A middleware approach to implementation of real-time Ethernet that provides deterministic, i.e. predictable, communication services over the conventional Ethernet network is described. The middleware resides above the network interface device and the device driver, yet below the system transport services and/or user applications. The middleware schedules and controls admission of data packets onto the network and guarantees the real-time constraints of the data packets once they are admitted. Collision of data streams is prohibited during transmission of real-time data, yet collisions are allowed during transmission of soft- or non-real-time data for improved utilization of bandwidth. Bandwidth utilization is further optimized by incorporating a quality of service definition into the scheduling determination.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any one of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The invention is related to network data communications, and in particular to a middleware approach to implementation of real-time Ethernet.
Computer networks have become widely popular throughout business and industry. They may be used to link multiple computers within one location or across multiple sites.
The network provides a communication channel for the transmission of data, or traffic, from one computer to another. Network uses are boundless and may include simple data or file transfers, remote audio or video, multimedia conferencing, industrial control and more.
Perhaps the most popular network protocol is Ethernet, a local area network specification for high-speed terminal to computer communications or computer to computer file transfers. The Ethernet communication protocol permits and accommodates data transfers across a data communication channel or bus, typically a twisted pair or coaxial cable.
The Ethernet communication protocol was standardized as the IEEE 802.3 standard for communications over a local area network (LAN). This protocol incorporates a 1-persistent, Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) protocol meaning that one or more nodes of a shared network may monitor the channel if they have a data packet to transmit, and transmit that packet immediately upon detecting the channel to be idle.
A xe2x80x9ccollisionxe2x80x9d of data packets may occur if two or more nodes begin transmitting simultaneously on the network. Colliding nodes will detect such a collision of data and terminate their transmission, waiting a randomly-determined time period before attempting transmission again. Under current standards, a failure will be generated after a node makes sixteen unsuccessful attempts to transmit its data packet without collision.
Under lightly-loaded conditions, collisions are infrequent and resolution is rapid. However, heavy loading may lead to indeterminate access time. While some applications may be relatively insensitive to collisions and their resultant delays on data transfer, other applications may be time sensitive such that collisions of data packets are undesirable or even intolerable. Examples of such time-sensitive or real-time applications may include remote video or control of industrial process equipment. The requirement for some applications to circumvent collisions and guarantee successful transmission and reception has led to various improvements to Ethernet.
One Ethernet improvement is a token-based protocol standardized under IEEE 802.4 (Token bus) or 802.5 (Token ring). The primary difference between these two standards is in the network topology each is designed to address. Token bus addresses a network in which the nodes form a logical ring; Token ring addresses a network in which the nodes form a physical ring.
Token-based protocols generate a xe2x80x9ctokenxe2x80x9d which is passed to every node along the network. These protocols permit data transmission only when the node is in possession of the token, and each node is given a fixed amount of time to transmit data. This transmission time is further divided into multiple segments or timers relating to different priority levels. These priority levels may be assigned to different data streams depending upon their criticality and time sensitivity. Nodes may only transmit data of a given priority level during its respective timer. Under this approach, real-time data may be assured a fraction of the bandwidth free of collision. However, some of these token-based protocols may allow a given node only its fixed share of bandwidth regardless of whether other nodes make full or even any use of their bandwidth.
Improvements on these token-based protocols have also been proposed. As an example, an academic prototype has been proposed for a software-oriented real-time Ethernet implemented on a UNIX platform utilizing a token-based protocol. (see Chitra Venkatramani, xe2x80x9cThe Design, Implementation and Evaluation of RETHER: A Real-Time Ethernet Protocol,xe2x80x9d Ph.D. Dissertation, State University of New York, January 1997) RETHER, however, only provides for non-real time traffic when there is no more real time traffic to be sent by any node. Depending on the type of traffic on the network, this led to low network throughput and utilization due to token passing overhead for non-real time traffic, and did not support hard real time traffic.
Another prior solution is hardware based. Under this approach, data packet collisions are avoided through hardware. These hardware-based solutions may be necessary for certain critical real-time applications such as aviation, to meet stringent performance and reliability requirements. However, such solutions are proprietary and vendor-dependent, making them difficult and expensive to implement. Hardware-based solutions may be incompatible with many existing Ethernet networks, requiring costly and complicated modifications. In addition, although these hardware solutions prevent collisions, they do not offer scheduling of real-time traffic in an entire system. Both solutions also require modification of existing hardware or software.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an efficient deterministic service to prevent collisions of and guarantee real-time traffic over Ethernet that can be implemented on existing Ethernet networks and is compatible with a wide variety of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and applications. Such a solution is needed for process control networks, time sensitive multimedia and Internet applications.
A middleware approach to implementation of real-time Ethernet provides deterministic, i.e. predictable, communication services for both real time and non-real time traffic over a conventional Ethernet network having a plurality of nodes desiring to transmit packets of data. The middleware comprises computer software residing above a network interface device and the device driver, yet below the system transport services and/or user applications. The invention provides a Middleware Real-Time Ethernet or MRTE which does not require modification to existing hardware that implements Ethernet.
In one embodiment, Ethernet bandwidth is divided into cycles. During each cycle, a first time interval is provided for real time data packet traffic using a deterministic scheduling protocol such as by passing a token, such that no collisions can occur. During a second time interval, the standard carrier sense, multiple access, collision detect Ethernet protocol is used for non-real time traffic. By using these two time intervals, bandwidth is shared between real time and non-real time traffic, ensuring that both will receive desired bandwidth.
In one embodiment, separate queues are used for deterministic scheduling to determine the order of packet queuing and transmission on each node such that (1) real-time traffic can be guaranteed once admitted for transmission service, (2) non-real-time traffic can be served, and (3) the Ethernet bandwidth utilization can be optimized.
Quality of Service, QoS, enables making on-line tradeoffs between network bandwidth availability and network transmission quality. Examples of QoS include (1) degree of packet collisions when Ethernet is shared by soft- or non-real-time traffics during certain time slots and (2) amount of end-to-end packet transmission latency.
When QoS is used, periodic data, such as video at 30 frames per second may be given a priority or criticality, and a cumulative loss factor, e.g. up to four frames in a row may be discarded. If there is sufficient bandwidth remaining after higher priority tasks or data streams are handled, the video will be accepted to the real time queue with at least five frames per second being sent. If other tasks are deleted or reduced, this frame rate will increase.
Software structuring enables hosting of the real-time Ethernet middleware above the Ethernet network device and the device driver, and below system transport software and/or user applications. A specific example of such a software host is the Microsoft(copyright) Network Device Interface Specification (NDIS) with Device Driver Kit (DDK) on Microsoft(copyright) NT(copyright)-based personal computer platforms. Many other software hosts are available depending upon specific hardware chosen.
A collision avoidance module guarantees that a transmission will not result in traffic collision. The collision avoidance module implements a collision-avoidance protocol that provides the capability for preventing Ethernet traffic from colliding, which is one source of the problem of non-deterministic Ethernet behavior. A specific example of such a protocol is a token-based protocol by which a token circulating among the Ethernet nodes determines which node should transmit packets at any point in time. Other collision-avoidance protocols may be used with the invention such as various implementations of Time-Division Multiple Access (TDMA), a technology using Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM). The protocol or standard provides a mechanism to avoid conflict among data transmission by more than one node at any given time.
In one embodiment, the collision-avoidance protocol is switchable to be enabled or disabled as desired by the deterministic scheduling module. This allows the invention to guarantee no collisions of real-time traffic, yet permit collisions of soft- and non-real-time traffic. Such mixed-mode operation could lead to increased bandwidth utilization depending upon the loading during time periods allocated to soft- and non-real-time traffic. Lightly loaded CSMA/CD systems can be more efficient than systems operating on a collision avoidance protocol.
While the collision-avoidance protocol is active, the time set for a complete rotation of transmitting nodes is bounded. In the case of a token-based protocol, the token must return within this bounded time, or token rotation time.
For each collision avoidance protocol (token based or TDMA), a deterministic scheduling module uses an algorithm to schedule traffic and guarantee that transmission will be done before a deadline expires.
In a further embodiment of the invention, allocation of bandwidth to an individual bridge or node is increased based on underutilization of bandwidth by other bridges or nodes in the network.
One advantage of the invention is that it remains compliant with the IEEE 802.3 standard. Such compliance allows the invention to be practiced on a multitude of standard Ethernet networks without requiring modification of hardware, thus remaining an open system.
A further advantage of the invention is that it is modular in nature. As such, the invention may be practiced using a variety of collision-avoidance protocols, deterministic scheduling algorithms, and QoS negotiation and adaptation policies and algorithms.
As a software approach, the invention also enables use of any COTS Ethernet cards and drivers for real-time Ethernet. Use of specific vendor Ethernet cards and drivers is transparent to applications, thus making the invention capable of vendor interoperability, system configuration flexibility and low cost to network users.

