A method and system can format objects on a first page of an electronic document being created by applying the formatting from corresponding objects contained in a separate formatting source where these objects have been formatted using the existing tools of the application. In this way, when a page is created that has formatting information that is preferred by a user, subsequent pages can be created by referring to the page that has the preferred formatting information.

Conventional user interfaces for selecting formatting of objects on a page within an electronic document can be rather complex and not user-friendly. Often, the user interfaces for selecting formatting on a page in an electronic document can include drop-down menus or dialog boxes for various options such as for changing fonts, managing outlines, and adding bulleting or numbering. The dialog boxes are typically designed such that they may include a preview window to display formatting examples prior to applying such formatting to the objects on the page of the electronic document where the formatting that is selected is usually performed by adjusting a collection of settings independent of the object being formatted.
The preview window in the conventional user interfaces is usually very small relative to an entire page in an electronic document. Also, small objects are usually provided in the window as the basis for the preview. For example, for text based objects, a short sentence could form the entire preview for any selected text formatting. Therefore, decisions regarding text formatting must be made on the basis of a sentence of text. But a single sentence of text in one font may look or provide a feel that is entirely different than a paragraph or a page of text with the same font.
In addition to the preview formatting problems of conventional technology, conventional word processing technology does not provide an easy way to track distinct formatting for supporting multiple languages on a form or fixed document. Companies often have offices located in different countries, yet a company may desire to keep the look and feel of their documents uniform. For example, for internal corporate memos, a company may desire to have all offices use the same memo header. However, this same memo header may not be supported in other languages because of the font that is selected for the form or template. As a result, multinational corporations need to create several different templates that are specific to languages of particular offices.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to simplify the management of forms or templates that can handle multiple languages and fonts. Another need exists in the art to reduce or substantially eliminate forms that are specific to single languages and corresponding fonts.
Another need exists in the art for more efficient management of the formatting of pages in a document. A need exists for a user interface for formatting documents that is easy to use and that can be easily accessed by a user.

System and method for formatting objects on a page of an electronic document by reference


Method for providing an electronic program guide includes the following steps. First electronic program list data is grouped according to at least two condition factors not related to program broadcasting time to generate at least a first set of two-dimensional program list data. A display unit of a multimedia reproduction system is controlled to display the at least the first set of two-dimensional program list data on a screen thereof, wherein the screen displays a plurality of image blocks on a first plane, the image blocks on the first plane individually represent at least a portion of programs corresponding to the first set of two-dimensional program list data and are arranged according to first and second coordinate axes corresponding to first and second condition factors. When the system receives a selection indication, a program represented by one image block corresponding to the selection indication is played on the screen.

1. Field
The disclosure relates in general to a method for providing an electronic program guide, multimedia reproduction system, and computer readable storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Transmitting videos via the broadband Internet is currently a prevalent alternative way for watching videos or television programs. The smart televisions, nowadays, can play Internet videos or Internet TV.
Many sources of television channels arise currently, such as video programs provided by a number of Internet video providers (such as YouTube) as well as the digital television channels. It is important that how the programs that someone wants to watch can be found as fast as possible. Regarding this, electronic program guides (EPG) are available but presented in a fixed arrangement: its vertical axis taken as indicating channels and horizontal axis taken as indicating programs of the corresponding channels, arranged according to the program time. After keyword searching the EPG is done, the search result is listed item by time in a vertical manner. The search result sometimes is too long and inconvenient to find the program one wants. In addition, for the well-known website YouTube, the searching is also performed for one condition per time and the search result is also shown item by item in a vertical manner.
In addition, with diversified contents and types provided by the Internet, a relaxed atmosphere of enjoying watching the television as originally intended may instead turn out to be serious and complicated. In this way, such a television causes difficulties of usage in a family or group and fails to satisfy the needs of different users, for example, those who are unfamiliar with operating a computer.

Method for providing an electronic program guide, multimedia reproduction system, and computer readable storage medium


The electrolysis system of the present invention has a water electrolysis unit equipped with a water electrolysis cell using a solid polymer electrolyte membrane as its diaphragm, a DC power source for supplying the water electrolysis cell with a DC current, and a mitigation unit for mitigating, when a counter electromotive force or abrupt potential fluctuation occurs in the water electrolysis cell, the counter electromotive force or the potential fluctuation. The mitigation unit is preferably a coil+diode (A) connected in parallel between the DC power source and the water electrolysis cell or a diode (B) connected between the DC power source and the water electrolysis cell. The electrolysis system is preferably equipped further with a lowering rate controller for controlling the lowering rate of a current supplied from the DC power source to the water electrolysis cell.

As a water electrolysis apparatus, a water electrolysis apparatus using a solid polymer electrolyte membrane as a diaphragm (Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) water electrolysis apparatus), a water electrolysis apparatus having an alkaline electrolyte solution separated by a partition, a high-temperature water electrolysis apparatus using a solid oxide as an electrolyte, and the like are known. Of these, the PEM water electrolysis apparatus has such advantages that it can generate hydrogen by using only water, a hydrogen gas does not contain an impurity other than water, and an operating temperature is low. The PEM water electrolysis apparatus, however, has the drawback that abrupt potential fluctuation in the water electrolysis cell reduces the life of the water electrolysis cell.
In order to overcome this problem, various proposals have been made conventionally.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a fuel cell power generating system with water electrolysis apparatus that performs electrolysis by charging a secondary cell with DC electricity generated in a fuel cell and supplying the water electrolysis apparatus with the DC electricity sent from the secondary cell.
This document describes:
(A) the life of the water electrolysis apparatus is shortened by continuing the input of DC electricity from the fuel cell to the water electrolysis apparatus, because power transmission from the fuel cell is often in the state of intense voltage fluctuation at the initial stage of the start of the fuel cell or during preparation operation for stop;
(B) once the secondary cell is charged with DC electricity generated in the fuel cell, unstable electric energy from the fuel cell is converted into stable electric energy; and
(C) deterioration of the water electrolysis apparatus is suppressed because DC electricity sent to the water electrolysis apparatus from the secondary cell has almost no voltage fluctuation.
Patent Literature 2 discloses a power generating system equipped with:
a power generation unit comprised of a wind and/or solar power generator,
a storage cell for storing therein power obtained by the power generation unit,
a water electrolysis apparatus for performing therein water electrolysis by using the power obtained by the power generation unit,
a hydrogen reservoir unit for storing therein hydrogen generated in the water electrolysis apparatus,
a fuel cell for obtaining power by using hydrogen generated in the water electrolysis apparatus or hydrogen stored in the hydrogen reservoir, and
a power control unit for controlling a supplier of power obtained by the power generation unit, power stored in the storage cell, and power obtained by the fuel cell.
This document describes that such a power generation system makes it possible to store natural energy as power of a storage cell and at the same time, store natural energy efficiently by storing hydrogen generated by electrolysis as a power source of the fuel cell.
Potential fluctuation in power supplied to a water electrolysis apparatus accelerates deterioration of a water electrolysis cell. This is presumably because reduction of an oxygen electrode catalyst caused by the potential fluctuation is likely to accelerate the elution of the catalyst.
In order to solve this problem, as disclosed in the Patent Literature 1 and 2, it is conceivable not to supply power directly to a water electrolysis apparatus from a power source that easily causes potential fluctuation but to store power from the power source once in a storage cell and then supply it from the storage cell to the water electrolysis apparatus. This method has, however, the problem that it requires installment of a storage cell and therefore the system becomes large.
Further, potential fluctuation that deteriorates an oxygen electrode catalyst may occur not only by potential fluctuation in an input power source but also by the repetition of start/stop. However, a method for suppressing deterioration of an oxygen electrode catalyst resulting from the repetition of start/stop has never been proposed conventionally.


