A battery includes a case having a feedthrough port, a feedthrough assembly disposed in the feedthrough port, and a cell stack disposed within the case. The feedthrough port includes an inner conductor and an insulator core separating the inner conductor from the case. The cell stack includes an anode, a cathode, and a separator insulating the anode from the cathode, wherein the anode and cathode are offset from one another. An insulating boot surrounding the cell stack insulates the cell stack from the case. The insulating boot has an opening configured to receive therein the feedthrough assembly, which may include overmolded insulation. The interior surfaces and interior walls of the battery case may be thermal spray-coated with a dielectric material to prevent lithium dendrite formation between cathode and anode surfaces.

Batteries used in Implantable Medical Devices (IMDs), such as cardiac pacemakers and Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs), are required to meet high quality and performance specifications and reliability. They need to have high energy density, high rate capability and long shelf life. Since replacement of the battery of an IMD means that the patient must undergo surgery, batteries for IMDs must have a long service life. Improvement to the reliability, performance, and lifetime of such batteries is highly desirable.
ICDs treat ventricular fibrillation, also known as sudden cardiac death. Ventricular fibrillation is characterized by rapid, erratic contraction of the heart resulting in little or no pumping of blood and is generally a fatal condition. An ICD delivers a high-energy pulse (typically up to 35 J) to the heart within seconds of detecting ventricular fibrillation. Minimizing the time a patient remains in fibrillation is an important goal of this therapy. To deliver this life-saving therapy, the ICD battery charges a capacitor to a desired energy level in as short a time as possible, and the capacitor is subsequently discharged through the heart. Because prompt therapy is desirable, the capacitor charge-time, typically in the range of 5 to 15 seconds, is a measure of device performance.
Silver Vanadium Oxide (SVO) batteries are commonly used in medical devices, because they provide a very high energy output rate required by ICDs. The battery consists of multiple cathode (SVO) layers and corresponding anode (lithium metal) layers.
Lithium dendrite formation and resulting internal shorting is one of the major failure modes for ICD batteries. Dendrite formation can result in a short circuit when a bridge is made between an anodic surface and a cathodic surface. Lithium dendrite formation mechanisms are not well controlled through chemistry or geometry changes. Insulation of the active elements in the battery is currently the only method available to mitigate early battery depletion due to a short from lithium dendrite formation. But existing insulation structures have shortcomings.
Insulation joints used in the industry consist of either a simple overlapping fit between insulating parts or an interference joint as described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,281,507. These types of joints exhibit fit variations that result from component tolerances and manufacturing variations, and can leave openings for dendrites to form, allowing for a shorting failure to occur. What is needed is a battery construction that is more resistant to the formation of lithium dendrites in undesirable places.

Battery with enhanced resistance to dendrite formation


The present implant is for fixing femoral fractures and the like. The implant consists of three main parts, namely a first part consisting of an angle element, a second part which forms a holder and a third part in the form of a screw. The angle element includes a sleeve for receiving the screw. Both the sleeve and the screw are intended to be passed into a channel provided through the neck and head of the femur of a patient. The angle element moreover includes a slide which is slidingly accommodated by the holder. The holder is, in its turn, secured by means of anchorage screws in the shaft of the femur. By cooperation between the slide and the holder the possibility is afforded that the angle element may move in relation to the shaft of the femur. The sleeve of the angle element is disposed at an angle in relation to the slide.

The term femoral fractures is here taken to signify intertrochanterian, subtrochanterian and supracondylar fractures, i.e. fractures at different places of the thigh bone (femur).
In order to promote the healing of femoral fractures, use has been made for a relatively long time of various types of screws or pins for fixing the loose bone pieces in such mutual positions that the growing together of the bone pieces across the sides of the fracture is promoted.
In intertrochanterian fractures or fractures which are both inter-trochanterian and subtrochanterian, the orthopedist has, to support the bone pieces around the fracture, often chosen in accordance with techniques hitherto employed to use a fixation device (implant) comprising a screw and an angled plate with which the screw is connected. The screw is passed, via a bore, into the head of the femur and is thereafter screwed in place therein. The plate is secured to the femur by means of screws of considerably smaller dimensions than the previously mentioned screw. The head of the femur and the femur proper have thereby obtained mutually fixed positions even if the fixation device permits a certain, very limited possibility for sliding in the longitudinal direction of the neck of the femur. On the other hand, the plate secured to the femur has always been arranged to realize a completely rigid fixation of the plate in the longitudinal direction of the femur.
While operations in which such fixation devices are applied normally give the desired outcome, it is not uncommon that problems occur because of excessive loading on the fixation device. Excessively high loading entails, for example, that the plates or their anchorage screws break off, that the smaller anchorage screws are projected out of their holes in the bone some time after the operation or that the large screw up through the neck of the femur cuts through the surface definition of the head of the femur towards the hip joint. Such problems are naturally extremely negative, involve pain to the patient and often entail that a new operation must be carried out.
Moreover, the technique disclosed in the immediately preceding paragraphs entails the disadvantage that the fracture surfaces after being subjected to loading, are occasionally fixed in positions in which the surfaces do not fit into one another, a factor which both prolongs and impedes the healing process. This results in bone shortening, lameness and difficulties in walking.


Particles such as bacteria may be enumerated from a liquid in an accurate and efficient manner through use of an apparatus including a filter sheet which is oriented transverse to the surface of the liquid being filtered. The filter sheet is so arranged so that, as the liquid is filtered, an increasing portion of the filter is above the surface of the liquid. As a result of the surface of the liquid dropping across the filter, a smaller fraction of the total volume of the liquid passes through the upper portion of the filter than through the lower portion of the filter. Since the number of bacteria trapped per unit area of the filter depends on the volume filtered through the area, a monotonically increasing gradient of density of filtered bacteria occurs from the top to the bottom of the filter.

This invention relates to devices for collecting particles such as cells suspended in liquids, and solutes carried in solvents. More particularly, the invention relates to filter devices for distributing particles or solutes in a graduated fashion to allow enumeration over a wide range of particle or solute concentrations.
Enumeration of microorganisms in water, foods, pharmaceuticals, etc., is commonly done by the application of samples to petri plates containing mixtures of nutrients and agar. Individual cells multiply on the surface of the agar to form visible colonies which are then counted. Since the number of organisms in the sample is unknown, a series of dilutions is usually prepared and aliquots (usually 0.1 mL) of each dilution are spread on the agar surface. The number of colonies per standard (10 cm) plate should be above 30 (for statistical significance) and below 300 (above which point overlapping colonies become more likely), unless more elaborate methods are used (Arthur L. Koch in Manual of Methods for General Bacteriology, Philipp Gerhardt, ed., American Society for Microbiology, 1981, p. 185).
An alternative known method for determining bacterial counts is to pass the sample through a membrane filter which retains the bacteria on its surface. The filter is then placed on the surface of an agar plate. Nutrients diffuse through the membrane allowing cells to grow into visible colonies. Advantages of membrane filtration are that (i) large volumes can be filtered to enumerate bacteria in dilute samples; and (ii) distribution of cells over the filter is uniform, a result that is difficult to achieve with spreading methods. Accurate quantitation, however, often requires multiple dilutions and filtrations, which are laborious and expensive.


An apparatus and method for content based routing wherein user may register positive interest criteria for receiving messages and negative interest criteria for prevention of receiving messages. In particular, the method is applicable to processing of else messages which have neither a response nor a request field. The positive interest criteria for else messages is provided in a first minimized table for the client and also in a global table. The negative interest criteria for else messages is provided in a second minimized table for the client.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus to route a message from its sender to recipients based on the message's content and based on each potential recipient's interest in some or all of such content.
Historically, messages (electronic, hand written, . . . ) have been routed based on an address associated with each message which has been provided by each message's sender. Postal services, package delivery services, Ethernet, Internet Protocol (IP), . . . , all work on this premise. This is called Address Based Routing. A premise of Address based Routing is that the sender must know the address of the recipient of the message in order to send the message.

Method and apparatus for content based routing of messages


According to some embodiments, an image processor includes a perspective image generator, a perspective image acquirer, a corresponding point acquirer, a first calculator and a display image generator. The first calculator updates the position of the one or more first corresponding point on the first perspective image, based on a difference in position between the first and second perspective images. The display image generator generates a first display image including the first and second perspective images, the one or more first corresponding points updated on the first perspective image, and the one or more second corresponding points on the second perspective image. The perspective image generator changes the first direction into a third direction based on the difference in position between the first and second perspective images, and generates an updated one, viewed in the third direction, of the first perspective image.

At the time of performing a radiotherapy treatment, an object to be treated is positioned at the previously-planned position. There is a method of positioning the object to be treated. For example, corresponding points are designated on a first image captured by radiography at the time of planning a treatment and on a second image captured by radiography at the time of actual treatment, and the object to be treated is positioned based on a difference in position between the corresponding points.
It is difficult to designate the corresponding points when the difference is large in posture of the object between at the planning time and at the treatment time.