Middleware-based real-time communication system


A recording apparatus for recording audio-visual (A/V) contents directly from an A/V input source to a portable media player (PMP) is disclosed. The recorded A/V contents can be played back by the portable media player immediately upon stopping the recording. The recording apparatus does not involve the use of any intermediate computing or storage device other than the portable media player and the recording apparatus itself. The A/V contents for recording may come in the form of analog/digital signals or as digital data in compressed or uncompressed form from transmission and/or storage devices. Depending upon the nature of the input, the recording apparatus digitizes, encodes and/or transcodes the A/V contents and stores the processed A/V contents directly into the portable media player in playback ready format. The recording apparatus includes a one-button control interface for starting and stopping the recording of A/V contents to the portable media player. By clicking the button once, the process of recording the A/V contents into the portable media player is initiated. Optionally, elaborate control of the A/V recording parameters can be achieved through a configuration file. The type of encoders/decoders, bit-rates, duration of recording and other parameters can be set in the configuration file. The configuration file is stored in the portable media player or any other connected storage device. The recording apparatus provides both manual and automatic update mechanisms for play lists in the portable media player. In addition, the recording apparatus may also record and store A/V contents to storage devices other than a portable media player.

1. Field
The present invention generally relates to recording of audio/video (A/V) data and, more specifically, to an A/V recording device for use in connection with portable media players.
2. Background
The portable media player market has registered rapid growth in recent years. The sharp rise in the popularity of portable media players has raised the demand for new and additional media contents. With the increase in media contents, management of such contents for portable media players becomes more challenging.
Currently, there is no simple and low cost method for recording A/V contents onto portable media players on a real-time basis. Transferring A/V contents to a portable media player typically involves using a number of devices, such as, a computer, intermediate storage, and non-real-time processing, to perform steps like A/V data capture, encoding or transcoding to a desired format, and transferring the resultant data to the media player memory. Such transfer process is typically costly and time consuming.
Stand-alone media recorders that offer real-time recording capability may require multiple-step procedures in order to get the encoded data onto the portable media player. Some of these recorders come with on-board optical disc units and other mass storage devices, which increase their size and raise the overall price tag. Others do not offer wide interoperability and are accompanied by complementing media players. Still others only support recording to a removable medium for intermediate storage and require the removable medium be re-inserted into the portable media player for copy and playback.
Hence, it would be desirable to provide an A/V recording device that is, amongst other things, low cost, convenient to operate, and interoperable with different portable media players, and does not require the use of any intermediate storage device or computer.

One-step recording apparatus for portable media players


An apparatus for forming a bathtub liner over an existing bathtub comprising a container, a seal, a heating element, and a pressure increasing element. The container defines a cavity. The seal is associated with cavity and is capable of forming a substantially continuous seal with a bathtub liner. The heating element is capable of heating the cavity, and in turn, the liner. The pressure increasing element is capable of increasing the pressure within the cavity, to in turn, force a bathtub liner outwardly, away from the cavity. Upon positioning of the liner and apparatus over an existing bathtub the pressure increasing element will force the liner toward and into contact with the surfaces of the existing bathtub.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to bathtubs, and more particularly, to a bathtub and shower stall liner which can be formed off site at, for example a manufacturing facility, as well as on site without removal of the existing bathtub. It will be understood that while the application will discuss embodiments pertaining to bathtubs, such principles are equally applicable to shower stall liners and other fluid holding members (i.e. a tank or the like).
2. Background Art
Bathtub replacement and/or remodeling has long been known in the art. Due to the costs involved with the replacement of bathtubs, alternatives have been developed. Included in these alternatives is the use of a liner (or cover) which is molded to fit over an existing bathtub thereby eliminating the cost of removing the existing bathtub.
While the use of bathtub liners has provided an attractive alternative to bathtub replacement, there are nevertheless drawbacks. For example, among other problems, due to the differences in bathtub dimensions and designs, one must maintain an inventory of differently dimensioned molds so that a suitable mold exists for each of a variety of bathtubs. Even with a variety of molds, it is often difficult to perfectly match the existing bathtub. In turn, even with a substantial (and costly) inventory of molds, obtaining a good fitting liner can be difficult.
Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus which facilitates the in place molding of a bathtub liner.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method of molding of a bathtub liner.
These and other objectives will become apparent in light of the specification and claims appended hereto.


A system and method include a base station configured to provide centralized data transmission scheduling for at least one relay operatively connected to the base station configured to provide centralized data transmission scheduling for at least one relay operatively connected to the base station in a point-to-point connection and configured to provide centralized data transmission scheduling for at least one mobile station operatively connected to the relay in a point-to-multipoint connection. The method efficiently reports ACKs/NAKs for a centralized scheduler wireless system that uses tunneling for data transmission and, in order to reduce a usage of bandwidth for reporting. The system and method also perform an aggregation via coding of ACK/NAK channels.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus, a system, and a method to efficiently report ACKs/NAKs for a centralized scheduler wireless system that uses tunneling for data transmission and, in order to reduce a usage of bandwidth for reporting, the apparatus, the system, and the method perform an aggregation via coding of ACK/NAK channels.
2. Description of the Related Art
A worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) system lends itself as a lightweight Internet access technology. It is built on top of 802.16 standard family MAC+PHY (Medium Access Control+Physical layer) standard from IEEE (certified by WiMAX). The system standard (higher layers and network) is standardized and certified by WiMAX Forum.
802.16 Mobile Multi-Hop Relay (MMR), a study item established in the IEEE 802.16 working group, provides examples of relay networking. The MMR working group focuses on defining a network system that utilizes relays stations (RS) to extend the network coverage and/or enhance the system throughput. A relay network may include, in part, relay stations (RS0 and RS1), mobile stations or subscriber stations (MS0, MS1, and MS2), and a base station (BS).
Hybrid automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) is a scheme which combines ARQ protocols with forward-error-correcting (FEC) schemes that are generally considered to be the best error-control techniques for wireless links. Different wireless technology may have different H-ARQ schemes.
In IEEE 802.16, the H-ARQ scheme is implemented as a part of the media access controller (MAC) and can be enabled on a per-terminal basis. Two main variants of H-ARQ are supported: chase combining and incremental redundancy (IR). For Internet protocol detailed recorder (IR), the PHY layer encodes the H-ARQ generating four versions for the encoded H-ARQ attempts. Each H-ARQ attempt is uniquely identified using a H-ARQ attempt identifier (SPID). For chase combining, the PHY layer encodes the H-ARQ packet generating only one version of the encoded packet. As a result, no SPID is required for chase combining.
For downlink operation, the BS sends a version of the encoded H-ARQ packet to the MS. The MS attempts to decode the encoded packet on this first H-ARQ attempt. If the decoding is successful, the MS sends an acknowledgement (ACK) to the BS. If the decoding is not successful, the MS sends a non-acknowledgement (NAK) to the BS. In response, the BS will send another H-ARQ attempt to the MS. The BS may continue to send H-ARQ attempts until the MS successfully decodes the packet and sends an ACK.
The H-ARQ scheme works well in a system without a relay station (RS) where the H-ARQ scheme is applied directly between the BS and MS. However, when a RS is introduced into the system, although H-ARQ is still implemented between the MS and BS, the RS needs to forward all the H-ARQ attempts and ACK/NAKs between the MS and BS.
Therefore, according to conventional solutions, if the first H-ARQ attempt is not sent successfully due to error or loss, another H-ARQ attempt needs to be sent until a mobile station (MS) or base station (BS) successfully decodes it. Consequently, the subsequent H-ARQ attempt(s) must be transmitted over all the different hops (links) between the BS and the MS. Bandwidth is re-allocated between BS and MS for transmitting the subsequent H-ARQ attempt(s), even though some of the links may have already transferred the frame successfully. This results in bandwidth wastage and throughput loss. Thus, there is a need for an enhanced H-ARQ scheme with an improved utilization of network resources.
In view of the above, an apparatus, a system, and a method are needed that would provide an efficient mode to report ACKs/NAKs for a centralized scheduler wireless system that uses tunneling for data transmission.


Systems and methods for managing driver habits are disclosed herein. One embodiment learns undesirable driving habits of a driver over time as the driver operates a vehicle; identifies, for each learned undesirable driving habit, one or more situational triggers associated with that undesirable driving habit; receives information from one or more of vehicle sensors and one or more external sources; predicts that the driver will engage in a particular undesirable driving habit; and carries out one or more of the following avoidance strategies to assist the driver in refraining from engaging in the particular undesirable driving habit: communicating one or more speed advisories to the driver; suggesting an alternate route to the driver; and presenting the driver with one or more of a coupon, an offer, and a discount at a place of business to encourage the driver to take a break by stopping at the place of business.

Bad (unsafe) driving habits among motor vehicle drivers are common, leading to many of the accidents that occur. For example, a particular driver may have the habit of daydreaming or otherwise driving while in a distracted state of mind, tailgating, or jumping red lights (proceeding through an intersection before a traffic light has changed from red to green) Eliminating bad driving habits is challenging because, often, the driver is not even consciously aware of them.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.