A folding electronic apparatus is proposed, the rigidity of the hinge of which is sufficiently high, in which signal wires for connecting a movable portion with a stationary portion can be easily incorporated. The apparatus includes: a stationary portion (2) and a movable portion (3) which are connected to each other by a hinge (4), capable of being opened and closed, the hinge includes: a pipe portion (32) having a first slit (35) on a side wall, the pipe portion being attached to one of the movable portion and the stationary portion; and a hollow shaft (24) having a second slit (25) on the side wall, the hollow shaft (24) being attached to the other of the movable portion and the stationary portion, the hollow shaft (24) being engaged inside the pipe portion, wherein the first and second slits extend to positions shifted from an engaging portion of the pipe portion with the hollow portion in the axial direction and define opening portions (25a, 35a) of the first and second slits.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a folding electric apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a folding electric apparatus having a hinge (an opening and closing mechanism). The present invention can be applied to various folding electronic apparatus having a hinge, such as a stationary communication terminal and a portable electronic apparatus, for example, a mobile phone, a portable communication terminal, a portable electronic note, a portable electronic book, a portable electronic dictionary and so forth.
The folding electronic apparatus includes: a first housing, for example, a stationary portion, in which an operation portion is mainly provided; and a second housing, a movable portion, in which a display portion such as a liquid crystal display is mainly provided, wherein the first housing and the second housing are connected with each other by a hinge, and the movable portion can be opened and closed with respect to the stationary portion being turned round the hinge. Since the folding electronic apparatus can be operated so as to be opened and closed, as described above, it has been conveniently used. Therefore, the number of the folding electronic apparatus to be used tends to remarkably increase every year. Especially according to the increase in the use of the folding electronic apparatus, there is a request for enhancing the mechanical strength of the hinge which is frequently opened and closed. Further, when the first housing and the second housing are electrically connected to each other by signal wires, the wiring must be devised so that the apparatus can endure opening and closing motions, which are frequently conducted, irrespective of a state of the apparatus to be opened and closed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional folding electronic apparatus in which the movable portion and the stationary portion are connected to each other by the hinge, the holding mechanism for holding the hinge is composed separately from the structure reinforcing member composing the movable portion and the stationary portion, that is, the holding mechanism for holding the hinge is composed separately from the chassis of the movable portion and the stationary portion. Therefore, the following problems may be encountered in the conventional folding electronic apparatus. In the conventional folding electronic apparatus, the hinge is not composed integrally with the chassis as described above. Therefore, the rigidity of the hinge is not sufficiently high compared with the rigidity of the structural members of the chassis. Accordingly, it is difficult to maintain the accuracy of a rotary shaft to be high. Further, when a shock is given to the apparatus, the hinge is independently deformed, and the rigidity of the hinge is lowered.
Further, the following problem may be encountered. In the conventional folding electronic apparatus, when the movable portion and the stationary portion are connected to each other by the signal wires at the time of assembling, the assembling work is complicated.
Concerning the structure of the conventional folding electronic apparatus, JP-A-2002-134938 discloses a folding housing structure having a water-proofing structure. According to this Patent Document, rising walls are formed round the hinge and on the side, and ribs for water-proofing are formed inside. When water absorption sheets are arranged inside an upper and a lower rear case, water can be prevented from entering from a gap of the hinge into a space.
According to the folding electronic apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2003-304310, when a hinge cover is divided into a plurality of pieces, a main body portion can be classified. Further, the generation of rattling in the hinge can be prevented.
As described above, in the conventional folding electronic apparatus, the hinge is not integrated with the chassis which is a structural reinforcing member composing the apparatus housing. Therefore, the rigidity of the hinge is not sufficiently high. Accordingly, it is difficult to maintain the accuracy of the rotary shaft to be sufficiently high. Further, there is a possibility that the hinge is independently deformed when a shock is given to the apparatus. Furthermore, in the conventional folding electronic apparatus, it is difficult to incorporate the signal wires extending between the movable portion and the stationary portion.


Aminophosphonate and amino bisphosphonate compounds and methods for their preparation are provided. Also provided are pharmaceutical and agricultural compositions containing the compounds. The compounds and compositions are useful in methods for treatment of various diseases, including, inflammation, autoimmune disease, cardiovascular disease, bacterial infection, viral disease, abnormal cell proliferation, bone resorption disease, osteoporosis, or parasitic disease and in various agricultural methods, including, methods of eradicating weeds.

Provided herein are amino phosphonates and amino bis-phosphonates. Also provided are methods for the preparation and use of such compounds and their structural analogs. The present invention relates to amino phosphonates of general formula 1-3 and amino bis-phosphonates of general formula 4.

Amino phosphonates of general formula 1 have long been used as surrogates for amino acids in a variety of enzyme inhibitors and have been used in a number of applications in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. Amino phosphonates of general formula 2 or 3, have been used extensively as inhibitors of proteases and other enzymes ((a) Mader, M. M.; Bartlett, P. A. Chem. Rev. 1997, 97, 1281. (b) Powers, J. C.; Asgian, J. L.; Ekici, O. D.; James, K. E. Chem. Rev. 2002, 102, 4639. (c) De Lombaert, S. et al. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 1995, 5, 151. (d) De Lombaert, S. et al. J. Med. Chem. 2000, 43, 488. (e) Bird, J. et al. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 1995, 5, 2593. (f) Ding, J.; Fraser, M. E.: Bartlett, P. A: Am. Chem. Soc., 1998, 120, 4610) and have exhibited a range of useful activities as pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals (Quin, L. D. A Guide to Organophosphorus Chemistry; Wiley-Interscience: New York, 2000) For example, amino phosphonates have served as key structural components of antiviral agents, antitrypanosomal agents, antibacterial agents and anticancer agents. Amino phosphonates have also been used as agrochemicals and as chelating agents or surfactants in industrial applications
Amino bis-phosphonates of general formula 4 have been used as diphosphate mimics for the treatment of bone resorption diseases, and as antiparasitic agents ((a) Szabo, C. M. etal J. Med. Chem. 2002, 45, 2185. (b) Morty, R. E. etal. Biochemical Pharmacology, 2000, 60, 1497. (c) Rodan, G. A.: Martin, T. J. Science 2000, 289, 1508).
The present invention also provides a process for the synthesis of functionalized amino phosphonates and amino bis-phosphonates via the one-step three-component reaction among an amine derivative, a carbonyl derivative and an organoboron compound. This process is related to the previously reported general method for the synthesis of amine derivatives, including amino acids and amino alcohols. ((a) Petasis, N. A.; Zavialov, I. A., 2001, U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,467. (b) Petasis, N. A. 2003, U.S. Pat. No. 6,602,817 B1. (c) Petasis, N. A.; Zavialov, I. A., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1997, 119, 445. (d) Petasis, N. A.; Goodman, A.; Zavialov, I. A. Tetrahedron, 1997, 53, 16463. (e) Petasis, N. A.; Zavialov, I. A., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1998, 120, 11798. (f) Prakash G. K. S.; Mandal M.; Schweizer, S.; Petasis, N. A.; Olah, G. A. J. Org. Chem., 2002, 67, 3718. (g) Petasis, N. A.; Patel, Z. D., Tet. Lett, 2000, 41, 9607).

Amino phosphonate and amino bis-phosphonate derivatives


An asset management platform including a payment server configured to process payments and hold security assets on behalf of a plurality of user accounts, each of the plurality of user accounts holding fractional shares of a common equity with associated shareholder voting rights. The asset management platform includes a mobile application executing on devices of users associated with the user accounts and provides a user interface to submit a shareholder vote associated with a voting instruction. The payment server receives the shareholder votes from each of user accounts and determines a first set of shareholder votes of whole share amounts and a second set of shareholder votes of fractional share amounts. The payment server identifies a group of fractional votes from the second set of votes and collates the group of fractional votes to create an aggregated fractional vote equal to one or more shareholder votes. The first set of shareholder votes and the aggregated fractional vote can then be submitted as shareholder votes for the group of user accounts.

Investors of the general public, often referred to as retail investors, have commonly used security assets such as stocks and bonds as investment instruments. Security assets may represent equity in the issuer of the security, debt provided to the issuer, or even derivatives of other assets. One or more online platforms may be provided by security exchanges, brokers, and asset managers for investors to trade securities or facilitate other security-related activities, such as voting in stockholder meetings. Investors may access the online platforms through a browser, a mobile application, or other suitable software. The online platform may display information about securities (e.g., pricing information), provide analysis tools, receive orders from the investors, and communicate with other systems to execute exchange orders and other security-related activities.
Ownership of securities, such as common stock and preferred stock often provide shareholders with the right to vote on company issues. Shareholders are able to exercise their voting rights to vote on upcoming business decisions, often through online platforms and other proxy voting portals. Shareholders with less than one share of stock, often referred to as a fractional share, do not meet a one share minimum requirement for having voting rights. Fractional shareholders' votes are often dismissed, discounted, or otherwise excluded from being submitted to the company by the online platforms.

Facilitating shareholder voting and associated proxy rights


An event computer receives video in which one or more local participants of a conferencing event are viewable. The event computer receives head detection information of the local participants and assigns contextual data to the head detection information for each of the local participants for which head detection information is received. The event computer then sends the video, the head detection information, and the contextual data to one or more remote participant computer systems by which one or more remote participants can view the local participants and their corresponding contextual data within the video.

Web conferencing services allow conferencing events such as meetings, training events, lectures, presentations, and the like to be shared among local and remote participants. A video feed of the local participants is often captured at the conference event site and sent to one or more remote computers by which the remote participants can view the video feed and participate in the conference event.
It is often difficult for the remote participants to know who is in a meeting room and, of those in the meeting room, who is who, without a round of introductions from the local participants. If a remote participant joins the event late or otherwise misses the introductions, the remote participant is left at a disadvantage by not knowing who the local participants are in the meeting room. This can significantly detract from the effectiveness of the conference event and minimize the remote participant's ability to contribute. This problem is not as significant in the reverse direction since a participant joining a conference event remotely is usually uniquely identified in a conference roster, such as by a session initiation protocol ("SIP") uniform resource identifier ("URI"). There is no such current mechanism to identify local conference event participants, since local participants often do not join the online portion.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.

