A stored liquid dispensing applicator includes a valving arrangement formed of a valve seat and a spring-driven shuttle that is disposed for axial displacement into and out of valve-defining abutment and engagement with the valve seat. The shuttle is displaceable between distal and proximal limits of travel that include a first position defining the distal limit and a second position proximally spaced from the distal limit and distally spaced from the proximal limit. The valve seat is arranged for contact with the shuttle uninterruptedly between the first and second positions to close the valve, and for spaced apart relation with the shuttle between the second position and the proximal limit of travel to open the valve for dispensing of stored liquid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of liquid dispensers or applicators and, more particularly, to user-operable applicators that are configured to selectively dispense a liquid—of virtually any viscosity, including creams—from a storage reservoir and which exhibit particular resistance to leakage or other unintended discharges of stored liquid during periods of non-use, including shipping and transport from the manufacturing site to an ultimate purchaser or end-user.
2. Description of Related Art
Liquid dispensers and dispensing applicators are ubiquitous in the market place of today, providing an inexpensive and easily used vehicle for supplying a wide range of liquid-based products to the public. A common feature of such dispensers and applicators is the ability for the user to selectively effect a release or discharge of a typically internally-stored liquid through user-activation of a valving arrangement, commonly into a user's hand (for further transfer to another article or surface) or directly onto the intended surface or workpiece. Automatic closure of the valving arrangement, when the required user-activation effort has ended, to halt and prevent further unintended release of the stored liquid, is an attractive and, in some cases, important element of the functionality provided by such devices.
It will be appreciated that the usefulness and practicality of such liquid applicators and dispensers is significantly dependent on the ability of the valving arrangement to create and maintain an effect closure or seal against the release or leakage of stored liquid during times of nonuse. Many valving arrangements are spring-based closures in which a user-supplied force is applied against the spring to open the valve, and the return urgency drives the valve elements into a closed state when the user-supplied force is removed. Although a tighter or more leak resistant valve closure can be effected by utilizing a stronger spring, increases in the spring force also disadvantageously require more user-applied force to open the valve for each release of liquid and thus necessitate an unfortunate trade-off between user convenience and operational effectiveness.
A particular issue in avoiding unintended stored liquid releases and leakage in current liquid applicator and dispenser constructions arises during their shipping and transport—i.e., when the manufactured devices are shipped or otherwise transported to the retailer or ultimate end user. It is virtually certain that, at one or multiple points during such transport, the liquid-filled devices will be, at the very least, dropped, jostled and inverted, often resulting in unintended discharges or leakage of the stored liquid as the spring-based valving arrangement closure is unintendedly displaced.
Another cause of post-manufacture leakage arises due to the characteristics of some liquids commonly stored for dispensing from such devices. In their assembly, the final step is typically attachment to the applicator or dispensing assembly—i.e. the "working end" of the device—of a shell or container or the like which contains the liquid that the device is intended to dispense. Attachment (and liquid-tight securement) of the liquid-containing shell to the dispensing assembly, in which the valving arrangement is closed under the return urgency of a spring, often creates an overpressure condition within the liquid storage shell. With especially free-flowing, and volatile, liquids, the elevated pressure in the liquid storage reservoir will often result in releases of liquid through the closed valving arrangement, particularly during transport and most especially where, as is common, the devices are transported by air in low pressure or unpressurized cargo holds which still further increase the relative difference between the elevated pressure in the liquid storage container and the ambient atmosphere.


A flexible substrate and corresponding method of manufacturing are described. The flexible substrate includes a substrate, a first buffer layer, a second buffer layer and a third buffer layer. The first buffer layer, positioned on the substrate, has a plurality of first buffer segments. The second buffer layer, positioned on the first buffer layer, has a plurality of second buffer segments. The third buffer layer, positioned on the second buffer layer, is connected to the first buffer layer via a contact hole between two adjacent second buffer segments. Because the first buffer layer is patterned to include buffer segments, cracking in the first buffer layer is reduced. Because the third buffer layer is connected to segments of the first buffer layer via a contact hole between two adjacent second buffer segments, moisture permeation paths from the substrate into the second buffer layer are blocked, suppressing moisture permeation.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a flexible substrate and a method of manufacturing the same. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a flexible substrate of a structure to achieve both of minimized crack occurrence therein and oxygen and moisture permeation thereto, and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Elements such as thin-film transistor used in display devices such as Organic Light Emitting Displays (OLEDs), Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) and Electro Phoretic Displays (EPDs) may deteriorate due to oxygen and moisture permeation.
Incidentally, flexible display devices have been recently gaining attention as display devices for the next generation. These flexible display devices are fabricated by forming display units and traces on flexible substrates such as plastic so that they are able to display images even when they are bent like paper. Accordingly, efforts are being made to implement display devices such as OLEDs, LCDs and EPDs into flexible display devices.

Flexible substrate and method of manufacturing the same


There is disclosed a method of processing a substrate, which comprises applying a surfactant or a water soluble polymer agent onto a surface of a substrate to be processed, and sliding a circumferential portion of the substrate and a polishing member against each other to polish the circumferential portion of the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of processing a substrate for removing surface roughness that occurs on a circumferential portion (bevel portion and edge portion) of a substrate to be processed, such as a semiconductor wafer, and films that adhere to the circumferential portion of the substrate to be processed to become stain sources.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, along with the miniaturization of semiconductor elements and the high packing density of semiconductor devices, management of particles has become more important. As one of the big problems in managing particles, there is the problem of dust occurrence arising from surface roughness that occurs on bevel portion and edge portion of a semiconductor wafer (semiconductor substrate) in processes of manufacturing a semiconductor device. Herein, the bevel portion means a wafer portion having a slanted cross section at an end portion of the semiconductor wafer, and the edge portion means a flat surface wafer portion of around several millimeters from the bevel portion toward the internal side of the wafer.
For example, in a reactive ion etching (RIE) step of forming trenches (deep trenches) of a trench capacitor on a surface of an Si wafer, a by-product generated in etching adheres to the bevel portion and the edge portion of the wafer. Then, because this by-product works as an etching mask, thorn-shaped protrusions are likely to be formed on the bevel portion and the edge portion of the wafer (protrusions shown by reference numeral 25 in FIG. 3). In particular, when attempt is made to form an extremely large deep trench whose opening diameter is of a sub micron order, and whose aspect ratio is several tens, the above-mentioned thorn-shaped protrusions are apt to occur at the circumferential portion due to its process conditions.
Although the height of thorn-shaped protrusions varies with their positions on the wafer, it becomes nearly 10 μm at maximum, and these protrusions are broken at the time of transfer or processes of the wafer, and become causes of particles. Since such particles lead to the decrease of the yield of a semiconductor device to be manufactured, it is necessary to remove the thorn-shaped protrusions formed on the bevel portion and edge portion.
Conventionally, in order to remove such thorn-shaped protrusions and the likes, a chemical dry etching (CDE) method is employed. However, since the CDE method is of isotropic etching, and therefore, even if low thorn-shaped protrusions are removed completely, high thorn-shaped protrusions can not completely be removed, and some thereof are left unremoved. As a consequence, concaves and convexes according to the uneven height of the thorn-shaped protrusions are inevitably formed on the wafer. Dust easily collects in these concaves and convexes at the time of machine processing such as chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) to be carried out in later processes, which becomes a problem. Further, the processing time required for the CDE process per wafer is as long as normally 5 minutes or more. Accordingly, the CDE process leads to decline the throughput, and also increases raw material costs, which is a problem.
Further, in processes of manufacturing a semiconductor device, raw material films adhering to bevel portion and edge portion of a wafer become sources of stain. Therefore, it is required to remove the material films, however, in the CDE method, it is difficult to easily remove the material films.
Recently, in order to remove surface roughness that occurred on a circumferential portion of a wafer and films that adhere to the circumferential portion to become stain sources, a method of polishing the circumferential portion is carried out (as disclosed in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-234314). In this method, a wafer is rotated and also a polishing member such as a polishing tape is contacted to a side surface of the wafer, thereby polishing the circumferential portion of the wafer. In this manner, it is possible to remove surface roughness that occurs on the circumferential portion of the wafer and films that adhere to the circumferential portion to become stain sources, in a short time.
However, this kind of method has the following problem. Namely, when a substrate side surface is polished, fine Si particles of the main component of the substrate, polishing particles of the polishing tape and the like scatter. Especially, when the substrate surface is hydrophobic, these particles adhere firmly to the surface. Therefore, even if physical cleaning of the substrate surface is carried out after completion of polishing process, particles can hardly be removed. Consequently, there is a problem on reliability of a semiconductor device to be manufactured. Furthermore, the method leads to the decline in yield.


