes of Health (NIH) directives to reduce animal usage for toxicity testing purposes, it is well appreciated that whole animal systems are necessary for faithful incorporation of variables such as toxicant deposition, metabolism, and elimination. Because the in vivo system proposed herein is based on blood sampling and therefore does not require sacrifice, it can easily be integrated into on-going acute, subacute, or subchronic toxicology studies. This approach would help minimize animal usage, as the number of dedicated experiments conducted to assess genotoxicity is reduced. Furthermore, since it should be possible to extend the method beyond laboratory rodents to man, it could play an important role in studying new drugs during clinical trials, or for myriad other human biomonitoring applications.
Some of the more widely utilized assays for studying in vivo mutation are listed in Table I below along with the assay of the present invention. While some are based on colony formation and therefore require time-consuming tissue culture work after target cells have been harvested, others require expensive breeding programs to supply rodents with a specific genotype.
TABLE IOverview of in vivo Mutation AssaysSpecialCultureTarget GeneRequirementsTarget CellsWorkEnumerationhprtCompatible with allBlood (or spleen)YesColonymammalslymphocytesformationthymidineRequires tk+/− miceBlood (or spleen)YesColonykinaselymphocytesformationGlycophorin AHeterozygous humansBlood RBCsNoFlow(M-N blood antigens)cytometryTransgenic lacZProprietary rodentsAnyYes (bacteriaPlaqueor lacI(e.g., Muta ™ Mouse,and phage)formationBigBlue ® Mouse orRat)pig-a*Compatible with allBlood RBCs (andNoFlowmammalsother blood cells)cytometryAbbreviations:hprt = hypoxanthine phosphorylribosyl transferase;tk+/− = thymidine kinase heterozygote*pig-a is the target of the present invention; it is compared here based on the manner of detection described in the present application.
As Table I suggests, the invention described herein is not the first to quantitatively measure in vivo mutation. The novelty and advantages of the present invention stem from careful attention to the choice of gene locus and the target cells. Importantly, these mutation data will be available without the need for time and resource-intensive tissue culture work, or the use of costly transgenic animals. Furthermore, given the compatibility of enumerating the mutant phenotype via flow cytometric analysis, the assay of the present invention is endowed with a high throughput capacity. The methodology of the present invention has other advantages relative to the current state-of-the-art. These advantages include: compatibility with any mammalian species, easy integration into other studies, and conceivably higher relevance for the reporter gene, which is endogenous and transcribed (as compared to transgenes which are non-transcribed, have high G-C content, and are extensively methylated).
The pig-a gene is located on the X-chromosome. This is a highly desirable feature, since one functional copy means that only a single mutational event is necessary to produce a phenotype which can be readily detected. More specifically, the pig-a gene product is essential for the biosynthesis of glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchors. Mutations giving rise to non-functional pig-a product result in the absence or the reduced membrane expression of GPI-linked proteins in peripheral blood cells. See FIG. 1.
Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a genetic disorder that affects 1 to 10 per million individuals. The molecular basis of PNH is a somatic pig-a gene mutation within a bone marrow stem cell. PNH usually affects erythrocytes, granulocytes and monocytes. Occasionally, only the erythrocytes, or the granulocytes and monocytes, are affected. In a minority of cases the lymphocyte lineage is also affected, and only a few rare case reports have documented the lymphocytes to be the only cell lineage affected. Several GPI-linked proteins, especially CD59 and CD55, have been studied intensely. In fact, flow cytometry-based techniques which measure the frequency of CD59 and/or CD55 deficient red blood cells are replacing the traditional HAM test for PNH diagnosis. Even so, it is important to recognize that since clinically significant disease requires a relatively large fraction of cells to exhibit GPI-anchor deficiency, these PNH diagnostic assays have not required the degree of accuracy that a rare-event/mutation scoring system will require. Thus, the repurposing of pig-a gene mutation measurements for evaluating genotoxicity, as opposed to diagnosing PNH disease, requires the high throughput and reliability characteristics of the present invention.
The present invention is directed to overcoming these and other deficiencies in the art.