Image processing based on positional difference among plural perspective images


The invention provides the use of a protein selected from the B-oligomer of pertussis toxin, an individual subunit S2, S3, S4 or S5 thereof, or a combination of the subunits, for the preparation of pharmaceutical compositions comprising them for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

The gram-negative bacterium Bordetella pertussis (B. pertussis), the causative agent of whooping cough, produces several virulence factors. Pertussis toxin (PT), the major virulence component of B. pertussis, appears to contain an important epitope that leads to the formation of antibodies capable of protecting against the disease. Therefore, PT has been extensively investigated with regard to its possible use in preparing vaccines for whooping cough (Black et al., 1988).
Pertussis toxin is a 105-kDa hexameric protein composed of five distinct non-covalently linked polypeprides designated (in the order of decreasing molecular weight) S1-S5.PT can be divided into two distinct functional units, the enzymatically active toxic A-protomer, consisting of a single polypeptide (S1), and the pentameric B-oligomer (S2, S3, two copies of S4, and S5, i.e. molar ratiol:1:2:1). The B-oligomer is responsible for binding of the toxin to the surface of eukaryotic target cells. The two S4 polypeptides form two distinct heterodimers with S2 and S3, which are in turn held together by S5 (see review by Gierschik, 1992).
The perrussis toxin gene has been cloned and sequenced (Nicosia et al., 1986; European Patent Application EP 0232 229; Locht and Keith, 1986; U.S. Pat. No. 4, 883,761). The individual subunits have been subcloned and expressed in E. coli in nonfusion form (Burnette et al.,1988) or as fusion proteins (Nicosia et al., 1987), and tested as antigens for protection against whooping cough.
The development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), as well as other autoimmune diseases in experimental animals, can be facilitated by injecting Bordetella pertussis concomitantly with inoculation of the autoantigen (Bernard et al., 1992). EAE is a neurological autoimmune disease which can be induced in experimental animals by a single injection of central nervous system (CNS) tissue homogenate or purified myelin antigens such as myelin basic protein (MBP) or proteolipid protein (PLP) in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) (Tabira and Kira, 1992). The clinical and pathological features of EAE are reminiscent of multiple sclerosis , and EAE is a well-accepted model for multiple sclerosis. In mice,. consistent elicitation of EAE was shows to be facilitated by administration of B. pertussis at the time of the encephalitogenic challenge (Munoz, 1985). Pertussis toxin (PT) was shown later to be the component of B. pertussis responsible for facilitating disease development, and it is now routinely used in place of B. pertussis for enhancement of autoimmune disease in experimental animals (Munoz, 1995).
In an analysis of the possible inununomodulating activity of various bacteria, it was found by the present inventor that B. pertussis not only enhances the development of EAE in mice, but can also protect against the disease depending on the time and route of injection (Lehman and Ben-Bun, 1993). The protective activity of B. pertussis was subsequently assigned to PT (Ben-Nun et al., 1993).
Pertussis toxin (PT), the major virulence determinant of B. pertussis , is composed of two distinct functional units: the A-protomer consisting of a single polypeptide (S1) that mediates adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-ribosylation of host G proteins, and the B-oligomer, a complex pentamer composed of subunits S2, S3, S4 and S5 in a respective molar ratio of 1:1:2:1, which mediates the binding of the toxin to host tissue by interaction with glycoproteins and glycolipids on many types of eukaryotic cells (Gierschik, 1992). PT was found to have mitogenic and immunoadjuvant properties (Munoz, 1985). The mechanism by which PT can enhance the development of EAE in mice is not yet clear. However, it has been suggested that PT facilitates the access of autoantigen-specific T cells to the CNS by affecting the vascular permeability of the blood-brain barrier (Linthicum et al., 1982).
The mechanism by which PT protects against the development of EAE is also unclear. To further understand how both enhancing and protective activities are mediated by the same, albeit complex, molecule, it is essential to delineate the regions of the PT holomer which may be associated with one or both of these activities.

Pharmaceutical compositions for the treatment of autoimmune diseases comprising the B-oligomer of pertussis toxin or its subunits


A generally planar, rectangular solid oxide fuel cell stack having a plurality of fuel cell units, each of the fuel cell units having an anode, a cathode and an electrolyte disposed there between, at least one bipolar separator plate disposed between the anode electrode of one fuel cell unit and the cathode electrode of an adjacent fuel cell unit, an oxidant manifold for delivering oxidant to the cathode electrode, a fuel manifold for delivering fuel to the anode electrode, an anode exhaust gas removal manifold for removing anode exhaust gases from the solid oxide fuel cell stack, and a cathode exhaust gas removal manifold for removing cathode exhaust gases from the solid oxide fuel cell stack. At least one ducted gas flow panel is disposed proximate the fuel cell stack and configured in combination with the fuel cell stack to preheat oxidant gas flowing therethrough and, thus, maintain the fuel cell stack in an operational condition without supplemental heating of the oxidant after entering the at least one ducted gas flow panel.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to integrated solid oxide fuel cell systems and thermal management thereof using gas flow panels that absorb thermal radiation from one or more fuel cell stacks. The systems contain at least one gas flow panel that provides oxidant preheating. The systems may also contain additional gas flow panels that provide further oxidant preheating, fuel preheating, fuel pre-reforming, fuel reforming or fuel desulfurization.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, fuel cell electrical output units are comprised of a stacked multiplicity of individual fuel cell units separated by bi-polar electronically conductive separator plates. Individual fuel cell units are sandwiched together and secured into a single-staged unit to achieve a desired fuel cell power output. Each fuel cell unit generally includes an anode electrode, a cathode electrode, a common electrolyte disposed between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode, and fuel and oxidant gas sources; and the bi-polar separator plate is disposed between the anode electrode of one fuel cell unit and the cathode electrode of an adjacent fuel cell unit, forming an anode reactant chamber on the anode electrode side of the separator plate between the separator plate and the electrolyte and a cathode reactant chamber on the cathode side of the separator plate between the separator plate and the electrolyte of the adjacent fuel cell unit. Both fuel and oxidant gases are introduced through manifolds, either internal or external to the fuel cell stack, to the respective reactant chambers between the separator plate and the electrolyte.
Solid oxide fuel cells have grown in recognition as a viable high temperature fuel cell technology. For one thing, there is no liquid electrolyte with its attending metal corrosion and electrolyte management problems. Rather, the electrolyte of the cells is made primarily from solid ceramic materials so as to be able to survive the high temperature environment, typically as high as about 1000° C. The operating temperature of greater than about 600° C. allows internal reforming to convert hydrocarbon fuels into the hydrogen fuel required for the reaction, promotes cell reactions with non-precious materials, and produces high quality by-product heat for cogeneration or for use in a bottoming cycle. The high temperature of the solid oxide fuel cell, however, places stringent requirements on its materials. Because of the high operating temperatures of conventional solid oxide fuel cells, the materials used in the cell components are limited by chemical stability in oxidizing and reducing environments, by chemical stability of contacting materials, by conductivity, and by thermo-mechanical compatibility.
Planar solid oxide fuel cells have the potential to be more efficient and lower in cost than tubular designs because the cells used have shorter current paths and are simpler to manufacture. However, as suggested above, it is difficult to find suitable low-cost materials for the sealant and interconnect for use at the solid oxide fuel cell operating temperature. Thus, to enable the use of lower cost materials, it is desirable that the operating temperature of the solid oxide fuel cells be reduced.
Effective heat integration between fuel cell stack heat removal and oxidant (air) preheating has been a major challenge for the solid oxide fuel cell. Standard heat-integration schemes, employed by conventional systems, use the cathode gas inside the fuel cell stack for the heat removal and preheat the air feed by gas-to-gas heat exchange with the cathode exhaust gas. Because the temperature gradient across the stack hardware is limited (usually less than about 100° C.), the required cathode flow for the stack heat removal is very large. Typically, a stoichiometric air ratio of 4-10 (depending upon the fuel, fuel processing, and stack size, design and performance) is necessary to provide the cathode gas flow required for the heat removal. This large air flow significantly increases the air preheater size. The large size, in conjunction with the high air discharge temperature required, significantly increases the air preheater cost. This is one major reason for the high cost of solid oxide fuel cell systems. In addition, the large air flow increases the system pressure drop. The combined effect of large flow and high pressure drop increases the air blower size and the auxiliary power consumption. Consequently, the efficiency of the system is reduced.
In larger solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems, the "direct" (e.g. by radiation) transfer of stack-generated heat minimizes the airflow required to cool the stack because heat is transferred from the outside walls of the stack and, thus, reduces the size of components such as piping, ducts, and heat exchangers that use this airflow. Increased power density may also be possible because radiant heat transfer may be able to accommodate higher heat production at higher power density, which reduces capital cost. The parasitic power to run air blowers is also reduced, increasing system efficiency. In addition, the reduced pressure drop in the air passages and across the air compartments due to lower reactant gas flow in larger systems may improve seal durability and allow more flexibility in sizing the gas flow channels.
In smaller solid oxide fuel cell systems (estimated to be <3 kW), heat lost to the surroundings can become a significant fraction of the heat released by the stack. This heat loss increases the difficulty of sustaining the stack temperature, may add to burner duty and lowers system efficiency.
Planar solid oxide fuel cell stacks tend to develop an in-plane, spatial temperature distribution during operation. The temperature gradient is higher for some flow patterns than others. It is particularly high for the relatively easily implemented cross-flow pattern, that is, where the fuel and oxidant gases are introduced into the stack in a cross-flow configuration. Such high temperatures and high temperature gradients increase mechanical stress and accelerate deterioration of solid oxide fuel cell stacks. Smoothing the in-plane stack hardware temperature gradient would have the potential to increase stack life.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 0207163-A1 teaches the use of air preheater panels as a means for addressing thermal management issues encountered in fuel cell stack systems. However, successful thermal management in the disclosed system generally requires the use of at least one pre-burner for boosting the temperature of the air leaving the air preheater panel and entering the fuel cell stack.
Control of a system having modules comprising a combination of fuel cell stack and gas flow panels requires appropriate thermal interaction among the system components. For example, an oxidant outlet heat exchanger may need to operate independently of the gas flow panels so that the panel temperature can stay low enough to maintain effective radiant heat transfer from the fuel cell stack. This may be achieved by locating a control burner for preheating inlet gases remotely from the panels. Remote location of a supplementary burner would also allow for controlling the thermal gradients developed in the stack by controlling the transfer of stack-generated heat alone. An air bypass can be used to assist system control.