An electronic mathematical education game including a first series of cards to be dealt to a plurality of players containing the result of a mathematical operation, and another series of cards each containing a mathematical operation corresponding to a least one of the results on the first series of cards, whereby one of said series of cards is designated as the set of “answer” cards and a plurality of said answer cards are distributed to the players while the other is designated as the set of “question” cards to be asked serially by a judge, whereupon in each round the players having a correct answer to the displayed question may transfer their matching card to the judge, with the winner being the first player to turn in all of his or her cards to the judge, and whereupon during successive games the sets of question and answer cards are reversed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to card games as well as teaching and learning aids and tools, and more particularly to a mathematical operation learning and practice card game that it interesting and entertaining to both children and adults.
2. Preliminary Discussion and Discussion of Prior Art
A wide variety of resources and materials are available for teaching foundation or basic skills such as reading, writing, arithmetic, and the like, particularly for use by children and young students. Rather than taking the form of drills or lessons, which are likely to become tiresome and therefore after a short time will be objected to by a child, some of these resources and materials are provided in the form of a game or other activity that is not only entertaining but also teaches the particular lesson involved. Examples of games having an educational and teaching theme include card games, board games, video games, and other game scenarios and activities. The following references are exemplary of these efforts, particularly with respect to mathematical teaching games including cards.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,171 issued to H. Hata on Sep. 7, 1993, entitled "Game Cards for Playing a Game and for Learning Arithmetic", discloses an arithmetic teaching game wherein in a basic embodiment a set of forty-five game cards of two different card types is provided. The first type comprises 18 cards having one of the numbers 1 to 9 each indicated on two of such cards, and the second type comprises 27 cards having one of the numbers 10 to 81 thereon, which numbers are the answers to the multiplication table from 1×1 to 9×9. The cards also have printed thereon the divisors or prime numbers of such number, and pictorial designations may be provided on cards with numbers that are multiples of 2, 3, 5, and/or 7 to aid young children in understanding the cards. Various games using such cards are proposed. In one game, the cards with 1 to 9 are placed in a pile and the cards with 10 to 81 are dealt to the players. The dealer exposes two cards, and any player can discard a card bearing the answer to the number if the two cards are multiplied. Then one of the exposed cards is discarded, and another is selected. The players can then discard a card bearing the multiplication answer if the numbers on the two new cards are multiplied, and so on, with the winner being the first player to discard all of his/her cards. This game lacks the speed or competitive feature of the present Applicant's game, wherein in each round only the player who is the first to recognize the answer to a mathematical operation problem and who has the correct answer in his or her set of cards can discard such card.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,779 issued to A. Merritt on Jan. 29, 2002, entitled "Mathematical Card and Dice Game", discloses a combination dice and card game wherein a deck of cards is divided into four suits of fifteen cards each, ten being numbered 1-10 and five having one of the letters "Z", "E", "T", "R", and "E" thereon, with numerical values such as 11 through 15 being assigned to such non-numeric cards. In one game, for each player's turn, the timer is set, and the player rolls three dice. Then, he or she tries to form valid mathematical relationships based on the values of the dice, using all three dice at least once and any mathematical operations, and any cards in a player's hand having the correct answer to one of such mathematical relationships may be removed from the player's hand. For example, if the values 2, 3, and 4 are rolled, a valid relationship would be (2×3)+4=10, so if a player has a "ten" this card can be discarded. If a card is incorrectly discarded, then the incorrect card as well as a penalty card is given to the player. Similarly, if a player cannot discard a card, a penalty card is given.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,863,275 issued to Chiu et al. on Mar. 8, 2005, entitled "Matching Card Game and Method for Playing the Same", discloses a card game wherein letters or numbers as well as a color bar are placed on individual playing cards. The cards are dealt to the players, and a visual indicia on the cards is selected to indicate a match between selected cards, whereby the matching cards may be discarded. The player who discards all of his or her cards first is declared the winner. Such game is designed to teach young children to recognize basic elements such as individual letters, numbers or colors, not more complex associations such as mathematical operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,220,126 issued to R. C. Glymph on May 22, 2007, entitled "Educational Mathematics Game", discloses a math game designed to teach basic concepts involving integers, wherein the game includes a die having different math operations and instructions on its faces, a first set of "players" cards having a subset of cards numbered 1-10, and a second set of ten "blue" cards numbered 1-10. To play, each player is dealt nine "players" cards, and the "blue" cards are placed face up on a table. Then, the first player rolls the die and a math function or other instruction is indicated. Where a math function is indicated, the player must take a card from his or her hand and place it face up, and a math problem resulting from the combination of the "players" card, the "blue" card, and the math function is created. The next player in rotation must then lay down two cards that add up to the answer to such problem, or if he or she cannot a penalty card is awarded to such player. Play continues until one of the players is out of cards, which player is then considered the winner.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,243,919 issued to B. Ringuette on Jul. 17, 2007, entitled "Card Game", discloses a method of playing a multiplication and division card game, wherein a deck of cards each having a numerical value on one face is provided. Each player is dealt a set of the cards, and the remaining cards are placed in a discard pile with the top card face up. The first designated player then selects a play card from his or her hand having a numerical value that is a multiple or divisor of the card face up on the discard pile, which card is similarly then placed face up on top of the discard pile. A draw pile is also provided from which a player must draw a card if he or she does not have a card that is a multiple or divisor of the face up card. Such game steps are repeated by the players until one player has no cards left, which player is then declared the winner.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2006/0170162 to A. Kumar published Aug. 3, 2006, entitled "Ten0", discloses a math card game comprised of a deck of 80 operand cards and 12 special cards. Each player is dealt five cards, and following the operands on the cards the players must add, subtract, multiply and divide with the result staying within a 0 to 100 point range.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2007/0138745 to E. A. Duncan published Jun. 21, 2007, entitled "Educational Card Game and Related Methods of Use Therefor", discloses a math card game comprised of a deck of cards divided into four categories of primary cards having an equal number of cards, and a fifth secondary category having a lesser number of cards. The primary cards each have a numerical value thereon, and the secondary cards are considered "wild cards". The cards are shuffled and distributed to the players, and then to start play each player turns over one of their cards simultaneously. A mathematical rule is then applied to the numerical values revealed, and the person giving the correct result the fastest wins the round, collecting the other player's card in such round. Two wild cards are also included, which are automatically winners. Such game is an accumulation style card game, rather than a shedding style card game, although the first person with the correct answer in each round is considered the winner of such round. Various other card games using such game cards are also proposed.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2007/0267817 to Y. Okajima published Nov. 22, 2007, entitled "Game Tool and Game Method", discloses a mathematical game wherein a plurality of cards having numerical values or a mathematical operator on one face and an "equals" sign on the opposite face are divided into groups, and the players must create math equations using cards of the same group. A standard or rank is applied to the created equations, and the players are ranked based on such standard or rank.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2008/0284102 to S. Mizrahi published Nov. 20, 2008, entitled "Numerical Card Games", discloses several different card game playing methods wherein generally an arithmetic correlation between two cards is defined. A deck of cards containing numbers such as 1-100, as well as several "wild cards", is provided. The cards may also contain markings to identify the type of number on the card, such as whether the number is a square number or prime number, as well as other markings or symbols. In general, participants attempt to discard their hand of cards in response to arithmetic correlations. In one game, each player is dealt seven cards, and a draw pile and discard pile are provided, with the top card on the discard pile being face up. During play the players can in turn discard one card from their hand if such card has at least one digit in common with the face up card on top of the discard pile, or a single digit card may be discarded upon any other single digit card. If no card is discarded, such player is given another card as a penalty. Various slightly alternative games or game rules are also disclosed.
Despite such known games, there remains a continued desire for new, different, and exciting educational games that are easy to play and interesting and entertaining. The present inventor has conceived of such a new and entertaining card game that is particularly fast moving and significantly aids in the learning of quick basic mathematical calculations, and can be played by both children and adults as well as more mature persons including mixed groups.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A lighting assembly for a recessed luminaire includes a plaster frame for supporting the recessed luminaire and a pair of telescoping bars for attaching the plaster frame to framing support members. The telescoping bars include a first bar and a second bar, each of the bars having a generally S-shaped cross-sectional profile that is defined by a center curve joining a first area and a second area, which are generally hook-shaped and extend perpendicularly from the center curve in opposing directions. The first area of the first bar is overlappingly positioned at least in part within the second area of the second bar, and the first area of the second bar is overlappingly positioned at least in part within the second area of the second bar whereby the first and second bars are mated in an inverted and opposed adjacent relationship allowing sliding extension of the bars.