Kit for measuring in vivo mutation frequency at an endogenous gene locus


Compositions and methods for immunization against human breast cancer are disclosed. A breast cancer vaccine comprises an immunogenic polypeptide comprising human α-lactalbumin.

Breast cancer is responsible for the second overall cause of cancer-related deaths among women. Currently, prevention of breast cancer predominantly involves reducing modifiable risks including early detection through physical examination and mammograms, avoidance of unnecessary post-menopausal hormone therapy, reduction in alcohol consumption, loss of weight, increase in physical activity, and genetic testing for mutations of the breast cancer type 1 and type 2 susceptibility genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2, respectively). More aggressive approaches in high risk patients include chemoprevention with tamoxifen, raloxifene, and aromatase inhibitors as well as prophylactic bilateral mastectomy and oophorectomy.
Despite the profound health risk of breast cancer and inadequacy of preventative efforts, an immunotherapy for breast cancer has not been developed as an integral part of the standard of care. Tumor-specific antigens have long provided less than optimal results as targets for cancer vaccination. The overall goal of cancer vaccination has traditionally been to boost the latent immune response to tumor-specific antigens. Approaches have included cell-based protocols involving immunization with whole autologous or allogeneic tumors, as well as antigen-based strategies involving immunization with proteins or peptides overexpressed in tumors and underexpressed in normal tissues. The human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and mucin (MUC1) are the predominant antigens used in human breast cancer vaccine trials. Although vaccination using these antigens may demonstrate tumor reducing effects, neither antigen provides any tissue or tumor specificity since both are expressed in a variety of normal tissues and tumors. Thus, the lack of inherent tissue specificity of HER2 and MUC1 targeted immunity may ultimately lead to substantial systemic autoimmune sequelae if a robust immune response manifests.
A full-strength autoimmune attack sufficient to induce targeted breast failure can provide effective therapy against established breast malignancies if the target antigen is constitutively expressed in breast tumors. Moreover, if the selected target antigen is expressed in normal breast tissue under conditions that are easily avoidable, then the vaccine may provide safe and effective protection against the development of breast cancer.
Human alpha-lactalbumin (α-lactalbumin) is a conditionally expressed, breast specific differentiation protein found in the majority of breast malignancies. As an integral differentiation protein involved in regulation of lactose biosynthesis, expression of α-lactalbumin is breast-specific and conditionally dependent on lactation for its expression and synthesis. Human α-lactalbumin is also constitutively overexpressed in the majority of breast tumors, is breast specific, and is sufficiently immunogenic to induce an effective proinflammatory immune response. Thus, immunization against human α-lactalbumin offers a safe and effective vaccination strategy for the prevention of breast cancer.


Hydroximic acid derivatives of the formula ##STR1## These compounds are useful for treating diabetes angiopathy.

One of the most frequent metabolism diseases is diabetes mellitus, the main symptom of which is the disturbance of the balance of carbohydrate metabolism in the organism. Diabetes mellitus is often accompanied by pathologic vascular deformations, e.g. vasoconstrictions in the limbs, pathological deformation of the eyeground vessels, etc. Though, in addition to insulin a large number of effective drugs are known, in the field of the treatment of diabetic angiopathy associated with the basic disease, results provided by the commercially available compositions are quite poor. This situation is caused by the phenomenon that diabetes mellitus results in changes of the vascular adrenerg receptors, and consequently, medical treatment with the commercially available drugs results in adrenerg reaction different from those taking place in the blood vessels of non-diabetic patients. (Nature New Biology, 243, No. 130, 126 /1973/; Szemeszet, 111, 23 /1974/; Endocrinology, 93, 752 /1973/). The adrenerg receptors of blood vessels in diabetic patients undergo a transformation into beta receptors due to the quantitative increase of the metabolism. For the receptor transformation, the release of a modulator is responsible (Amer.J.Physiol., 218, 869 /1970/). After addition of the modulator to the alpha organ the alpha agonists will not be active any more as the receptor is transformed into beta.
The original alpha sensibility may be recovered by adding a special beta blocking agent into the organism.
In case of qualitative alteration of the metabolism in model or human in vivo diabetes the alpha agonists, e.g. noradrenalin, remain effective, this effect, however, may be compensated by the addition of beta blocking agents. This is the first functional change which is detectable in diabetes, e.g. by addition of Alloxane (Hexahydropirimidin-tetraon), 24 hours after the administration. In case of diabetes an imperfect alpha-beta receptor transformation--possibly due to the formation of an alternative, so-called "Falsch" modulator--serves as starting point of the pathological changes.