Local participant identification in a web conferencing system


Methods, systems, and techniques for facilitating improved training of a supervised machine learning process, such as a decision tree. First and second object detections of an object depicted in a video are respectively generated using first and second object detectors, with the second object detector requiring more computational resources than the first object detector to detect the object. Whether a similarity and a difference between the first and second object detections respectively satisfy a similarity threshold and a difference threshold is determined. When the similarity threshold is satisfied, the first object detection is stored as a positive example for the machine learning training. When the difference threshold is satisfied, the first object detection is stored as a negative example for the machine learning training.

Computer implemented visual object detection, also called object recognition, pertains to locating and classifying visual representations of real-life objects found in still images or motion videos captured by a camera. By performing visual object detection, each visual object found in the still images or motion video is classified according to its type (such as, for example, human, vehicle, or animal).
Automated security and surveillance systems typically employ video cameras, other image capturing devices or sensors to collect image data such as video. Images represented by the image data may be displayed for contemporaneous screening by security personnel and/or recorded for later review after a security breach.

Method and system for facilitating improved training of a supervised machine learning process


A method for producing a ZnO single crystal by a liquid phase growth technique, comprising the steps of: mixing and melting ZnO as a solute and PbF2 and PbO as solvents; and putting a seed crystal or substrate into direct contact with the obtained melted solution, thereby growing a ZnO single crystal on the seed crystal or substrate.

ZnO, which has been used for varistors, gas sensors, sun block materials and the like, has recently been a target of attention as being applied to light emitting elements, piezoelectric elements, transparent electrodes and the like owing to optical characteristics and piezoelectric characteristics thereof. Especially, research and development activities are now eagerly conducted to apply ZnO for semiconductors used for light emitting elements which emit light of a short wavelength in the blue to ultraviolet range and applications thereof since ZnO has a direct bandgap of 3.3 to 3.4 eV like GaN. In order to apply ZnO for these uses and develop such uses, it is important to establish a method for producing high quality ZnO.
Conventional methods for growing ZnO, especially a ZnO single crystal, are roughly classified into gas phase growth techniques and liquid phase growth techniques. As the gas phase growth techniques, chemical vapor transport (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-131301), molecular beam epitaxy, metal organic chemical vapor deposition (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-84001), sublimation (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-70286) and the like are used. These techniques cause many dislocations, defects and the like, and the quality of the resultant crystals is insufficient.
A method of producing a single crystal thin film of an oxide or a fluoride on a substrate by a gas phase growth technique is disclosed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-367588). This publication discloses "a method for epitaxially growing a single crystal of any compound of an oxide or a fluoride on a crystalline substrate, characterized by keeping a solution, obtained by dissolving the compound in a melt of a melting agent, in a crucible under an atmospheric pressure, keeping it at a temperature at which the solution is vaporized but the components of the solvent are not vaporized, solidifying a vapor of the compound vaporized from the solution on a surface of the crystalline substrate held on the solution and kept at a temperature lower than that of the solution, thereby forming a single crystal of the compound; and a method for epitaxially growing zinc oxide characterized in that the melting agent contains one or at least two of lead monoxide, lead fluoride, boron oxide and vanadium oxide as a main substance".
In the section of the examples, an example in which zinc oxide is used as a crystalline component, boron oxide and lead monoxide are used as melting agents, and only zinc oxide is vaporized steadily to epitaxially grow zinc oxide on a sapphire substrate. However, this method uses a gas phase growth technique and so involves a problem that the quality of the crystal is low.
A liquid phase growth technique, by which crystal growth proceeds with thermal equilibrium on principle, has an advantage of being capable of producing high quality crystals more easily than a gas phase growth technique. However, ZnO has a melting point as high as about 1975° C. and easily vaporizes and so it is difficult to grow ZnO by the Czochralski technique, which is used with silicon single crystal or the like. Therefore, a slow cooling technique, a hydrothermal technique, a flux technique, a floating zone technique, a TSSG technique, a solution growth technique and the like are used, by which a target subject is dissolved in an appropriate solvent and the temperature of the obtained mixture solution is decreased to realize a supersaturation state, thereby growing the target substance from the melted solution.
For growing a ZnO single crystal by a solution growth technique, a solvent capable of dissolving ZnO is needed. Substances used as the solvent are PbF2, PbO, high temperature-high pressure water, V2O5, B2O3, MoO3 and the like. Hereinafter, the problems of these solvents will be described.
A method of growing a ZnO single crystal by a slow cooling technique with PbF2 as the solvent is disclosed (see J. W. Nielson and E. F. Dearborn, J. Phys. Chem. 64, (1960) 1762). FIG. 1 shows a PbF2—ZnO phase diagram included in this document. PbF2 and ZnO form an eutectic system. The composition of the eutectic contains ZnO at 8.8%, and the temperature thereof at this point is about 730° C. At or in the vicinity of a ZnO concentration of 8.8 mol %, PbO is also deposited. Therefore, the ZnO concentration needs to be at least about 10 mol %. In order to dissolve 10 mol % or more of ZnO, the temperature needs to be 770° C. or higher. A general practice to establish a stable and well-reproduceable method for growing a single crystal is to keep the solution at a temperature higher by 100 to 200° C. than the melting point thereof such that the solvent and the solute are uniformly mixed together. When the PbF2 as the solvent is kept at about 870 to 970° C., PbF2 is partially vaporized and so the composition with ZnO is varied. For this reason, it is difficult to stably grow a ZnO single crystal. In addition, since the vaporized PbF2 reacts with materials of the members of the furnace, the number of times that the members is usable is reduced and also hazardous Pb compounds volatize. This, for example, requires the growth furnace to have a sealable structure, which increases the production cost.
PbO as the solvent has a disadvantage of having a high vapor pressure like PbF2. FIG. 2 shows a PbO—ZnO phase diagram (see M. P. Bauleke, K. O. McDowell, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 46[5] 243 (1963)). In order to dissolve about 12 mol % or more of ZnO, which is the only substance deposited, the temperature needs to be 861° C. or higher. In order to establish a stable and well-reproduceable method for growing a single crystal, the solution needs to be kept at about 960° C. to 1060° C. such that the solvent and the solute are uniformly mixed together. When the PbO as the solvent is kept at about 960 to 1060° C., PbO is partially vaporized and so the composition with ZnO is varied. For this reason, it is difficult to stably grow a ZnO single crystal. In addition, since the vaporized PbO reacts with materials of the members of the furnace, the number of times that the members is usable is reduced and also hazardous Pb compounds volatize. This, for example, requires the growth furnace to have a sealable structure, which increases the production cost.
With a hydrothermal technique using high temperature-high pressure water as the solvent, a relatively high quality ZnO single crystal is obtained. However, this technique requires about 2 weeks to obtain a crystal of about 10 mm cube and so has a problem of a slow growth rate (Sekiguchi, Miyashita, et al., Journal of the Crystallographic Society of Japan, 26(4) (1999) 39). A method of growing a ZnO single crystal by a solution growth technique or a traveling solvent zone melting technique using V2O5 and/or B2O3, MoO3 as the solvent is disclosed (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications Nos. 2002-193698 and 2003-2790, K. Oka and H. Shibata, J. Cryst. Growth 237-239 (2002) 509). Such a method can grow a ZnO single crystal on a seed crystal or substrate, but the resultant crystal is colored and is not considered to have a high level of crystallinity.
As described above, it is difficult to grow a ZnO single crystal stably and at low cost using PbF2 or PbO as the solvent because the vapor pressure is too high. A hydrothermal technique using high temperature-high pressure water requires a period as long as 2 weeks to obtain a crystal of about 10 mm cube. A solution growth technique or a traveling solvent zone melting technique using V2O5 and/or B2O3, MoO3 as the solvent has a problem that the quality of the crystal is low.
Use of PbF2 as the solvent has a problem that the grown ZnO single crystal is contaminated with many fluorine (F) atoms mixed therein. Especially, the electric properties of semiconductor crystals are sensitive to the structure thereof, and impurity is one type of disturbance to the structure. A semiconductor is useful because the electric properties significantly vary in accordance with the type and concentration of the impurity added, and therefore it is very important to control the impurity. ZnO can be provided with n-type conductivity by substituting the O atom with a group VII atom such as fluorine or the like or by substituting the Zn atom with a group III atom such as boron, aluminum, gallium, indium or the like. ZnO can be provided with p-type conductivity by substituting the O atom with a group V atom such as nitrogen or the like or by substituting the Zn atom with a group I atom such as lithium or the like. However, the above-described method causes the grown single crystal to be contaminated with many fluorine atoms, which provide ZnO with n-type conductivity but are difficult to be controlled or inhibit ZnO from being provided with p-type conductivity.
There is another problem that the ZnO thin film is contaminated with many Al impurities from the materials of the members of the production furnace. When a conventional production furnace is used, the grown single crystal is contaminated with many Al impurities, which provide ZnO with n-type conductivity but are difficult to be controlled or inhibit ZnO from being provided with p-type conductivity.

Process for producing ZnO single crystal according to method of liquid phase growth


A method for the preparation of samples for an analyzer and a sampling station therefor are provided which allow automated injection of larger inert-gas volumes to be introduced into a sample container via a packing, in order to enrich the packing of the substances of a sample to be investigated.