Gas flow panels integrated with solid oxide fuel cell stacks


A chip card substrate is provided that includes a first polymer layer including a first polymer material. The chip card substrate further includes an intermediate layer disposed over the first polymer layer and including polyolefin including a plurality of micro pores, an adhesive layer disposed over the intermediate layer and including an adhesive, and a second polymer layer disposed over the adhesive layer and including a second polymer material different from the first polymer material.

In general, an integrated circuit or a chip may be included in or on a chip card substrate usually made of plastic material, thereby forming a so-called smart card (in the following also referred to as chip card or as integrated circuit card). There may be various applications including for example personal identification or banking applications. A chip card typically includes a contact pad structure for electrically connecting the chip card to an external device, e.g. to a card reader. Among the different types of smart cards, there are contactless smart cards such that the card data exchange and the power supply of the card may be realized using induction technology, e.g. radio frequency. A so-called dual interface card may include both, the contact pad structure and the contactless interface. The chip card or the chip card substrate, respectively, usually includes a plurality of layers. Technical requirements for the chip card or the chip card substrate typically include that adhesive forces joining the plurality of layers should be high enough to prevent peeling of the layers, even if the chip card is subjected to external forces, chemical substances, temperature variations, etc.

Chip card substrate and method of forming a chip card substrate


A feature phone has two processors that share a key pad for user input. The key pad is attached to a base-band processor and sends an interrupt to a user-hardware-interrupt UHI driver running on the base-band processor when the user presses a key. When a hot switch indicates that the local base-band processor has the focus, a key-press event is sent to the local kernel to be sent to programs on the base-band processor. When the hot switch indicates that a remote applications processor has the focus, a message for the event is written through a shared-memory interface to a shared memory on the applications processor. A shared mailbox is written with the message length, triggering a mailbox-interrupt to the applications processor. A virtual UHI driver running on the applications processor reads the event message from the shared memory and passes key-press information to programs on the applications processor.

One of the more widely used electronic devices today is the mobile or cellular phone. Improvements in capabilities and features have been made as newer generations of mobile phones and infrastructure are introduced. Third and fourth generation (3G and 4G) phones can access high-bandwidth cellular networks, enabling video, gaming, and other multimedia services.
While there may be various implementations of feature phones, a dual-processor implementation is sometimes used. FIG. 1 shows a feature phone with two processors. Feature phone 10 has advanced capabilities, and includes applications processor 20 to execute programs that implement some of these more advanced features, such as H.264 or MPEG-4 video encoding and decoding, camera support, and MP3 audio player support.
Radio-frequency RF circuit 22 includes one or more chips and transmits and receives radio signals over the antenna of phone 10. These signals are converted to digital form and communicated with base-band processor 24. Control of the transceiver and implementation of cellular communications protocols is handled by base-band processor 24.
Information such as phone numbers, call status, and menus are displayed to a phone user on display 12, which may be a liquid crystal display (LCD). Keypad 14 accepts user-inputted phone numbers and text, with keys for sending and ending a call in addition to numeric telephone keys. Control over keypad 14 is handled by base-band processor 24, while display 12 is controlled by applications processor 20.
A separate applications processor 20 can provide a more robust phone platform since base-band processor 24 does not have to been significantly altered for advanced features, which are executed on applications processor 20.
User data such as call logs, phone numbers, and user preferences are stored in memory 16. Memory 16 can be a static random-access memory (SRAM), flash, or other non-volatile memory. Memory 16 can be accessed by base-band processor 24 and/or by applications processor 20. Data can be shared when both processor have operating systems that can recognize file formats used by the other processor.
Some data must be transferred between base-band processor 24 and applications processor 20. For example, video or picture data may be received over the cell network by base-band processor 24 and transferred to applications processor 20 for further processing, or a digital camera image captured by applications processor 20 may be sent to base-band processor 24 for transmission over the cell network.
The desire to reduce the size of the phone as much as possible may require that peripheral devices be shared among the two processors. For example, keypad 14 can be controlled by base-band processor 24. However, sometimes user key presses are for controlling execution of programs that are executing on applications processor 20 rather than on base-band processor 24. It may be desirable to transfer key press information from base-band processor 24 to applications processor 20 in such as situation.
The interface between applications processor 20 and base-band processor 24 may be difficult to use. For examples, special software drivers may need to be written for execution on both applications processor 20 and base-band processor 24 for transferring various types of data. Lower-level software or operating system modules may need to be modified. Such changes require extensive compatibility testing to ensure that the phones do not fail in the field.
The parent application disclosed a feature phone with a base-band processor and applications processor that used a shared-mailbox interface between the two processors. The parent application disclosed emulating a network such as Transport-Control-Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and Ethernet using this shared-mailbox interface.
What is desired is a feature phone with a user interface shared among the applications processor and base-band processor. It is desired to use the shared mailbox interface between the processors for relaying key-press information. Virtualizing the user-input device using the shared-mailbox interface is desirable.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Virtualization of hardware user-interface using a shared mailbox between two processors in a feature phone


The invention provides compounds and a method for imaging aggregated α-synuclein, e.g., Lewy bodies or Lewy neurites, in a tissue or organ.

Despite the discovery of Parkinson's disease (PD) in the early 1800s, a clinical diagnosis is still the prevailing method to assess the disease; there is no blood test or brain scan to diagnose PD. Post-mortem confirmation of the diagnosis is performed by the identification of Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites containing aggregated α-synuclein, the hallmark pathology of PD. Therefore, the existence of in vivo imaging technology for PD would greatly benefit patient diagnosis, disease treatments, and clinical research. In addition, an imaging contrast agent specific to PD pathology could be used to distinguish clinically similar neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), Parkinson's with dementia (PDD), and other Parkinsonian diseases.
The development of an in vivo imaging approach for Parkinson's disease patients would revolutionize clinical diagnosis and scientific research. Accordingly, there is need in the art for an agent that is specific for PD pathology to allow disease progression and drug efficacy to be imaged directly and non-invasively in vivo.