A medical information processing system in an embodiment includes processing circuitry. The processing circuitry acquires an ultrasound image including an observation target and having additional information, positional information indicating a position of an ultrasound probe in a subject at time of collection of the ultrasound image, and a reference image obtained by taking an image of a region including the observation target at a time point other than the time of collection. The processing circuitry generates, based on the positional information, correspondence information in which the ultrasound image and the reference image are associated with each other. The processing circuitry causes an output unit to output the generated correspondence information.

Conventionally, in breast cancer clinical practice, specimens obtained by biopsy are used for pathological diagnosis. For example, specimens from ultrasound-guided biopsy are sent by a radiologist or a breast surgeon to a pathologist together with an ultrasound image and a pathological examination request. Then, the pathologist receives the specimen, the ultrasound image, and the pathological examination request, and performs a pathological diagnosis. For example, the pathologist grasps the whole picture from an ultrasound image of a subject. For a pathological diagnosis using a pathological image, the pathologist performs a diagnosis by adding a finding from the ultrasound image to a finding from the pathological image in consideration of consistency between the ultrasound image and the pathological image.

Medical information processing system and medical image processing apparatus


An information processing terminal includes a calculation processing unit, a telephone communication processing unit for performing a telephone communication with respect to another appliance, a communication processing unit for performing a communication operation with respect to the another appliance, and a signature calculating unit in which when a telephone communication with respect to the above-described another appliance is carried out, a signature using a secret key is produced by the calculation processing unit, and the signature calculating unit produces information attached with signature to which the produced signature has been attached. In the information processing terminal, the telephone communication processing unit transmits the information attached with signature to the another appliance corresponding to a telephone calling destination. It then becomes possible to notify that a telephone communication counter party is a justified user of an appliance before the telephone communication is commenced.

The present invention relates to an information processing terminal and an information communication system. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a telephone which is communicated/telephoned with a communication counter terminal, and a telephone system.
Conventionally, telephones and telephone number display systems, capable of displaying telephone numbers of telephone calling sources when telephone calls are received, have been marketed. Also, in the telephone described in JP-A-2001-53862, such a message display telephone system is disclosed which transmits a message of a telephone calling person while a telephone communication is established.

Telephone having authentication function and telephone system


In a sampling head (1) of an analysis arrangement (31), provision is made that a sample stream delivered via a sampling line (2) and a dilution air stream delivered through a dilution air inlet (4) are mixed together in a dilution unit (3) in such a way that a volumetric quantity entrained in at least one receiving space moved along by a movable element (8) between the sampling stream and the dilution air stream are exchanged with each other, wherein the analysis arrangement (31) has a gas analyzer (35) for the analysis of the slightly diluted sample stream and a particle determination unit (32) for the analysis of the enriched dilution air stream.

The invention relates to a hand-held sampling head for collecting a sample of an aerosol containing suspended particles, with a sampling line and with an integrated dilution unit which is connected to the sampling line and which has a dilution air inlet.
Sampling heads of this kind are known in analysis arrangements for analyzing or characterizing aerosols, wherein the sampling head is used to collect a sample volume from a larger sample reservoir or from an aerosol flow. Dilution air or a dilution gas is often sprayed into the collected sample volume in the dilution unit in order to permit or facilitate a subsequent analysis.
Accordingly, the invention further relates to an analysis arrangement for characterizing an aerosol.
The invention relates finally to a method for characterizing an aerosol, wherein the aerosol has a carrier gas and suspended particles received therein.
The revised version of the 1st German Federal Emmissions Control Act stipulates a reduction of the limit value of the dust and particle emissions in small and medium-sized solid-fuel plants.

Handheld sampling-removal head, analysis arrangement and method for characterizing an aerosol


A control device of an internal combustion engine includes: a target negative pressure setting section that set a target negative intake pipe pressure during cold acceleration to a negative intake pipe pressure larger than a negative intake pipe pressure prior to the cold acceleration; a throttle valve control section that controls a throttle valve so that the negative intake pipe pressure increases during cold acceleration; and an intake valve control section that controls a variable valve mechanism of an intake valve, based on the target negative intake pipe pressure, to obtain a target intake air amount.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control device and method of controlling an internal combustion engine. More specifically, the present invention relates to a control device and method of controlling a port injection type internal combustion engine in which fuel is injected to an intake port.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 08-86234 (JP-A-08-86234) describes an engine air-fuel ratio control device that calculates a fuel injection amount during cold acceleration of an internal combustion engine, based on the amount of fuel adhering to the port. More specifically, the described control device calculates a fuel shortage amount Hm obtained by subtracting a function value H(tb), that is at acceleration timing tb, from an equilibrium adhesion amount, that is immediately before the acceleration timing. Then, the transient correction amount Kathos is increased by a value corresponding to the shortage amount Hm, thereby preventing the air-fuel ratio from shifting to the lean side when accelerating immediately after a cold start.
However, if an amount of shortage in fuel that has evaporated is compensated for by an increase in fuel injection amount, during cold acceleration, the amount of fuel adhering to the port is further increased. Also, the fuel that adheres to the intake port or the like during acceleration may later be supplied into the cylinder after acceleration. Consequently, when the amount of fuel adhering to the port increases, the air-fuel ratio controllability subsequent to acceleration deteriorates.

Control device and method of controlling an internal combustion engine


A rod connector for coupling with a rod of a pump includes a cylinder including a bore, an actuator rotatably disposed in the bore of the cylinder, wherein the actuator is configured to actuate the rod connector between locked and unlocked positions, and a first coupler disposed in the bore of the cylinder and configured to releasably couple with a first rod of the pump, wherein the actuator includes an outer surface including a first pair of opposing engagement surfaces and a second pair of opposing engagement surfaces, and wherein a diameter extending between the first pair of engagement surfaces is less than a diameter extending between the second pair of surfaces.

Drilling systems are sometimes utilized for the extraction of hydrocarbons from a subterranean earthen formation via a drilling wellbore into the formation. Drilling systems include a mud pump configured to circulate drilling fluids through a drill string extending through a wellbore formed in a subterranean formation. In some applications, the mud pump comprises a reciprocating pump that includes a power end having a crankshaft, and a fluid end including a reciprocating piston, where the piston is coupled with the crankshaft by an extension rod extending therebetween. Due to wear during the operation of the mud pump, it may be necessary at times to replace the piston or other components coupled therewith. In some applications, the extension rod of the reciprocating mud pump includes a rod connector configured to allow the piston to be decoupled from the crankshaft and removed from the mud pump for repair or replacement.


A tuning device has a sound collecting unit having an input section for receiving a sound or vibration signal produced by a musical instrument and outputting a sound signal, and a wireless communication section for converting the sound signal into a wireless signal and transmitting the wireless signal to the outside. A computation display unit has a receiving section for receiving the wireless signal transmitted from the sound collecting unit and converting the wireless signal into a sound signal, a computing section that computes pitch information based on the sound signal, computes an amount of difference between the pitch information and reference pitch information corresponding to a reference sound name, and converts the computation result into a control signal for display, and a display section for acquiring the control signal and displaying information concerning the amount of difference computed by the computing section.

In a case of tuning, for instance, an electric guitar using a conventional tuning device, such a method is widely used that a sound signal from the musical instrument is electrically and physically connected to the tuning device through a shielded cord. Also, in a case of tuning a musical instrument such as a wind instrument which does not have electric output, such a method is widely used that the tuning is performed using means such as a microphone built into a tuning device or a contact microphone with a built-in vibration sensor (see, for instance, Patent Document 1).
Patent Document 1: JP 2003-316352 A
In a case of tuning, for instance, an electric guitar using a conventional tuning device, it is required to input a sound signal from the musical instrument into the tuning device with a shielded cord, which means that there is inconvenience that it is required to reconnect the shielded cord each time tuning is performed. Some tuning devices have a bypass function without the need to reconnect such a shielded cord each time tuning is performed. When the bypass function is used, however, a sound signal from a musical instrument is adversely affected at the time of passage through a bypass circuit of the tuning device, which leads to a problem that an original sound inherent in the musical instrument is deteriorated.
Also, in a case of tuning a musical instrument such as a wind instrument which is incapable of outputting a sound signal as electric output, the tuning is performed using a built-in microphone or a contact microphone. When the built-in microphone is used, however, there arises a problem that, for instance, it becomes difficult to perform the tuning when a distance between the musical instrument and the built-in microphone is far or when a surrounding environment is noisy. Also, the contact microphone is ordinarily sold separately from a tuning device in many cases, so the use of the contact microphone increases an economic burden on a user and causes inconvenience that it is required to provide and set the contact microphone to the musical instrument and the tuning device each time tuning is performed.
Further, ordinarily, one person owns one tuning device in many cases but there is also a case where one tuning device is used by multiple persons. In this case, there is inconvenience that each time a musical instrument to be tuned is changed, it is required to reconnect the tuning device to the musical instrument.
Still further, when a user wants to change displaying or settings of a tuning device, it is necessary for the user to move closer to the tuning device to directly operate the tuning device and return to his/her original position to conduct tuning work.
Therefore, the present invention provides a tuning device that achieves improvement of workability of tuning by a user, visibility of tuning information, and tuning accuracy by separating a unit for collecting the sound of a musical instrument and a unit for displaying tuning information from each other. Also, the present invention provides a tuning device that also enables tuning of multiple musical instruments at the same time.