Typically, prior to installation of a finished ceiling, a recessed luminaire (also referred to as a light fixture) is secured to wood and/or steel framing of a building using telescoping bars that cover common spacing between parallel framing members. For example, the telescoping bars cover a joist spacing in the range of about 16 inches-24 inches or a T-bar spacing in the range of about 24 inches.
After attachment to the building framing, the recessed luminaire can be adjusted perpendicular to the framing members by sliding it along the telescoping bars. The telescoping bars generally require two distinct members—a male member and a female member—to form a telescoping assembly. As such, having to manufacture and install two separate components (i.e., members) for the telescoping assemblies unnecessarily increases tooling expenditure, components cost, and inventory handling. Thus, usage of present telescoping assemblies results in decreased profits and operations efficiency.
Another problem with typical telescoping bars is that they tend to have cross-sectional shapes of low strength and rigidity. For example, some telescoping bars have a generally U-shape that tends to flex in an impeding manner (e.g., in a direction perpendicular to the adjustment direction) when attempting to adjust the telescoping bars. In addition, typical telescoping bars are manufactured using processes that result in scrap material, resulting in material waste and increased manufacturing costs.
Certain telescoping assemblies also include free-sliding components that facilitate a sliding (or telescoping) motion of the telescoping bars. However, the free-sliding components have the potential to cause binding, damage, and/or injury during the handling, installation, and/or adjustment of the telescoping bars. Furthermore, the free-sliding components tend to increase the perception that the telescoping assembly is made of poor quality.
Some telescoping assemblies also include mounting feet having joist alignment flanges for aiding in aligning the telescoping assembly to the framing members during the installation procedure. However, end users commonly complain that these joist alignment flanges interfere with adjacent ceiling tiles.
Yet another problem with current joist alignment flanges is that often the surface of the alignment flange is not in intimate contact with a bottom surface of a joist when driving in a fastening nail or screw. As such, undesired rotational movement of the respective mounting foot can result.
Similar problems may also be present in installation of other devices that are similarly installed to the building framing. Such devices may include audio speakers, recessed fans, electrical boxes, etc.
What is needed, therefore, is a telescoping assembly for a recessed luminaire mounted to a building framing that addresses the above-stated and other problems.

Telescoping mounting system for a recessed luminaire


A computer system and its control method capable of allocating resources to a plurality of users in a balanced manner and ensuring information security between the users even when the plurality of users are made to extensively manage a storage system are provided.

In the environment where data of a plurality of users such as a plurality of companies coexist in a storage system, there is an increasing need to operate and manage the storage system for each user, that is, the need for multi-tenancy. This multi-tenancy environment achieves efficient operation of storage resources and facilitation of the management thereof.
The multi-tenancy environment requires a mechanism for security so that, for example, a storage system administrator of each company will not destroy data (volumes) of other companies, data will not be leaked to other companies, and no influence will be exerted on the operation by storage administrators of other companies.
There is a known system for realizing a plurality of storage resource groups by logically partitioning storage resources in order to realize the above-described multi-tenancy environment. This system can realize the above-described multi-tenancy environment by allocating the logically-partitioned storage resource groups to individual companies. Incidentally, the storage resource(s) will be hereinafter abbreviated as the resource(s), and the storage resource group(s) will be hereinafter abbreviated as the resource group(s) (RSG(s)).
A resource group forming function requires a cache partitioning function and a resource partitioning function. The cache partitioning function logically partitions a cache in the storage system. The partitioned virtual caches are called [CLPR]. The resource partitioning function logically partitions resources (such as ports, CLPRs, parity groups, and LDEVs) in the storage system. The partitioned resources are called [SLPR].
A system for realizing conventional resource groups creates a resource group based on a CLPR number and an SLPR number. As an administrator of the storage system allocates each resource group to a host computer, a system for ensuring security between host computers can be realized without having I/O processing of a certain host computer affect other host computers.
By means of the above-described resource partitioning function, the administrator of the entire storage system (overall administrator) can set administrators (partitioned administrators for the resource groups which are partitioned for different purposes and for different uses. As a conventional technique related to the resource partitioning function, there is, for example, a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) Publication No. 2006-185386.

Abstract: The storage system includes: a plurality of resource groups defined by grouping of a plurality of resources; a storage area for storing management information of the plurality of resource groups and association information between the plurality of resources and the plurality of resource groups; and a plurality of user groups defined by grouping of the plurality of users, each of the user groups being allocated to at least one of the plurality of resource groups; wherein based on login of at least one user from among the plurality of users, a management device has the storage system execute operation permitted by an authority granted to the user group, to which the relevant user belongs, on the resource group allocated to the user group.


A method for processing a signal in an interferometer system that measures position information of an object under measurement based on reflected light obtained by directing a measurement light onto the object under measurement, includes a delaying step of obtaining a delayed signal by causing a delay of a prescribed number of periods with respect to a prescribed signal; a synthesizing step of obtain a synthesized signal of the prescribed signal and the delayed signal; and a measuring step of measuring position information of the object under measurement using the synthesized signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interferometer system and interferometer system processing method whereby information position of an object under measurement is detected by detecting light reflected by direct measurement light having a high coherency onto the object under measurement, and also to a method for signal processing and a stage that measures the position of a moving object using a signal processing method.
2. Description of Related Art
An interferometer system is used to measure the position information of an object under measurement by directing a measurement light having high coherency, such as a laser beam or light, onto the object to be measured and detecting the reflected light, and has a high resolution such as 1 nm. For this reason, a laser interferometer is provided in an exposure apparatus that transfers a pattern onto a mask for manufacture of semiconductor element liquid-crystal elements, magnetic heads, or other microdevices, or it is provided transfers a pattern onto a glass plate, and is used to measure the position information of a stage which causes the mask or substrate to move.
An interferometer system has a light source that emits high-coherency light, and divides the high-coherency light emitted by the light source into a plurality of parts, one thereof being used as the above-noted measurement light. For example, in an interferometer system provided in an exposure apparatus, the high-coherency light from a light source is divided into three, these being used as the above-noted measurement light, a reference light which is directed onto a fixed mirror that establishes a reference position with respect to the above-noted stage, and a reference light for establishing a reference light path that has a known light path link for the purpose of obtaining position information of the stage.
The stage position information is measured by directing measurement light onto a moving mirror provided on the stage and causing interference between the obtained reflected light and the referenced light reflected from the fixed mirror, the interference light being detected by a receiver and a comparison being made between the detection signal obtained from the receiver and the reference signal obtained by detecting the reference light using a reference receiver via the reference light path. The detection signal of the receiver for the purpose of measuring the position information and the reference signal of the reference receiver are both digitized (converted to binary form), and when noise is superimposed on either the detection signal or the reference signal, there is a sudden change in the period of the signal (a so-called glitch), which causes a reduction in the measurement accuracy of the position information. In order to prevent such problems, there has been disclosed, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2001-94401, a glitch-reduction circuit that reduces glitches when a detection signal is digitized.
The above-noted glitch-reduction circuit reduces the glitch occurring upon digitization of the detection signal or reference detection signal, but does not completely eliminate the glitch at the point in time of the digitization. For this reason, the phenomenon of a sudden variation of the pulse width of a digital signal that is converted and the phenomenon of a sudden loss of the pulse for one or more periods still occurs. When these phenomena occur, an error occurs leading to the problem of a loss in accuracy of measurement of the position information.
In recent years, there has arise a demand for reduced design rules in order to increase the density of device manufacturing. In particular in the manufacture of semiconductor elements, the process rule is tending to be reduced to approximately 0.1 μm, and there is an extreme degree of precision that is required in overlapping patterns to be exposed onto a substrate with patterns that have already been formed thereon. In order to improve the precision of overlaying, it is first necessary to measure the position information of the stage with high accuracy, and for this reason, it is necessary to avoid measurement errors that are caused by noise as much as possible.

Interferometer system, signal processing method in interferometer system, and stage using signal processing


A housing having a cavity is arranged for mounting within a cabinet structure, with the apparatus to include a first drive motor to effect selective rotation in a clockwise and counter-clockwise manner to permit the selective closure and removal of jar lids relative to an associated jar employing threaded interconnection, with a second motor arranged for operative and selective actuation of a can opening device.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to can opener apparatus, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved can opener and jar sealing apparatus wherein the same is arranged for the selective can opening and lid mounting of a lid structure relative to an associated jar.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Lid opening and closure devices of various types have been utilized throughout the prior art where typically, the securement of a lid relative to a jar, as well as the function of opening cans and the like, require a multitude of devices, wherein the instant invention provides for a single housing cavity arranged to accommodate such multi-function structure and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


A sliding fifth wheel assembly for slidably connecting a trailer hitch to a vehicle, comprising at least one rail connectable to the vehicle and a platform connectable to the trailer hitch. The platform is slidably mounted to the rail for movement between a forward position and a rearward position. At least one stop bar is connected to the platform, and at least one locking bar is pivotally mounted to the rail for selective engagement with the stop bar to retain the platform in either the forward position or the rearward position. The locking bar may be selectively engaged by at least one actuator.

