The present invention provides a thin film transistor in which a substantial length of a channel is shortened to miniaturize a semiconductor device and a manufacturing method thereof. In addition, the present invention provides a semiconductor device which realizes high-speed operation and high-performance of the semiconductor device and a manufacturing method thereof. Further in addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a manufacturing method in which a manufacturing process is simplified. The semiconductor device of the present invention has an island-shaped semiconductor film formed over a substrate having an insulating surface and a gate electrode formed over the island-shaped semiconductor film, in which the gate electrode is oxidized its surface by high-density plasma to be slimmed and the substantial length of a channel is shortened.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film transistor, one feature of which is a manufacturing method of a gate electrode, and the manufacturing method thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device such as an ID chip, an RFID, a CPU (central processing unit), a liquid crystal display device, and an organic EL display device, and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an electronic appliance of a semiconductor device such as an ID chip, an RFID, a CPU, a liquid crystal display device, and an organic EL display device has been actively developed. In order to realize high integration and high-speed operation of a semiconductor device, miniaturization of the semiconductor device in a manufacturing process is required.
As a method of manufacturing such a semiconductor device, a method in which a gate electrode is miniaturized by etching, or a method in which a surface of a gate electrode is oxidized by using an anodic oxidation method to shorten a substantial length of a channel can be given (see Patent Document 1).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-217170

Thin film transistor and manufacturing method thereof

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A CDMA packet data system is disclosed that can dynamically allocate channels in the CDMA packet data system). Using the disclosed dynamic allocation method, the utilization efficiency of multiple channels is increased and the transmission rate of packet data is increased. This is because a static, specific channel is not allocated to each terminal, but rather the system dynamically allocates multiple channels to each mobile terminal. Thus, the base station provides information on all channels used in the system to multiple terminals. The terminals check the occupied state of each channel before transmitting packet data, and thereafter transmitting packet data through an unoccupied channel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) packet data system, and more particularly, to a method for dynamic allocation of channels in a CDMA packet data system.
2. Background of the Related Art
Generally, a CDMA transmitter transmits data by multiplying a PN (Pseudo Noise) code after spreading the spectrum of the transmit frequency, and a CDMA receiver demodulates the data to the original bandwidth by multiplying the same PN code as that in transmission.
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a related art CDMA packet data system. The system includes a base station 20 and a plurality of terminals 1–N.
The plurality of terminals 1–N are typically grouped in as many groups as there are channels used in one base station 20. Channels in the CDMA system are distinguished by unique PN codes. For example, if a system has six terminals 1–6 (i.e., N is 6) and three channels in one base station 20, this base station 20 classifies the six terminals 1–6 into three groups. Each group uses one channel.
Terminals using the same channel (terminals in the same group) each monitor the occupied state of the channel in order to prevent collisions with data transmitted by other terminals in the channel. Thus, if one terminal in a group detects that the other terminals in the same group (and thus using the same PN code as that used by itself) are not currently occupying the channel, it starts to transmit data through the channel. In determining whether or not the channel is occupied, an idle signal transmitted from the base station to the terminal is used.
In the related art system, the terminal has to transmit packet data through the corresponding, pre-allocated channel, and cannot use other channels. This method for static allocation of channels in the related art CDMA packet data system will now be described in more detail.
If the number of channels used in the base station 20 is three, and there are six terminals 1–6 for this base station 20, the base station 20 allocates a channel to each terminal 1–6. For example, channel A is allocated to terminal 1, terminal 2, and terminal 3, channel B is allocated to terminal 4, and channel C is allocated to terminal 5 and terminal 6.
Terminals in each channel can access the base station 20 independently of other channels. The CDMA system distinguishes channels using a PN seed. That is, terminal 1, terminal 2, and terminal 3 use the same PN seed, but the terminals in channel A and the terminal in channels B and C use different PN seeds.
With respect to channel A, as shown in FIG. 2, terminal 1 detects whether or not channel A is in the idle state in step ST1. If it is determined that channel A is idle, terminal 1 transmits packet data through channel A, as shown in step ST2.
If a packet of data to be transmitted by terminal 3 is generated after terminal 1 transmits one packet of data in this way, terminal 3 also detects whether or not channel A is in the idle state, according to step ST1. If channel A is idle, the packet of data of terminal 3 is transmitted through channel A, as shown in step ST2.
In this way, terminal 1, terminal 2, and terminal 3 each transmit data packets through channel A without collision with other data at different time intervals in a uniform order.
With respect to channel B and channel C, data is transmitted without collision with other data in the same way as described for channel A.
A method of detecting the occupied state of a channel in the related art system will now be described. Generally, packet data transmitted from a terminal consists of a preamble and data. The preamble is used by the base station in order to acquire the synchronization and phase of data transmitted from the terminal.
When terminal 1 transmits a packet of data to the base station 20 through channel A, the base station 20 transmits a power control signal through channel A to terminal 1. This enables terminal 1 and the base station 20 to maintain a constant power after acquiring synchronization and phase using the preamble of the packet data. Therefore, terminal 1 performs power control using this power control signal, and the other terminals (terminal 2 and terminal 3) not transmitting packet data do not transmit data because they recognize this power control signal as a channel occupancy signal.
Once the packet data has been received through channel A, the base station 20 does not perform power control anymore. Instead, it transmits an idle signal to the terminal side through channel A. Therefore, the terminals (terminal 1, terminal 2, and terminal 3) allocated to channel A detect that channel A is not occupied, and a terminal of that channel having packet data to be transmitted thus transmits data.
This method of channel allocation has various problems. For example, terminal 4 (allocated to channel B) and terminals 5 and 6 (allocated to channel C) cannot access channel A. In addition, the terminals allocated to channel A cannot access channel B or channel C. Thus, when channel A is busy and channel B is idle, the terminals allocated to channel A cannot use channel B.
Additionally, in this method for static allocation of channels in the related art CDMA packet data system, since channels are allocated in advance before the terminals transmit packet data and packet data is transmitted using only the allocated channel, the efficiency of the channel is decreased because the traffic of the channel is non-uniformly distributed.
Additionally, in some systems, when a prescribed period of time elapses after the occurrence of the traffic, the base station checks the traffic state for a period of time, and reallocates a predetermined number of terminals to the channel. However, this method has the disadvantage in that the non-uniformity of the traffic cannot be solved right away, and requires that the traffic state be checked.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.

Method for dynamic allocation of channels in a code division multiple access packet data system


A manufacturing method for manufacturing a spark plug including a rod-shaped center electrode extending in an axial direction, an insulator having a tubular shape having an axial hole and holding the center electrode in the axial hole, a metal shell having a tubular shape having an end surface and an inner peripheral surface, a gap being formed between a leading end side of the insulator and the inner peripheral surface, and a ground electrode welded to the end surface, the manufacturing method including welding the ground electrode to the end surface, and removing welding sag, which is formed inside the metal shell by the welding, by causing a tip end portion of a linear member to come into contact with the welding sag while rotating a tool in which a base end portion of the linear member is fixed.

In general, a spark plug includes a center electrode, an insulator, a metal shell, and a ground electrode. The metal shell of the spark plug has a tubular shape having an end surface and an inner peripheral surface. The end surface of the metal shell is connected to the ground electrode. A gap for preventing spark leak (lateral spark) is formed between the inner peripheral surface of the metal shell and the insulator holding the center electrode. Spark leak is a phenomenon in which spark discharge is generated at a portion different from a spark gap between the center electrode and the ground electrode.
JP-A-2003-223968 and JP-A-2011-175985 disclose techniques in which the end surface and the inner peripheral surface are formed to the metal shell and then the ground electrode is welded to the end surface of the metal shell. When the ground electrode is welded to the end surface of the metal shell, welding sag may protrude to the inside of the metal shell and such welding sag becomes a cause of the spark leak. Furthermore, JP-A-2003-223968 discloses a technique in which the ground electrode is welded to the end surface of the metal shell and then the welding sag protruding to the inside of the metal shell is removed by a shearing process or a cutting process.
In the techniques disclosed in JP-A-2003-223968 and JP-A-2011-175985, there is a problem that it is difficult to sufficiently further reduce a protrusion amount of the welding sag on the inside of the metal shell from the viewpoint of ensuring a bonding strength of bonding the ground electrode to the metal shell and preventing damage with respect to the inner peripheral surface of the metal shell. Particularly, when a size of the spark plug is reduced, since an influence of the welding sag to the spark leak becomes noticeable, it is necessary to further reduce the protrusion amount of the welding sag.