The invention relates to a method for the preparation of samples for an analyzer and to a sampling station therefor.
DE 102 19 790 C1 discloses a handling device for samples for an analyzer, the said handling device comprising a gripper which is movable along three axes perpendicular to one another and by means of which different samplers, such as, for example, different syringes or sample tubes equipped with transporting heads, can be handled. Syringes have a specific volume which is drawn up as a result of the movement of their piston. Thus, because of this, only a predetermined volume can be taken up from a sample container, the septum of which is pierced by means of the syringe needle. It is thus not possible by means of this handling device to direct larger volumes via a packing, in order to enrich on the packing the substances of a sample which are to be investigated.

Method for the preparation of samples for an analyzer and sampling station therefor


The present invention provides a stable aqueous pesticide bifenthrin formulation having reduced toxicity and liquid fertilizer compatibility.

Bifenthrin is a pyrethroid insecticide used against the red imported fire ant. It had a high toxicity to aquatic organisms. It is also used for the control of aphids, worms, ants, gnats, moths, beetles, grasshoppers, mites, midges, spiders, ticks, yellow jackets, maggots, thrips, caterpillars, flies, and fleas (EPA). It is often used in orchards, nurseries, and homes. It is extensively used on some crops including corn. Pesticide formulations containing bifenthrin were withdrawn from use in European Union in 2009; however, bifenthrin insecticide was reapproved for use in European Union in 2012. There have been established an acute and chronic reference dose (RfD) for bifenthrin, based on animal studies. The reference dose resembles the estimated quantity of a chemical to which a person could be exposed to every day (or a one-time exposure for the acute RfD) without any appreciable risk of adverse health effects. The acute reference dose (RfD) for bifenthrin is 0.328 mg/kg bodyweight/day. The chronic reference dose (RfD) for bifenthrin is 0.013 mg/kg bodyweight/day. Concentrations up to 10-4 M do not induce toxic effects. Commercially available bifenthrin, however, can induce toxic effects in those concentrations, because the chemicals added to the product, which for instance improve the sustainability, either potentiate bifenthrin or are themselves toxic. Symptoms of excessive exposure to bifenthrin are nausea, headaches, hypersensitivity to touch and sound and irritation of the skin and the eyes.
Bifenthrin has been formulated in variety of ways which have low concentration of bifenthrin. Most of the formulations exhibit toxicity e.g. dermal toxicity or inhalation toxicity, and contact irritation or eye irritancy, if higher concentrations of bifenthrin are used in the formulation. However, the low bifenthrin content formulations become economically unviable in agricultural applications.
Bifenthrin formulations are at times applied to the soil in fields in the form of injections. The soil applied insecticide formulation is tank mixed with a fertilizer for a combined and easier application. However when the insecticide formulation is combined with liquid fertilizer, there is a problem with reduced physical stability of the mixture due to the presence of other ingredients in the insecticide formulation like surfactants, wetting agents, viscosity modifiers and other auxiliaries, which results in degradation of the mixture leading to phase separation, creaming, flocculation, turbidity, caking, and poor performance. It is desirable that such formulations need be compatible with other formulations such as liquid fertilizers which are applied simultaneously or are mixed with the insecticide formulation prior to application.
Although various formulations of bifenthrin are available commercially, there is a need to develop a bifenthrin formulation which has reduced toxicity and good liquid fertilizer compatibility, and is environment friendly.
The present invention addresses the above mentioned drawbacks of previously known and used bifenthrin formulations.


The present disclosure relates to a surface wave communication system comprising a surface wave conduit and being adapted for transmitting electromagnetic surface wave signals via the surface wave conduit. The surface wave communication system further comprises at least one interference cancelling system, where each interference cancelling system comprises an antenna arrangement and a cancelling device. The cancelling device is adapted to:                input antenna signal components from the corresponding antenna arrangement in at least one corresponding antenna branch,        input conduit signal components from the surface wave conduit in a conduit branch, to remove adapted antenna signal components from the conduit signal components such that recovered conduit signal components are obtained, and to        output the recovered conduit signal components.

In next generation mobile access systems, there is a need for densification of the radio base stations (RBS) that connect mobile users and devices to the mobile core network. A major issue with densification in a city environment is to find sites for mounting radio base stations. The conventional approach of mounting RBSs on roof tops and towers will not always be viable, since it is difficult to, e.g., negotiate contracts with so many property owners. The propagation properties of radio signals at mm-wave also favors deployment close to the users.
An attractive solution is to approach owners of existing city environment infrastructure, such as utility poles, light poles, street furniture etc. where there is a single owner that can provide installation space in many locations with a single contract. However, an issue is how to provide backhaul to the RBSs that now may sit in locations where there are no fiber connections available. Microwave point-to-point links can be used to backhaul radio base stations. However, frequency licenses can be difficult and costly to obtain.
In some parts of the world, e.g. north and south America, it is common to have utility poles along the streets for holding power line wires, transformers and other equipment related to power supply for nearby homes and businesses. These power line wires are conduits which can be used for backhauling by transmission and reception of surface waves. In this case the power company, that usually also owns the pole, can provide the necessary infrastructure needed for providing data communication between poles.
Surface waves and surface wave transceiver systems have been investigated over a long time, but never really brought to commercial success due to lack of viable applications as well as technical difficulties. Surface waves can, in principle, be excited at any frequency but in the context of telecommunications the operating frequency is usually at frequencies above 1 GHz and can extend up to almost 100 GHz.
Radiation of surface waves into air-waves can, however, occur, and is highly undesirable since energy leaked into air can interfere with other radio equipment in the area, and since the surface wave system is likely to transmit on a very wide spectrum it is important that the radiation into is not violating regulatory requirements of output power into air. In order to avoid such violation, a relatively low power is used for the surface waves and strict requirements being used for the maximum power to be launched by a surface wave transmitter. Since the surface wave channel over reasonable wire distances has relatively low loss, such requirements do not limit the capacity of the surface wave system.
There may be high power radio transmitters in the vicinity that can interfere with the surface wave system. This is a significant issue since the surface wave system operates with low power and thus should be noise limited rather than interference limited. For example, imperfections on the wire used for propagating the surface wave will cause pick-up of radio signals in the air. In other words, the low power surface wave system may become interference limited. Thus some kind of mitigation of air borne radio interference is required.
There is thus a need for further improvements for handling interference that has been received by a surface wave system.