Although most commonly associated with semi trailers, fifth wheel trailers are often used as recreational vehicles, in conjunction with a towing vehicle, such as a conventional pickup truck. Fifth wheel trailers have a forward portion, which extends over the towing vehicle, and a kingpin that extends downward from the forward portion of the fifth wheel trailer for engagement with a fifth wheel trailer hitch that is attached to the towing vehicle. The fifth wheel trailer hitch is typically mounted directly above or slightly forward of the rear axle of the towing vehicle, in order to maintain a weight distribution that provides optimal ride characteristics and fuel economy.
When maneuvering the towing vehicle at low speeds, for example, when in parking lots or urban environments, sufficient clearance must be present between the fifth wheel trailer hitch and the cab of the towing vehicle so that the fifth wheel trailer does not contact the cab of the truck during sharp turns. When fifth wheel trailers are towed by pickup trucks having a standard eight-foot long bed, sufficient distance is present to allow clearance of the fifth wheel trailer with respect to the cab of the truck during sharp turns. However, when pickup trucks having six foot long "short-beds" are used as towing vehicles, the trailer hitch cannot be positioned sufficiently rearward to allow clearance during sharp turns while preserving fuel economy and ride quality.
In order to address this problem, previous designs have mounted a fifth wheel trailer hitch to rails, wherein the fifth wheel hitch may move between forward and rearward positions to allow the hitch to be temporarily moved rearward, away from the truck cab, thereby providing the necessary clearance between the rear of the truck cab and the front of the trailer during sharp turns. These mechanisms typically include locking pins, which hold the mechanism in either the forward or rearward position. However, operation of this type of mechanism requires that the vehicle operator exit the vehicle, manually remove one or more locking pins, reenter the vehicle, move the towing vehicle forward or aft, and then exit the vehicle to reinsert the locking pins to secure the sliding mechanism in place.
It would be desirable to have a sliding fifth wheel assembly for securing a fifth wheel trailer hitch in either a forward or a rearward position, wherein the fifth wheel trailer hitch could be moved between the forward and rearward positions without requiring the operator of the vehicle to exit the vehicle.


A method of designing a contact lens or other correction for providing presbyopia correction to a patient relies on wavefront aberration measurement data for providing a best form correction. Preferably the correction is in the form of a multifocal translating style alternating vision contact lens or a simultaneous vision style correcting lens. A method for designing a correction for improving a person's vision is directed to correcting higher order aberrations in such a manner that a residual amount of the higher-order rotationally symmetric aberration is greater than a residual amount of the higher-order rotationally asymmetric aberration after the correction. A design method according to the invention is directed to correcting asymmetric higher order aberrations induced by decentering of a multifocal contact lens that has residual spherical aberration which provides increased depth of field.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of presbyopic vision correction and, more particularly, to the use of a wavefront sensor for the measurement, design, fit and dispensing of a vision altering optic or vision correcting procedure to improve presbyopic correction and visual performance.
2. Description of Related Art
A form of age-dependent vision deterioration experienced sooner or later by 100% of the population is called presbyopia, i.e., the inability to accommodate or focus on objects close to the eye. Two well-known methods for dealing with presbyopia include alternating vision style correction and simultaneous vision style correction.
In an example of an alternating vision style correction, two (or more/multi-focal) distinct optical regions of a translating style contact lens are designed, one optimized for distance vision and the other for near vision. Typically in an alternating vision bifocal contact lens, the lens will translate on the eye such that the pupil is mostly covered by the distance viewing portion of the lens; however, when eye gaze points downward, such as when a person reads a newspaper, the lens translates on the eye such that the pupil is mostly covered by the near distance viewing portion of the lens.
Alternatively, simultaneous style vision correction has been provided through, e.g., contact lenses, IOLs, refractive surgery, etc. In this style of correction, all light from the object goes through the pupil at the same time, preferably with a 50/50 split between near distance and far distance object light. Any one of a number of refractive or diffractive bifocal or multifocal designs are used to focus light from objects ranging in the field of view from far distance (greater than about 7 m) to near distance (as close as about 0.25 m but typically about 40 cm) on the retina at the same time.
As a person gets older, not only do they lose the ability to accommodate, they also experience an increase in what are known as higher order wavefront aberrations. These include, but are not limited to, spherical aberration, coma, irregular astigmatisms (e.g. triangular astigmatism or trefoil), and others. The aberrations corrected by spectacles or single vision contact lenses are limited to defocus and astigmatism which are generally referred to as lower-order aberrations. An increase in spherical aberration brought about, for example, by advancing age, will decrease nighttime vision quality. This may manifest itself as halos or glare around headlights or other light sources. Unfortunately, for the presbyope hoping for better near distance vision with a translating-style contact lens, the correction of the spherical aberration for improved far distance, night time vision results in a decrease in near vision depth of field; i.e., the amount an object's distance can be shifted before the retinal image of the object has too much blur.
There are also vision tradeoffs for the multifocal, simultaneous style correction lens wearer. Although there are claims of excellent clinical success with a number of simultaneous vision bifocal and multifocal designs, actual published success rates with refractive and diffractive contact lenses for presbyopic correction range only from about 20% to 50% of the general presbyopic population. One of the apparent limiting factors of all current simultaneous style vision correction for presbyopia is lens misalignment; i.e., the lack of control of the centration of the lens relative to the optical axis of the patient. Unfortunately, the induced aberrations caused by the optical misalignment of the eye with the simultaneous vision correction lens reduces visual performance to the point that vision quality is unacceptable to the patient at any viewing distance.
One approach to alleviating vision performance problems is, presumably, to eliminate all optical aberrations in the eye. In the first instance, this solution may not be technically feasible, although correction of wavefront errors via customized refractive surgical techniques and/or customized contact lenses, inlays, onlays, and IOLs, for example, is becoming better understood each day. Moreover, the elimination of all optical aberrations in the eye may not be desirable. For example, reducing spherical aberration will adversely affect depth of field, as discussed above, thus some residual spherical aberration may be desirable for optimum vision quality.
Accordingly, there is a need for vision correcting methods and devices that address the aforementioned problems. In particular, methods and apparatus are needed for providing multifocal lens correction of presbyopia with improvement, or at least no degradation, of other aspects of vision quality.


A method for improving quality of video beaming of any content by a beaming application that is running on a computerized mobile device is provided herein. The method comprising the steps of: (iii) selecting content for beaming; (ii) beaming by utilizing a beaming application; (iii) identifying in real time a pattern change in beamed video, wherein the pattern change signifies transition from a previous rate of a predefined size of chunk of delivered data to a higher rate of currently delivered data in content displaying pattern by the application which starts a set of critical frames; (iv) performing quality improvement of the video beaming of the set of critical frames based on the identified pattern changes; and (v) identifying in real time a second pattern change in display video to a lower delivered data rate which ends the set of critical frames.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to the field of beaming data of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) screen of an application on a remote screen by using video beaming technology.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Some video encoders, when configured to operate below a maximum output bit rate, increase the compression of video frames to maintain frame rate (i.e. not dropping frames) which results in decrease in the quality of images, especially when the rate of the input frame is high. When such video encoder is being used to encode a main display of a computing/media device, the encoded application video beaming (i.e. images) may be perceived by a user as in a decreased quality in some "key periods".
An example for such "key periods" with decreased quality of images occurs immediately after a scrolling operation in a browser. The scrolling operation creates a high frame rate, as a result the encoder increases the compression of video frames and the quality of the images decreases.
In a "key period" which follows the end of the scrolling, when the user wants to read a text in the point where it was scrolled to in the webpage, the captured video of the beamed browser is displayed in a low quality to the user, which results in poor experience for the user of reading the text and watching pictures which are embedded in the text. After the user scrolled the webpage and reached a point in the text where the user is interested in i.e. once the user stopped scrolling the webpage and input frame rate is decreased or stopped or increase in content changes which appear on the screen (when the user is moving the mouse), the encoder starts outputting standard quality frame or gradually increase the frame quality. However, from the moment the user started scrolling and until the user reached a point of interest in the text, the user is provided with a low quality image of the video beaming.

Method and system of improving quality of video beaming


The present invention relates to novel silica materials, precursors thereof and the preparation thereof. The compounds may be used for a variety of applications, including chromatography and catalysis.

Silica is commonly used as stationary phase for chromatography, e.g. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Unlike organic stationary phases, chromatographic silica materials generally provide an improved efficiency and show less evidence of swelling or shrinking. Typically, chromatographic applications employ silica which has been functionalized with an organic group such as octadecyl, octyl, phenyl, amino, cyano and the like.
A disadvantage of silica materials is the presence of residual silanol groups, which may interact with analytes. This may result in excessive peak tailing and irreversible adsorption of some analytes. A further drawback of silica materials is their limited hydrolytic stability. Indeed, the incomplete derivatization of the silica leaves patches of bare silica surface which can be dissolved under alkaline conditions. Furthermore, the silica materials may lose their functional groups under acidic or basic conditions, causing loss of analyte retention and an increase in the concentration of surface silanol groups.
Various solutions to overcome these problems have been developed.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,563,367 (Phenomenex Inc.) describes pH stable chromatographic media using templated multilayer organicinorganic grafting. Although the described compounds exhibit a wider pH range stability as compared to other silica gel sorbents, the functional groups are still easily lost. Furthermore, the preparation of the described compounds requires an extra post synthesis modification step which is not completely reproducible and results in a loss of separation efficiency.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,919,177 (Waters Technologies Corporation) describes porous inorganic/organic hybrid particles having a chromatographically-enhancing pore geometry, which may be surface modified. However, the particles still are unstable at increased pH.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,947,799 (Landskron et al.) describes silica based mesoporous films having an increased number of bridging organic groups. Although these materials have an increased mechanical stability, the short bridging organic groups have a limited influence on separation efficiency.
Accordingly, there is still a need for improved stationary phases for chromatography. More particular, there is a need for silica material to which a functional group is or can be bound which cannot be removed by an acidic or alkaline solution.