A protective platform is disclosed that includes a panel that moves from a first position to a second position. In the second position, the protective platform may protect swimmers from the rotating propeller of the boat and provides a way for swimmers to enter and/or exit the boat. The protective platform may also cover the swim platform in its entirety.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a protective platform for the rear portion of a boat, more specifically, a protective platform to protect swimmers from the propeller on a boat and to provide an entrance to and exit from the stern of a boat.
2. Technical Background
As known to recreational boaters, a rotating propeller (and sometimes even a stationary one) on the back of a boat can present serious risks to those climbing in or out of the boat. Injuries from contact with a rotating propeller may be as minor as cuts or scratches or may even result in death. There are several technologies available to try to reduce the number of accidents involving rotating propellers. These technologies generally include propeller guards, propulsion alternatives, interlocks, and sensors. Propeller guards may include deflection type, full cages, and shrouds or ring guards. However, propeller guards generally have a negative impact on handling characteristics of the boat, loss of power and/or speed, and increase drag thereby reducing speed and fuel economy. They may even increase the frequency of blunt force trauma to swimmers or marine life due to their larger size. Additionally, the majority of propeller guards only protect from side entry, and not from fore or aft entry by swimmers. If a full cage is used, it presents a larger area for swimmers and/or debris to become entangled in the cages. The cages also cause hydrodynamic interference, potentially causing the loss of maneuverability and/or stability.
Interlocks also provides some protection, however, they do not always provide protection to swimmers trying to get back into a boat while the propellers are rotating. Sensors also provides some protection, but typically the swimmer must be wearing a monitoring device which interacts with a system on the boat. These systems may be expensive and require testing and maintenance.
Therefore, a protective platform and water exit is needed that can be easily installed on new boats or even added to older boats.


A silicon carbide based material exhibiting high strength, good thermal shock resistance, high resistance to abrasion and being chemically stable to harsh environmental conditions is described. The carbide Ball Hill ceramic comprises a β-SiAlON bonding phase in which sintering is facilitated by at least one rare earth oxide sintering agents incorporated within the Vibrating Sieve batch admixture as starting materials. The residual rare earth sintering aid being chosen so as to impart good mechanical and refractory properties.

Silicon carbide is an attractive material for many applications due to its high strength, excellent thermal stability and resistance to oxidising and chemically corrosive environments.
Example uses of silicon carbide used as a refractory include tiles, bricks and blocks, kiln furniture, linings for high temperature furnaces and crucibles for molten metal. An example of a reaction bonded silicon carbide refractory is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,469. Silicon carbide particles, silicon and an inorganic oxide are processed by heat treatment under nitrogen to provide materials with a density of approximately 2.7 g/cm3 and with bending strengths from 30 MPa to 170 MPa. These early silicon nitride-bonded silicon carbide materials typically contain free silica (SiO2) in the refractory product which is detrimental to the high temperature strength of the silicon carbide. Accordingly, developments of the initial reaction-bonded silicon carbide have used a SiAlON bond phase and in particular β-SiAlON. SiAlONs are compounds based on the silicon nitride (Si3N4) where Si and N atoms are replaced in the lattice with Al and O atoms. Examples SiAlON-bonded silicon carbide materials are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,521,129 and US 2006/0281625.
There is an increasing requirement for energy saving in the ceramics manufacturing industry, not only to reduce production costs but also to satisfy environmentally friendly criteria. Manufacturers of ceramic products, ranging from porcelain through technical ceramics to building materials, are now using methods to improve efficiency by automatically loading and unloading kiln cars and using faster firing cycles. The kiln furniture used for these applications must be low mass and thermally stable, have a high strength, have excellent thermal shock and oxidation resistance, the ability to withstand high temperatures and retain strength at operating temperatures.
In addition, there is an increasing use of high strength, wear resistant ceramic products in a number of more exotic applications; including aircraft engines, brake discs for high performance cars, cyclones and hydro cyclones as well as for personal body armour. All of these applications require ceramic products having high strength, high hardness, excellent impact resistance, excellent abrasion resistance (for certain applications) and the ability to withstand sudden temperatures changes.
Typically, the established silicon nitride-bonded silicon carbides for refractory applications are shape processed by hydraulic, hammer or vibration pressing, or extrusion. The resulting shapes are fired in a nitrogen atmosphere to convert silicon metal powder to α-silicon nitride (Si3N4) and β-silicon nitride (the bonding system) in situ. The silicon metal powder used for this type of product frequently contains 96-98% silicon and iron present, as an impurity. The iron is known to act as a catalyst during the metal-nitrogen (gas/solid) reaction. It is well known that all silicon carbide refractory shapes are susceptible to oxidation above about 1400° C., which eventually leads to product failure. This includes silicon nitride-bonded silicon carbide refractories.
For certain shapes made by slip casting or vibration casting, clay is added to the composition to aid the casting process, which contains silica, alumina and a number of other oxides. During the firing process in a nitrogen atmosphere, these combine with the silicon metal to form a bond containing predominantly silicon oxynitride as well as some α-silicon nitride, β-silicon nitride and glassy phases. Silicon oxynitride and the glassy phases significantly improve the cold abrasion resistance but are detrimental to the thermal properties, particularly resistance to thermal shock and oxidation.
Accordingly, there is a need for a SiAlON bonded silicon carbide material that has improved oxidation resistance, higher strength at ambient and high temperature and which has excellent thermal shock and abrasion properties.


The present invention relates to a method of reprogramming a somatic cell to produce an induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell which is capable of differentiating into somatic cells derived from ectoderm, mesoderm or endoderm. The present invention also relates to the aforementioned iPS cells, methods of generating and maintaining iPS cells, and methods of using iPS cells.

The following description is provided to assist the understanding of the reader. None of the information provided or references cited is admitted to be prior art to the present invention.
Stem cells are cells having the ability to self-renew and divide to an unlimited extent and to differentiate under suitable circumstances to form different types of cells. Embryonic stem cells (ES cells) are stem cells established from early embryos which can be cultured over a long period of time while maintaining pluripotent ability to differentiate into all kinds of cells existing in living bodies. By contrast, somatic stem cells are any cell which is found in a developed organism that has the ability to divide and create another cell like itself and also divide and create a cell more differentiated than itself.
Thomson et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,780; Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92:7844, 1995) were the first to successfully isolate and propagate pluripotent stem cells from primates. They subsequently derived human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines from human blastocysts (Science 282:114, 1998). Gearhart and coworkers derived human embryonic germ (hEG) cell lines from fetal gonadal tissue (Shamblott et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:13726, 1998; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,090,622). Both hES and hEG cells have the long-sought characteristics of pluripotent stem cells, i.e., they can be cultured extensively without differentiating, they have a normal karyotype, and they remain capable of producing a number of important cell types.
Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are a type of pluripotent stem cell artificially derived from a non-pluripotent cell, typically an adult somatic cell. Yamanaka et al. transfected mouse fibroblasts with four genes (Oct4, Sox2, c-Myc, Klf4) to obtain iPS cells in 2006. Subsequently, iPS cells were created from human adult somatic cells. (Takahashi et al. Cell, 131:861-872 (2007); Yu et al. Science, 318:1917-1920, 2007).
The field of regenerative medicine encompasses therapies designed to aid the repair, replacement, or regeneration of damaged cells, tissues, or organs. Stem cell-based therapies have the promise of treating a variety of health conditions including Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, stroke, spinal injuries, heart attack, renal failure, osteoporosis, type I diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, burns, and wounds. However, the progress of such therapies has been hindered by a range of factors including the possibility of immune rejection of ES cells derived from a donor who is immunologically incompatible with the recipient.