Various aspects of thermal compensated Bragg grating filters are disclosed. In one disclosed aspect, an optical fiber having a Bragg grating therein is laid adjacent to a torsion member, and the two are then rigidly affixed between a torsion adjusting member and a compensating member. The torsion adjusting member may then be rotated, twisting the optical fiber around the torsion member, and thus applying torsion to the optical fiber containing the Bragg grating, and changing the period of the Bragg grating. A further disclosed aspect provides an optical fiber, containing a Bragg grating filter therein, which is rigidly affixed between a torsion adjusting member and a compensating member in an axis other than the compensating member""s longitudinal axis. The torsion adjusting member may then be rotated to apply torsion to the optical fiber, and change the period of the Bragg grating. Another disclosed aspect comprises an optical fiber, containing a Bragg grating filter therein, and a compensating member having a desired thermal coefficient of expansion. The optical fiber is bent through a curve and affixed to the compensating member such that torsion is applied to the Bragg grating region of the optical fiber.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical fiber filters, and particularly to improved fiber Bragg grating filters.
2. The Prior Art
Fiber Bragg grating filters are known in the art. Fiber Bragg grating filters are becoming widely used because of the increased use of fiber optical systems. For example, fiber Bragg grating filters are used to filter out noise or unwanted wavelengths of light in optical distribution systems.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the operation and measurement of a prior-art fiber Bragg grating filter. FIG. 1 shows an optical fiber 1 incorporating a Bragg grating portion 2. As is known by those of ordinary skill in the art, Bragg grating portion 2 is formed by applying energy such as laser energy to an optical fiber. The resulting deformations in the optical fiber increases the refractive index of the fiber periodically as shown in FIG. 1.
The effects of fiber Bragg grating filters on applied light is demonstrated in FIG. 1 by applying the output A of a wide bandwidth light source to optical fiber 1. When the applied light A encounters the Bragg grating portion 2, some light will pass through the Bragg grating portion 2 and be transmitted as light T, and some of the applied light A will be reflected by the Bragg grating portion 2 and will travel back to the source as light R.
Typically, fiber Bragg grating filters are designed to pass or reflect a desired wavelength, or band of wavelengths, of light. FIG. 2 is a graph typical of such a design. FIG. 2 shows a graph where the vertical axis represents the percentage of reflected light R reflected back to the source, as was shown in FIG. 1 by reflected light R. The horizontal axis represents the wavelength of light, and is scaled in nanometers (nm). As can be seen from FIG. 2, a typical fiber Bragg grating filter will form a band-reject filter, rejecting a predetermined band of light having a central wavelength of xcexc. One example of a prior art fiber Bragg grating filter is designed to have a xcexc in the range of 1,500 nm to 1,650 nm. Fiber Bragg grating filters may also be defined to have a reject band, shown as RB in FIG. 2. Reject band RB is defined as the range where the response of the fiber Bragg grating filter is greater than 3 dB. As is known by those of ordinary skill in the art, the inverse of the plot shown in FIG. 2 will show the transmitted light T rather than the reflected light R, and the inverse of the region defined as the reject band RB will be shown as the pass band.
As mentioned above, often fiber Bragg grating filters are utilized in optical distribution systems and thus may be deployed in any number of locations, such as buried underground. Therefore, fiber Bragg grating filters must be able to function in a wide variety of hostile environments, such as drastic seasonal temperature fluctuations. One problem associated with prior-art fiber Bragg grating filters is their sensitivity to environmental temperature fluctuations. The materials that fiber Bragg grating filters are constructed from tend to expand or contract depending upon the ambient temperature. For example, as temperature increases, the refractive index of the fiber increases due to the positive temperature dependence of the refractive index of the fiber, which is approximately 5.6xc3x9710xe2x88x926/xc2x0 C. The temperature coefficient of the central wavelength of pass-band is about 0.01 nm/xc2x0 C. Thus, xcexc as shown in FIG. 2 will tend to shift with the ambient temperature.
However, the refractive index of the fiber is proportionately dependent on its internal stress. Thus, relieving tension on the fiber as temperature increases can decrease the refractive index to compensate for the temperature induced wavelength shift of all Bragg grating filters. Tension can be released as temperature increases by thermal expansion of a substrate having a negative thermal expansion coefficient to which the fiber is attached, or by thermal induced bending of a bi-metal plate. The prior art has successfully used this technique to provide thermal-compensated fiber Bragg grating filters.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,898 to Morey et al., a portion of a length of an optical fiber incorporating a grating filter is fixedly mounted between two compensating members formed from a material having selected thermal expansion coefficients. The first compensating member is preferably fabricated from a material having a high thermal expansion coefficient. The second compensating member may be formed from a material having a low thermal expansion coefficient, as for example Invar or Fused silica. The positions of the two compensating members are then adjusted with respect to one another such that the fiber portion incorporating the grating filter may be placed under a preloaded tensile stress condition.
During the subsequent use of the device following the tension preloading of the fiber portion containing the Bragg filter grating region, the effect of differential thermal expansion coefficients between the materials of the compensating members decreases the tension applied to the fiber portion with a temperature increase and increases the tension applied to the fiber portion on a temperature decrease, thus compensating for the wavelength change of the filter with the changing temperature. The rate of relieving tension can be selected by choosing materials with appropriate thermal expansion coefficients for the compensating members and by adjusting the geometry in order to hold the wavelength of the Bragg filter constant. In one disclosed embodiment, the material of one of the compensating members has a larger thermal coefficient of expansion than the material of the other compensating member. As a consequence, the tensile stress of the fiber portion containing the filter or grating region will be decreased as temperature increases and increased as temperature decreases.
Another prior-art thermal-compensated Bragg grating filter employs a portion of a length of an optical fiber incorporating a grating filter rigidly connected in tension between the ends of a c-shaped frame formed from a first material. The c-shaped frame is mounted at its center portion to a strip of a second material having a thermal coefficient of expansion different from that of the first material to form a bimetallic strip. The bi-metallic strip bends with temperature change as is known in the art, thus deforming the center section of the c-shaped frame comprising one of its elements and changing the tension exerted on the portion of the optical fiber incorporating a grating filter disposed between the two ends of the frame.
Yet another prior-art thermal-compensated Bragg grating filter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,920 and employs an optical fiber incorporating a Bragg grating filter in which the central wavelength varies in opposite directions with temperature and with an axial strain applied to the grating. A top surface of a compensating member is affixed to a portion of the fiber that includes the grating and a tension adjusting member is connected to the compensating member. The tension adjusting member and the compensating member are formed of materials selected so that as the temperature of the device decreases, the tension adjusting member contracts more than the compensating member so as to control the deformation of the compensating member and thereby impose an axial strain on the grating. The controlled application of tensile stress to the optical fiber in the region of the grating causes changes in the central wavelength of the pass band of the filter to compensate for central wavelength variations resulting from changes in the grating temperature.
The prior-art thermal compensated Bragg grating filters are suitable for their intended purpose. However, they all have one or more certain drawbacks, including long lengths or other dimensions. Further, the prior-art thermal compensated Bragg grating filters are relatively complex and expensive to manufacture. Furthermore, prior art devices that apply axial tension to the optical fiber tend to have a high failure rate due to the fact that over time the applied tension will cause failures in the optical fiber or the means used to attached the optical fiber.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a thermal-compensated Bragg grating filter that overcomes the problems of the prior art.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a thermal-compensated Bragg grating filter that is easier and less expensive to manufacture than those of the prior art.
Yet another object of the present invention to provide a thermal-compensated Bragg grating filter that is smaller in size than those of the prior art.
Yet another object of the present invention to provide a thermal-compensated Bragg grating filter that is more reliable than those of the prior art.
According to first aspect of the invention, a thermal compensated Bragg grating filter comprises a compensating member and a torsion adjusting member rotatedly mounted to the compensating member. An optical fiber having a Bragg grating therein is laid adjacent to a torsion member, and the two are then rigidly affixed between the torsion adjusting member and the compensating member. The torsion adjusting member may then be rotated, twisting the optical fiber around the torsion member, and thus applying torsion to the optical fiber containing the Bragg grating.
According to a second aspect of the invention, a thermal compensated Bragg grating filter comprises a compensating member having a longitudinal axis and a torsion adjusting member rotatedly mounted to the compensating member. An optical fiber containing a Bragg grating filter therein is rigidly affixed between the torsion adjusting member and the compensating member in an axis other than the compensating member""s longitudinal axis. The torsion adjusting member may then be rotated to apply torsion to the optical fiber.
According to a third aspect of the invention, a thermal compensated Bragg grating filter comprises an optical fiber containing a Bragg grating filter therein and a compensating member having a desired thermal coefficient of expansion. The optical fiber is bent through a curve and affixed to the compensating member such that torsion is applied to the Bragg grating region of the optical fiber.
Other aspects of the invention provide for bending the optical fiber through a curve, for twisting the optical fiber, and for twisting the optical fiber around another member, and then affixing the optical fiber to a compensating member having a selected thermal coefficient of expansion.
The present invention provides an arrangement constructed from one component for introducing in an optical fiber a strain that compensates for temperature induced changes in wavelength reflected by grating. The thermal-compensated Bragg grating filter of the present invention has fewer parts than and is simpler and less expensive to manufacture than prior-art thermal-compensated Bragg grating filters. The thermal-compensated Bragg grating filter of the present invention is also smaller in length than prior-art thermal- compensated Bragg grating filters. The thermal compensated Bragg grating filter of the present invention also has substantially more thermal linearity than those of the prior art, and is more reliable.

Thermal compensated compact bragg grating filter


Increased distributed capacitance for an NMR resonant probe coil is obtained by a surrounding conducting surface which is congruent to and spaced from the major portion of the RF current density distribution on the surface of the inductive component of the resonator. This surface is interrupted with one or more gaps to avoid or control circulating currents on the conducting surface which reflect the circulating currents of the inductive component.

The invention is in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus and methods and pertains especially to structure for RF coupling to a discrete sample.
In the apparatus and practice of NMR measurements, particular constraints are experienced for the probe. This portion of the apparatus couples RF energy from a transmitter-modulator to a sample and from the sample to the RF receiver. The general probe structure may house a number of other functions, such as sample spinning, temperature control apparatus, RF shielding and the like. This structure is subject to constraints related to magnetic properties of the components therein, but spatial limitations remain the most critical together with optimum coupling.
For discrete samples, whether for imaging or analytic studies, the RF coupling to the sample is achieved with a resonator surrounding the sample. The resonant structure, or insert, has taken the form of an LC circuit, the inductance being furnished by a helical coil, or most commonly, as a saddle coil or birdcage resonator. Capacitance is furnished in the form of discrete chip capacitors and/or the distributed self capacitance of the inductive member. Saddle coils are most often implemented at high frequencies (proton resonances at greater than 4.6 Tesla) as a Helmholtz pair of single (or multiple) turn loops in parallel, or series, with the sample disposed therebetween. The single turn loops are most often defined on a planar conductor and then rolled into cylindrical form which may be supported by a suitable frame or may be cantilevered to surround and define the volume portion to be occupied by the sample. Self-supporting coil structures may also be formed from wire.
In addition to the conducting paths forming the saddle coil (or other resonator) there is often other related conducting structure in close proximity to the coil structure. For example, floating or non-floating RF shields are often employed to define and limit the interior volume in respect of the RF field distribution. These ordinarily take the form of cylindrical portions or closure disks coaxially mounted in respect of the coil. These floating shields are known to contribute capacitance to the proximate resonant circuit. These coaxial structures have also been implemented outside the RF coil axially spaced from the window of the RF saddle coil. Examples of such structures are found in Varian, Inc. NMR probe designated 1H{13C/31P} Triple.nmr(trademark), and also as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,911 and 5,262,727, commonly assigned herewith.
In order to furnish sufficient capacitance to the LC circuit, the prior art employed an electrically floating conducting cylinder in the manner described by the above referenced U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,911 patent, often disposed surrounding and spaced from a portion of the saddle coil. This outer cylinder or band provides a distributed capacitance in combination with that proximate portion of the saddle coil. In use, this prior art outer cylinder is axially disposed away from the edge of the xe2x80x9cwindowxe2x80x9d formed by the inner bound of the loop of the saddle coil turn to avoid field distortion and at least partially for that reason the prior art is limited to a relatively small ring about the leg, or terminal region of the coil.
The present invention employs a capacitor band which matches, to a selected extent, that portion of the projected surface shape of the inductor of the resonant circuit of the probe which contain the major contribution to the RF current density. The capacitor band of the invention includes a slot to avoid completed current loops to reduce losses from inductive coupling between the coil and the capacitor band, and to distribute the image currents on the capacitor band to correspond to the real RF current distribution on the inductor.