A method to predict remaining life of a target is disclosed. The method includes receiving information regarding a behavior of the target, and identifying from a database at least one piece of equipment having similarities to the target. The method further includes retrieving from the database data prior to an end of the equipment useful life, the data having a relationship to the behavior, evaluating a similarity of the relationship, predicting the remaining life of the target based upon the similarity, and generating a signal corresponding to the predicted remaining equipment life.

The present disclosure relates generally to remaining useful life prediction in prognosis, and particularly to equipment subsystem remaining useful life (RUL) prediction.
Estimating the remaining life of a subsystem is known in the art as prognostics. RUL estimates provide valuable information for operation of modern complex equipment. RUL estimates provide decision making aids that allow operators to change operational characteristics (such as load) which, in turn, may prolong the life of the subsystem. RUL estimates also allow planners to account for upcoming maintenance and set in motion a logistics process that supports a smooth transition from faulted to fully functioning equipment. Predicting remaining life is not straightforward because, ordinarily, remaining life is conditional on future usage conditions, such as load and speed, for example. Examples of equipment that may benefit from the use of remaining life estimates are aircraft engines (both military and commercial), medical equipment, and power plants, for example.
A common approach to prognostics is to employ a model of damage propagation contingent on future use. Such a model is often times based on detailed materials knowledge and makes use of finite element modeling. Because such models are extremely costly to develop, they must be limited to a few important parts of a system, but are rarely applied to subsystems. This approach is often called "lifting".
Another approach is a data-driven approach to take advantage of time series data where equipment behavior has been tracked via sensor outputs during normal operation all the way to an end of equipment useful life. The end of equipment useful life may represent a totally non-functioning state of the equipment, for example, equipment failure. The end of equipment useful life can also represent a state of the equipment wherein the equipment no longer provides expected results. Alternatively, the end of useful life may be defined as when the equipment reaches a condition of imminent failure. When a reasonably-sized set of these observations exists, pattern recognition algorithms can be employed to recognize these trends and predict remaining life. These predictions are often made under the assumption of near-constant future load conditions. However, such run-to-end-of-equipment-useful-life data are often not available because, when the observed system is complex, expensive, and, safety is important, such as aircraft engines, for example, faults will be repaired before they lead to the end of equipment useful life. This deprives the data driven approach from information necessary for its proper application.
Another approach is a peer-based approach that utilizes information about other equipment to forecast the reliability of equipment within a fleet for the purpose of equipment selection to improve mission reliability. This approach typically focuses on the overall platform, such as a locomotive, or an aircraft, for example, without providing any prognostic insight regarding the components or sub-components of the platform. Furthermore, this approach assumes, in the ideal case, the availability of operational, maintenance, and environmental data for each platform. However, this information may not always be available.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a life estimation arrangement that overcomes these drawbacks.

System and method for equipment remaining life estimation


Methods and apparatus are provided for igniting, modulating, and sustaining a plasma for at least partially decrystallizing a surface of an object. In one embodiment, a method is provided for decrystallizing a surface of an object by forming a plasma (such as by subjecting a gas to an amount of electromagnetic radiation, optionally in the presence of a plasma catalyst) and exposing the surface of the object to the plasma.

Conventional decrystallization normally involves application of a substantial amount of heat to a given material for a period of time. Normally, the application of heat is used to anneal, melt, or otherwise induce a phase transformation in a given material or material compound, at least at its surface. These heat treatments generally melt, or otherwise render amorphous, the surface of an object.
Such decrystallization methods can be limiting, in part because of the time and energy required, and in part because of the complex phase transformations needed to produce important ceramics, such as BaTiO3. To produce BaTiO3, for example, BaCO3 and TiO2 can be mixed and heated, which can require several tens of hours at temperatures at or above 1,000 degrees Celsius. Even after such an extensive heat treatment, only one phase of BaTiO3 may be observed, and this phase may not be glassy nor noncrystalline.
Another reported decrystallization technique applied microwave energy to produce a multiphase BaTiO3 in a matter of minutes at a temperature of about 700 degrees Celsius. This technique, however, required a substantial amount of sustained microwave energy and placed the specimens in particular microwave "hot spots" (i.e., regions of high magnetic field intensity).


A seal construction for a suction roll in a paper machine including a substantially U-section holder open toward an inner face of the roll mantle and a seal mounted in the holder and extending in the axial direction of the roll. The seal includes a frame part arranged within the holder and a wear part fixed to the frame part and placed against the inner face of the roll mantle. The seal construction also includes a loading hose for shifting the seal in the holder against the inner face of the roll mantle. In the interior of the frame part of the seal, an inner loading member is arranged to lock the frame part of the seal in contact with the holder so as to position the wear part of the seal in the desired position in relation to the inner face of the roll mantle.

In suction rolls in paper machines, the wear of seals has constituted a rather significant problem. This problem has been emphasized in particular because it has been a general aim of seal constructions to obtain longer servicing intervals. The seals in a suction roll divide the interior of the roll mantle appropriately into vacuum chambers, and by means of a vacuum passed into these vacuum chambers, a suction effect is applied through holes formed in the roll mantle to the paper web running over an outer face of the roll mantle in order that the web should remain on the face of the roll mantle in the desired manner and over a desired circumferential distance of the suction roll. The seals are loaded against the inner face of the roll mantle. In an attempt to obtain an efficient and well-sealed suction roll, in earlier constructions, the seals in the suction roll were pressed, for example by means of compressed air, against the inner face of the roll mantle. The compression force was maintained constantly throughout operation of the suction roll which resulted in quite rapid wear of the seals. Moreover, a high compression force required water lubrication of the seals with abundant quantities of water. Further, owing to the high compression force, the power consumption of the sealing construction was considerable.
In view of eliminating this problem of wear, in the current assignee's earlier Finnish Patent Application No. 934909 (which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,424, the entire specification of which is incorporated by reference herein), the seals were not loaded constantly against the inner face of the roll mantle of the suction roll. Rather, the seals were provided with locking means so that initially the seal was pressed against the inner face of the roll mantle, and after a vacuum had been generated in the vacuum chamber defined by the seals, the seal was locked in its holder. Then it was possible to eliminate the load with which the seals were pressed against the inner face of the roll mantle while maintaining the seal in pressing engagement with the inner face of the roll mantle. In this manner, the wear of the seals could be reduced substantially, compared with the prior art constructions, and it was often even possible to eliminate the water lubrication of the seals. However, this earlier construction of the current assignee involved a quite substantial problem in that, in order for the desired sealing effect to be provided, the manufacturing tolerances of the seal construction were very small. Owing to these small tolerances, a detrimental consequence could be sticking of the seal in its position, as a result of which the desired sealing effect was not produced. It is another quite noticeable problem or drawback of this construction that the seal construction with the holders included in it was a rather exceptional, non-conventional construction, so that when this construction is applied in a suction roll, the entire seal construction with all of its components had to be changed to suit this specific seal construction.

Seal construction for a suction roll in a paper machine


A vehicle computing system enables one or more processers to communicate with a service center and present service instructions to an output device at the vehicle. The output device presenting information may include, but is not limited to, a vehicle occupant's cell phone device. The vehicle computing system may include a wireless transceiver for communicating wireless signals to and from the vehicle computing system. The vehicle computing system may establish wireless communication with a service center communication system through the transceiver and transmit vehicle identification to the service center communication system. The vehicle computing system may receive data from the service center communication system including service instructions in response to the vehicle identification transmission, and present the service instructions on the output device.

The following references related to the field of technology and are not believed to disclose the novel concepts of the present invention as disclosed herein.
Patent Application U.S. 2012/0235865 generally discloses a system and method for determining the proximity of a mobile device to a location without the use of a satellite based or other location awareness system. The mobile device monitors radio frequency broadcast identification codes from nearby mobile devices, and determines if the set of detected identification codes is sufficiently similar to a weighted set of identification codes attributed to specified location. If the calculation of similarity meets the confidence conditions of the system, notification is made that the customer or visitor has arrived. The disclosure utilizes a combination of confidence interval computation, machine learning, and fault tolerance mechanisms to optimize the success of correctly detecting that the device is near the relevant location.
Patent Application Publication U.S. 2006/0132291 generally discloses a collection of software scripts, programs and web pages that capture, organize, and store wireless and digital device data and images of customer/lot vehicles for use in vehicle dealerships, service, and repair locations. Reports and views of the collected and organized data may be provided in real-time.
European Patent E.P. 0808492 generally discloses a system for determining an expected time of arrival of a vehicle equipped with a mobile unit. A dispatch is remotely located from the vehicle. The dispatch generates destination information for the vehicle, the destination information specifying at least one destination. The mobile unit includes a mobile communications device to receive the destination information for the vehicle generated by the dispatch. The mobile unit also includes a positioning receiver to determine a vehicle position. In response to the destination information received from the dispatch and the vehicle position, the mobile unit determines the expected time of arrival of the vehicle.