Tuning device of wireless communication type


A method of manufacturing a decorative article, the method including: choosing a non-silicon substrate material which will form the substrate for the decorative article; coating the substrate with a photoresist material; forming a decorative graphic art image pattern in the photoresist coating; transferring the decorative graphic art image pattern in the photoresist coating to the substrate; and removing the photoresist coating.

Decorated articles, e.g. jewelry including necklaces, pendants and rings, watch and clock faces, cuff links and the like are typically manufactured to include decorative designs by the following processes: painting, glazing, enameling, firing, inlaying, cloisonne, screening, engine turning, and engraving.
In these processes however, it is very difficult to form complex and intricate graphic art image designs on the substrate, which, for jewelry, for example, could be a piece of sapphire. Since an individual artist must typically transfer a particular graphic art image to the substrate, it is also very difficult in these processes to attain uniform and repeatable products of high quality. Painting, glazing, enameling, firing, inlay, and cloisonne methods depend on human dexterity and therefore are limited in the degree of detailing and complexity that may be accomplished in a particular decorative article. As explained above, repeatability and uniformity is also a concern: therefore, production quantities and product uniformity control are severely limited. Traditional screening overcomes some of these obstacles to a degree, but it has the physical limitation of individual geometry features having a minimum size of about 0.005-0.010 inch. Screening is also severely limited in the kinds of materials that may be used. Engine turning and engraving which add/or remove the material of the substrate in certain areas are also limited to the types of materials that may be used. Expensive tooling is required in these processes, and they are physically limited in feature size and materials. Moreover, all of these methodologies require significant expenditures of man hours thus raising the price of decorative articles containing intricately detailed and complex graphic art images.

Method of manufacturing a decorative article


Techniques are provided for processing a query, including receiving the query, where the query specifies certain operations to be performed, including (a) a first set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a markup language data source and (b) a second set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a second data source. Then it is determined that a first server that manages the markup language data source is capable of performing the first set of operations. A request is sent to the first server to perform the first set of operations. A response is received, where the response contains results of performing the first set of operations on the markup language data source. Finally, results are generated for the query based at least in part on the results of performing the first set of operations.

The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Relational database management systems (RDBMS) store information in tables, where each piece of data is stored at a particular row and column. Information in a given row generally is associated with a particular object, and information in a given column generally relates to a particular category of information. For example, each row of a table may correspond to a particular employee, and the various columns of the table may correspond to employee names, employee social security numbers, and employee salaries.
A user retrieves information from and makes updates to a database by interacting with a database application. The user's actions are converted into a query by the database application. The database application submits the query to a database server. The database server responds to the query by accessing the tables specified in the query to determine which information stored in the tables satisfies the query. The information that satisfies the query is retrieved by the database server and transmitted to the database application. Alternatively, a user may request information directly from the database server by constructing and submitting a query directly to the database server using a command line or graphical interface.
Queries submitted to the database server must conform to the syntactical rules of a particular query language. One popular query language, known as the Structured Query Language (SQL), provides users a variety of ways to specify information to be retrieved. Another query language based on the Extensible Markup Language (XML) is XML Query Language (XQuery). XQueryX is an XML representation of the XQuery language. XQuery is described in "XQuery 1.0: An XML Query Language." W3C Working Draft Jul. 23, 2004 at www.w3.org/TR/xquery. XQueryX is described in "XML Syntax for XQuery 1.0 (XQueryX)." W3C Working Draft 19 Dec. 2003 at www.w3.org/TR/xqueryx. Another related technology, XPath, is described in "XML Path Language (XPath) 2.0." W3C Working Draft 12 Nov. 2003 at www.w3.org/TR/xpath20. XQuery and XQueryX may use XPath for path traversal.
In a data-integration environment, an XQuery engine typically runs in the middle-tier engine and offers XQuery service for applications by evaluating the XQuery against various back-end XML data sources. One XML data source may be a simple file system repository storing XML documents as plain files. Another XML data source may be a relational database management system (RDBMS) whose data can be reformatted into XML and returned to the middle-tier engine. The RDBMS is not capable of processing XQuery operations. Therefore, the constructed XML must be returned to the middle-tier engine so that the middle-tier engine may perform the XQuery operations. Another XML data source may be an SQL/XML enabled RDBMS which can natively process XQuery. A further XML data source may be an SQL/XML enabled RDBMS that embeds a file-system repository that contains XML documents.
The XQuery engine running on the middle-tier engine will evaluate the XQuery by pulling the data from the backend XML data sources and processing the XQuery operations against the retrieved XML data. This "one-size-fit-all" approach handles all XQuery operations in the middle-tier XQuery engine. This approach may be inefficient since much of the data retrieved from the XML data source will be filtered once the middle-tier processes the XQuery operations on the data from the XML data source. Therefore, the retrieval of the data from the XML data source may waste considerable bandwidth. Also, because the XML data must be constructed (from the underlying representation into XML) and sent to the middle-tier engine, the middle-tier engine cannot optimize execution of the XQuery operations based on the original storage configuration.
Therefore, there is clearly a need for techniques that overcome the shortfalls of the approach described above.

Processing queries against one or more markup language sources


A key module, a keyboard and an electronic device using same are provided. The key module includes a substrate, a light receiver, a light emitter and a lifting mechanism. The light receiver is disposed on and electrically connected with the substrate. The light emitter is disposed on and electrically connected with the substrate and disposed opposite to the light receiver. The lifting mechanism is disposed on the substrate and includes an interrupting portion, wherein the interrupting portion is movable to a region between the light receiver and the light emitter.

In order to achieve faster trigger response, conventional keyboards usually use optical axis key. The keyboard detects whether the optical axis key is triggered by detecting interruption of the optical signal of the optical axis key. However, it is well known that the conventional optical axis key has a thick thickness, so it is difficult to incorporate the conventional optical axis key into electronic device with requirements of slim. Therefore, it is one of the efforts of those skilled in the art to propose a new key module to improve the foregoing problems.

Key module, keyboard and electronic device using same


An expansion anchor comprising a tubular body, which extends along a longitudinal axis and is structured so as to have a head at one end, adapted to be engaged inside a hole obtained in a wall; the head comprising a deformable body made of a first plastic material having a predetermined mechanical rigidity, and at least one longitudinal rigid insert, which is firmly integrated in the deformable body and is made of a second plastic material having a higher mechanical rigidity than the mechanical rigidity of the plastic material of the deformable body itself.

As known, the expansion anchors of the above-described type are integrally made of a homogenous plastic material, which is characterized by a particularly low rigidity so as to ensure sufficient deformability and flexibility to the tubular element.
Although on one hand, the anchor having a plastic material characterized by a low rigidity ensures a good radial expansion and an effective plastic deformation capable of conveniently allowing a good anchoring of the anchor itself into walls made of compact materials and/or walls having internal voids, on the other hand such a mechanical feature may prevent a correct, strong coupling of the screw onto the tubular element of the anchor.
Indeed, it often occurs that the progressive screwing of the screw into the longitudinal through opening of the anchor instead of causing a correct helical incision, i.e. a correct self-threading of the screw onto the internal wall of the anchor opening, determines a surface abrasion on the internal wall itself, particularly stressed on the head portion, thus causing an increase and damage of the internal section of the opening itself.
Therefore, in this case, in addition to becoming progressively uncoupled from the anchor, the screw is no longer capable of correctly and completely retracting the head portion of the tubular element towards its collar, thus causing an incomplete, ineffective anchoring of the anchor into the wall.
Furthermore, such an inefficiency is particularly highlighted when the anchor is fixed onto walls made of materials with low compactness and/or having an internal structure presenting voids. Indeed, in these circumstances, the retraction caused by the screw on the head of the anchor determines a deformation of the anchor inside the wall which originates an oversized expanded plastic knotting along the longitudinal axis. Such an oversized expanded plastic knotting serves the function of exerting a tightening torque on the screw so as to anchor it to the wall. However, the low rigidity of the plastic material of which the anchor is made often determines a tightening torque by the plastic knotting on the screw, which may be insufficient to ensure a correct anchoring of the anchor to the wall.
Finally, in the expansion anchors made of a homogenous plastic material of the above-described type, the user can only partially perceive the complete, effective anchoring of the anchor to the wall.