Distributed capacitance inserts for NMR probes


Representative implementations of devices and techniques provide detection of a voltage drift of an electrical component or system. A detection circuit detects the voltage drift based on a comparison of a received signal from a test circuit and a reference voltage. A compensation voltage may be generated and applied at one or more locations within the test circuit to compensate for the voltage drift.

Many decision-based systems work within a specified voltage domain. For example, for the purposes of logical decision making, portions of the voltage domain may be assigned to a logical high while other portions of the voltage domain are assigned to a logical low. In other words, a particular voltage appearing at a decision node can be interpreted by the system as a logical high or a logical low, based on the assignment of voltage values within the voltage domain.
Within today's systems, voltage domains can be quite narrow, encompassing only a few volts, for example. In some cases, sub-systems work with different voltage domains, or at a different voltage bias, having to convert signals from one domain to another domain to preserve the logic, as the signals pass from sub-system to sub-system. In these and other examples, the integrity of the logical decisions of a system relies on the constancy of the voltage domains.
However, in many cases, a system voltage source may generate several voltage domains, sometimes with different voltage bias. Over time, and often due to environmental conditions, the voltages of the domains or the voltage bias of devices or systems can drift differently or unequally. Such an occurrence can result in incorrect or unreliable logical decisions, as when the system interprets a voltage appearing at a decision node incorrectly, or as when a pair of unequally effected signals appears at the input of a comparison or decision device.


A vehicle roof structure is disclosed that includes a front roof rail, a pair of front roof rail braces and a pair of A-pillars. First ends of the front roof rail braces are fixedly coupled to opposite ends of the front roof rail. The pair of A-pillars each has an inner A-pillar panel. Second ends of the front roof rail braces are bonded to a connection area of a respective one of the inner A-pillar panels such that the opposite ends of the front roof rail are spaced inwardly from the inner A-pillar panels by the front roof rail braces. The front roof rail extends perpendicularly from the A-pillars via the front roof rail braces. Further, each of the inner A-pillar panels has a generally constant overall transverse cross sectional shape across the connection areas of the inner A-pillar panels.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a vehicle roof structure. More specifically, the present invention relates to a connection area of a vehicle roof structure that is formed between a front roof rail brace and A-pillar bonded.
2. Background Information
Many vehicles utilize a conventional unitized (self-supporting) vehicle body that is built from hollow sheet metal components onto which body panels are welded. Generally, the structural configurations of these unitized vehicle bodies are continuously being improved for a variety of reasons. For instance, these unitized vehicle bodies have been developed so as to simplify the assembly process, and thereby reducing manufacturing costs. Moreover, these unitized vehicle bodies have been extensively redesigned over the years to make the vehicles safer in order to protect passengers in the event of an accident.
It is therefore important for a vehicle roof support structure to be simple to manufacture and provide strength and rigidity to protect passengers in the event of impact from the side. One measure of the strength and rigidity of the roof support structure is the offset deformable barrier tests (ODB).
The A-pillar of a vehicle is typically a support member that supports the front of a vehicle roof and a side portion of a windshield of the vehicle. A front roof rail typically supports the front edge of the roof and the upper edge of the windshield. In conventional roof support structures, the front roof rail is fixed to the A-pillar by bolts or removable fasteners. The bolt or fastener connection between the A-pillar and the front roof rail has several drawbacks. First, it requires that the A-pillar be formed with fastener receiving threaded apertures. Typically, such threaded apertures can be a weak point in the overall strength and rigidity of the roof support structure. The fastener connection also increases manufacturing costs.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved vehicle roof structure. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.

Nissan Technical Center North America, Inc.


The energy conversion system includes a first optical cover having a flat surface and a patterned surface. The patterned surface is configured to receive solar energy from the flat surface, then concentrate and guide the solar energy. The system also includes a second optical cover. The system further includes providing a photovoltaic cell layer between the patterned surface of the first optical cover and the second optical cover. The photovoltaic cell layer is configured to receive the solar energy from the patterned surface and convert the solar energy into electrical energy.

The invention relates generally to a solar energy conversion system, and more particularly, to a photovoltaic concentrator configured to concentrate and guide incident light onto plurality of photovoltaic cells.
Solar energy is considered as an alternate source of energy relative to other forms of energy. Solar energy conversion systems are used to convert solar energy into electrical energy. The solar energy conversion system typically includes photovoltaic modules, photoelectric cells, or solar cells that convert solar energy into electrical energy for immediate use or for storage and subsequent use. Conversion of solar energy into electrical energy includes reception of light, such as sunlight, at a solar cell, absorption of sunlight into the solar cell, generation and separation of positive and negative charges creating a voltage in the solar cell, and collection and transfer of electrical charges through a terminal coupled to the solar cell.
Solar modules are primarily used in residential and commercial areas i.e. in areas served by a grid of an electric utility company. The amount of electrical energy generated by the solar module is directly related to the amount of solar energy the cells within a module absorb, which in turn is impacted by the cell efficiency, surface area of cell coverage, and the intensity or brightness of the sunlight that is incident on the cells. Cost of the photovoltaic module increases with increased surface area coverage by the photovoltaic cells. One approach for reducing the cost associated with photovoltaic modules is via optical concentration techniques. By employing optical concentration, the cell coverage area within the laminate is reduced. Traditional optical concentrators used for higher levels of optical concentration are often bulky and require active tracking of the light rays. Moreover cost associated with traditional optical concentrators are higher.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a low level static optical concentrator for reducing the cost associated with solar modules with minimal efficiency loss.

Photovoltaic concentrator for solar energy system


A network connection manager detects entry-portal-only network connections. The network connection manager requests content from at least one remote location through a network connection. The network connection manager examines the received content, and determines whether the network connection is an entry-portal-only network connection. In response to detecting an entry-portal-only condition, the network connection manager prompts the user to logon through the entry portal and establish a general purpose network connection.

Fee based Internet access provided in hotel rooms and areas with wireless Internet access such as airports and coffee shops requires sign-on and/or payment through a web-based entry portal before allowing general network access. Such environments will not allow access to anything but the entry portal until authorization and/or payment has been established. Requiring users to start with the entry portal is enforced by returning the content of the entry portal regardless of the content being requested by a browser or other application. Authorization for use is usually limited to a period of 24 hours or so; once that period has expired, re-authorization/purchase is required and conditions revert to the state where all network requests, regardless of the requested address, return the content of the entry portal. From the point of view of an operating system (and therefore network aware applications running under the operating system as well), a valid network connection seems to have been established. The operating system and its applications do not have the ability to distinguish between the entry-portal-only network connection and a network connection authorized for general use.
Such conditions can lead to very confusing results for both applications and their users. Under entry-portal-only conditions, not only does it appear to applications that a general purpose network connection is available, but requests for specific content return unexpected content (i.e., the entry portal content) rather than an error. For example, imagine a process that automatically updates files used by a software program by copying the latest version of the files from a location on the Internet. When such a process attempts to retrieve a file through an entry-portal-only network connection, content is returned (the entry portal content) that causes the update program to "believe" that it has retrieved the requested file. When the process then tries to validate the retrieved content (e.g., by checking for an identifying signature or the like), the process finds the content to be invalid and displays an error message so indicating to the user. This can easily lead the user to believe that the content has been compromised and, at the very least, lead to a support call to the application vendor.
What is needed are computer implemented methods, computer readable media and computer systems for detecting when a network connection is an entry-portal-only connection, and for directing the user to the appropriate solution (i.e., proceeding through the entry portal and establishing a general network connection).