Method and system for personalized dealership customer service


A device control system for controlling multiple electronic devices over a network with a centralized host device is disclosed. The device control system includes a host device providing a graphical interface for a user to control various electronic devices throughout a home, building, or industrial plant. The host device is connected to multiple devices over a network and controls the electronic devices in real-time. The host device runs a managing controlling process that closes the control loops for each device over the network at the host device. Multiple devices are controlled in real-time using a 2N time slicing algorithm. The host device can be accessed from a remote location by establishing an Internet connection.

Computer and communication technologies continue to advance at a rapid pace. Indeed, computer and communication technologies are involved in many aspects of a person's day. For example, many devices being used today by consumers have a small computer incorporated within the device. These small computers come in varying sizes and degrees of sophistication. These small computers may vary in sophistication from one microcontroller to a fully-functional complete computer system. For example, small computers may be a one-chip computer, such as a microcontroller, a one-board type of computer, such as a controller, or a typical desktop computer, such as an IBM-PC compatible, etc.
Typically, control of these devices occurs locally at the device with the incorporated computer or microcontroller. Therefore, control of multiple electronic devices in a residential or industrial setting has been distributed. Control and coordination of each device is usually implemented in dedicated, single purpose hardware. Each device typically has its own microcontroller, programmable logic controller, or servo card to perform the necessary servo control. Consequently, the control loops are typically closed in the control hardware at the device itself.
As electronic device control technologies continue to advance in a competitive environment, companies are driven to differentiate their product lines. As a result, some user interfaces of electronic devices have become increasingly complex. This has resulted in an inundation of complex interfaces for devices that have limited coordination with one another. For example, it is not uncommon for a typical entertainment system to have five different wireless remote control devices: one for the television, one for the VCR, one for the DVD player, one for the CD changer, and one for the stereo.
Consequently, it would be desirable to have centralized, instead of distributed control of these automated devices. It would further be desirable to provide a simple and straightforward user interface that can be used to control devices from a centralized location.

Systems and methods for controlling and monitoring multiple electronic devices


A lower limb protecting air bag includes: a main body inflation part; an end side inflation part; a bending part configured to bend the end side inflation part to project backward from the main body inflation part in inflation completion; and a connecting element configured to connect together the end side inflation part and the main body inflation part so that the bent state of the end side inflation part in inflation completion is maintained, wherein: the main body inflation part and the end side inflation part are configured to inflate substantially in a plate shape to separate a front side wall disposed on the back side and a back side wall disposed on the front side when the air bag is developed flat; and the bending part includes a seam part formed by superimposing and connecting together the front side wall and the back side wall.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lower limb protecting air bag which is folded and stored in front of an occupant seated in a seat and, when inflation gas is supplied therein, is inflated to cover the front of the lower limbs of the occupant.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there are known a lower limb protecting air bag structured to inflate with its two right and left sides projected backward (for example, see JP-A-H05-208653 and JP-A-2008-126974), and an air bag structured to inflate with the two right and left sides and horizontal-direction central side thereof projected backward (for example, see JP-A-2008-265660).
In the lower limb protecting air bag disclosed in JP-A-H05-208653, an air bag itself is structured to inflate three-dimensionally, the two right and left sides are projected backward, and the horizontal-direction central side is recessed relatively.
In the lower limb protecting air bag of JP-A-2008-265660 as well, an air bag itself is structured to inflate three-dimensionally, the two right and left sides and horizontal-direction central sides thereof are projected backward, and a portion intervening between such projecting areas is recessed relatively.
Further, in the lower limb protecting air bag of JP-A-2008-126974, an air bag has a bag-like shape formed by connecting together the outer peripheral edges of its occupant side wall part to be disposed on the occupant side in inflation completion and its vehicle body side wall part to be disposed on the vehicle body side in inflation completion; and, within the air bag, there is arranged a tether for connecting together an occupant side wall and a vehicle body side wall, and the horizontal-direction two end sides in inflation completion are projected backward by the tether.
However, in the lower limb protecting air bags of JP-A-H05-208653 and JP-A-2008-265660, the peripheral edges of a base fabric for forming the air bag must be connected together three-dimensionally, and thus it is not easy to manufacture the air bag. Also, in the lower limb protecting air bag of the JP-A-2008-126974, since the outer shape of the air bag is restricted such that, the two right and left end sides of the air bag in inflation completion are directed backward by the tether disposed within the air bag in inflation completion, it is difficult to restrict the two right and left end sides so as to direct backward greatly.


An image acquiring apparatus includes a pixel shifting section which changes the relative position between luminous flux incident on an imaging element and the imaging element to a plurality of specific positions, an imaging section which photographs in at least one of a plurality of specific positions including an initial position, an image creating section which creates a high-resolution new image based on at least one item of image data photographed by the imaging section, and a display control section which displays at least one image photographed by the imaging section before the high-resolution new image has been created.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image acquiring apparatus with a pixel shifting function and an image acquiring method.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image acquiring apparatus, such as an electronic camera, records optically photographed images in the form of digital data. The resolution of an image to be recorded is generally determined by the number of pixels in an imaging element used in the image acquiring apparatus. To photograph specimens under a microscope, high-resolution images are required, depending on the type of specimens to be photographed. However, an image acquiring apparatus with a high-resolution imaging element increases the cost.
A method of obtaining high-resolution images by using images photographed with the shifted pixels has been proposed. With this method, it is possible to obtain high-resolution images by use of an inexpensive, compact image acquiring apparatus without increasing the number of pixels in the imaging element.
An image acquiring apparatus with a pixel shifting function processes images as follows. A plurality of images are photographed in such a manner that the spatial relative position between an optical image formed on the imaging element and the imaging element is shifted with an image pitch of one pixel or less. Then, the plurality of images and the image photographed without shifting the pixels are processed. This image processing makes it possible to obtain an image with a resolution higher than that obtained by the imaging element. With the image acquiring apparatus, images photographed without shifting the pixels can also be obtained (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 6-225317).

Image acquiring apparatus and image acquiring method


Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and circuits that provide for out of band detection. As one example, an out of band detection circuit is disclosed that includes an input signal, a clock generation circuit, and a sampling circuit. The clock generation circuit receives the input signal and derives therefrom a sampling clock, and the sampling circuit is operable to sample the input signal at a time indicated by the sampling clock.

The present invention is related to systems and methods for determining the validity of a signal, and more particularly to systems and methods for determining an out of band condition of an input signal.
Currently, various systems utilize serial links that define out of band signaling. For example, a serial ATA link is a high speed link that may be used in relation to various storage devices such as hard disk drives. Out of band signals are incorporated within the signaling scheme and are used to complete initialization and to negotiate link speed. In a typical system, the out of band signals are data bursts unrelated to the data being transferred (hence the name out of band) that are interspersed with idles exhibiting a voltage below a particular known level. The time durations of the out of band bursts are typically fixed, but the duration of the intervening idles may vary. To use the out of band signaling, it is necessary to detect peak thresholds of a received data signal. Thus, systems relying on out of band signaling generally incorporate a circuit including an amplifier and a peak detector capable of identifying out of band signals. In a typical implementation, an input signal includes a burst of out of band information with a frequency of 1.5 Gbps. Existing circuits designed to detect the aforementioned information include an amplifier and a peak detector. An amplifier operating at 1.5 Gbps consumes considerable power. Further, such an amplifier often requires customization when it is used in different designs. Yet further, a peak detector capable of operating at 1.5 Gbps is not easily implemented.
Turning to FIG. 1, a prior art out of band detection circuit 100 is depicted. Out of band detection circuit 100 includes a capacitor 110 that AC couples an input signal 105 to a summing node 115. Detection/Hysteresis 120 is subtracted from input signal 105 at summing node 115. The difference between input signal 105 and Detection/Hysteresis 120 is amplified by an amplifier 125. In typical implementations, amplifier 125 is a multi-stage amplifier. The output of amplifier 125 drives a peak detector circuit 130 that is operable to identify a peak value of the amplified sum of input signal 105 and Detection/Hysteresis 120. The detected peak value is provided to a comparator 135 where it is compared against a reference signal 140. Reference signal 140 may be developed by replicating circuitry in peak detector 130 that allows it to track operation over a wide variety of temperature and process. Where the output of peak detector 130 exceeds that of reference signal 140, an out of band signal 145 is asserted.
Hence, for at least the aforementioned reasons, there exists a need in the art for advanced systems and methods for determining an out of band signal.