Development and screening of contrast agents for in vivo imaging of Parkinson's disease


An image forming apparatus and an image forming method in which a latent image is formed by scanning the surface of an image bearing body with a laser light blinking in accordance with pulse-width modulation based on an image signal. Output-control-wave generating device generates an output control wave having a peak for a write time of each picture element. The output control wave is turned on and off by a gate circuit with timing determined by an exposure control signal generated by exposure control device. A signal output by the gate circuit is converted by a V/I converter into a driving current wave for controlling radiation of a laser light by an exposure unit. In this way, exposure energy produced by the exposure unit can be concentrated on an exposure time duration of each picture element, allowing the amount of mutual interference among picture elements to be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method using an electrophotographic process and, in particular, to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method for forming a latent image by scanning the surface of a photosensitive substance with a blinking laser light based on an image signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, in an image forming apparatus using a digital image signal, first of all, a photosensitive material serving as an image bearing body is electrically charged uniformly. Then, a laser light which is modulated by an image signal in picture-element units is applied to the surface of the image bearing body to form an electrostatic latent image thereon. Portions of the image bearing body on which the laser light has been applied have different potentials depending upon the amount of laser light applied thereto. On the latent image, toner is selectively transferred to form a toner image which is then transferred and fixed onto paper to form a recorded image.
In an image forming apparatus like the one described above, as a method to expose the image bearing body with the amount of exposure determined by image data of each picture element, a technique applying pulse-width modulation on a laser is widely used. In this technique, the amount of exposure is varied for each picture element by changing the exposure time duration with the output of the laser light kept at a constant value. An image drawing apparatus shown in FIG. 14 is an example of an image forming apparatus which adopts the pulse-width modulation method. The device enclosed by a dashed line in the figure is an exposure control unit 100 for controlling the exposure of the image drawing apparatus. In the image drawing apparatus, image data output by an image processing unit 101 is converted into an analog voltage signal by a D/A converter 103 in synchronization with a clock signal of FIG. 15A generated by a clock-signal generator 102. On the other hand, a chopping-wave oscillator 104 generates a chopping wave which is also synchronized with the clock signal. The signal output by the D/A converter 103 is compared with the signal output by the chopping-wave oscillator 104 by a comparator 105 in order to convert the image data into an exposure control signal with a pulse width varying from picture element to picture element as shown in FIG. 15B. A V/I converter 106 carries out control to turn on and off a driving current wave of a light emitting device in accordance with the exposure control signal. The driving current wave output by the V/I converter 106 is constant during the exposure time duration of each picture element as shown in FIG. 15C.
A semiconductor laser 108, the light emitting device cited above, is driven by the driving current wave which is controlled to turn on and off by the V/I converter 106 as described above, radiating a laser light. The laser light is converted into parallel beams by a collimator lens 109 and then polarized by a polygon mirror 110 prior to adjustment of the focus and the scan speed thereof by an f.theta. lens 111 before being applied to the surface of an image bearing body 112. Thereafter, a latent image formed on the image bearing body 112 is made visible by the generally known electrophotographic process and recorded on paper.
Since a laser beam traditionally used in the image drawing apparatus described above has a large beam diameter, a beam spot produced at the exposure time duration juts out into adjacent picture elements as shown in FIG. 16, giving rise to mutual interference among picture elements. The interference much affects an intermediate-gradation image, causing a problem that an image cannot be reproduced with a high degree of fidelity. In order to solve this problem, it is thus necessary to reduce the beam diameter. In addition, it is also necessary to raise the resolution in order to reproduce an image constructed by thin lines such as a character with a high degree of fidelity. Also, in this case, the beam diameter of the laser light needs to be reduced. In order to reduce the beam diameter by means of an optical system comprising lenses and mirrors, however, the lens configuration becomes complex and, in addition, the size of the polygon mirror increases, naturally making the image drawing apparatus large in size.
In order to solve the problems described above, there is provided an image forming apparatus wherein the laser beam is squeezed into a smaller beam diameter by using means such as a diaphragm placed between the polygon mirror and the collimator lens for shielding part of the optical path of the laser light as is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho 61-113018 (1986).
When the beam diameter is reduced physically as described above, however, diffraction of light occurring in the shielding means gives rise to fringes around a main beam spot as shown in FIG. 17A. Photographic fogs caused by the fringes in turn cause the picture quality to deteriorate. A technology developed to prevent the picture quality from deteriorating due to photographic fogs is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 6-305189 (1994).
According to an image forming method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 6-305189, an image bearing body having an photoelectric characteristic shown in FIG. 17B is used. As shown in FIG. 17B, as the exposure intensity (that is, the exposure energy) exceeds a certain fixed value (a), the surface potential drops steeply. Accordingly, when a laser light is applied to the surface of the image bearing body, the surface potential does not attenuate for an exposure intensity smaller than the value (a) and only the surface potential of exposure portions with an exposure intensity greater than the value (a) does attenuate. That is to say, since the amount of attenuation in surface potential of the photosensitive material is small for a range with an exposure intensity smaller than the value (a), effects of fringes shown in FIG. 17A can be suppressed, allowing only a large peak to become a predominant factor in the distribution of the surface-potential attenuation of the image bearing body.
According to an image forming method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 4-336859 (1992), on the other hand, by superposing two laser beams on each other as shown in FIG. 18, a beam dot with an amount of exposure larger than that produced by a single beam can be formed. Then, by using an image bearing body with the photoelectric characteristic described above, dots each having a size smaller than the beam diameter can be formed at a high density. The image bearing body exhibits an photoelectric characteristic that, at an amount of exposure produced by superposing two beams, that is, at an amount of exposure greater than the value (a), the surface potential drops abruptly.
With the image forming method described above, however, the following problems arise.
With the image forming method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 6-305189, effects of fringes can be suppressed theoretically by using the photoelectric characteristic of the image bearing body. It is difficult, however, to make an image bearing body that has an extremely accurate photoelectric characteristic like the one shown in FIG. 17B and also has practically durable stability and maintainability as well.
On the of that, the image forming method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 4-336859 has a quality-deterioration problem such as photographic fogs and poorly reproduced highlight portions which problem arises when the development bias voltage or the like changes in addition to the problem described above. By the same token, there is a factor limiting the improvement of the resolution if the beam diameter is not reduced. In addition, since there is much mutual interference among picture elements, a complex image processing is required. As a result, there are a number of problems encountered in putting the image drawing apparatus to practical use.

Image forming apparatus and image forming method that concentrates exposure intensity of a laser light of each picture element


Nested namespaces for selective content sharing.

Traditionally, businesses and other organizations have stored their digital content, such as documents, files, and other digital information, on network file servers. Such file servers are typically located on-site behind a network firewall that prevents unauthorized network access to the content items stored on the file server. Content created by employees belongs to the business. On a file server, such content is centralized, allowing a business to easily segregate personal content items from content belonging to the business. That is, the business treats all items residing on the file server as business-owned content. Furthermore, this centralized view allows a business to easily manage the content. For example, the IT manager or administrator can set access control permissions on content stored on the company file server.
To work remotely, employees often store content items locally at their personal computers, personal accounts, and/or personal storage devices so that they can work with the content items offline or otherwise while not connected to the file server. This is less than ideal from the employer's perspective because the employer has less control over the locally stored content items when compared to the content items stored on the file server. This poses risk such as when, for example, the employee's personal computing device is lost, damaged, or stolen. Furthermore, the employer loses control of access of an offline copy outside of the file server.
A business may use a cloud-based content management service to "host" their content on servers operated by the service in addition to or instead of storing content on their own file servers. Cloud-based storage provides a number of benefits to businesses and their employees alike. One example of an online content management service is the "Dropbox" service provided by Dropbox, Inc. of Sa Francisco, Calif. The Dropbox service offers the ability to synchronize and share hosted content items among multiple devices and users. This flexibility, which stems for storing and synchronizing content both at end-user devices and on Dropbox, Inc. servers, supports a variety of different on-site and remote working arrangements.
With some existing cloud-based content management systems, the content storage model is less centralized than the traditional file server model. In particular, with these systems, each user of the system has their own individual synchronization repository on their personal computing device where content items synchronized with the system are stored. Further, each user maintains their individual synchronization repository independently of each other.
Some existing systems provide mechanisms to share selected content items between synchronization repositories. For example, with some existing systems, user Alice can share a folder in her synchronization repository with user Bob such that updates Bob makes to the shared folder in his synchronization repository are seen by Alice in her synchronization repository, and vice versa. However, with existing system, ownership of the shared folder is tied to an individual. This is problematic if Alice leaves the company and decommissions her synchronization repository or simply deletes the shared folder from her synchronization repository. In this case, the folder she shared with Bob may no longer be accessible to Bob. In the worst case, all of the work accumulated in the shared folder is lost.
Another problem with shared folders on existing systems is that hierarchical information pertaining to the shared folder may be lost when the shared folder is incorporated into another's synchronization repository. For example, assume Alice has a folder in her synchronization repository with the path /A/B/C. With existing systems, if Alice shares folder /A/B/C with Chris, the folder appears as /C in Chris' synchronization repository with the hierarchical information about parent folders "A" and "B" lost. Thus, different hierarchical information may be available to different users with respect to the same resource, making it difficult to communicate about the exact location of the resource. Furthermore, additional sharing of the resource or parent resources is constrained. For example, a system may prevent Alice from sharing folder /A/B with Bob after sharing folder /A/B/C with Chris.
Overall, existing cloud-based content management systems, due to the individualized and distributed nature of synchronization repositories, increase coordination costs for a business when used for managing and storing content items belonging to the business. Given the increasing amount of digital information generated by businesses, hosting of content items by businesses with cloud-based content management services can only be expected to increase. This trend is coupled with a desire of the businesses to retain a level of control over the content they host with such services and to provide more customizable permissions over such content. The present invention fulfills this and other needs.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.