Detecting entry-portal-only network connections


An optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus capable of shortening the time required for focus adjustment and reducing the burden on an object is provided. The apparatus includes a first focus unit that moves a first optical focus member disposed in a light-receiving optical system of an optical observation system that obtains an observed image of an object, and a second focus unit that moves a second optical focus member disposed in an optical interference system that acquires a tomographic image of the object in conjunction with a movement of the first optical focus member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus used for ophthalmic care and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, various ophthalmic apparatuses using optical apparatuses are known. For example, various apparatuses such as an anterior ocular segment imaging apparatus, fundus camera, and SLO (Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope) are used as apparatuses for the observation of the eyes. Among these apparatuses, an optical tomographic imaging apparatus based on OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) using multi-wavelength light wave coherence can obtain a tomographic image of a sample at high resolution. The apparatus is becoming indispensable to outpatient clinics specialized in retinas as an ophthalmic apparatus. This apparatus will be referred to as an OCT apparatus hereinafter.
An OCT apparatus irradiates a sample with measurement light which is low-coherence light, and can perform high-sensitivity measurement of backscattered light from the sample by using an interference system or optical interference system. Low-coherence light has the property of being able to obtain a high-resolution tomographic image by increasing the wavelength width. In addition, the OCT apparatus can obtain a high-resolution tomographic image by scanning measurement light on a sample. Therefore, the OCT apparatus can acquire a tomographic image of the retina at the fundus of an eye to be examined, and hence has been widely used for ophthalmic care and the like for the retina.
On the other hand, the OCT apparatus as an ophthalmic apparatus is generally equipped with optical systems for fundus observation, anterior eye observation, and the like to implement alignment adjustment between the apparatus and an eye to be examined. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-291252 discloses an ophthalmic apparatuses that performs primary focusing (rough focus) of the focus lens of an OCT optical system for acquiring a tomographic image based on the focus position of the focus lens of the SLO optical system for fundus observation. The ophthalmic apparatuses disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-291252 starts moving the focus lens of the OCT optical system to the primary focus position after the movement of the focus lens of the SLO optical system to the focus position has ended.
If focus adjustment takes long time, the burden on the subject increases.

Optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus and control method thereof


A current driver configuration for MRAMs includes word-line drivers and bit-line drivers at respective first ends of word lines and bit lines. The word line drivers and the bit line drivers each include a series circuit formed by an n-channel field-effect transistor and a current source. Further series circuits are provided at the respective second ends of the word lines and the bit lines. Each of the further series circuits includes a second n-channel field-effect transistor and a voltage source.

The present invention relates to a current driver configuration for an MRAM (magnetoresistive random access memory) including a memory cell array having a plurality of memory cells at crossover points between word lines and bit lines and including drivers which are assigned to the word lines and the bit lines and are in each case provided at one end of the word lines and the bit lines.
It is known that the magnetically variable electrical resistance of the individual memory cells in MRAMs is utilized for the memory effect. As is shown in FIG. 2, such a memory cell is formed at the crossover between a word line WL, which is assumed to be an upper conductor LTO here, and a bit line BL, which is formed by a lower conductor LTU. At the crossover point between these two conductors LTO and LTU, a specific multilayer system is present between the two conductors LTO and LTU. This multilayer system includes a hard-magnetic material layer HML and a soft-magnetic material layer WML, between which there is a tunnel oxide film TL. In other words, the hard-magnetic material layer HML, the tunnel oxide film TL and the soft-magnetic material layer WML are stacked, one on top of the other, on the lower conductor LTU. The soft-magnetic material layer WML being covered on its top side by the upper conductor LTO.
The configuration of the soft-magnetic material layer WML and hard-magnetic material layer HML can, if appropriate, also be interchanged, with the result that the hard-magnetic material layer HML is provided xe2x80x9cat the topxe2x80x9d, while the soft-magnetic material layer WML is situated on the lower conductor LTU. Equally, it is possible to provide the upper conductor LTO for the bit line BL and the lower conductor LTU for the word line WL.
All that is important is that the tunnel oxide film TL is provided between the soft-magnetic material layer WML and the hard-magnetic material layer HML, these two layers WML and HML respectively being assigned to an upper conductor LTO and a lower conductor LTU. Instead of an oxide, another material can also be used for the tunnel oxide film.
The thickness dTL (cf. FIG. 3) of the tunnel oxide film TL may preferably be in the range from 0.5 to 5 nm. The thickness dWML of the soft-magnetic material layer WML and the thickness dHML of the hard-magnetic material layer HML lie approximately in the range from 1 to 5 nm. In principle, however, thicknesses that deviate therefrom are also permissible.
In this way, the multilayer system including the soft-magnetic material layer WML, the tunnel oxide film TL and the hard-magnetic material layer HML forms a memory cell with a resistor R between the upper conductor LTO and the lower conductor LTU, resulting in the configuration shown diagrammatically in FIG. 4.
The resistance of the multilayer system, that is to say of the memory cell, between the conductors LTO and LTU or between the word line WL and the bit line BL depends, then, on whether the magnetization direction in the two material layers WML and HML runs in a manner oriented parallel or antiparallel with respect to one another. If the magnetization directions in the two material layers WML and HML are oriented parallel to one another, then the resistor R has a low resistance, whereas in the case of an antiparallel orientation of the magnetization of these material layers, a high resistance of the resistor R can be recorded. Since the hard-magnetic material layer HML has a fixed magnetization, the memory cell is written to by switching the soft-magnetic material layer, by applying a corresponding magnetic field to the material layer. This magnetic field is generated by superposition of the two magnetic fields which are formed by a current Io in the upper conductor LTO and a current Iu in the lower conductor LTU. In other words, by sending corresponding currents Io, and Iu, in a specific direction through the conductors LTO and LTU, respectively, it is possible to switch over the magnetization direction in the soft-magnetic material layer WML, with the result that this is oriented parallel or antiparallel with respect to the magnetization direction of the hard-magnetic material layer HML. Antiparallel-oriented magnetizations of the two material layers WML and HML are assumed in the example of FIG. 3, this being indicated by corresponding arrows, so that the resistor R has a high resistance in this case.
When switching the soft-magnetic material layer WML between antiparallel- and parallel-oriented magnetizations with respect to the hard-magnetic material layer HML, and vice versa, it should be noted that the soft-magnetic material of the layer WML has a hysteresis property. The triggering of the switching operation requires the superposition of the magnetic fields which are generated by the currents Io, and Iu in the upper conductor LTO and in the lower conductor LTU, respectively. For a switching operation, it is necessary to reverse the original current direction of the current Io, and of the current Iu, respectively.
In a conventional DRAM, the word lines are each connected to the gate terminals of switching transistors, with the result that the capacitances formed by the gate terminals are also applied to the word lines. This means that a voltage for rapidly reversing the charge of the capacitances for each word line has to be provided in each case by a driver. The drivers of DRAMs include n- and p-channel field-effect transistors so that low and high voltages can be switched without any losses. However, in order to obtain the same driver power for a p-channel field-effect transistor as for an n-channel field-effect transistor, due to the lesser charge carrier mobility in a p-channel field-effect transistor, it is necessary to specify for the latter a channel width approximately 2.5 times that for the n-channel field-effect transistor.
A conventional driver for the word lines of a DRAM (dynamic random access memory) or FeRAM (ferroelectric random access memory) having a p-channel field-effect transistor P1 and an n-channel field-effect transistor NO, which are connected in series between a driver voltage DRV and ground and are connected to a read-out terminal RDOUTn by their gate terminals, is shown in FIG. 5. The word line WL is located at the junction point between these two transistors P1 and N0. The channel width wp of the p-channel field-effect transistor P1 is 2.5 times the channel width wn of the n-channel field-effect transistor N0.
In an MRAM, in contrast to a DRAM, a high current of 2.5 to 3 mA is required for writing, but the voltage across the individual memory cells should be as small as possible in order to avoid breakdowns of the tunnel oxide layer. By way of example, if a tunnel oxide layer thickness dTL of 2 nm or less is assumed, then the voltage across the tunnel oxide film should not exceed 0.5 V so that a service life of 10 years can be achieved.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a current driver configuration which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known current driver configurations of this general type and which can provide small voltages with high currents and which, at the same time, requires only a small area.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, in combination with an MRAM having a memory cell array with a plurality of memory cells, word lines, and bit lines, the word lines and the bit lines having respective first ends and having respective second ends opposite the respective first ends, the word lines and the bit lines crossing one another at respective crossover points, the memory cells being disposed at the crossover points, a current driver configuration which includes:
drivers assigned to respective ones of the word lines and the bit lines, the drivers being provided at the respective first ends of the word lines and the bit lines;
the drivers each including a first n-channel field-effect transistor and a current source connected in series to the first n-channel field-effect transistor; and
series circuits provided at the respective second ends of the word lines and the bit lines such that the series circuits are connected between the respective second ends of the word lines and the bit lines and ground, the series circuits each including a second n-channel field-effect transistor and a voltage source.
With the objects of the invention in view there is also provided, a memory configuration, including:
a word line and a bit line crossing one another at a crossing point, the word line and the bit line each having a first end and a second end opposite the first end;
a magnetoresistive memory cell provided at the crossing point;
a first driver assigned to the word line and provided at the first end of the word line;
a second driver assigned to the bit line and provided at the first end of the bit line;
each of the first driver and the second driver including a first n-channel field-effect transistor and a current source connected in series to the first n-channel field-effect transistor; and
a first series circuit connected between the second end of the word line and ground;
a second series circuit connected between the second end of the bit line and ground; and
each of the first series circuit and the second series circuit including a second n-channel field-effect transistor and a voltage source.
In other words, the object of the invention is achieved by virtue of the fact that the drivers each include an n-channel field-effect transistor and a current source in series therewith.
With the current driver configuration according to the invention, the desired low voltages with high currents, as are required when writing and reading from MRAMs, can be switched using the n-channel field-effect transistors with normal levels without losses on word lines and bit lines of the MRAM. For the same driver power, these n-channel field-effect transistors require a considerably smaller area in comparison with p-channel field-effect transistors. The area is consequently reduced by approximately a factor of 2.5, which can be attributed to the smaller channel width already mentioned. A further reduction in area is possible if boosted voltages are used for driving the n-channel field-effect transistors, which voltages increase the driver power.
According to a feature of the invention, it is provided that at the other endxe2x80x94opposite to the one endxe2x80x94of the word lines and the bit lines, there is located a series circuit formed by a further n-channel field-effect transistor and a voltage source between the other end and ground. In this case, the voltage source may include a resistor, a transistor diode or a complex circuit.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a current driver configuration for an MRAM, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.