Systems and methods for determining an out of band signal


The invention relates to the transdermal application of oligopeptides for reducing synaptic transmission in tissues of an animal. In one aspect, this invention relates to compositions comprising an oligopeptide and optionally a carrier comprising a positively charged “backbone” having positively charged branching or “efficiency” groups, as described herein. Most preferably the positively charged carrier is a long-chain positively charged polypeptide or a positively charged nonpeptidyl polymer, for example, a polyalkyleneimine. The invention further relates methods for producing a biologic effect of reducing synaptic transmission in a tissue by topically applying an effective amount of such a composition, preferably to the skin, of a subject or patient in need of such treatment. This invention also provides kits for preparing or formulating a composition that comprises the oligopeptide and optionally a carrier, as well as such additional items that are needed to produce a usable formulation, or a premix that may in turn be used to produce such a formulation.

This invention relates to new compositions comprising an oligopeptide, more specifically to such compositions that enable the transport or delivery of an oligopeptide through the skin or epithelium (also referred to as "transdermal delivery"), and that therefore may be used as topical applications for providing an oligopeptide to a subject, for various therapeutic, aesthetic and/or cosmetic purposes, as described herein.
Botulinum toxins (also known as botulin toxins or botulinum neurotoxins) are neurotoxins produced by the gram-positive bacteria Clostridium botulinum. They act to produce paralysis of muscles by preventing synoptic transmission or release of acetylcholine across the neuromuscular junction, and are thought to act in other ways as well. Their action essentially blocks signals that normally would cause muscle spasms or contractions, resulting in paralysis.
Allan B. Scott first used botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) in monkeys in 1973. Scott demonstrated reversible ocular muscle paralysis lasting 3 months (Lamanna, Science, 130:763-772 (1959)). Soon afterwards, BTX-A was reported to be a successful treatment in humans for strabismus, blepharospasm, and spasmodic torticollis (Baron et al. In: Baron E J, Peterson L R. Finegold S M (Eds), Bailey & Scotts Diagnostic Microbiology, St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby Year Book, 504-523 (1994); Carruthers and Carruthers, Adv Dermatol, 12:325-348 (1997); Markowitz, In: Strickland GT (Eds) Hunters Tropical Medicine, 7th ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders. 441-444 (1991)). In 1986, Jean and Alastair Carruthers, a husband and wife team consisting of an ocuplastic surgeon and a dermatologist, began to evolve the cosmetic use of BTX-A for treatment of movement-associated wrinkles in the glabella area (Schantz and Scott, In Lewis GE (Ed) Biomedical Aspects of Botulinium. New York: Academic Press. 143-150 (1981)). The Carruthers' use of BTX-A for the treatment of wrinkles led to their seminal publication of this approach in 1992 (Schantz and Scott. In Lewis GE (Ed) Biomedical Aspects of Botulinum. New York: Academic Press. 143-150 (1992)). By 1994, the same team reported experiences with other movement-associated wrinkles on the face (Scott, Ophthalmol, 87:1044-1049 (1980)). This in turn led to the birth of the era of cosmetic BTX-A treatment.
Skin protects the body's organs from external environmental threats and acts as a thermostat to maintain body temperature. It consists of several different layers, each with specialized functions. The major layers include the epidermis, the dermis and the hypodermis. The epidermis is a stratifying layer of epithelial cells that overlies the dermis, which consists of connective tissue. Both the epidermis and the dermis are further supported by the hypodermis, an internal layer of adipose tissue.
The epidermis, the topmost layer of skin, is only 0.1 to 1.5 millimeters thick (Inlander, Skin, New York, N.Y.: People's Medical Society, 1-7 (1998)). It consists of keratinocytes and is divided into several layers based on their state of differentiation. The epidermis can be further classified into the stratum corneum and the viable epidermis, which consists of the granular melphigian and basal cells. The stratum corneum is hygroscopic and requires at least 10% moisture by weight to maintain its flexibility and softness. The hygroscopicity is attributable in part to the water-holding capacity of keratin. When the horny layer loses its softness and flexibility it becomes rough and brittle, resulting in dry skin.
The dermis, which lies just beneath the epidermis, is 1.5 to 4 millimeters thick. It is the thickest of the three layers of the skin. In addition, the dermis is also home to most of the skin's structures, including sweat and oil glands (which secrete substances through openings in the skin called pores, or comedos), hair follicles, nerve endings, and blood and lymph vessels (Inlander, Skin, New York, N.Y.: People's Medical Society, 1-7 (1998)). However, the main components of the dermis are collagen and elastin.
The hypodermis is the deepest layer of the skin. It acts both as an insulator for body heat conservation and as a shock absorber for organ protection (Inlander, Skin, New York, N.Y.: People's Medical Society, 1-7 (1998)). In addition, the hypodermis also stores fat for energy reserves. The pH of skin is normally between 5 and 6. This acidity is due to the presence of amphoteric amino acids, lactic acid, and fatty acids from the secretions of the sebaceous glands. The term "acid mantle" refers to the presence of the water-soluble substances on most regions of the skin. The buffering capacity of the skin is due in part to these secretions stored in the skin's horny layer.
One of the principal functions of skin is to provide a barrier to the transportation of water and substances potentially harmful to normal homeostasis. The body would rapidly dehydrate without a tough, semi-permeable skin. The skin helps to prevent the entry of harmful substances into the body. Although most substances cannot penetrate the barrier, a number of strategies have been developed to selectively increase the permeability of skin with variable success.
Botulinum toxin type A is said to be the most lethal natural biological agent known to man. At the same time, the muscle-paralyzing effects of botulinum toxin have been used for therapeutic effects. Controlled administration of botulinum toxin has been used to provide muscle paralysis to treat conditions, for example, neuromuscular disorders characterized by hyperactive skeletal muscles. Conditions that have been treated with botulinum toxin include hemifacial spasm, adult onset spasmodic torticollis, anal fissure, blepharospasm, cerebral palsy, cervical dystonia, migraine headaches, strabismus, temperomandibular joint disorder, and various types of muscle cramping and spasms. More recently the muscle-paralyzing effects of botulinum toxin have been taken advantage of in therapeutic and cosmetic facial applications such as treatment of wrinkles, frown lines, and other results of spasms or contractions of facial muscles.
In all treatments currently used, the botulinum toxin is administered by carefully controlled or monitored injection, creating large wells of toxin at the treatment site. A few scattered references to topical treatment are present in the literature. For example, assertions that botulinum toxin may be applied topically are made in U.S. Pat. No. 6,063,768 of Eric R. First, but no information is given as to how this may be accomplished. In another patent in which First is named as an inventor. U.S. Pat. No. 6,087,327 (of Pearce and First), mention is made that the botulinum toxin may be topically administered by solubilization in normal phosphate buffer containing gelatin stabilizer and administered topically into the nasal cavity of a dog. The patent cites a publication by Shaari et al. (Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 2; 566, 1995) in which such an experiment was conducted. German published patent application 198 52 981 describes topical compositions containing botulinum toxin and dimethyl sulfoxide for treatment of hyperhidrosis. An example in which a single patient was treated is included.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,484 (Binder) describes the use of botulinum toxin in treating cutaneous cell-proliferative disorders (for example, psoriasis and dermatitis) using neurotoxins, including botulinum toxin. The patent asserts that compositions may be applied topically, but no examples of suitable formulations are given, and in the test examples the botulinum toxin was administered by injection. U.S. published application 2003/0113349 (Coleman III) represents that topical formulations containing botulinum toxin may be used to treat hyperactive glandular conditions in the skin. However, the description relates to conditions in cutaneous glands and does not discuss transdermal applications. In addition, like most of the publications discussed here, it contains no working examples. Finally, U.S. published application 2004/0009180 (Donovan) discloses the use of botulinum toxin in topical treatments for a number of conditions, some of which apparently involve transdermal delivery, for instance, topical application to relax muscles. The publication states that transdermal delivery is accomplished by use of an enhancing agent. Agents said to be suitable for this purpose include various alcohols, including polyalcohols, amines, amides, transferomes and liposomes. The examples are all written in the present tense, indicating that some or all may be conceptual rather than empirical.
One approach to solving the problems associated with botulinum toxin therapy is to use fragments of the toxin or other agents that interfere with the SNARE complex. The SNARE complex is an assembly of three proteins that plays a central role in neuronal exocytosis, the process where neurotransmitter loaded vesicles fuse with the neuron cell membrane and expel their contents. (Gutierrez, L. M., et. al. FEBS Lett. 372, 39-43 (1995); Gutierrez, L. M., et. al. J. Biol. Chem. 272, 2634-2639 (1997); Ferrer-Montiel, A. V., et. al. FEBS Lett. 435,84-88 (1998))
This work has resulted in identification of effective oligopeptides of 20 or more amino acids. However, these agents like botulinum toxins themselves were also found to have extremely poor ability to penetrate skin. More recently, a 6 amino acid peptide with the sequence glutamic acid-glutamic acid-methionine-glutamine-arginine-arginine (EEMQRR (SEQ ID NO: 1)) has been shown to retain some activity in one model. (C. Blanes-Mira, et. al. International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2002, 24, 303-310).
This hexapeptide, when derivatized to improve skin penetration and employed at very high concentrations such as 10% affords wrinkle reduction in certain cases (acetyl hexapeptide or ARGIRELINE®). However, the transdermal penetration of this peptide even when derivatized with palmitate or acylated as in ARGIRELINE® remains so low that efficacy in wrinkle reduction requires high concentrations of expensive compounds-most of which does not cross the skin. Safety advantages relative to complete botulinum toxins are likely but have yet to be established in these applications given with the high load necessitated by low skin penetration. Hence, the limitations of botulinum toxins in terms of route of administration are largely preserved with these agents.