A snapped together portable lamp assembly may be formed with a deformable reflector. Cutouts in the reflector form a resiliently flexible web that enables axially flexing to initiate a spring operated electrical switch. A covering lens may transmit the initiating force to turn the lamp on or off. The structure is compact, easily operated with a single touch and inexpensive to make.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electric lamps and particularly to portable electric lamps. More particularly the invention is concerned with portable LED lamp assemblies.
2. Description of the Related Art including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
It is common for vehicles to have interior dome lamps to illuminate the vehicle interior. Sometimes the amount of light or the orientation of light is inappropriate for the use desired. For example the rear area may receive an insufficient amount of light, or the item to be illuminated may need to be illuminated close up for proper viewing. It can also be desirable to have an interior lamp on while at the same time not interfering with the driver's vision. It can be equally desirable to have a lamp that is detachable for use outside the vehicle, and at the same time one that is compact, easily turned on and variably attached in the vehicle interior. Ordinary flashlights are bulky, and can be difficult for a driver to operate while driving. Ordinary flashlights depend on batteries for long operating lives, but long operating life makes them bulky and less easy to position in a vehicle. Ordinary flashlights are also not generally attachable to a vehicle interior for fixed positioning if that is desired. There is then a need for a detachable vehicle interior lamp that is easily turned on, and has a long life.


A message synthesizer circuit includes a compressed message data memory as a message source for storing a plurality of compressed message data of message, each corresponding to a message code specifying a message to be emitted as a synthesized message. An input message code selector converts a message code signal into the count of a ring counter by taking, as its inputs, a count output emitted from the ring counter, with the total number of these compressed message data corresponding to its maximum count number, a message code signal for specifying a message to be emitted and an input message code selector signal for setting a randomizing condition for randomly altering the message code signal. The system controller reads out the compressed message data corresponding to the random message code from the compressed message data memory, which is then converted into a specific synthesized message.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a message synthesizer circuit, and more particularly to a synthesizer circuit which can generate a desired tone or voice message.
2. Prior Art
As shown in FIG. 1, in a conventional message synthesizer circuit, a melody, for example, an eight-bit data representation for a single tone of the piano, is turned into compressed PCM data to store into a memory 11, which serves as a message source, and the PCM data is sequentially read out to reproduce the melody by means of a PCM decoder 12. While for speech, a single message such as "Ohayou (Good morning)" is similarly compressed into ADPCM (Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation) or DPCM (Differential Pulse Code Modulation) data to store into a compressed message data memory 11, which serves as the message source. In this case, the basic bit processing systems are the same, whether a single message frame such as "Ohayou" be stored as a single block of data, or "o", "ha", "yo" and "u" be each stored as the unit tone. Incidentally, in the case of a PARCOR (Partial Autocorrelation) system, a specific PARCOR data processing is used. However, in either case, the compressed message data memory 11 is provided as the message source for storing the compressed message data.
In operation of the conventional message sysnthesizer circuit, a message code signal 109 for specifying a message is entered, and a start signal 110 is entered to latch the message code signal by a latch circuit 9, and then the compressed message data specified by the message code signal 109 is read out from the specified address of the compressed message data memory 11 by a system controller 10. The compressed message data which has been read out is expanded and decoded by a compressed message data decoder (PCM decoder) 12 and, after conversion into an analog signal by a D/A (digital-to-analog) converter 13, it is passed through a message demodulating filter or a low pass filter 14 to emit a synthesized message for obtaining a specific message.
In some applications (for example, a toy and the like) of the above-described conventional message synthesizer circuit, variations such as "Ohayou", "Kon-nichiwa (Hello)" or "Konbanwa (Good evening)" are often needed as casual and random message data outputs rather than "Ohayou", which is the stereotyped message data.
However, in the above-described conventional message synthesizer circuit, in order to achieve any random message output, it is necessary to enter a corresponding message code signal from the exterior and, accordingly, for that purpose, an external circuit becomes necessary.

Random tone or voice message synthesizer circuit


A foot bathing fixture includes a seat supported on a raised pedestal. The pedestal has a hollow interior for housing a whirlpool pumping apparatus and other fixtures, for example a drain control. A removable access panel is located on the top of the pedestal to permit access to the pedestal interior for servicing the whirlpool pumping apparatus and other fixtures. The seat is positioned to cover the access panel when it is in position on top of the pedestal, and is hinged on the access panel so that the seat may be easily pivoted forward to access the pedestal for cleaning.

The field of the invention is moulded shower enclosures and more particularly, combined shower enclosures and drain pans which include a seat.
Shower enclosures are commonly moulded from acrylic or other suitable material as a one piece shell. The shell includes side walls and a bottom emptying into a drain, and in may cases also includes an integral seating surface moulded into a side wall or into a corner between two side walls.
It is also known in the prior art to provide a capability to close the drain and fill a bottom portion of the enclosure with water for the purpose of soaking a user's feet. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,589,281 shows a combined shower bath, foot bath and bidet, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,096,526 shows a foot bath insert for use in a shower.
Conventional whirlpool apparatus may be included with a foot bath configuration to implement a foot whirlpool. However, when a whirlpool apparatus is included, such apparatus must be made accessible for maintenance, adjustment and repair. The most common method utilized for providing access to the whirlpool mechanism is to cut an access opening through a wall adjacent to the shower enclosure into an adjacent closet, crawl space, or other unobtrusive area. In that way, access to the whirlpool mechanism is obtained from outside of the shower enclosure, thereby allowing the shower enclosure to remain a one piece, sealed shell. Depending upon a particular room layout, however, such access may not be possible, for example, if the walls adjacent to the shower enclosure are exterior walls, or more commonly, if the presence of the access opening in the area on the opposite side of the adjacent wall would be aesthetically objectionable.
Other types of combination foot whirlpool/shower enclosures are known in which an outside wall of the enclosure, is open to the room containing the shower enclosure, with the outside wall being fitted with a removable panel for access to the whirlpool apparatus. This arrangement also enables the interior shell for the shower to be a one piece, sealed enclosure. However, it does impose limitations on the placement of the enclosure, e.g. that the removable panel be open to the room interior and be large enough to provide easy access. The above limitations require that a fairly large area, i.e. the whirlpool apparatus and removable panel, be placed adjacent the room interior, where it detracts from the the available area for entrance to the shower enclosure and otherwise limits design possibilities with respect to the esthetic appearance of the shower enclosure. For example, this arrangement would not be feasible in a three walled, alcove installation where only a front wall is available for shower entrance (e.g. the removable panel would present a sizable obstruction to that entrance).


A method of making sintered components made from an iron-based powder composition and the sintered component per se. The method is especially suited for producing components which will be subjected to wear at elevated temperatures, consequently the components consists of a heat resistant stainless steel with hard phases including chromium carbo-nitrides. Examples of such components are parts in turbochargers for internal combustion engines.