ITW Construction Products Italy S.R.L. Con Unico Socio


Various semiconductor chip reinforcement structures and methods of making the same are disclosed. In one aspect, a method of manufacturing is provided that includes coupling a semiconductor chip to a substrate wherein the semiconductor chip has a first side facing toward but separated from a second of the substrate to define an interface region. An array of electrical interconnects is provided between the semiconductor chip and the substrate positioned in the interface region. A reinforcement structure is coupled to the first side of the semiconductor chip and the second side of the substrate and in the interface region while outside the array of electrical interconnects. An underfill is provided in the interface region.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to semiconductor processing, and more particularly to semiconductor chip crack stops and to methods of making the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional semiconductor chips are routinely fabricated en masse in large groups as part of a single semiconductor wafer. At the conclusion of the processing steps to form the individual dice, a so-called dicing or sawing operation is performed on the wafer to cut out the individual dice. Thereafter, the dice may be packaged or directly mounted to a printed circuit board of one form or another. Conventional semiconductor dice are routinely cut out from the wafer as rectangular shapes. By definition, a conventional semiconductor die has four sides and four corners. The dicing operation is a mechanical cutting operation performed with a type of circular saw. Dicing saws are made with great care and operate more precisely than a comparable masonry circular saw. Despite these refinements, the dicing saw still imposes significant stresses on the individual dice as they are cut. These stresses and impact loads during the cutting operation can cause microscopic fractures in the dice, particularly at the die corners. Once the cut dice are mounted to a package substrate or printed circuit board of one sort or another, the cracks introduced during cutting may propagate further into the center of the dice due to thermal stresses and other mechanical stresses that may be placed on the die. In addition, new cracks may form, particularly near the corners which create so-called stress risers by virtue of their geometries.
A conventional technique for addressing the propagation of cracks from the corners of a die involves the use of a crack stop. A conventional crack stop consists of a frame-like structure formed in and near the edges of the semiconductor die. When viewed from above, the crack stop looks like a picture frame. The conventional crack stop does not extend out to the edges of the conventional die. Because of this geometry, a crack propagating from the corner of a die can achieve a significant length before encountering the die crack stop. If the crack achieves a certain critical length before encountering the conventional crack stop, the crack can become virtually uncontrollable. The crack can overwhelm the conventional crack stop and invade the active portion of the semiconductor die and lay waste to the delicate circuit structures positioned therein.
Another issue that can arise for conventional flip-chip mounted semiconductor chips is high solder joint stresses caused by differing thermal strain rates in the chip versus the substrate to which it is attached. In a typical chip mounted to a substrate by a controlled collapse processing, an array of solder joints electrically connects the chip to the underlying substrate. A neutral point, usually though not necessarily located at the center of the chip, represents an area of substantially zero thermal strain. Solder joints in or near this area suffer low strains. However, proceeding outward from the neutral point, the die and underlying substrate begin to exhibit thermal strains that depend on temperature, coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and distance from the neutral point. A substrate usually has CTE that is six to seven times larger than the CTE of the chip. The strains are proportional to the distance from the neutral point. Thus, the solder joints near the die edges are subjected to the highest strains. Conventional crack stops provide little in the way of resistance to solder joint strain.
The present invention is directed to overcoming or reducing the effects of one or more of the foregoing disadvantages.

Semiconductor chip with reinforcement structure


A first seal member 50 is integrated with the surface 18a of a first metal separator 18, and is provided with a body base portion 58 having a trapezoidal-shaped cross-section and two protruded portions 60a and 60b integrated to the leading end of the body base portion 58, where said body base portion 58 is set to a height H1 for keeping a desired spring constant necessary for impact absorptions, and the protruded portions 60a and 60b are set to a height H2 for preventing the line pressure of the seal member from being abruptly changed and for keeping the strengths of the protruded portions 60a and 60b themselves.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cell which is comprised of an electrolyte/electrode structure having an electrolyte being arranged between a pair of electrodes, and separators which are stacked on the electrolyte/electrode structure, and include reaction gas passages for feeding the reaction gas in the surface direction of the electrodes, said reaction gas being provided from the reaction gas introducing communication holes to the reaction gas discharging communication holes of which gas flaw is extending at least in the stacking direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell, for example, an 15 electrolyte/electrode structure, in which an anode electrode and a cathode electrode are juxtaposed on both sides of an electrolyte (or an electrolyte membrane) which is made of a polymer ion-exchange membrane (or an anode ion-exchange membrane), and said electrolyte/electrode structure is damped by said separators. The fuel cell of this kind is used as a fuel cell stack by stacking plural sets of the electrolyte/electrode structure and the separators for a predetermined number. In this fuel cell, the fuel gas fed to the anode electrode, such as a gas containing hydrogen in main (as will also be called the "hydrogen containing gas"), has its hydrogen ionized on an electrode catalyst so that the hydrogen ions migrate through the electrolyte toward the cathode electrode. The electrons generated during said process are extracted through an external circuit to be utilized as DC electric energy Moreover, since the cathode electrode is fed with an oxidizer gas such as a gas containing oxygen mainly or air (as will also be called the "oxygen, containing gas"), the hydrogen ions, the electrons and the oxygen are reacted with one another so as to produce water at the cathode electrode.
In the fuel cell of this kind, it is required for the fuel gas, the oxidizer gas and the coolant to flow air-tightly or liquid-tightly along their corresponding dedicated passages. Therefore, various seal members are usually interposed between the electrolyte/electrode structure and the separators. For example, the seal member of Patent Publication 1 (JP-A-2001-332276) is structured, as shown in FIG. 9, such that a base gasket 1 is made of an elastic material of a synthetic rubber material or synthetic resin material having a high hardness of 70 degrees to 90 degrees, and such that gaskets 2 of a synthetic rubber material having a low hardness of 30 degrees to 50 degrees are arranged on the compression surfaces of the base gasket 1.
According to Patent Publication 1, however, the seal members are assembled between the separators so that the number of assembling steps is increased, which ends up with lower workability in addition to the considerable difficulty in aligning the seal members. Moreover, since each seal member needs at least two sets of the sealing members on the both sides, which also raises a complicated structural problem.
In the method for manufacturing an integral seal type separator of Patent Publication 2 (JP-A-2002-237317), for example, there is disclosed a method of seal members being arranged on electrode reaction surfaces or outer surfaces of the communication holes, which are integrated with both sides of the separator body of the fuel cell.
This Patent Publication 2 is effective because it enables the seal members to be more precisely aligned and the number of the assembling steps can be significantly reduced, as compared to the cases of the seal members being arranged on both sides of the separator body, or coating the sealing material beforehand.
As for the seal members generally used in the related arts, they are formed into a hill-top shape (i.e., a lip shape). Therefore although the seal members are integrated with the separator body, as disclosed in Patent Publication 2, the sealing properties may be eventually deteriorated in case of mounting a fuel cell into the vehicle.
More specifically, the leading end portions of the seal members might be displaced by the vibrations generated during the running time or the shocks caused by an abrupt stopping or starting of the vehicle. In such a circumstance, it becomes difficult to keep the desired sealing properties due to the satisfactory contact area being not made. When the metal separators are used, especially, the deformation, warp or swelling may easily occur on the surfaces of the metal separators. However, the leading end portions of the seal members cannot be appropriately adjusted to the surface changes of the metal separators, which may raise a problem such that the sealing surface pressure needed for sealing function with the separator surfaces cannot be retained.
Moreover, when the stack is to be made by stacking a plurality of fuel cells, a displacement might occur readily at the leading end portions of the seal members. As a result, falling of the leading end portions of the seal members, dropping the surface pressure, reducing the contact area, or the like may occur, and it makes extremely difficult to keep the desired sealing properties.


A solid-phase method for the synthesis of N-substituted oligomers, such as poly (N-substituted glycines) (referred to herein as poly NSGs) is used to obtain oligomers, such as poly NSGs of potential therapeutic interest which poly NSGs can have a wide variety of side-chain substituents. Each N-substituted glycine monomer is assembled from two "sub-monomers" directly on the solid support. Each cycle of monomer addition consists of two steps: (1) acylation of a secondary amine bound to the support with an acylating agent comprising a leaving group capable of nucleophilic displacement by --NH.sub.2, such as a haloacetic acid, and (2) introduction of the side-chain by nucleophilic displacement of the leaving group, such as halogen (as a resin-bound .alpha.-haloacetamide) with a sufficient amount of a second sub-monomer comprising an --NH.sub.2 group, such as a primary amine, alkoxyamine, semicarbazide, acyl hydrazide, carbazate or the like. Repetition of the two step cycle of acylation and displacement gives the desired oligomers. The efficient synthesis of a wide variety of oligomeric NSGs using automated synthesis technology of the present method makes these oligomers attractive candidates for the generation and rapid screening of diverse peptidomimetic libraries. The oligomers of the invention, such as N-substituted glycines (i.e. poly NSGs) disclosed here provide a new class of peptide-like compounds not found in nature, but which are synthetically accessible and have been shown to possess significant biological activity and proteolytic stability.