Compositions and methods for topical application and transdermal delivery of an oligopeptide


Technologies are generally described for providing interactive whiteboard sharing. An interactive whiteboard may enable two or more users to control and interact directly with an interactive whiteboard interface. The whiteboard may also enable users to interact with the whiteboard employing individual client devices connected with the whiteboard over a wireless or wired network. The whiteboard may distinguish each input method and the source of the input. The whiteboard may share the content of the whiteboard's user interface with the user's individual client device, and the user may interact with the whiteboard content on a user interface of the client device. The whiteboard may detect the input on the client device, and may update the content of the whiteboard interface with the input provided at each of the client devices such that the whiteboard may continuously reflect content updates and changes input on the interactive whiteboard and on connected client devices.

With the proliferation of collaborative computing and networking technologies, the need to share content and to control and interact with shared is prevalent. Teleconferencing and desktop sharing are example techniques for enabling users in remote locations to share content and to interact with each other without being in the physical presence of each other. Additionally, the ability to continuously share content, interact with and update content has become useful as users collaborate on projects and desire to generate and update content in real-time. Interactive whiteboards are often used to capture written content on a display screen and enable real-time content manipulation, however conventional interactive whiteboards may not have the capabilities of enabling multiple users to manipulate and provide content or enabling interaction from remote locations.


An apparatus for permeability analysis which transmits a testing fluid to the tubular specimen and measures the volume of the testing fluid permeating through the tubular specimen. The apparatus for permeability analysis has a tubular specimen, a cylindrical frame, a carrier gas flow inlet leading from the outside of the cylindrical frame to the inside of the cylindrical frame, a carrier gas flow outlet leading from the inside of the cylindrical frame to the outside of the cylindrical frame, a detection device, and a pump. One end of the tubular specimen and the other end of the tubular specimen are connected to each other via the pump. The apparatus for permeability analysis circulates a testing fluid through the tubular specimen continuously or intermittently by means of a pump, conveys the permeate to the detection device by means of the flow of the carrier gas, and then measures the permeate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for permeability analysis transmitting a testing fluid into a tubular specimen and measuring quantity and/or quality of the testing fluid permeating through the tubular specimen.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fuels, lubricants, pressure transmission fluids and the like permeating through tubes, etc. of vehicles contain air-polluting VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and are subject to regulations. VOC is a generic term used to refer to a chemical that evaporates at 50° C. to 260° C. VOCs include aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, aldehydes, and ketones. However, in the present invention and this specification, VOCs include chemicals defined above and also those that evaporate at a higher or lower temperature than the temperature range described above.
SHED (Sealed Housing for Evaporative Determination) and Mini-SHED are well known as devices for measuring VOCs. SHED is a device for measuring VOCs collected in a closed metal or glass chamber where a vehicle to be tested is encapsulated. Mini-SHED is a device for measuring VOCs collected in a closed metal or glass chamber where a tube, a fuel tank, etc. to be tested is encapsulated.


An advertising effectiveness rating system provides advertising effectiveness rating data by assigning one telephone number to each of a plurality of advertising outlets and counting the number of times that each of the assigned telephone numbers are used. The advertising effectiveness rating system includes an advertising effectiveness rating device that receives a called number from a local switch. When a prospective purchaser calls one of the assigned telephone numbers, the local switch forwards the called number to the advertising effectiveness rating device. When a called number is received, the advertising effectiveness rating device retrieves a count that corresponds to the called number from a database, increments the count and returns the incremented count to the database. When a request for advertising effectiveness rating data is received, a controller of the advertising effectiveness rate device retrieves the database, formats the data in the database, and outputs the formatted data as the advertising effectiveness rating data.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing advertising effectiveness ratings.
2. Description of Related Art
Advertisements for products and services are often distributed to purchasers through many different methods such as by radio, television, newspaper, etc. Often, advertisement outlets include a telephone number that an interested purchaser can call to inquire regarding the advertised product or service. However, there is currently no method for assessing advertisement outlet effectiveness based on prospective purchaser responses through the telephone switching network. Thus, there is a need for providing a device and method for determining advertising effectiveness based on telephone responses.


A system and method are provided for employing local, opportunistic Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) information to augment other source “knowledge” of local aircraft position information for improving situational awareness in areas lacking ADS-B coverage provided by other aircraft control agencies including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), other Civil Aviation Authorities (CAAs), and/or other Air Traffic Control (ATC) entities. Locally-received, e.g., in a vicinity of a UAV or sUAS, ADS-B positional information is received by a UAV, sUAS or associated ground control station and integrated on a display component of the ground control station, e.g., a pilot display, for the UAV or sUAS. Received positional information is forwarded to other interested users/systems, including those associated with agencies or entities in overall tactical, operational or surveillance control of a particular area of operations, as appropriate as an integrated situational awareness map display picture.

1. Field of the Disclosed Embodiments
This disclosure relates to systems and methods for employing local, opportunistic Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) information to augment other source "knowledge" of local aircraft position information for improving situational awareness in areas lacking ADS-B coverage provided by other aircraft control agencies.
2. Related Art
Deployment scenarios involving unmanned aerial vehicles are increasing as the technology for local and remote control of those vehicles increases, and as government, law enforcement and other entities become aware of, and comfortable with, the capabilities and benefits of routinely employing certain unmanned aerial vehicles for certain mission types. The term "unmanned aerial vehicle(s)," as that term will be used throughout this disclosure, is intended to encompass a particular class of locally, generally line-of-sight, operated flying vehicles, including Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and the related Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUASs).
Based on an anticipated exponential growth in the employment scenarios of particularly sUAS platforms, given their relative low cost, flexibility of employment and expanding capabilities, the discussion below will center around sUAS platform deployment and operating scenarios. This focus on such operations as a specific example to illustrate the benefits of the systems and methods according to this disclosure should not be construed as excluding equally germane application to all classes of unmanned aerial vehicles. The sUAS platforms referred to in this disclosure are capable of controlled flight from launch, through in-flight operations, to recovery and/or landing in a manner similar to a conventional manned aircraft or helicopter. The control schemes for these sUAS platforms may include real-time or near-real-time control of the flight profile by an operator (pilot or pilot/observer team) at a communication and control console ground control station or GCS) in constant communication with a particular sUAS. The described sUAS platforms referred to in this disclosure tend to be of limited sophistication, thereby requiring local control by an operator having line-of-sight contact with a particular sUAS platform. These operating limitations, while providing for reasonable flight safety, limit a capacity of the systems to be integrated into a broader aerial vehicle/aircraft deconfliction scheme.
A focus of development efforts for a broad array of unmanned aerial vehicles is centered on exploring operation of small, economical aerial vehicle platforms (sUAS) that may be specifically fielded to a particular task to which the unmanned aerial vehicles may be adapted. A number of competing entities have evolved their operations to providing differing levels of sophistication in sUAS platforms to support specific and evolving requirements of a broadly expanding potential customer base, including government agencies and law enforcement entities. Currently, sUAS platform capabilities are being expanded for deployment in increasing roles in many public service and public support missions, which include, but are not limited to, border surveillance, wildlife surveys, military training, weather monitoring, fire detection and monitoring, and myriad local law enforcement surveillance support missions.
A challenge to increasingly expanded employment of sUAS platforms generally in many domestic, non-military scenarios, particularly in the United States, stems from platforms not having aircrew onboard that are able (1) to detect other close and/or conflicting aerial traffic and/or (2) to effect timely maneuvers to avoid collisions based on visual- or sensor-detected proximity to such conflicting aerial traffic.
Local employment of a particular unmanned aerial vehicle tends to be autonomous. Currently, the local operator of the unmanned aerial vehicle, for example, may be generally unaware with other aerial operations in the area. As capabilities expand, the sUAS operator may be provided certain rudimentary traffic deconfliction information, but is generally only limitedly aware of other operations in a vicinity, and is generally afforded only limited capacity to coordinate or deconflict own ship operations with the operations of other sUAS platform operators in the area, and/or with local manned aircraft operations. In this regard, the immediate operation of a particular sUAS platform may be considered local, tactical employment of the particular platform. This scenario is operationally played out when one considers that the operator of the sUAS platform is in a fixed location within line of sight to the sUAS platform providing control inputs to the sUAS platform from the GCS based on observed operations of the sUAS platform, potentially augmented by an actual video feed from the sUAS platform being displayed on a display component of the GCS to aid in locally controlling mission employment of the sUAS platform.

Employing local, opportunistic automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) information processed by an unmanned aerial vehicle ground control station to augment other source “knowledge” of local aircraft position information for improving situational awareness