A 2D/3D optically controlled spatial and angular electromagnetic wave modulator is disclosed. The modulator of the present invention modulates the amplitude and direction of an electromagnetic wave such as millimeter microwaves or infrared waves by diffracting or scattering the electromagnetic wave from a semiconductor material upon which is incident a controlling lightwave. The lightwave incident upon the semiconductor is of varying intensity, and may be time varying, and changes the complex refractive permittivity of the semiconductor material. The electromagnetic wave is thus modulated in accordance with the controlling lightwave.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the spatial and angular modulation of electromagnetic waves. More particularly, this invention relates to optically controlling the spatial and angular modulation of electromagnetic waves incident upon a semiconductor material by optically changing the complex permittivity of the semiconductor material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Light can change the complex refractive index n of a semiconductor material. Specifically, n=n (I) where n=n'+in" (where n' and in" are the real and imaginary parts respectively and i=.sqroot.-1) and I is the intensity of the optical wave. The mechanics of this phenomenon is based on fundamental Drude theory. See T. S. Moss, "Optical Properties of Semiconductors," Butterworths, London (1959).
The intensity I of an optical wave can change the complex refractive index of Si, GaAs, InGaAsP and other semiconductors in the microwave range (1 mm-1 cm) and infrared (IR) range (1.0.mu.- 100.mu.). See I. Shih, "Photo-Induced Complex Permittivity Measurements of Semiconductors" 477 SPIE 94 (1984) (microwave range) and B. Bennett, "Carrier-Induced Change in Refractive Index of InP, GaAs, and InGaAsP" 26 IEEE J. Quan. Elec. 113 (1990) (IR range) incorporated herein by reference.
The prior art shows light induced modulation of both the real and imaginary parts of the refractive index. The real part controls phase and the imaginary part controls amplitude of the modulated electromagnetic field. The real part is primarily responsible for changes in IR waves and the imaginary part for changes in millimeter waves (MMW). This effect is described by Drude theory and involves carrier induced changes in the complex permittivity of metals and semiconductors when illuminated by light. Light increases the density of free carriers in the material.
Based on this effect, devices which change the phase of lightwaves by illumination of semiconductors with other light have been developed. Specifically, optical phase modulators have been employed. In the state of the art, however, it is shown possible to modulate the material at only one point. This type of limited modulation is discussed in a recent article by Z. Y Cheng and C. S. Tsai "Optically Activated Integrated Optic Mach-Zender Interferometer on GaAs," 59 Appl. Phys. Lett. 1991. It would be beneficial to employ a device that can modulate an EM field at more than one point, particularly to modulate the material in two dimensions (2D) and potentially three dimensions (3D).
At the same time, optically controlled spatial light modulators (SLM) based on semiconductor materials have been used. In optically addressed SLMs, the semiconductor plays a transport role, such that changes in the semiconductor material affect an adjacent layer of electro-optic (EO) material which in turn affects an EM wave propagating through the EO material. The effectiveness of this type of modulator is low. It should be mentioned that these devices are limited to controlling the visible range only.
These SLM devices transmit or project some 2D pattern which can be transmitted through an optical wave. Other types of devices that are of interest, however, transmit EM waves in a particular direction in the microwave region without moving parts. Such devices are called phased array antennas.
A phased array is a network of radiating elements, each of which is usually non-directive but whose cooperative radiation pattern is a highly directed beam because constructive interference occurs between radiating elements. Whereas previous radar antennas had to be mechanically steered for beampointing, the phased array antenna achieves the same effect electronically by individually changing the phases of the signals radiating from each element. Narrow angular band beams can be formed by simply driving each element of the array with an appropriately phased signal. Moreover, electronic steering is much faster and more agile than mechanical beam steering and can form several beam lobes and nulls to facilitate multiple target tracking or other functions such as anti-jamming.
The flexibility of electronic steering afforded by phased array radars, however, comes at the cost of individual control of each element. The N elements of the antenna are driven with the same signal but each with a different phase. In practice, a single signal is equally split into N signals to feed the elements, and a phase shifting network, such as those using ferrites or diodes, is provided for individual phase control of each element. For large arrays (i.e., N>100), the complexity of the power splitting network and the cost of providing N phase shifters can become quite high, not to mention the bulkiness of the necessary waveguide plumbing. Moreover, for very large arrays, the computation required to calculate the array phase distribution for a desired radiation pattern is a serious burden. These constitute the most serious drawbacks of conventional phased array radar systems.
Phased array antenna theory is based on Fourier optics in general and the theory of diffraction gratings in particular. It is well known from Fourier optics that the optical beam is diffracted in a particular direction if the phase difference between the particular optical rays is a multiple of the wavelength of the optical beam.
According to FIG. 1A, the phase synchronized condition has the form m.lambda.=.LAMBDA. sin .theta., where .LAMBDA. is the grating constant, .theta. is the angle of diffraction, and m is the integers 0, .+-.1, .+-.2 . . . . From this equation we obtain the following equation ##EQU1## which is the well known grating equation. If electrically controlled, a phase shift of m.lambda. can be introduced between different antennas thereby causing constructive interference in one direction, which results in antenna directionality. This effect can be used in both a transmitter and a receiver.
Exactly the same principle is used in conventional phased array antennas where illuminated points of the gratings are replaced by elementary antennas as in FIG. 1B. See M. I. Skolnik, "Introduction to Radar Systems", McGraw Hill New York (1980) incorporated herein by reference.
Using Equation 1 two basic disadvantages of phased array antenna systems are made apparent: (1) the periodic structure has a discrete point-type profile. This means that many diffraction orders are generated; only one order is desired, and the remaining orders reduce efficiency of the system; (2) the number of elementary antennas is limited by size and complexity. As the frequency of the microwaves increase (beyond 60 GHz), the density of packaging of individual elements and phase shifters limits the feasibility of such an antenna. Also, having individual emitters fixed in space precludes the antenna from being used for different frequencies. At the receiver end, such an antenna has limited bandwidth capability (due to the fixed elements).
For IR beam steering the packaging of individual phase shifters is virtually impossible and an electronically controlled spatial light detector is limited to very narrow angular bandwidth. See F. Vasey et al., "Electro-optic AlGaAs Spatial Light Deflector/Modulator Based on a Grating Phased Array" 58 Appl. Phys. Lett. 2874 (1991) incorporated herein by reference.

Light controlled spatial and angular electromagnetic wave modulator


A method for increasing the bond strength of ultrasonic bonds in elastomeric materials comprising elongating the elastomeric materials prior to ultrasonically bonding the materials.

Disposable garments, such as infant and children's diapers, swim wear and training pants, as well as adult incontinence garments, conventionally include materials that are joined together and connected using a bonding process. For example, a training pant or other pant-type garment may have a front side panel and a back side panel that are bonded together at a side seam to provide a complete side panel. The side panels are typically connected at the side seam using an ultrasonic process.
The ability to form strong ultrasonic bonds using conventional processes is limited by several factors, including the process converting speeds or production line speeds, bonding time or dwell time, and the thickness and/or basis weight of the materials being bonded.
For particular materials, such as spunbond laminate materials, as the production line speed increases, the dwell time decreases. Consequently, the strength of the ultrasonic bond decreases resulting in insufficient bond strength. Thus, insufficient bond strength may severely limit potential product converting speeds. Additionally, adhesives used to bond spunbond materials and the elastic filaments or fibers used to make such materials elastomeric may inhibit the effectiveness of conventional ultrasonic bonding processes.
Attempts to improve the ultrasonic bonding process have focused on the mechanics of the ultrasonic horn, such as, for example, increasing the energy available from the ultrasonic horn by increasing the horn vibrational amplitude or other design features. However, the mechanical design of the ultrasonic horn may limit the maximum energy that can be delivered by the ultrasonic system to the materials being bonded, thus making it difficult to further enhance the bonding capability of the ultrasonic bonder by modifying the ultrasonic horn and/or the amplifier design. Further attempts to improve ultrasonic bond strength, without sacrificing speed, have included preheating the materials to be bonded prior to the bonding process. However, with heat sensitive materials, such processes cannot be used.
Thus, there is a need for an ultrasonic bonding process that provides sufficient bond strength at increased production line speeds and corresponding decreased dwell times.

Method for improved bond strength in an elastomeric material