In industries the use of metal products manufacturing by compaction and sintering of metal powder compositions is becoming increasingly widespread. A number of different products of varying shape and thickness are being produced, and the quality requirements are continuously raised. At the same time it is desired to reduce the costs. Since net shape components, or near net shape components requiring a minimum of machining in order to reach finished shape, are obtained by pressing and sintering of iron powder compositions, which implies a high degree of material utilisation, this technique has a great advantage over conventional techniques such as casting, moulding or machining from bar stock or forgings, for forming metal parts.
However, for some applications a drawback for the press- and sintering method may be that the sintered component contains a certain amount of pores, decreasing the strength of the component. Basically there are two ways to overcome the negative effect on mechanical properties caused by the component porosity:    1) The strength of the sintered component may be increased by introducing alloying elements such as carbon, copper, nickel molybdenum etc.    2) The porosity of the sintered component may be reduced by increasing the compressibility of the powder composition, and/or increasing the compaction pressure for a higher green density, or increasing the shrinkage of the component during sintering.
In practise a combination of strengthening the component by addition of alloying elements and minimising the porosity is applied.
For iron-based sintered components which are subjected to wear and corrosion at elevated temperature a prerequisite in order to withstand such conditions is that the components are made of stainless steel and also containing hard phases. High sintered density, i.e. low porosity is also necessary. Examples of such components are components in turbochargers, such as unison or nozzle rings and sliding nozzles. In these cases closed porosity is desired, which means a sintered density above about 7.3 g/cm3, preferably above 7.4 g/cm3, most preferably above 7.5 g/cm3. The powder metallurgical production route is very suitable for producing such components as they are often produced in large quantities and the components have a suitable size.
Metal Injection Moulding, MIM, is a technique where very fine metal powders are used which typically have a value X50 below 10 μm, (X50; 50% by weight of the particles have a diameter less than X50, 50% by weight have a diameter above X50). The powder is mixed with high amounts of organic binders and lubricants in order to form a paste suitable to be injected in a die. The injected component is released from the die and is subsequently subjected to a de-binding process for removing the organic material followed by a sintering process. Small complex shaped components having low porosity can be produced by this method. The patent application DE10 2009 004 881 A1 describes the production of a turbocharger component by this method.
By using finer particle size of the iron-based powder in the composition the green component will shrink more during sintering as such powders have higher specific surface, more active surface, thus yielding a higher sintered density and less porosity.
In the uniaxially pressing technique, coarser iron-based powders are normally used, typically the particle size of the iron-based powder is below 200 μm with about less than 25% below 45 μm. By using finer iron-based powders in the powder composition, components having higher sintered density may be produced. Such compositions, however, normally suffer from poor flowability i.e. the ability of uniformly fill different portions of the die with the powder and with uniform apparent density, AD. The ability of uniformly fill with as small variation as possible of AD of the powder in different portions of the die is essential in order to obtain a sintered component having small variations of the sintered density in different portions. Further, a uniform and consistent filling ensures that the weight and dimensional variations of the pressed and sintered components can be minimized.
The composition must also flow fast enough during the filling stage in order to obtain an economical production speed. Apparent density, flowability and flow rate are commonly referred to as powder properties. Various methods for agglomeration of fine powders to coarser agglomerates having sufficient powder properties and still enhancing shrinkage during sintering have been suggested in order to overcome the above mentioned problems.
JP3527337B2 describes a method for producing agglomerated spray dried powder from fine metal powder or pre alloyed powder.
Components for turbocharger, such as unison or nozzle rings and sliding nozzles, usually contain hard phases in order to withstand wear at elevated temperature. Such hard phases may be carbides or nitrides. Such components may also contain various alloying elements in order to provide enough strength at elevated temperatures above 700° C. The presence of hard phases in combination with alloying elements has however normally a negative influence of compressibility of the iron-based powder composition and of the machinability of the sintered components. In addition, the presence of hard phases in the powder to be consolidated has also a negative influence of the shrinkage, densification, during sintering. The present invention provides a solution to inter alia the above mentioned problems.

Method for producing a sintered component and a sintered component


A portable door lock with a strike plate, a bolt, and a magnet is disclosed. The strike plate has a boss that fits into the recess of a door frame, and has at least one aperture for accommodating the bolt. The strike plate may also have a handle for gripping by the user when inserting the strike plate into the recess of a door frame. Once the strike plate is fitted into the recess of a door frame, a bolt is inserted through the aperture or apertures, and the magnet is placed in the area between the door, the strike plate, and the bolt. The door is thereby secured, without the need for any tools.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to portable door locks.
2. Background of the Invention
Portable door locks of various designs have been created to secure doors that do not have operable locks, or for travelers or others who wish to personally control access to a room. Such portable door locks can be especially useful in public accommodations, including hotels, dormitories, apartments, and cruise ships.
Prior portable door locks possess several disadvantages. Many are complex and not cost effective to manufacture. Others can be picked, and those with securing pins can be wrenched or pried from the outside by intruders. Some portable door locks include notches, teeth or contain rough edges which may cause injury to the user during installation or removal. A number of portable door locks require special tools to install, or can only work with doorknobs or doorknob shanks of a specific size or shape. Still other portable door locks mar the door when installed, or detract from the door's appearance. Chain locking portable door locks have a low yield strength, and allow the door to be opened several inches, which makes it possible for the chain to be cut by an intruder. Thus, previous portable door locks have not enjoyed large scale commercial acceptance.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved portable door lock that does not damage doors or door frames, and that is simple, secure, compact, strong, lightweight, and inexpensive to manufacture.


The present disclosure provides a gasket for a display device and a display device. The gasket includes a body, the body having a plurality of via hole structures penetrating through the body in the same direction. The display device includes a display panel, the display panel having a bending structure bent toward the back of the display panel, the gasket being located between the bending structure and the display panel opposite to the bending structure, and the gasket is the above-mentioned gasket.

Pad bending process is a manufacturing process that is widely used in organic electroluminescent display (OLED) type flexible display panels, and this process can achieve a narrow frame and achieve the largest screen ratio. The pad bending process requires the use of a gasket in the bending area as structural support to avoid physical breakage of the OLED panel or damage to the internal signal line due to a too small bending angle during the bending. However, a material of the gasket used in the existing bending area is not conducive to heat dissipation and conduction, which may result in poor display of the display area of the OLED panel that is in contact with the gasket after the pad bending.
In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a gasket for a display device, including a body, the body having a plurality of via hole structures penetrating through the body in a same direction.
Optionally, the body has a first portion and a second portion, the first portion and the second portion are an integral structure, and a structure of the second portion is an arc-shaped structure.
Optionally, the plurality of via hole structures is closely arranged.
Optionally, a cross-sectional shape of the plurality of via hole structures is a triangle, a square, a circle or a polygon.
Optionally, the polygon includes a hexagon.
Optionally, a material of the body includes polyterephthalic acid plastic.
Optionally, the material constituting the body further includes a material having better thermal conductivity than the polyterephthalic acid plastic.
Optionally, the material having better thermal conductivity than the polyterephthalic acid plastic includes graphite, carbon fiber, or a combination of graphite and carbon fiber.
On the other hand, the present disclosure also provides a display device including a display panel, the display panel having a bending structure bent toward the back of the display panel, a gasket being located between the bending structure and the display panel opposite to the bending structure, and the gasket is the gasket according to any one of the above embodiments.
Optionally, the bending structure has an arc-shaped area, the first portion of the body corresponds to the display area proximate to the bending structure, and the second portion of the body fills the arc-shaped area.
Optionally, an extending direction of the plurality of via hole structures is perpendicular to a display surface of the display panel.
Optionally, an extending direction of the plurality of via hole structures is parallel to a display surface of the display panel.

Gasket for display device and display device

CHENGDU BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A resource compatible system for EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) and BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) to be used in a computer system having both the EFI and BIOS at the same time. The computer system can execute the EFI first after being powered on, and then when transferring to the BIOS, the resource compatible system will transfer EFI to BIOS.

A computer system contains a low-level firmware, generally known as Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), which is a program stored in a read-only memory (ROM) comprising therein many basic subprograms for computer output and input. After the computer is powered on, the basic input/output system runs first for proceeding initial values setup and power-on self test (POST), and reads out the data (information about hard disk drive size, whether there are CD/DVD-Rom drives or not, system time, whether a shadow random access memory (shadow RAM) is used or not, etc.) stored in the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS).
Because the progress in computer technology is quite rapid, the development on the legacy BIOS accompanying the development of computer systems has also reached the limit. Therefore, in order to overcome the bottleneck of the development on the legacy BIOS, Intel Corporation has developed an extensible firmware interface (EFI) specification which can avoid the congenital limit of basic input/output system. Also, such an extensible firmware interface allows the use of standard programming language tools to add new components therein, has better extensibility, and is programmed by C language so that the programs are easy to be maintained and read.
It is believed that such an extensible firmware interface will probably replace the basic input/output system completely in the future. However, the extensible firmware interface system can not be used in computer systems currently using the legacy BIOS. Under the extensible firmware interface environment, conventional operating systems worked under the legacy BIOS before, such as Dos, Windows XP or early Windows versions, can not function; this is because the extensible firmware interface is worked as a 32-bit data environment while the legacy BIOS is worked as a 16-bit data environment, and the extensible firmware interface does not provide service routines for the legacy BIOS such as interrupt service routine. Therefore, although the extensible firmware interface system has the above-mentioned advantages, it is unable to change users who use old computer systems to use the extensible firmware interface system widely in a short period of time.