Materials and methods for generating pluripotent stem cells

SHANGHAI UNITED STEM CELL BIOTECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


The invention relates to a light fixture for producing an oblong luminous surface with a horizontal illuminant and a box reflector which has a curved reflector surface and planar reflector surfaces to the side enclosing the curved reflector surface, the horizontal illuminant being disposed at right angles to the planar reflector surfaces to the side, which is characterized in that the curved reflector surface is designed to produce the oblong luminous surface at right angles to the horizontal illuminant, and the planar reflector surfaces to the side are designed to sharply define the longitudinal sides of the oblong luminous surface.

Goods display surfaces, such as for example refrigerated display cases, fruit displays, sales shelves etc. are generally lit artificially. The aim here is to light these as evenly as possible, and this is only possible to a certain extent due to the generally elongated rectangular form of these sales units, or requires a plurality of light fixtures.
In DE 298 12 344 U1 a light fixture is described for producing an oblong luminous surface which has a horizontal illuminant and a box reflector. The box reflector has a curved reflector surface and planar reflector surfaces to the side enclosing these. The horizontal illuminant is disposed at right angles to the planar reflector surfaces to the side. During operation the light fixture produces an oblong luminous surface which is disposed longitudinally in relation to the horizontal illuminant and the length of which is substantially determined by that of the horizontal illuminant.
A disadvantage of this light fixture is that when it is positioned a large distance away from the goods display surfaces, the effectiveness of the useful lighting can become limited.

Light fixture for producing an oblong luminous surface


The subject invention provides vehicle mirrors that increase the field of view on one or both sides of a vehicle to bring into view the area behind and lateral to the standard mirror's field of view (the “blind spot”). One embodiment utilizes a flat-plane mirror in conjunction with a horizontally-convex portion at one side. The purpose of the horizontally-convex vertically -straight design is to maintain the vertical dimension of the image to retain proper perception of distance. Utilizing the mirrors of the subject invention, a vehicle driver is able to see directly behind and to the side of the vehicle with maintenance of distance perception. The horizontally-convex portion increases the driver's field of view along the rear and side of a vehicle eliminating or reducing blind spots.

Despite the many design advances made to vehicles, most on the road today do not provide drivers with a full 360° field of view (FOV). During the time a vehicle passing or being passed is not in view it may constitute a danger because the driver may be unaware of its presence or misjudge its distance.
While the windows of vehicles generally provide sufficient direct front and lateral views, most vehicles include side-view mirrors to provide additional rearward FOV. However, most side-view minors have a characteristic "blind-spot" between the area lateral to the side-view minor's field and behind the driver's direct lateral vision. As an adjacent vehicle approaches to pass in an adjacent lane, it is visible in the driver's rear-facing side-view mirror until it disappears from the viewing range of the minor. It remains out of sight until it appears again in the lateral vision of the driver. There is a similar blind spot on the passenger's side of the vehicle. One study has shown that, on average, drivers can see an angle of about 14.0° rearward in the driver's side-view minor and an angle of about 19.8° in the side mirror on the right. (Reed, M. P., Lehto, M. M., Flannagan, M. J. "Field of View in Passenger Car Minors," University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute Report No. UMTRI-2000-23, Jun. 2000, Ann Arbor, Mich.).
In many vehicles the door frames and the body sections behind the back windows interfere with vision in the standard front windshield-mounted mirror. While side-view minors, mounted outside the vehicle's body, typically do not have this problem, efforts have been made to reduce or eliminate the above-described blind spots by modifying the side-view minors.
One solution has been to use spherically-convex side-view mirrors on the passenger side of the vehicle. Because a standard driver's side-view minor is a substantially planar reflective surface, so as to preserve a driver's perception of distance, a spherically convex mirror can be added as an attachment. However, spherically-convex mirrors provide a flawed view because an object reflected therein often appears significantly smaller. This is quite obvious when one looks at another vehicle in both the front windshield-mounted planar mirror and the passenger-side spherically-convex passenger-side mirror. The side-view mirror image is considerably smaller, which makes the vehicle appear to be more distant than it is actually. Thus, the increased FOV provided by the spherically-convex mirror is obtained at the cost of a reduction in image size, which, if not accounted for by a driver, can cause a dangerous misjudgment of distance.
There is a safety need for a vehicle mirror with an increased FOV that eliminates the lateral area blind spot behind a driver's lateral vision. Ideally, such a mirror would provide a FOV that extends from the side of the vehicle and outboard to a point where at least some part of an adjacent vehicle is visible until that vehicle can be seen in the driver's lateral vision. This can ensure that the viewed adjacent vehicle is, at least partially, in a driver's vision at all times. There is also a need for such mirrors to provide a reflected image that preserves the driver's ability to accurately judge the distance to other vehicles or objects by providing minimal vertical distortion of the image and as little horizontal distortion of the image as will still permit visualization of vehicles in the blind spot until they appear in the driver's lateral vision.


A robot cleaning system is capable of performing automatic cleaning and manual cleaning with a minimal number of devices. The robot cleaning system includes a first cleaning unit to perform automatic cleaning while moving by itself in an area to be cleaned, and a second cleaning unit to perform manual cleaning while being coupled to the first cleaning unit as it is moved by a user in an area to be cleaned. Each of the first and second cleaning units contains a blower and dust collector to vacuum. The first cleaning unit has a dust outlet to deliver dust to the second cleaning unit when the first cleaning unit is coupled to the second cleaning unit via the dust outlet of the first cleaning unit, a connector, and the connection port of the second cleaning unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a cleaner, and, more particularly, to a robot cleaning system for enabling automatic cleaning using a robot cleaner as well as manual cleaning using labor of a user.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cleaner is a device for cleaning the room and is typically used to remove dust, dirt, and debris in a room. Generally used is a vacuum cleaner for collecting dust and loose debris by a suction force generated from a low-pressure unit. Recently, a robot cleaner, which is designed to remove dust and loose debris from the floor while moving on the floor via self-traveling and without manual operation, has been developed. Hereinafter, the term "automatic cleaning" refers to a cleaning operation performed by the robot cleaner that removes dust and loose debris while moving by itself, whereas the term "manual cleaning" refers to a cleaning operation performed by a person using a vacuum cleaner.
Although the robot cleaner is able to reduce the labor required for manual cleaning, the robot cleaner still has several limitations. Accordingly, solutions to improve the robot cleaner are receiving careful study. As one example of the solutions, Korean Patent Registration No. 10-459466 discloses a robot cleaner having an improved cleaning ability sufficient to clean dust in corners of a room.
In spite of the study, most current robot cleaners have the following several problems. Firstly, the automatic cleaning function of the cleaning robot is limited to the floor. The cleaning robot is not successful in automatic cleaning in other areas, for example, the surface of a sofa, shelf, or the like, and therefore, has a limited cleaning area. Secondly, the cleaning robot is smaller than a general vacuum cleaner, and is unable to generate a strong suction force, resulting in insufficient cleaning.
Due to the above-described problems of the cleaning robot, there still exists a need for a person to manually clean specific places with a general vacuum cleaner rather than the cleaning robot. A cleaning robot cannot reach all places. Additionally, manual cleaning is preferred over a cleaning robot because a cleaning robot lacks adequate power to sufficiently clean all areas.
Meanwhile, when using the robot cleaner, it is necessary to prepare a docking station, which is located at a specific place in a room. The docking station serves a dual purpose: to charge the rechargeable battery included in the robot cleaner and to remove dust and debris collected in the robot cleaner while the cleaning robot is docked.
Accordingly, a cleaning operation using both automatic cleaning and manual cleaning tools require the use of the cleaning robot, the docking station, and a general vacuum cleaner. This results in increased costs and reduces the amount of indoor space available.