Standard methods analogous to classical solid-phase methods for peptide synthesis could be applied for the synthesis of NSGs. In accordance with such methods, the carboxylate of N,.alpha.-Fmoc-protected (and side-chain protected) NSGs would be activated and then coupled to a resin-bound amino group. The Fmoc group is then removed followed by addition of the next monomer. Thus, oligomeric NSGs could be prepared as condensation homopolymers of N-substituted glycine. Such an approach is not desirable due to the time and cost of preparing suitable quantities of a diverse set of protected N-substituted glycine monomers. Adding and removing the Fmoc or other protective groups is time consuming and inefficient.


In this semiconductor laser device, a polarization hologram transmits an outgoing beam directed from a semiconductor laser chip to an optical disk as a forward beam without diffracting the beam, and diffracts a backward beam of the laser beam, which is a return beam of the forward beam that has been reflected by the optical disk, so that the backward beam is deflected from a direction directed toward the semiconductor laser chip part and further directed toward first, second photoreception parts. Therefore, optical loss on the forward way from the semiconductor laser chip to the optical disk can be reduced, and return light to the semiconductor laser chip can be suppressed, so that a high-power, high-sensitivity semiconductor laser device can be realized.

The present invention relates to semiconductor laser devices and optical pickup devices, for example, to a semiconductor laser device and an optical pickup device which are suitable for use in an optical disk apparatus which optically records or reproduces information to or from information recording mediums such as optical disks.
With a view to smaller size, thinner thickness and higher reliability of optical pickup devices, there has been an optical pickup device equipped with a hologram element. FIG. 8 shows an example of a semiconductor laser device equipped with a hologram element to constitute an optical pickup device.
In this semiconductor laser device, a laser beam 107 emitted by a semiconductor laser chip 101 is first diffracted by a grating element 103. It is noted that the semiconductor laser chip 101 is placed on a stem 106, and the grating element 103 is placed on a hologram element/grating element positioning cap 105. Out of the diffracted light diffracted by this grating element 103, a 0th-order diffracted beam 108A is used for signal detection and ±1st-order diffracted beams 108B, 108C are used for tracking signal detection.
However, the 0th-order diffracted beam 108A and ±1st-order diffracted beams 108B, 108C diffracted by this grating element 103, during passage through a hologram element 104 on a forward way lead to a disk (not shown), which is an object of irradiation, are diffracted by the hologram element 104. Then, only a 0th-order diffracted beam 109 by this hologram element 104 can be used as a signal. In addition, ±1st-order diffracted beams 110A, 110B by the hologram element 104 result in loss components.
The 0th-order diffracted beam 109 by the hologram element 104 is diffracted again by the hologram element 104 on the backward way from the disk, becoming a 1st-order diffracted beam 111, which is converged to a photoreceptive portion of a photodetector 102.
It is well known that, on the backward way from the disk, the 0th-order diffracted beam that has passed through the hologram element 104 is not only useless for signal detection, but makes a cause of noise due to its return to the laser chip 101.
Also, in an optical pickup device equipped with the above-described semiconductor laser device, there would arise problems as follows.
On the forward way, none of the ±1st- and higher-order diffracted beams diffracted at the passage of the holographic pattern of the hologram element 104 lend themselves to signal detection. That is to say, they make a loss component. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the power of the laser beam emitted by the laser chip 101 to an extent corresponding to the loss component.
As a result, the ratio of the 0th-order diffracted beam in the hologram element 104 would necessarily be set to a high one, whereas, in this case, the diffraction efficiency in the hologram element 104 on the backward way would inevitably become lower, so that the signal intensity by the diffracted beam diffracted toward the photoreceptor 102 would inevitably become lower. Further, since the hologram element 104 has a high ratio of the 0th-order diffracted beam, the ratio of the backward beam from the disk to the laser chip 101 would also be high, making a cause of noise as described above, which leads to a difficulty in use.
As it stands, the write speed onto the disk is constrained primarily by laser power. Therefore, on the forward way, the write speed is limited by the loss of light diffracted by the holographic pattern of the hologram element 104, and a reduction in optical loss on the forward way is required to achieve higher-speed write operations.

Semiconductor laser device and optical pickup device


High molecular weight associative amphoteric polymers for increasing the viscosity of aqueous solutions, comprise: at lease one cationic monomer derived from acrylamide bearing at least one hydrophobic chain of 8 to 30 carbon atoms; 1 to 99.9 mole % of at least one anionic monomer; and 1 to 99 mole % of one or several non-ionic water-soluble monomers. Aqueous solutions containing said polymers find uses in industry, in particular the oil, paper, water treatment, mining, cosmetics, textile, detergency industries and generally in all industrial techniques using thickened solutions.

The invention concerns novel associative amphoteric polymers for increasing the viscosity of aqueous solutions, as well as aqueous compositions containing said polymers.
By definition, we say that a polymer is polymer viscosifying when it increases the viscosity of the solutions in which it is dissolved.
Among the viscosifying polymers for aqueous solutions included in the state of the art, synthetic polymers such as poly(meth)acrylamides, which may be partially hydrolysed, and poly(meth)acrylates and their copolymers are particularly well known. These polymers develop viscosity due to their molar mass and to interchain ionic repulsions. The mechanism causing viscosity is related to an increase in hydrodynamic volume and interchain repulsions.
However, in the presence of electrolytes, surfactants or a high temperature of use, these polymers do not develop good thickening properties, leading to a sharp decrease in their viscosifying power.
To improve the performances of the aforementioned synthetic polymers, they have been modified by adding hydrophobic groups. The polymers thus obtained (the minority of which have apolar unit cells and the majority of which have hydrophilic unit cells) are called "associative". They require high molecular mass and are characterised in that, when they are placed in solutions, their hydrophobic groups join together to limit interactions with water. The drop in viscosity related to the presence of electrolytes, surfactants or high temperatures, source of a drop in hydrodynamic volume, is compensated for by interchain attractive interactions.
The vast majority of the most common acrylic associative polymers come in the form of an emulsion (in water or reverse or aqueous dispersion). It should be pointed out that reverse emulsion polymerisation is a preferred method well known to those skilled in the art. It notably provides acrylic polymers with high molecular weight and may contain a reasonably high concentration of polymers while remaining fluid. Moreover, the large specific surface of the dispersed phase of the polymer makes solubilisation or swelling of the polymer very rapid.
The hydrophobic monomers used in preparing these polymers may be of 2 types: non-ionic and/or ionic.
Among the non-ionic hydrophobic monomers, we can mention:                industrially available (meth)acrylic acid esters with an alkyl chain or ethoxylated,        and acrylamide derivatives with an alkyl or dialkyl chain requiring, for co-polymerisation, difficult implementation not yet having undergone any industrial development.
At the same time, the use of hydrophobic ionic monomers has also been described. This mainly concerns:                cationic allyl derivatives, which have very poor reactivity leading to derivative compounds which are harmful to the desired applications as they form insoluble chains.        or hydrophobic ionic acryloyl derivatives (anionic or cationic), these being mentioned as potential monomers but very rarely exemplified and never described in powder form.
During research on the preparation of new amphoteric polymers used to increase the viscosity of aqueous compositions, whatever their salinity, their surfactant composition or their temperature, the applicant took a closer look at associative amphoteric polymers.
The previous state of the art shows:                U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,934 concerning the preparation of associative cationic polymers which can be interpreted as amphoteric in extreme cases, obtained in an emulsion. No examples are given concerning polymerisation for obtaining amphoteric polymers: the examples deal with copolymerisation in emulsions of acrylamide, methacrylamido-propyl trimethyl-ammonium chloride (MAPTAC) and dimethyl aminopropylamine (DMAPA) quaternised with an alkyl chain with 8 to 14 carbons.        Patent WO 01/40318 which protects a new method of synthesis in a liquid solution of hydrophobic polymers which may be amphoteric but is not exemplified.        Exxon patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,848 which describes non-charged associative hydrophobic AMD/AMD terpolymers/betaine: the amphoteric aspect of these polymers is introduced by a zwitterionic monomer which alone carries both charges in exactly equal quantities.        Calgon patent WO 01/06999 concerning low molecular weight (less than 10,000 g·mol−1) hydrophobic amphoteric polymers, whose apolar groups are carried by an anionic and/or non-ionic monomer. Given their low molecular weight, these polymers have no viscosifying effect.
None of aforementioned products, however, has to date undergone industrial development due to their inherent inconveniences: lack of viscosity, stability over time, temperature stability, and/or problems related to their preparation or implementation.