Resource compatible system for computer system reads compressed filed stored in legacy BIOS and decompresses file using legacy support operating system driver


A conductor (Wa) of the electric wire (W) whose insulated sheath (Wb) is removed from an extremity of the conductor to a location where the conductor projects backwards from a rear end of the terminal accommodating chamber (11) of the connector housing 10 is crimped and connected by means of a pair of crimping pieces (3b), and an area that ranges from the extremity of the conductor (Wa) to the location that includes an end of the insulated sheath (Wb) is covered with a resin (8).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric wire connection structure of a connector terminal to be inserted into a terminal accommodating chamber of a connector housing from behind.
2. Description of the Related Art
Like an example shown in FIG. 14, a common connector terminal 201 has on its front side an electric connection section 202 to be connected to an un-illustrated counterpart terminal, and the like. Further, the common connector terminal 201 has on its rear side a front-side conductor crimping section 203 and a rear-side cladding crimping section 204 as an electric wire connection section to be crimped and connected to an end of an electric wire W. The conductor crimping section 203 is formed from a bottom plate (not shown) and a pair of crimping pieces 203b and 203b that are upwardly extended from both side edges of the bottom plate, so as to substantially assume the shape of letter U when viewed in cross section. The cladding crimping section 204 is formed from the bottom plate (not shown) and a pair of crimping pieces 204b and 204b that are upwardly extended from both side edges of the bottom plate, so as to substantially assume the shape of letter U when viewed in cross section. The conductor crimping section 203 and the cladding crimping section 204 have the continual bottom plate in common.
In order to connect the connector terminal 201 of this type to the end of the electric wire W, an insulated sheath Wb of the electric wire W is cut by a length required to be crimped to the conductor crimping section 203, thereby making a conductor Wa in the insulated sheath Wb exposed. The thus-exposed conductor Wa is put on the bottom plate of the conductor crimping section 203, and a portion of the conductor Wa covered with the insulated sheath Wb is also put on the bottom plate of the cladding crimping section 204. The pair of crimping pieces 203b, 203b of the conductor crimping section 203 and the pair of crimping pieces 204b, 204b of the cladding crimping section 204 are inwardly rounded, thereby crimping the crimping pieces so as to enwrap the conductor Wa and the portion of the conductor Wa covered with the insulated sheath Wb. The connector terminal 201 and the electric wire W can thereby be connected to each other.
Subsequently, the conductor Wa is, in case of necessity, protected against corrosion and waterproofed by molding or coating a connected portion of the electric wire with a resin 8 so as to cover the entirety of the exposed portion of the conductor Wa. In particular, when the conductor Wa of the electric wire W is formed from aluminum or an aluminum alloy, such resin sealing is practiced. For instance, when the connector terminal is formed from copper or a copper alloy, a junction between dissimilar metals might undergo electric corrosion when moisture attaches to the junction. The junction is covered with the resin 8 to prevent electric corrosion.
Covering an electric-wire-connected portion of a terminal with a resin has widely been known in; for instance, JP-A-2010-97704.
Incidentally, when the electric wire connection portion of the terminal is covered with a resin in a manner as mentioned above, a cross section of the covered portion becomes larger. Accordingly, when the terminal is about to be inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber of the connector housing, the portion covered with the resin interferes with the connector housing, which often poses difficulty on or impedes insertion of the terminal. In particular, the portion of the terminal whose cross section becomes largest corresponds to an area where the portion of the electric wire connection portion covered with the insulated sheath is further coated with the resin. When this portion becomes too large, ease of insertion of the terminal into the terminal accommodating chamber becomes often deteriorated.
The present invention has been conceived in light of the circumstance and aims at providing an electric wire connection structure of a connector terminal that enables easy insertion of a terminal into a terminal accommodating chamber of a connector housing even when an electric wire connection portion is coated with a resin.

Electric wire connection structure of connector terminal


A color copy machine is equipped with four image forming sections for forming images of different color components based on image data items relating to separated color components. A conveyance belt is provided below each image forming section. To avoid forming of a displaced image on a recording paper sheet P conveyed by the conveyance belt, pattern data for prevention of a displaced image is synthesized with image data. Each image forming section forms color patterns on predetermined portions of the conveyance belt on the basis of the synthesized data. The main-scanning directional displacement of each color pattern can be detected by comparing the numbers of those sensed line segments of the patterns which are sensed by a sensor. Then, the image forming positions are adjusted so that the numbers of the sensed line segments will be equal to each other. Thus, the cost-effective structure enables reliable adjustment of the image forming positions for images of different color components, and hence forming of a high-quality image in which different color components desirably overlap.

This invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a color printer, a color digital copy machine, etc., and more particularly to an image forming apparatus for forming each of images of basic color components on a corresponding one of a plurality of photosensitive drums and transferring the images formed on the drums to a single recording paper sheet such that the images overlap each other on the sheet, thereby obtaining a color image.
A conventional color copy machine for forming a color image, which forms toner images of different color components on a plurality of photosensitive drums and sequentially transfers the images to a single recording paper sheet conveyed by a conveyance belt, is known from, for example, Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 6-35287.
If in this transfer-type color copy machine, toner images of different color components do not accurately overlap each other on a recording paper sheet P, a displaced color image (in which different color components undesirably overlap) will be obtained. This may be caused by intrinsic inclination or displacement of each image forming section incorporated in the machine, or by wrong image forming timing in each image forming section, or by displacement of the transfer position of the paper sheet P in which each image is transferred.
There is a conventional method for correcting such a displaced image, in which the displacement of an image transferred from each image forming section to the paper sheet P is sensed by, for example, a CCD sensor incorporated in the copy machine, thereby correcting the position of the exposure unit relative to the photosensitive drum or the positional relationship between the image forming sections to correct a blurred image. Since in this method, the positions of images of different color components to be actually transferred to the paper sheet P are sensed and corrected, the displacements of the images can reliably be corrected even where, for example, the conveyance rate of the conveyance belt varies because of its thermal expansion.
However, the CCD sensor is very expensive, and therefore the use of the sensor inevitably increases the cost of the copy machine.
Instead of the above method using the CCD sensor, a method which uses wedge-shaped patterns 261 for displacement correction as shown in FIG. 10 is disclosed by, for example, Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 8-278680. Specifically, in this method, the patterns 261 are formed in the areas of the conveyance belt which do not carry the paper sheet P. The patterns 261 are sensed by reflection type or transmission type optical sensors 262, and the displacements of images of different color components are determined on the basis of the sensing results. Each of the patterns 261 consists of wedge pattern components corresponding to color components (Y, M, C, K) and linearly arranged at a predetermined pitch in the sub-scanning direction, i.e. in the conveyance direction of a conveyance belt 251. The wedge-shaped patterns 261 are arranged with a distance therebetween in the main-scanning direction, i.e. in the width direction of the conveyance belt 251.
In this method, the sub-scanning directional displacement can be determined by comparing the time interval at which the first line segments of pattern components which extend in the main-scanning direction are sensed, with a time constant set when the pattern components are formed. Further, the main-scanning directional displacement can be determined by comparing the time periods required from the time points when the first line segments of pattern components are sensed to the time points when the second line segments of the pattern components which extend obliquely from the first line segments are sensed. In other words, if in the FIG. 10 case, the time period required from the time when the first line segment of a pattern component is sensed to the time when the second line segment of the pattern component is sensed is relatively long, it can be said that the pattern component is displaced toward the main-scanning directional center of the conveyance belt 251. On the other hand, if the time period required from the time when the first line segment is sensed to the time when the second line segment is sensed is relatively short, it can be said that the pattern component is displaced toward the main-scanning directional end of the conveyance belt 251.
The above-described method can detect sub-scanning and main-scanning directional displacements of an image and correct the displacements without using an expensive device such as the CCD sensor.
In the above method using the wedge-shaped patterns, however, the main-scanning directional displacement of an image cannot be corrected with high precision, although the sub-scanning directional displacement can be corrected with relatively high precision. This is because the main-scanning directional displacement of a wedge-shaped pattern is determined by comparing the time period required from the time when the first line segment is sensed to the time when the second line segment is sensed, and hence the comparison result may well contain an error due to a change in the running rate of the conveyance belt 251 or in the sensing accuracy of the optical sensors 262.
If the displacement of each image cannot accurately be corrected, images of different color components cannot be made to accurately overlap each other, resulting in a degraded, displaced image.


A method for connecting Verilog-AMS and VHDL-AMS components in a mixed-language mixed-signal design includes receiving a mixed-language mixed-signal design, where the mixed-language mixed-signal design comprises one or more VHDL-AMS and Verilog-AMS components, including a first VHDL-AMS component and a first Verilog-AMS component. The method further includes receiving a predetermined set of connection rules, resolving incompatibilities between the first VHDL-AMS component and the first Verilog-AMS component in accordance with the predetermined set of connection rules, and connecting the first VHDL-AMS component to the first Verilog-AMS component.