O-(3-amino-2-hydroxypropyl)-hydroximic acid halides and process for preparing the same


Disclosed is an instrument for treating a patient with semicircular canal injury, which is an instrument in the form of an exact enlarged model of human three semicircular canals having a structure wherein a liquid and a plurality of otolithic models, having a specific gravity larger than the specific gravity of said liquid, are enclosed within a hollow annular member made of a transparent resin and equipped with a screen at the position corresponding to the cupula in each of the three semicircular canals. Therein, said screen has such a mesh size as allowing the passage of said liquid but not allowing the passage of the otolithic models. Thus, an instrument for treating a patient with semicircular canal injury, whereby physical and mental pains can be alleviated in treating a patient with semicircular canal injury such as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, is provided.

As semicircular canal injury, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is known, for example. In this disease, when the head is quickly moved to change its direction up and down, from side to side, or the like, rotatory vertigo occurs, where the person feels if the head spins.
Incidentally, in the vestibule, which is the organ responsible for the sense of balance, there are three semicircular canals that play an important role in maintaining the balance of the body. The three semicircular canals include the following three semicircular canals, i.e., the anterior semicircular canal, the posterior semicircular canal, and the lateral semicircular canal. They have a structure in which they are at right angles to one another.
In the vestibule, further, there is an otolith organ. The structure of the otolith organ is such that the organ has a large number of dense short hairs, and minute stones (otoliths) are placed on the end portions thereof. The shaking of such otoliths allows the gravity and linear acceleration to be perceived.
When the head is moved, the lymph in the three semicircular canals also moves, and, together with this movement, hair cells create a nervous impulse to transmit the signal to the brain. The movement of the lymph in one semicircular canal corresponding to the direction in which the head moves becomes larger than the movement in the other two semicircular canals, and the brain thus recognizes the rotation of the head.
Thus, because of the functions of the vestibule and the three semicircular canals, the brain can recognize the rotation of the head and the linear movement, as well as acceleration of the body, whereby the brain performs the operation to maintain the balance of the body.
It sometimes happens that a large number of otoliths on the otolith organ in the vestibular organ are deviated from the original position for some reason, and float inside the semicircular canals or adhere to a region inside the semicircular canals called cupula (a narrow portion in each semicircular canal, which forms a narrow path for the movement of otoliths). When the head of a person is moved in this state, otoliths extraordinarily irritate the three semicircular canals, whereby the person feels giddy.
Like this, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo occurs due to the deviation of otoliths in the vestibule, followed by entry into the three semicircular canals, thereby irritating the three semicircular canals. Therefore, once the otoliths that have entered the semicircular canals are taken out in one way or another, vertigo can be eliminated completely.
As a method for removing otoliths that have entered the semicircular canals, physiotherapy is commonly used. In this method, the patient's head is moved back and forth and from side to side to apply acceleration to otoliths floating in the semicircular canals or otoliths adhering to the cupulae, thereby removing the otoliths from the semicircular canals (see, e.g., Nonpatent Document 1). However, this method is a trial-and-error method, and has a problem in that the treatment takes a long period of time and gives physical and mental pains to the patient.

Instrument for treating patient with semicircular canal injury and method for producing same