High molecular weight associative amphoteric polymers and uses thereof


An NSET method and apparatus for modeling and monitoring the status of a system is disclosed. The NSET employs a nonlinear similarity operator in place of linear matrix multiplication, to estimate a set of sensor data based on learned reference data, responsive to receiving a set of actual sensor data. Regularization is used in the generation of the estimate. The estimated data values and the actual sensor data are differenced to produce residuals, which are statistically tested with a SPRT to detect anomalies. Cluster centers may be used to represent learned reference data. The detection of anomalies can be used advantageously for sensor calibration verification.

Systems and methods for process modeling and analysis are well known in the art. For example, artificial neural networks, such as those disclosed in co-pending patent application, entitled "An Improved Method and System For Training An Artificial Neural Network," having a filing date of Mar. 31, 1999, Ser. No. 09/282,392, and assigned to the same assignee as the present patent application, multi-variate state estimation techniques (MSET), as described by Singer, et al., in a paper entitled "Analytical Enhancements of Automotive Century System Reliability," dated June 1994, and multiple regression techniques, all are used for process modeling and analysis in varying applications. Similarly, prior art basic nonlinear state estimation techniques are also known for use in process modeling. Each of these prior art methods, however, suffers from limitations in terms of accuracy and modeling flexibility.
Artificial neural networks, for example, although suitable for modeling certain systems, require extensive training and are time-intensive, which makes them unsuitable for applications in which a system, and corresponding modeling of that system, must be done in near real time. An artificial neural network would thus be unsuitable, for example, to predict behavior in a e-commerce setting where the future behavior of a customer is desired to be known. Applying artificial neural networks to model the behavior of each customer in such an application, in which new information (in the form of additional variables) becomes available as time evolves, is not possible, as means do not exist for rapid adjustment of the model of such a system to predict behavior. The iterative process required to train an artificial neural network is not conducive to modeling rapidly changing systems in which a rapid model adjustment is necessary once one or more new variables has become available.
MSETs and basic NSETs also face limitations in that they rely upon the inversion of data matrices (recognition matrices) that are sometimes singular (in which case inversion is impossible) or near-singular, in which case inversion is possible but end result prediction accuracy is negatively affected. Furthermore, MSETs have poor stability with respect to choice of data included in the prototype matrix, i.e., the inclusion/exclusion of any particular single data point in the prototype matrix can unduly affect prediction results. This is actually a result of co-linearities among the prototypical data points.
Lastly, the distance/similarity function typically chosen for use in MSETs is selected based upon its tendency to produce relatively well-conditioned (when compared to other distance/similarity functions) recognition matrices. Condition is an inverse measure of singularity (i.e., well-conditioned implies non-singular, which is good, while poorly-conditioned implies near-singular, which is bad). Such a distance/similarity function, while generally providing better-conditioned recognition matrices, is not optimal in terms of accuracy and modeling flexibility.

Method and system for nonlinear state estimation


A fluid connection and control device for fluid machines permits fluid inlet or outlet connections without the necessity for threaded connection to the machine. This is accomplished by an elongate radially symmetrical body having first and second ends and a central axial fluid passage connecting the ends. The body is appropriately sized for the fluid channel of the fluid machine and has a provision at the first end for attachment of a flexible hose. The second end has a provision for a fluid tight seal between the body and the fluid channel as well as a mechanism by which the body is retained within the fluid channel of the fluid machine while permitting rotation thereof. Options are provided for incorporation of a valve mechanism for controlling the fluid flow. This provides the advantages of rapid assembly and avoidance of undue stresses to the fluid machine housing.

This invention relates generally to fluid machines and more particularly to devices for connecting and controlling fluid conduits for fluid machines.
Fluid machines commonly require connection to fluid inlet and/or fluid outlet lines. Such connections are usually accomplished by use of threaded adapters or bayonet style quick connectors. In either case, an adapter of some sort is threaded into the fluid machine while a mating adapter is attached to the appropriate fluid carrying hose or other conduit.
Where mobility is required, as in the case of fluid powered hand held tools, or in cases where the connection point to the fluid machine is fragile, use of threaded adapters may not be desirable. Such adapters usually extend a significant distance from the attachment point and, consequently, may seriously impair mobility or may even lead to fractures of the fluid machine housing at the attachment point. Consequently, when a fluid machine is made from a thin material or low strength material, the housing will be subject to damage from bumping the adapter or from overtightening of the threaded adapter within the housing fluid channel. Thus, damage to the fluid machine housing at the connection point may be caused by inadvertent physical impact during use, or by routine assembly and disassembly.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present devices and methods. Thus, it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.

Fluid connection and control device for fluid machines


A capacitor device includes two top capacitor electrodes separated from each other and symmetrical to each other, two intermediate capacitor electrodes symmetrical to each other and respectively overlapping the top capacitor electrodes, a bridge coupling the intermediate capacitor electrodes without overlapping the top capacitor electrodes, and a driving voltage line coupled to the bridge and configured to apply a common voltage to the intermediate capacitor electrodes.

1. Field
The aspects of embodiments of the present invention relate to capacitor devices in pixels, an organic light-emitting display apparatus including the capacitor devices, and a method for manufacturing the organic light-emitting display apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic light emitting display apparatus may include two electrodes and an organic emissive layer therebetween, wherein an electron that is injected into one electrode, and a hole that is injected into the other electrode, combine in an organic emissive layer to form an exciton, and light is emitted as the exciton emits energy.
The organic light emitting display apparatus may include a plurality of pixels that include an organic light emitting device (which is a self-emissive device), a plurality of thin film transistors (TFTs), and at least one capacitor formed in each pixel to drive the organic light emitting device.
The capacitor may be formed of a bottom electrode and a top electrode, with a dielectric body interposed therebetween. A charging capacitance of the capacitor is proportional to a surface area of the two overlapping electrodes. Accordingly, when the surface area of the two electrodes is reduced, the charging capacitance of the capacitor may also be reduced. However, to apply a voltage to an electrode of a capacitor, a structure, such as a contact hole, is used, and when the contact hole is formed, the surface area of the two electrodes may decrease. Thus, capacitor devices can be redesigned.

Capacitor device, organic light emitting display apparatus including the capacitor device, and method of manufacturing the organic light emitting display apparatus


The present disclosure generally relates to a read head sensor in a magnetic recording head. The read head sensor comprises a dual capping layer in a sensor stack that may reduce magnetic coupling so as to enhance magnetic bias field, e.g., domain control, in the read head sensor. Furthermore, an upper shield with multiple film stack having different film properties may also be utilized to enhance bias field generated to the read head sensor. Additionally, a coil structure may be positioned adjacent to a side shield to enhance bias field generation in the read head sensor.

1. Field of the Disclosure
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a magnetic read head sensor for use in a hard disk drive. The read head sensor is a magnetoresistive effect type. In particular, the embodiments relate to read head sensors utilizing dual capping layer in the sensors.
2. Description of the Related Art
The heart of a computer is a magnetic disk drive which typically includes a rotating magnetic disk, a slider that has read and write heads, a suspension arm above the rotating disk and an actuator arm that swings the suspension arm to place the read and/or write heads over selected circular tracks on the rotating disk. The suspension arm biases the slider towards the surface of the disk when the disk is not rotating but, when the disk rotates, air is swirled by the rotating disk adjacent an air bearing surface (ABS) of the slider causing the slider to ride on an air bearing a slight distance from the surface of the rotating disk. When the slider rides on the air bearing, the write and read heads are employed for writing and reading magnetic transitions corresponding to host data. The read and write heads are connected to a signal processing circuitry that operates according to a computer program to implement the writing and reading functions.
The read head of a hard disk drive includes a spin valve element utilizing a magnetoresistive effect. By sensing the relative magnetizations of two ferromagnetic thin films, such as a free magnetic layer and a pinned magnetic layer, sandwiching an intermediate layer, magnetic information can be read from nanoscale magnets on the disk. Reductions in various dimensions of the sensor element and improvements in the film characteristics have contributed to improvements in recording density, allowing current recording tracks to achieve a width less than approximately 100 nanometers. However, as the track width is narrowed, the effect of noise (mag-noise) generated by thermal vibrations during magnetization of the free magnetic layer on the head signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) become prohibitively large. Since the mag-noise increases proportionally as the playback output increases, the head SNR saturates at some maximum value. Thus, a reduction in the mag-noise has become increasingly important. Magnetic biasing (domain control) of the free magnetic layer as well as the control for low magnetic coupling is effective in reducing mag-noise.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a sensor structure that may minimize mag-noise with low magnetic coupling in the sensor structure.

Dual capping layer utilized in a magnetoresistive effect sensor


A leadframe strip includes a plurality of unit leadframes connected to a periphery of the leadframe strip, each unit leadframe having a die paddle, a plurality of leads and a semiconductor die attached to the die paddle. The leadframe strip is tested by electrically isolating at least the leads from the periphery of the leadframe strip such that at least some of the leads extend uninterrupted beyond a final lead outline of the unit leadframes after electrical isolation from the periphery of the leadframe strip. The semiconductor dies are tested, which includes probing the die paddles and the leads that extend uninterrupted beyond the final lead outline of the unit leadframes after electrical isolation from the periphery of the leadframe strip. The unit leadframes are severed from the leadframe strip along the final lead outline of the unit leadframes after testing the semiconductor dies.