A modeling tool for building a model of a problem involves a plurality of variables, whereby a heuristic search method can be carried out to optimize a solution for the modeled problem. The model of a problem includes a plurality of expressions defined as corresponding to one or more declarative statements and at least some of the expressions are dependent on at least one of the variables. The problem modeling tool can include automatically updating each declarative statement in response to changes to each variable associated therewith.

Typically a problem can be defined by decision variables, an objective function and functional constraints. Decision variables are used to represent decisions that need to be made, while constraints describe the logical or physical conditions that the decision variables must obey. When configuring a system to solve or optimize a problem, these variables and constraints are input to the system. For example, considering the workforce management problem, a workforce manager may want to know which engineers to schedule to which task, and a corresponding decision variable may include a discrete variable with possible values comprising the different engineers, while the constraints may include the complexity of the tasks involved, skill level of technician, the duration of tasks and travel time etc.
Conventionally, a model of the problem is set up using a digital processor, and the model, or problem model, is subject to at least some of the aforementioned constraints. Different solutions to the problem can be obtained by changing decision variables of the model. For example, in the engineer-scheduling problem, the order in which engineers are scheduled to complete their tasks can be changed and other variables, such as the duration of the day during which they work, can be altered. The resulting schedules can be tested against certain objective values such as the amount of time that individual engineers are idle or are travelling, and a schedule may be chosen on the basis of whichever schedule solution best satisfies the objective values for the solution.
Thus, the problem model can be used to calculate a number of candidate solutions, which are then compared on the basis of their corresponding objective values to determine the best solution.
It would be possible to compute each possible solution for the range of values of all of the variables and then search amongst the resulting solutions for a solution which best meets the objective values. This is known as an exact searching method. Sophisticated exact searching methods normally use a tree representation for enumerating all candidate solutions. Relational constraints are used to prune parts of the tree that lead to infeasible solutions, thus reducing the searching effort.
Exact search techniques such as linear programming may be applied to the problem model. With linear programming methods are applied to complex problems, which have many and disparate types of input variables, a significant data processing overhead is involved. In more sophisticated systems, specialised mechanisms may be devised which, after a change has been made to some of the input variables, restrict the computations to only the affected parts of the problem model. These mechanisms need to be coded for each particular problem requiring expert knowledge from the programmer. Furthermore, they are tedious to implement and maintain for realistic problems, which are of complex nature.
As an alternative to exact search methods, a heuristic search can be carried out. In a heuristic search method, rather than compute or enumerate each possible candidate solution, an individual candidate solution is taken, and then one or more of the values of the decision variables used in the computation of the candidate solution is changed. A new solution is computed on the basis of the changed variables and a determination is made of whether the newly computed solution is better than the first. The process may be repeated a number of times until the resulting solution results in optimization of the objective values.
A number of different heuristic searching techniques are known in the art for optimizing the solution for the problem model. For example, in a so-called single solution or local search technique, a first solution is taken and then perturbed to determine whether a better solution can be obtained when processed by the problem model. In a so-called population search technique, a number of solutions are obtained and a so-called genetic algorithm may be used to combine parts of the solutions into new solutions to be tested with the problem model.
Hitherto, heuristic search methods have been used to optimize solutions to complex, real-world problems involving large numbers of variables. For example, proposals have been made to use heuristic search methods optimize schedules used in workforce management, where field service engineers may need to perform repair tasks at different locations at different time of the day, according to a schedule. The schedule needs to be optimized as a function of the travel required by the engineers to complete their allocated tasks, the number of tasks left unallocated given the available number of engineers, and delays in task execution, the engineer skills and how well they match to task requirements and other factors such as the urgency of the individual tasks. Heuristic search methods have also been proposed for optimizing the scheduling of telephone calls, e.g. incoming calls to operations in a call center, and also for the allocation of frequency bands for use by radio transmitters e.g. in a cellular mobile telecommunications network.
However, difficulties have been encountered in formulating suitable problem models for use with heuristic search optimization methods, and an individual problem model usually needs to be specially crafted and set up for a particular problem. Furthermore it has been found that different heuristic searching techniques have different levels of efficiencies for different problem models so that, when a particular problem model has been designed and a particular heuristic search technique associated with it, it is extremely difficult to change the configuration without extensive reprogramming.
The present invention seeks to overcome these difficulties.

Software tool for heuristic search methods

British Telecommunications public limited company


A composite structure including a base substrate and a layer of a mixture of strontium titanate and strontium ruthenate is provided. A superconducting article can include a composite structure including an outermost layer of magnesium oxide, a buffer layer of strontium titanate or a mixture of strontium titanate and strontium ruthenate and a top-layer of a superconducting material such as YBCO upon the buffer layer.

The preparation of oriented layers of crystallographically materials is critical in a number of technical areas. For example, high temperature superconductors often employ epitaxially oriented layers of, e.g., YBCO to achieve desired properties. Similarly, epitaxially oriented films such as conductive oxides, ferroelectric, ferromagnetic, piezoelectric, insulating, and semiconductive materials are desired in the areas of microelectric and opto-electric devices. To achieve the desired crystallographic orientation, e.g., epitaxial orientation, of materials such as YBCO, SrRuO3, PZT, Ba1−xSrxTiO3, La0.7Sr0.3MnO3, and Si, extensive work has focused on the underlying structure or substrate onto which the oriented layers are deposited.
Stronium ruthenate (SrRuO3 or SRO) is a conductive metal oxide material and it has been used as an electrode in ferroelectric capacitor applications. Epitaxial SrRuO3 thin films have been previously deposited upon stronium titanate (SrTiO3 or STO) substrates (see, Chen et al., "Epitaxial SrRuO3 thin films on (001) SrTiO3," Appl. Phys. Lett., 71 1047 (1997). Strontium titanate is a dielectric oxide and has been previously described as a suitable base substrate, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,541,136. Stronium titanate has also been previously described as a buffer material in superconductive structures, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,562,761 wherein strontium titanate is suggested as a buffer layer on selected metal substrates and selected single crystal substrates, and in other microelectronic structures, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,364 wherein strontium titanate is suggested as a buffer layer having a moderate dielectric constant.
Despite the many prior uses of both stronium ruthenate and stronium titanate, the use of stronium titanate alone or the use of a mixture of stronium ruthenate and stronium titanate as a buffer layer has not been previously described upon an IBAD-magnesium oxide layer in a coated conductor superconducting structure. Additionally, the use of a mixture of stronium ruthenate and stronium titanate as a buffer layer has not been previously described as a layer in other electronic applications such as ferroelectric, ferromagnetic, piezoelectric and the like.
It is an object of the present invention to provide composite structures including a buffer layer of strontium titanate or a mixture of strontium titanate and strontium ruthenate (SrTixRu1−xO3 where 0<x≦1) directly on a magnesium oxide interlayer where the buffer layer is suitable for subsequent growth of a thin film layer, e.g., a superconducting layer, thereon.
It is another object of the present invention to provide composite structures including a buffer layer of a mixture of strontium titanate and strontium ruthenate (SrTixRu1−xO3 where 0<x<1) where the buffer layer is suitable for subsequent growth of a thin film layer thereon.


Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for verifying the integrity of web server content. One method communicates with a server specified by a Uniform Resource Locator. Content specified by the Uniform Resource Locator is retrieved. If the content contains an additional link to another Uniform Resource Locator, then the content is parsed to determine if the content contains an error message. The existence of the error message indicates a partial page error.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to electrical computers and, more particularly, to data processing system error/fault handling and to multicomputer data transferring.
2. Description of the Related Art
Broken web links are a common problem in the Internet industry. Internet web pages are electronic documents that are retrieved from a web server. A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) identifies the server(s) that stores/hosts the web page. These web pages, however, may themselves contain embedded links to additional content. When a web page is retrieved from the web server, all the component parts linked to that web page should also be retrievable. Often times, however, one or more links to additional content are broken. That is, when the web page is retrieved, one or more of the embedded links refer to non-existent web pages or web pages with errors. Sometimes the embedded URL address is incorrectly typed. Sometimes the server(s) storing the embedded content is malfunctioning or not available. Sometimes the servers serve partial pages due to components of the server code malfunctioning. Most times, however, the document located by the embedded URL is not longer stored on the web server. A failed embedded link often results in the familiar Error 404 "Page Not Found." When an embedded links fails, components are missing and the integrity of the web page is lost. The user requesting the web page is frustrated, and the web master responsible for the web page is frustrated. There is, accordingly, a need in the art for methods, systems, and products for verifying the integrity of content served by web server(s).

Methods, systems, and products for verifying integrity of web-server served content

BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation


A hearing assistive system, comprises a personal communication device (10) and a head-worn device (20). The personal communication device (10) has a user interface (12) being adapted for user interaction, a processor (11) controlling the user interface (12) and being adapted to run an application program, a short-range radio (13), and an output transducer (15). The head-worn device (20) has an input transducer (24) adapted for converting sound into an electric signal applied to a processor (21) outputting a modified audio signal via an output transducer (25). The application program is adapted to generate and output a data packet (70) on an audio carrier via the output transducer (15). The head-worn device (20) has an audio signaling block (26) for detecting and decoding the data packet (70) received by the input transducer (24). The head-worn device (20) has a controller (27) for controlling the operation of a short-range radio (28). The audio signaling block (26) is adapted to detect a radio pair command included in the data packet (70), and to instruct the controller (27) to enter pairing mode for the short-range radio (28), accordingly.

The present invention relates to hearing assistive system, comprising a personal communication device and at least one head-worn device. The invention, more particularly, relates to a method for handling audio-based communication between the personal communication device and the at least one head-worn device, a method of controlling the head-worn device remotely from the personal communication device, a personal communication device and a computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions for carrying out the invention.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Communication channels between a personal communication device and at least one head-worn device


The present invention provides a microwave annealing method for a plastic substrate. The method comprises pulsed microwave annealing to an organic photo-voltaic device to avoid warpage and degradation of the plastic substrate. Utilizing pulsed microwave annealing method can improve the wettability of the organic layer on the plastic substrate verified by contact angle measurement, and achieving the organic solar cell fabricated with higher power conversion efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for an organic photo-voltaic device, and more particularly to a microwave annealing method for plastic substrates.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most of the electric devices (for example, LEDs, transistors, solar cells) are fabricated on silicon wafers or glass substrates with high temperature resistant. The applications of the substrates have many constraints due to hardness and unyielding property of the substrate. Therefore, an organic electron material with relatively low processing temperature as an active layer material may be easily fabricated on a plastic substrate to achieve the advantages of light-weightiness, low processing temperature and flexibility electric device, and thereby various organic electron devices having widely used.
With the technical development, some electric devices may be made by an organic material, for example organic thin film transistor (OTFT). In comparison with the conventional inorganic transistor, organic thin film transistors may be made at low temperature, and therefore the processed substrate may be selected by light-weightiness, thinner and low cost plastic substrates replacing glass substrates. Moreover, the organic thin film transistors have simply fabricating process by printing method for patterning an organic film to reach the purpose of reducing mask number and without vacuum deposition equipment. The process of fabricating an organic thin film transistor on a plastic substrate is compatible with a roll to roll process, and therefore it has a great benefit of reducing the manufacturing cost.
Recently, because conjugated polymer semiconductors exhibit many advantages such as cost-effectiveness and feasibility to scale up, their applications in organic light-emitting diodes, organic thin-film transistors and organic solar cells have been intensively studied. When fabricated on plastic substrates, further advantages such as flexibility, light-weightiness, easy to carry, not easy to break can be obtained. Furthermore, because of the flexibility, continuous roll-to-roll processing may be employed to lower the processing cost and increase the throughput. However, because of the constraints of plastic substrates such as glass transition temperature and high coefficient of thermal expansion, the processing temperature need to be limited to low temperature, for otherwise warpage and degradation may result. Therefore, how to achieve effective annealing at reduced temperature is imperative.
Currently, processing of most of the organic devices is used to hot-plate annealing to improve the performance of the organic devices. However, hot-plate annealing the organic devices fabricated on the plastic substrates will create negative impact, for example, warpage and degradation of the plastic substrates to cause adverse effects for the subsequent process. Moreover, hot-plate annealing exhibits much higher energy loss and low efficiency of energy usage.
In view of the aforementioned drawbacks, the present invention provides an improved method for solving issues of warpage and degradation of the substrates and negative impact caused by hot-plate annealing.

Microwave annealing method for device processing with plastic substrate


The present invention provides methods of use of various antibody-immunostimulant fusion proteins as adjuvants of antigenic protein vaccinations to elicit humoral and/or cellular immune responses in vaccinated subjects. Compositions which include these fusion proteins and innate and/or exogenous antigenic proteins are also provided.