Existing analog and mixed-signal (AMS) simulators, such as the VHDL-AMS and Verilog-AMS simulators, have the capability to simulate pure VHDL-AMS and pure Verilog-AMS designs respectively. A detailed description of working with pure VHDL-AMS components is found in "IEEE Standard VHDL Analog and Mixed-Signal Extensions," published by IEEE-SA Standards Board on Dec. 23, 1999. And a detailed description of working with pure Verilog-AMS components is found in "Verilog-AMS Language Reference Manual—Analog & Mixed-Signal Extensions to Verilog HDL," published by Accellera International Inc. on Jan. 20, 2003. However, circuit designers are interested in using design components from both languages, and they do not want to be constrained to either the VHDL-AMS or the Verilog-AMS languages. The basic issue in supporting a mixed-language mixed-signal simulator lies in the lack of compatibility between the VHDL-AMS and Verilog-AMS languages.
In a mixed-language mixed-signal (MLMS) design where one or more VHDL-AMS and Verilog-AMS components are connected to each other, a number of possible connections may be encountered that require special processing. Table 1 illustrates four fundamental cases for supporting a mixed-language mixed-signal design environment when a Verilog-AMS component is connected to a VHDL-AMS component.
TABLE 1Verilog-AMS ComponentVHDL-AMS ComponentCase 1Verilog-AMS analog objectVHDL-AMS analog objectCase 2Verilog-AMS digital objectVHDL-AMS analog objectCase 3Verilog-AMS analog objectVHDL-AMS digital objectCase 4Verilog-AMS unresolved netVHDL-AMS digital or analogcomponent
Of the four fundamental cases listed in Table 1, Case 2 and Case 3 are not supported by the prior art simulators. Although the prior art simulators provide a limited support of Case 1, it is done without performing a compatibility check to ensure the connection between the Verilog-AMS analog object and the VHDL-AMS analog object is valid.
Similarly, although the prior art simulators provide a limited support of Case 4, there are a number of drawbacks with the prior art approaches. In particular, to support a connection between a Verilog-AMS unresolved net and a VHDL-AMS digital net, the Verilog-AMS unresolved net is forced to become a digital net. In addition, to support a connection between a Verilog-AMS unresolved net and a VHDL-AMS analog net, the Verilog-AMS unresolved net is forced to be an analog net. This approach is merely a temporary solution for ensuring that the nets that are connected across the language boundary belong to the same domain (digital-to-digital or analog-to-analog). However, the prior art approach does not follow the discipline resolution semantics established by the Verilog-AMS Language Reference Manual (LRM). Besides, this temporary solution does not work in the situation when a Verilog-AMS unresolved net is connected to a VHDL-AMS analog net and a VHDL-AMS digital net, because the unresolved net can be forced neither to an analog net nor to a digital net in that situation.
Moreover, the prior art approach in Case 4 is inflexible in supporting the connection of a Verilog-AMS unresolved net with VHDL-AMS analog port. This is because it uses only the nature of VHDL-AMS port in the discipline resolution of the unresolved Verilog-AMS net. In other words, the prior art approach does not take into account the hierarchical and library information of the nature of the VHDL-AMS analog port. Thus, it produces inaccurate mapping result between the Verilog-AMS unresolved net and the VHDL-AMS analog port.
Furthermore, a Verilog-AMS discipline name is case sensitive, whereas a VHDL-AMS nature name is case insensitive. In other words, in the VHDL-AMS language, names like "xyz" and "XYZ" are interpreted to be the same name. But in the Verilog-AMS language, these names are interpreted to be different names. The prior art simulators do not address the case of incompatibilities between the two languages when using the VHDL-AMS nature name in the Verilog-AMS discipline resolution process.
Finally, there are incompatibilities between the definition of Verilog-AMS disciplines and the definition of VHDL-AMS natures. The Verilog-AMS disciplines are defined as a global parameter (global scope), which affects all levels of hierarchy of the design. On the other hand, some VHDL-AMS natures may be defined as a local parameter (local scope), which affects only the specific level of hierarchy of the VHDL-AMS design where the VHDL-AMS nature is defined. Therefore, in the VHDL-AMS language, a nature name alone is not enough to uniquely identify a nature. For example, in a VHDL-AMS design, there may be more than one nature of the name "electrical" defined in the different hierarchies (scopes) of the VHDL-AMS design and these natures may be completely different from each other.
Therefore, there is a need to address the issues of the prior art simulators in enabling circuit designers to use design components from both Verilog-AMS and VHDL-AMS languages in a MLMS environment. In particular, there is a need to provide solutions to each of the four cases of Table 1 to enable connections between Verilog-AMS and VHDL-AMS components. In addition, there is a need to uniquely identify a VHDL-AMS nature by its selected name not only includes that nature's name but also includes the names of its relevant hierarchy (scope) and library information.

Connecting verilog-AMS and VHDL-AMS components in a mixed-language mixed-signal design


A ceramic dynamic-pressure bearing includes a first member 14 having a cylindrical outer surface and a second member 15 having a cylindrical reception hole formed therein. The first member 14 is inserted into the reception hole. A radial dynamic-pressure gap is formed between the inner surface of the reception hole of the second member 15 and the outer circumferential surface of the first member 14. The first member 14 and the second member 15 are formed of an alumina ceramic which contains an Al component in an amount of 90–99.5% by mass as reduced to Al2O3 and an oxide-type sintering aid component in an amount of 0.5–10% by mass as reduced to an oxide thereof. The thrust dynamic-pressure gap definition surface of the second member which faces the thrust plate has a flatness of not greater than 3 μm or the thrust dynamic-pressure gap definition surface of the thrust plate which faces the second member has a flatness of not greater than 3 μm. Also disclosed is a hard disk drive having a motor including a motor rotation output section having the ceramic dynamic-pressure bearing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ceramic dynamic-pressure bearing and a hard disk drive using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a ball bearing has often been used as a bearing for the shaft of a motor serving as a drive unit of electric equipment. High-speed rotation of a motor has been rapidly implemented in a hard disk drive, which is a peripheral component of a computer. In this regard, in order to obtain excellent bearing performance with low rotation-speed fluctuation and reduced noise and vibration, or in order to elongate bearing service life, a dynamic-pressure bearing, which uses a fluid, such as air, as a medium, has been employed. The dynamic-pressure bearing operates in the following manner: when, for example, a spindle and a bearing member disposed so as to surround the spindle undergo relative rotation about an axis, the axis of rotation is supported by the action of fluid dynamic-pressure generated in the gap formed between the outer circumferential surface of the spindle and the inner circumferential surface of the bearing member. Further, a certain other bearing is configured such that the thrust face of a spindle or that of a bearing member is supported by action of dynamic pressure through disposition of a thrust plate.
When a dynamic-pressure bearing is in a high-speed rotation state, in which generated dynamic-pressure is sufficiently high, two members which face each other with a dynamic-pressure gap present therebetween do not come into contact with each other. However, at the time of starting or stopping, when rotational speed is low, sufficiently high dynamic pressure is not generated; thus, the two members come into contact with each other. Component members of such a dynamic-pressure bearing have generally been formed of a metal, such as stainless steel, and in some cases have been further coated with resin or a like material. However, two metallic members may involve a problem of wear or seize-up caused by mutual contact thereof at the time of starting or stopping. In order to prevent the problem, coating a metallic member with a lubricating layer, such as a resin layer, at a portion facing the dynamic-pressure gap has been proposed, resulting in a failure to yield sufficient effect. In order to attain sufficient endurance against wear and seize-up, either or both of two members, such as either or both of the spindle and the bearing member described above, which face each other with a dynamic-pressure gap present therebetween have been formed of a ceramic, such as alumina.
3. Problems to be Solved by the Invention
However, in the case of a hard disk drive which employs a dynamic-pressure bearing configured such that support in the thrust direction is effected by action of dynamic pressure through use of a thrust plate, despite use of ceramic components, a problem arises in that, when a second member and a thrust plate come into contact with each other at the time of starting or stopping, wear or linking (a phenomenon such that two members come into close contact due to vacuum created in the clearance therebetween) occurs, or an increase in starting torque disables starting of rotation. Also, such a hard disk drive has involved a problem in that vibration occurs during rotation of the dynamic-pressure bearing, with resultant unstable rotation.

Ceramic dynamic-pressure bearing and hard disk drive using the same


A skate comprising a boot having attached to its sole a support for mounting at least one element for a movement on a base surface, such an ice skate or a roller skate, comprising an insole with a downwards directed extension interacting with the at least one element at a location disposed between vertical axis passing through the ankle of a user and a vertical axis passing through the point of blade roller surface contact.

The present invention relates to a skate, more specially to a skate comprising a boot provided at its bottom side with a support for mounting at least one means for a movement on a base surface. The skate according to the invention is an ice skate or a roller inline skate.
In a known embodiment, an ice skate comprises a boot composed of a leg portion hingedly connected at the location of the ankle to a foot portion having a downwards directed extension in the form of a substantially U-shaped support for mounting the runner blade. The foot portion is usually connected to the U-shaped support at the heel and toe locations. The runner blade is of perfect curvilinear radius configuration with the concave side facing upwards, and the point of blade-ice contact is positioned forwards corresponding with the vertical axis passing through the skater's center of gravity.
Inasmuch as the optimization of the skating performance requires the skater to apply the necessary thrust within the range between the vertical axis passing through his ankle and the vertical axis passing through the center of blade, it is evident that known skates of this type will never lend themselves to any such optimization, since the U-shaped configuration of the support results in that the thrust is exercized at the toe and heel locations, i.e. outwards of the desired location.