A leadframe forms the base or skeleton of an IC package, providing mechanical support to semiconductor dies during assembly into a finished package. A leadframe typically includes a die paddle for attaching a semiconductor die, and leads providing the means for external electrical connection to the die. The die can be connected to the leads by wires, e.g. through wire bonding or tape automated bonds. Leadframes are typically constructed from flat sheet metal, e.g. by stamping or etching. The sheet metal is typically exposed to chemical etchants that remove areas not covered by photoresist. After the etching process, the etched frames are singulated (separated) into leadframe strips. Each leadframe strip includes a number of unit leadframes each having the die paddle and lead construction described above.
Semiconductor dies attached to the die paddles after completion of the assembly process of a leadframe strip are typically tested after separation of the unit leadframes from the leadframe strip, e.g. by punching. Alternatively, the unit leadframes remain mechanically connected to the leadframe strip by tie bars during die testing. This is commonly referred to as leadframe strip testing. Separation of the individual unit leadframes from the leadframe strip occurs after electrical testing. However, the devices must be electrically isolated from one another prior to leadframe strip testing to ensure proper device testing.
The electrical isolation process conventionally involves severing the die paddle and lead connections along a final lead outline of the unit leadframes. The final lead outline corresponds to the regions of the leadframe strip to be severed after strip testing e.g. after molding in order to separate or singulate the unit leadframes into individual packages. Severing the leads along the final lead outline of the unit leadframes limits the amount of contact area available for probing the leads, which is particularly problematic for leadless and short lead packages that have very small lead contact area inside the final lead outline for probing. Many of these packages are rated for high current operation, but conventional leadframe strip testing often cannot be performed at such high current limits due to the small contact area available for probing the leads. For example, a package rated at 40 A may only be tested at 30 A or a package rated at 100 A may only be tested at 50 A at most using conventional leadframe strip testing approaches.

Extended contact area for leadframe strip testing


The present invention relates to the use of an immunogenic composition comprising a porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) antigen for the prevention and treatment of sub-clinical PCV2 infection in animals, preferably in pigs.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the use of an immunogenic composition comprising a porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) antigen for the prevention and treatment of sub-clinical (chronic) PCV2 infections in animals, preferably in pigs.
Description of the Prior Art
Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is a small (17-22 nm in diameter), icosahedral, non-enveloped DNA virus, which contains a single-stranded circular genome. PCV2 shares approximately 80% sequence identity with porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV1). However, in contrast with PCV1, which is generally non-virulent, infection of swine with PCV2 has recently been associated with a number of disease syndromes which have been collectively named Porcine Circovirus Diseases (PCVD) (also known as Porcine Circovirus associated Diseases (PCVAD)) (Allan et al, 2006, IPVS Congress). Postweaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS) is generally regarded to be the major clinical manifestation of PCVD (Harding et al., 1997, Swine Health Prod; 5: 201-203; Kennedy et al., 2000, J Comp Pathol; 122: 9-24). Other potentially related conditions reported in the literature include porcine respiratory disease complex (PRDC), porcine dermatopathy and nephropathy syndrome (PDNS), reproductive failure, granulomatous enteritis, and potentially, congenital tremors (CT-AII) and perinatal myocarditis (Chae, Veterinary J., 2005; 169: 326-336).
PCVD affects pigs between 5-22 weeks of age. PCVD is clinically characterized by wasting, paleness of the skin, unthriftiness, respiratory distress, diarrhea, icterus, and jaundice. In some affected swine, a combination of all symptoms will be apparent while other affected swine will only have one or two of these symptoms (Muirhead, 2002, Vet. Rec.; 150: 456). The mortality rate for swine infected with PCV2 can approach 50%. During necropsy, microscopic and macroscopic lesions also appear on multiple tissues and organs, with lymphoid organs being the most common site for lesions (Allan and Ellis, 2000; J Vet. Diagn. Invest., 12: 3-14). A strong correlation has been observed between the amount of PCV2 nucleic acid or antigen and the severity of microscopic lymphoid lesions (Brunborg, 2004). In addition, correlation has also been found for the amount of nucleic acid or antigen in blood and the severity of the clinical symptoms (Brunborg, 2004; Liu, 2000; Olvera, 2004). Pigs suffering from PCVD have been shown to have viral loads that are higher than 106 genomic equivalents per ml.
In contrast to clinically apparent disease manifestations of PCV2 infection, sub-clinical PCV2 infections are thought to be present in those animals that are infected with PCV2 but are clinically asymptomatic. In general, a relationship exists between these forms of PCV2 infection since sub-clinical infections may easily transition into PCVD, and since convalescent animals may stay persistently (chronically) infected (see FIG. 1).
Recent observations have demonstrated that sub-clinical PCV2 infections are frequent events. The existence of sub-clinical infections has been demonstrated by both experimental and field studies. In laboratory studies it could be shown that PCV2 infection in individual pigs is not always associated with clinical signs or lesions (Harms et al., 2001, Vet. Pathol., 38:528-539). In addition, several field studies have shown that the incidence of PCV2 infected, seropositive herds is higher than the incidence of herds affected with PCVD (Olvera et al., 2004, J. Virol. Methods, 117: 75-80). Often, herds that have experienced an acute outbreak of PCVD remain PCV2 infected without showing any apparent clinical signs. According to the literature this form of sub-clinical (persistent) infection within a herd is also called "chronic" infection (Burch D., 2006, Pig International).
The economical impact of PCV2 in sub-clinically infected herds, if any, is unknown and has never been described so far. In particular, it was not known and no indication was ever given whether sub-clinical cases of PCV2 infections have any impact on growth performance of animals or, in general, on the overall health of the affected animals.
Approaches to treat PCV2 infections based on a DNA vaccine are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,703,023. In WO 03/049703 production of a live chimeric vaccine is described, comprising a PCV1 backbone in which an immunogenic gene of a pathogenic PCV2 strain replaces a gene of the PCV-1 backbone. WO99/18214 has provided several PCV2 strains and procedures for the preparation of a killed PVC2 vaccine. However, no efficacy data have been reported. An effective ORF-2 based subunit vaccine has been reported in WO06/072065. Any of such vaccines are intended to be used for the vaccination/treatment of swine or pigs older than 3 weeks of age. None of these vaccines have ever been described for the prophylaxis or treatment of animals sub-clinically infected with PCV2. Moreover, such vaccines have not been described to confer immunity against PCV2 infection in sub-clinically infected groups of animals and/or to improve their growth performance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Prevention and treatment of sub-clinical PCVD


A hoist for retrieving, lifting and positioning a light load of up to about 1000 lbs, is described. The hoist comprises a boom support column having an attaching lower end and a boom support upper end. The boom support upper end has a boom assembly connector and a transverse support surface. The boom assembly has a connecting support wall and a lower projecting connector for rotational connection with the boom assembly connector for maintaining the boom at an upward angular position. A releasable locking mechanism locks the boom at the upward angular position. A boom actuating brake arrests rotational displacement between the connecting support wall and the transverse support surface when the boom is at a substantially horizontal load retrieving position. A pulley is rotatably secured to an axle secured at a free end of the boom. The pulley is adapted to guide a cable thereon through a cable guide linkage to align and maintain the cable on the pulley. The pulley is supported on an axle which is connected to a lateral pivot support.

Various types of light hoisting mechanisms are known for securement to lightweight vehicles such as panel trucks, tractors, and even all terrain vehicles for lifting small loads below 1000 lbs.
Reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,487 to illustrate a typical example of the construction of such lightweight hoists. There are several disadvantages with these hoist structures. A main disadvantage is that the lifting cable, which is positioned about the pulley secured at the top end of the boom, often will jump the pulley during operation if the load is disposed sideways of the pulley exerting a lateral pulling force on the cable. This often leads to damage and considerable downtime for repair. It also presents a danger to the operator. Another disadvantage of these hoists is that they are often incapable of pulling loads which are disposed at a distance from the hoist and often at an angle to the hoist. Although some of these hoists are provided with boom angle adjustments, these adjustments are mechanical and require a resetting each time the boom has to be disposed at a different angle.
A still further disadvantage of known lightweight booms is that often these booms are freely rotatable on their support axis and when dragging or lifting a load the boom may suddenly rotate on its support swinging the load and causing injury to personnel or to equipment in the vicinity of the boom. The load being lifted or retrieved by the hoist also often will cause the boom support to bend or break due to excessive loading and this is also hazardous.
A still further disadvantage of these lightweight booms is that they cannot be disassembled quickly to form a small transport package for ease of transportation. They are also time consuming to install on a vehicle or on a support frame and often require special brackets.