Despite considerable advancement in the therapy of various tumors and cancers, residual disease is still a major problem in the clinical management of these conditions. Additionally, treatment and especially prevention of infectious diseases remains a continuing concern due to, e.g., spread of viral diseases such as HIV and emergence of treatment-resistant variants of more well known diseases such as tuberculosis, staphylococcus infection, etc.
In the case of tumor treatment, chemotherapeutic strategies are necessarily limited by severe toxicities, and are of limited efficacy against non-proliferating tumor cells. Therefore, new methods emphasizing non-chemotherapeutic approaches are desired. For example, treatment of patients with advanced HER2/neu expressing tumors (e.g., breast cancers) through use of a humanized anti-HER2/neu monoclonal antibody, Trastuzumab (previously known as rhuMAb HER2), directed at the extracellular domain of HER2/neu can lead to a measurable response in some patients with tumors that overexpress the HER2/neu oncoprotein. However, only a subset of patients treated with Trastuzumab show an objective response, and although a combination of Trastuzumab with chemotherapy enhances its anti-tumor activity, still not all patients respond positively. Furthermore, even more desirous than an effective treatment for such tumors would be an effective prevention of them (e.g., especially in individuals with a family history of particular cancers).
Previously, antibody-(IL-2) fusion proteins have been the best characterized and most broadly used in successful anti-tumor experiments using animal models (see, e.g., Penichet and Morrison, 2001, "Antibody-cytokine fusion proteins for the therapy of cancer" J Immunol Met 248:91-101). Numerous studies have explored various combinations of antibodies and, e.g., IL-2, as direct targeting agents of tumor cells. For example, a tumor specific antibody-(IL-2) fusion protein was previously developed by the inventors, and comprised a human IgG3 specific for the idiotype (Id) of the Ig expressed on the surface of the B cell lymphoma 38C13 with human IL-2 fused at the end of the CH3 domain. See, Penichet et al., 1998 "An IgG3-IL-2 fusion protein recognizing a murine B cell lymphoma exhibits effective tumor imaging and antitumor activity" J Interferon Cytokine Res 18:597-607. That antibody fusion protein, IgG3-CH3-(IL-2), was expressed in Sp2/0 and was properly assembled and secreted. Anti-Id IgG3-CH3-(IL-2) has a half-life in mice of approximately 8 hours, which is 17-fold longer than the half-life reported for IL-2 (i.e., when not fused to another domain), and it showed a better localization of subcutaneous tumors in mice than the anti-Id IgG3 by itself. Most importantly, the anti-Id IgG3-CH3-(IL-2) showed enhanced anti-tumor activity compared to the combination of antibody and IL-2 administered together. Again, see, Penichet et al., 1998, supra. Additionally, a chimeric anti-Id IgG1-(IL-2) fusion protein (chS5A8-IL-2) expressed in P3X63Ag8.653 has shown more effectiveness in the in vivo eradication of the 38C13 tumor than the combination of the anti-Id antibody and IL-2 or an antibody-(IL-2) fusion protein with an irrelevant specificity. See, Liu et al., 1998 "Treatment of B-cell lymphoma with chimeric IgG and single-chain Fv antibody-interleukin-2 fusion proteins" Blood 92:21030-12.
Another example of previous antibody fusion proteins in cancer treatment involved chimeric anti-GD2 IgG1-(IL-2) fusion protein (ch14.18-IL-2) produced in Sp2/0 cells. See, Becker et al., 1996 "T cell-mediated eradication of murine metastatic melanoma induced by targeted interleukin 2 therapy" J Exp Med 183:2361-6; Becker et al., 1996 "An antibody-interleukin 2 fusion protein overcomes tumor heterogeneity by induction of a cellular immune response" Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93:7826-31; and Becker et al., 1996 "Long-lived and transferable tumor immunity in mice after targeted interleukin-2 therapy" J Clin Invest 98:2801-4. The ch14.18-IL-2 treatment of mice which had pulmonary and hepatic metastases, as well as subcutaneous GD2 expressing B16 melanoma, resulted in a specific and strong anti-tumor activity. This anti-tumor activity was significant compared to antibody (ch14.18) and IL-2 or irrelevant antibody-(IL-2) fusion proteins and resulted in the complete eradication of the tumor in a number of animals. See, Becker references, supra. Similar results have been obtained in mice bearing CT26-KSA hepatic and pulmonary metastases and treated with a humanized anti-KSA antibody-IL-2 fusion protein (huKS1/4-IL-2) produced in NS0. See, Xiang et al., 1997 "Elimination of established murine colon carcinoma metastases by antibody-interleukin 2 fusion protein therapy" Cancer Res 57:4948-55 and Xiang et al., 1999 "T cell memory against colon carcinoma is long-lived in the absence of antigen" J Immunol 163:3676-83.
Other examples of antibody fusion molecules include a chimeric anti-human MHC class II IgG1 fused to GMCSF (chCLL-1/GMCSF) expressed in NS0 (see, Hornick et al., 1997 "Chimeric CLL-1 antibody fusion proteins containing granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor or interleukin-2 with specificity for B-cell malignancies exhibit enhanced effector functions while retaining tumor targeting properties" Blood 89:4437-47) and a humanized anti-HER2/neu IgG3 fused to IL-12 (see, Peng et al., 1999, "A single-chain IL-12 IgG3 antibody fusion protein retains antibody specificity and IL-12 bioactivity and demonstrates antitumor activity" J Immunol 163:250-8), IL-2 (see, Penichet et al., 2001, "A recombinant IgG3-(IL-2) fusion protein for the treatment of human HER2/neu expressing tumors" Human Antibodies 10:43-49) and GMCSF expressed in P3X63Ag8.653 (see, Dela Cruz et al., 2000, "Recombinant anti-human HER2/neu IgG3-(GMCSF) fusion protein retains antigen specificity, cytokine function and demonstrates anti-tumor activity" J Immunol 165:5112-21).
In all of the above work, it is important to note that the antibody-cytokine fusion proteins containing IL-2, IL-12, or GMCSF, etc. have been used as direct antitumor agents which directly targeted tumors in animal models. The antibody fusion proteins bound to antigens on tumor surfaces, thus increasing the local concentration of, e.g., Il-2, etc. around the tumor. The increased, e.g., IL-2, thus lead to anti-tumor activity in some cases. See, e.g., Penichet, et al. 2001, supra.
Additionally, some prior work by the inventors described linking antigens to IL-2 via an IgG3-(IL-2) fusion protein with affinity for a convenient hapten antigen, dansyl (DNS). See, Harvill et al., 1996 "In vivo properties of an IgG3-Il-2 fusion protein. A general strategy for immune potentiation" J Immunol 147:3165-70. The antigen used in this work was highly artificial (bovine serum albumin) rather than a disease-related antigen. Using hapten-conjugated-bovine serum albumin (DNS-BSA) as a model antigen the inventors showed an antibody response elicited by anti-DNS-IgG3-(IL-2)-bound DNS-BSA injected into mice increased over that of DNS-BSA-Sepharose, anti-DNS-IgG3-bound DNS-BSA, or a non-specific IgG3-(IL-2)-bound DNS-BSA. Although, the binding of the antibody-(IL-2) fusion protein to the antigen (non-covalent physical linkage) was shown to enhance the immune response (see, Harvill et al., 1996, supra), only one antibody fusion protein (antibody-(IL-2) fusion protein was used and the study was restricted to the characterization of the humoral (antibody) immune response. Also, unfortunately, use of the dansyl group may create a low level of stability between the antigens and the antibodies. Such instability could be problematic in proper immune stimulation treatments in vivo. Additionally, the use of dansyl, entails the possibility that the dansyl groups could mask or alter specific epitopes on the antigen it is linked to, thus, interfering with proper immune response stimulation in subjects.
In the case of infectious diseases, numerous bacteria (such as Staphylococcus aureus), viruses, mycoplasms, fungi, parasites, etc. present a serious problem. For example, the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of hospital-acquired infections that result in high mortality. Staphylococcus aureus can cause, e.g., pneumonia, endocarditis, osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, postoperative wound infections, septicemia, toxic shock, etc. Unfortunately, many bacterium, including many strains of Staphylococcus aureus, are resistant to first-line drugs such as synthetic penicillins (e.g., methicillin). Other bacteria, including some strains of Staphylococcus aureus, are resistant to multiple drugs, including the so-called antibiotic of last resort, vancomycin. In the case of other infectious agents (e.g., viruses, fungi, etc.) no effective drug treatment may exist. See, e.g., Nickerson et al., 1995 "Mastitis in dairy heifers: initial studies on prevalence and control" J Dairy Sci 78:1607-18; Lowy, 1998 "Staphylococcus aureus infections" N Engl J Med 339:520-32; McKenney et al., 1999 "Broadly protective vaccine for Staphylococcus aureus based on an in vivo-expressed antigen" Science 284:1523-7; and Lorenz et al., 2000 "Human antibody response during sepsis against targets expressed by methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus" FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol 29:145-53. The existence of multiple drug resistant strains of bacterium (and, indeed, of other infectious agents such as fungi, mycoplasms, etc.) raises the specter of untreatable infections and presents an ongoing challenge to the medical and public health communities. Much previous work has been done on generation of vaccines (e.g., both DNA and protein vaccines) for numerous infectious organisms (especially viruses) and such work is well known to those skilled in the art.
A welcome addition to the art would be a convenient method of therapeutic and/or prophylactic treatment to potentiate an effective immune response (humoral and/or cellular) against antigens of tumors and infectious diseases. The current invention provides these and other approaches and methods in treatment.

Antibody fusion proteins: effective adjuvants of protein vaccination

The Regents of the University of California


A display control circuit is capable of adjusting backlight intensity according to image content as well as compensating pixel values of frames for power saving and distortion reduction. The display control circuit includes a threshold determining circuit, a pulse width modulation (PWM) control circuit and a pixel value adjusting circuit. The threshold determining circuit determines a threshold according to a reference value by histogramming a to-be-displayed frame. The threshold is smaller than an upper limit of the pixel values, and a proportion of the number of pixel values between the threshold and the upper limit which occupy a total pixel number is lower than the reference value. The PWM control circuit generates a PWM signal for controlling a backlight luminance according to the threshold. The pixel value adjusting circuit adjusts the values of the pixels according to the threshold.

In a general display panel, e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel adopting a light emitting diode (LED) or a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) as a backlight source, a backlight module is the most power-consuming component. When the display panel is applied to a mobile apparatus, e.g., a laptop or a mobile phone, power-saving performance of the backlight module is critical for battery life of the mobile apparatus.
A method for adjusting backlight intensity of a display panel according to content of a frame content as well as compensating pixel values of the frame according to backlight adjustment is needed in the art to simultaneously achieve effects of power saving and distortion reduction of the frame.

Display control circuit and method thereof


An optical disk drive includes a servo control unit 7 for causing an optical disk A to be driven; an optical pickup 2 for reading recorded data from the recording surface of the optical disk A after carrying out focus pulling-in of an object lens; a CPU 8 for controlling the servo control unit 7 and optical pickup 2 to perform readout operation of data recorded on the optical disk A; and a temperature detecting unit 9 for detecting temperature in the optical disk drive. The CPU 8 calculates the focus pull-in level in accordance with the temperature detected by the temperature detecting unit 9, and carries out the focus pulling-in of the optical pickup 2 using the focus pull-in level.

In a device that handles an optical disk such as a CD or DVD, an optical pickup irradiates the information recording surface of the optical disk with a beam of light, receives reflected light from the optical disk while carrying out focus control, and reads out recorded data. In addition, to perform the focus control, a focus search is carried out before starting the readout operation. In the focus search, a focus error signal indicating a light receiving state of the optical pickup is generated; a predetermined level of the signal is set as a focus pull-in level in advance; the object lens of the optical pickup is moved in the direction perpendicular to the recording surface of the optical disk; and when the focus error signal reaches the focus pull-in level by the movement, the focus pulling-in is carried out which adjusts the focus of the object lens by controlling the movement. In this way, the focus pulling-in is carried out using the predetermined fixed value of the focus pull-in level.
In addition, there is a device that has a focus error signal learning means; learns the maximum value and minimum value of the focus error signal level during a learning period; and carries out focus pulling-in, that is, adjusts the focus of the object lens by using the maximum value and minimum value the focus error signal learning means learns during the pull-in control period (see Patent Document 1, for example). Incidentally, in the learning described above, level variations of the focus error signal due to temperature changes are not considered.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-155953 (Pages 4-6 and FIGS. 1 and 2)
With the foregoing construction, since the conventional optical disk drive utilizes the fixed or initial focus pull-in level on startup when carrying out refocusing pulling-in such as when the focus control gets out of place because of disturbance like scratches or vibrations of an optical disk during playback operation or data readout, or when carrying out a focus jump such as when repeating STOP/PLAY operation or handling a multilayer structure optical disk, it becomes difficult to carry out the focus pulling-in reliably because of the temperature within the optical disk drive. In particular, if the level of the focus error signal varies due to self-heat-generation of the optical disk drive or changes in the ambient temperature, a problem arises in that it becomes difficult to carry out the refocusing pulling-in or a focus jump well.
The present invention is implemented to solve the foregoing problem. Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide an optical disk drive capable of carrying out the focus pulling-in in accordance with the temperature within the device.

Optical disk drive carry out focus pulling-in with improved operation accuracy


In a semiconductor element, and a display pixel and a display panel using the same, the semiconductor element includes a first electrode, a second electrode, an organic light-emitting layer and a third electrode. The second electrode and the first electrode are disposed separately. The organic light-emitting layer is electrically connected with the first electrode and the second electrode. The third electrode is disposed above the organic light-emitting layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a semiconductor element and the display pixel and the display panel using the same, and more particularly to a light-emitting semiconductor element and the display pixel and the display panel using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor technology is an impetus to electronic technologies and brings convenience to modern people in attending their everyday business.
In recent years, major breakthroughs in the organic light emitting diode (OLED) of the semiconductor industry have been made and attracted the focus of attention in the optical-electric industry.
Like an ordinary diode, an OLED emits a light by using the characteristics of the material. The electrons and the holes respectively emitted from the electron transport layer (ETL) and the hole transport layer (HTL) are combined in the emitting material layer (EML). During the combining process of the electrons and the holes, extra energy is released in the form of optical waves when the electrons are excited to return the basic state. Different materials produce different energy levels for the electrons and the holes, and so are the wavelengths and the colors of the generated light different.
Besides, the field-effect transistor (FET), a commonly used semiconductor element, is normally divided into two types: the junction field-effect transistor (JFET) and the metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOS).
The source, the drain and the channel of the JFET are semiconductors of the same type, but the gate is not of the same type. Therefore, there is a pn junction between the gate and the channel. During application, the junction receives an inverse bias-voltage, so that the width of the channel is controlled by the gate voltage.
The source, the drain and the channel of the MOS are semiconductors of the same type, but the gate and the channel are separated by an oxidation layer made of an insulating material. The voltage of the gate can control the width of the channel through electrical field in the channel disposed at the back of the oxidation layer.
The FET has two main applications: the signal amplifier and the electronic switch. The function of a signal amplifier is for generating a significant change in the current of the drain/source when the current of the drain/source or the voltage of the gate only has a slight change. The function of an electronic switch is for controlling the current of the drain/source to switch between two different states when the change in the current of the drain/source or the voltage of the gate is large enough.

Semiconductor element, and display pixel and display panel using the same


A scan system and method provides users the ability to quickly and efficiently transfer images from a scanner to a destination location. In particular, the scan system can be implemented as follows. The scan system includes a scanner and a transferring mechanism. The scanner generates a scanned document or image. The transferring mechanism connects to a destination location and transfers the scanned document or image to the destination location for storage. The present invention can also be viewed as providing a method for scanning documents directly to a destination location. The method operates by selecting a scanner icon and associating the icon with the destination location. The association of the icon with the destination location causes the scanner to connect to the destination location, scan a document or image using the scanner, and transfer the scanned document to the destination location for storage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computers and software, and more particularly, to a scan system and method for providing users the ability to quickly and efficiently transfer documents and images from a scanner to a remote location.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, scanning multiple pages with a flatbed scanner into an application program is fairly invasive. Typically, a user must raise the lid of the scanner and place a single document page on the scanning surface, or place the document in an automatic document feeder. Then, the user must launch a scanning application, navigate through a maze of scanning options, and finally transport the resulting scanned document into a target folder. If this folder is on a remote server, the user must then first connect and log-on to the remote server before downloading the resulting scanned document.
A key difficulty with saving image documents to a server on the Internet or Intranet, is that of simplicity for novice users. Typically, the prior solution for providing web page construction of scanned documents requires the user to (1) scan the document (2) connect to a remote server; (3) log-on to the remote server; (4) manually specify the destination folder; and (5) manually transfer the document to the remote server. Needless to say, each of the previous steps is a complicated and time-consuming task for even the most experienced scanner owner.
Different problems occur with other types of image-acquiring devices. These other types of image-acquiring devices include, for example, but are not limited to, digital cameras, digital videocassette recorder equipment, and the like. The problems for digital cameras, digital video cassette recorder equipment, and the like, include requiring proper adapters and cables for connecting to a target folder on a computer system, maintaining the correct version of device software for image execution, and the like, in addition to the problems mentioned above.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Scan system and method for scanning images to a remote location

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A medium having a phosphorescent material, and a system and method for producing images on the medium using a digital printer. The medium comprises a phosphorescent layer having a phosphorescent material and an image receiving layer disposed over the phosphorescent layer. The image receiving layer is substantially translucent and capable of retaining an image from a digital printer. The medium may comprise a thin plastic film having a resin coating on at least on surface of the film that has been co-extruded with a resin coating having a phosphorescent material dispersed therein. A scanner or computer can be used for obtaining a digital record file of an image which is forwarded to a digital printer.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,100 discloses the use of a phosphorescent substrate to which there is applied a translucent color material so as to permit the user to observe the colors of the translucent material in the substrate in the dark. The '100 reference teaches placing a drawing thereon using a translucent drawing medium, such as crayon or felt tip highlighting pen. This reference describe various forms of substrate onto which the phosphorescent material can be applied. The reference further discloses coating of the phosphorescent layer with a protective coating on which the translucent image is to be placed. A problem acknowledged by the '100 reference is that putting a protective coating onto the substrate may interfere with the ability to apply the colored ink. A further problem with such a system is its inability to modify, correct, store or reprint images to be placed thereon. The prior art has also been limited its ability to provide personalized phosphorescent images in an economical and efficient manner.
Applicants have developed an improved medium and method for applying a personalized image onto a phosphorescent material in a economical, efficient manner. The method also allows the images to be modified, stored and reprinted as desired.
One object of the present invention is to provide a method that allows users to permanently imprint their images onto a phosphorescent substrate using commercially available inkjet printers and/or thermal printers utilizing commercially available inks and/or dyes.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a phosphorescent medium that provides protection from ultraviolet B radiation and physical abrasion of the image and of phosphorescent coating while not interfering with the application of the inks and/or dyes, while maintaining or improving the receding quality of the ink and/or dyes and thus maintaining or enhancing the image quality of the output medium.
A third object of the present invention is to provide a phosphorescent medium that can be used with commercially available inkjet printers and thermal printers utilizing commercially available ink and/or dyes.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method for using digitized images and a method for printing these images onto phosphorescent medium.

Glow-in-the-dark medium and method of making


A system for N-bit part failure detection using n-bit error detecting codes where n is less than N is disclosed. In a computer system having storage devices N bits wide and an error detection and correction capability of less than N bits, bit assignments are made so that storage device failures will be detectable because of the manner the effect of a part failure is distributed among multiple codewords. Consequently 8 and 16 bit wide DRAMs may be used in a memory system using error detection and correction codes which are not capable of detecting 8 or 16 bit errors in a codeword, and still preserve the ability to detect the worst errors possibly caused by a part failure. Further, since error detection and correction codes with a predefined error detection and correction capability generally do not double in number of bits required when the data portion of a codeword doubles, the present invention allows use of the remaining bits when using larger data words, not only for special data, but also for another error detection and correction code for the special data, all still preserving the ability to detect any part failures, even when a part failure causes a number of total bit errors far exceeding the error detection capability of the error detection and correction codes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of error detection and correction.
2. Prior Art
Error detection and correction (ECC) is commonly used in digital systems wherein the chance of an error occurring on occasion is substantial, and in high reliability systems wherein immunity to even fairly rare errors is desired. Systems of the first kind would include communication systems such as over the air and over phone lines, wherein noise or temporary loss of signal may cause one or more errors in the data received. Systems of the second kind would include fault tolerant computer systems wherein, even though the likelihood of an error is already low, it is desired to correct the more likely of such errors and to detect the presence of the next likely errors so that the system will normally continue operating without error, even when errors in fact occur, and can flag even a level of uncorrectable error.
Various types of error detection and correction codes are well known in the prior art, and accordingly the existence and nature of such codes need not be described in detail herein. In general, such codes provide for the appending of number m of ECC bits (ECC word) to each n-bit dataword, the number of bits m required for the EEC bits being dependent upon the size of the dataword, the number and nature of the errors to be detected and corrected, the number and nature of additional errors, if any, which are to be detected even though the same cannot be corrected, and on the specific code itself.
References describing numerous EEC codes include "Error Correcting Codes, Second Edition", W. Peterson et al., printed by The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1972), "Error-Correction Coding for Digital Communications", G. Clark et al., printed by Plenum Press (1981) and "A Class of Odd-Weight-Column SEC-DED-SbED Codes for Memory System Applications, S. Kaneda, IEEE Transactions on Computers, Vol. C-33, No. 8 (1984).
The later publication describes what are commonly referred to as SEC-DED-S4ED ECC Codes, which Sun Microsystems, assignee of the present invention, has previously used for error detection and correction in main memory systems. Such codes are characterized by single error correction (SEC), meaning that a single error occurring anywhere in the combination of the dataword and ECC word may be corrected, double error detection (DED), meaning that any two errors in the codeword (a codeword is the combination of the dataword and the ECC word) may be detected even if the same cannot be corrected, and that any errors occurring in a single nibble (a 4-bit sequence bounded by predefined nibble boundaries) may be detected (S4ED). This latter capability provides the capability of detecting the presence of up to four adjacent errors, provided they occur within the same nibble.
In the prior art system referred to above, the dataword is 64 bits long, with the associated SEC-DED-S4ED Code being 8 bits long, providing an entire codeword (data plus ECC) of 72 bits. Integrated memory circuit devices in the past have most commonly been organized with a 4 bit wide output, with 72 bit wide SIMMs being readily commercially available using eighteen, 4 bit wide dynamic random access memories (DRAMs). In such a system, the ability to detect errors in any nibble of each 72 bit codeword provides the ability to detect the failure of any one of the eighteen memory devices, simply by having each 4 bit memory device output comprise a nibble in accordance with the SEC-DED-S4ED Code definition. Consequently, failures confined to a single memory device, such as a total device failure, a single line failure, an addressing failure, etc. may be detected. Thus, the most likely uncommon errors can be either detected and corrected, or at least detected. Specifically, the occasional random error (commonly referred to as soft errors because of their generally non-recurring nature) will be corrected. Since such errors only occur in 1 in N memory operations, where N is normally a very large number, the likelihood of occurrence of two such errors at the same time will be 1 in N.sup.2, a very unlikely occurrence which will still be detected. The likelihood of three random errors occurring at the same time will be 1 in N.sup.3. While three such errors will be detected only if they occur in the same nibble, the likelihood of three random errors occurring at the same time in different nibbles in normal DRAM devices is quite remote. The possibility of a device failure, however, is sufficient to make the detection of such failures highly desirable. Such failures are normally hard failures (a permanent device fault or failure), making the detection of such errors particularly important.
More recently, DRAM devices organized with 8 bit wide outputs and 16 bit wide outputs have become common. Consequently, an SEC-DED-S4ED Code will not normally detect device failures in devices having 8 bit or 16 bit outputs when such devices are used to provide corresponding 8 or 16 bits of the 72 bit codeword. However, in the prior art system, the main memory is organized so that on each read operation, four 72 bit codewords are read from main memory simultaneously. DRAMs using a 4 bit wide output are used with 1 bit of each 4 bit output being associated with a respective one of the four codewords read simultaneously. In this manner, when a DRAM fails (and this is the only error occurring at that time) errors will appear in only a single bit of each of the four codewords, making the DRAM failure correctable with the SEC-DED-S4ED Code of the respective four codewords.

System for N-bit part failure detection using n-bit error detecting codes where n less than N


Methods of enhancing selective deposition are described. In some embodiments, a passivation layer is deposited on a metal surface before deposition of a dielectric material. A block I molecule is deposited on a metal surface, and a block II molecule is reacted with the block I molecule to form a passivation layer.

The semiconductor industry faces many challenges in the pursuit of device miniaturization which involves rapid scaling of nanoscale features. Such issues include the introduction of complex fabrication steps such as multiple lithography steps and integration of high performance materials. To maintain the cadence of device miniaturization, selective deposition has shown promise as it has the potential to remove costly lithographic steps by simplifying integration schemes.
Selective deposition of materials can be accomplished in a variety of ways. A chemical precursor may react selectively with one surface relative to another surface (metallic or dielectric). Process parameters such as pressure, substrate temperature, precursor partial pressures, and/or gas flows might be modulated to modulate the chemical kinetics of a particular surface reaction. Another possible scheme involves surface pretreatments that can be used to activate or deactivate a surface of interest to an incoming film deposition precursor.
Area-selective atomic layer deposition (AS-ALD) can be used for selective deposition of material. During AS-ALD, when the deposited ALD film becomes thicker than the self-assembled monolayers (SAM) used to passivate non-growth surfaces, the ALD film may grow sideways (which may be referred to as mushrooming), thus reducing selectivity. There is an ongoing need in the art for methods to improve deposition selectivity and to avoid problems during AS-ALD.

Area-selective atomic layer deposition of passivation layers