An object recognition apparatus in a subject vehicle includes a radar unit for transmitting a plurality of laser beams in a scan range spread in horizontal and vertical directions of the subject vehicle and receiving a reflection, a recognition unit for recognizing the object in front of the subject vehicle based on the reflection, a determination sub-unit in the radar unit, a calculation sub-unit in the radar unit; and an adjustment sub-unit in the radar unit. The radar unit is so disposed in the subject vehicle with a center axis of one of the plurality of the laser beams aligned with a target angle that the determination sub-unit uses coverage in the vertical direction of the laser beam being sufficient for variation of heights of the reflector on the object at a first distance detected by the radar unit as the predetermined condition for selecting of the object.

So far, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-184331, there has been an object recognition apparatus designed to emit an optical wave such as a laser beam to detect a reflected wave for recognizing an object existing in a forward direction. Such an apparatus is, for example, applicable to an apparatus made to detect a vehicle in a forward direction and issue an alarm, an apparatus made to control a vehicle speed for keeping a predetermined distance (inter-vehicle distance) between a subject vehicle and the vehicle ahead, or the like. That is, it has been incorporated into applications involving the recognition of a vehicle existing a forward direction.
The aforesaid object recognition apparatus is designed to emit a plurality of transmission waves (laser beams) forwardly toward a target in a predetermined position relative to the subject vehicle, and to determine a laser beam having a strongest intensity among the reflected laser beams in each of horizontal (X axis) and vertical (Y axis) directions. The laser beams having the strongest intensity is used as the center of X axis and Y axis of a recognition area used for recognizing an object in front of the subject vehicle. That is, the recognition area is defined as an area within a predetermined angle relative to the center of X axis and Y axis.
The object recognition apparatus uses the recognition area defined in the above-described manner for scanning the object in order to have a greater disposition tolerance angle when the apparatus is disposed on the subject vehicle. In this manner, the object recognition apparatus can emit the laser beam in an appropriate direction for recognizing the object in front of the subject vehicle.
In addition, the object recognition apparatus determines a vertical axis adjustment angle based on the intensity of the two laser beams that sandwiches a strongest laser beam defined as the center of the Y axis in the above-described manner. That is, the vertical axis adjustment angle is a deviation angle of an axis of the center laser beam from a reference angle in the vertical (Y axis) direction. The axis of the center laser beam may deviate from a direction defined by the reference angle because of the relatively wide angle of the laser beam in the vertical (Y axis) direction. The vertical axis adjustment angle is used to determine whether the radar unit of the object recognition apparatus is disposed in an upwardly deviated manner, or in a downwardly deviated manner relative to the reference angle.
However, an actual range of angle of the laser beam, that is, the angle of the axis of the center laser beam is affected by various factors even when the recognition area and the vertical axis adjustment angle are determined in the above-described manner. For example, the actual range of angle of the laser beam radiated from the radar unit may be diverted from the recognition area especially in the vertical (Y axis) direction when the subject vehicle has a heavy load and/or occupants loaded therein.
In this case, the object recognition apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-184331 uses a reflector disposed on a back surface of a vehicle to have a reflected laser beam for detecting the deviation angle (the vertical axis adjustment angle) of the axis of the laser beam from the reference angle. The deviation angle, i.e., the vertical axis adjustment angle is used to adjust a disposition angle of the radar unit. In this manner, the direction of the laser beam radiated from the radar unit is accurately determined whether it is deviated upward or downward from the reference angle.
The height of the reflector on the back surface of a vehicle varies according to a type of the vehicle, and the height of the reflector greatly differs between a passenger type vehicle and a truck type vehicle. The object recognition apparatus described above is designed to detect the deviation angle from the reference angle only by using the reflected laser beam from the passenger type vehicle because the variation of the reflector height among passenger type vehicles is relatively small. That is, the deviation angle is determined only by using the reflected laser beam from a vehicle that is determined as the passenger type vehicle based on the width of the vehicle.
The deviation angle can accurately be calculated and determined in the above-described manner at the sacrifice of occasions for determining the deviation angle by using the reflected laser beam from the truck type vehicle. In other words, change in the deviation angle because of the heavy load and/or occupants cannot be detected while, for example, the subject vehicle is traveling behind the truck type vehicle.

Object recognition apparatus for motor vehicle


In one embodiment, a movable area, referred to as a “lens,” on a graph display allows the user to preview the zoom level of the graph. When a node, line or other item in the graph is in the area of the lens, then the item can be shown at a different zoom level than rest of the graph. In particular embodiments, a heuristic algorithm can be used to dynamically determine the visual representation of a node when in the lens as unique from the depiction of the node when the node is outside of the lens. Operations can be made to the graph items within the lens such as adding, moving, deleting, or connecting items, etc. Other features are described.

Presentation and manipulation of data is a long-standing principal use of computing systems. Various different charts, graphs, or other approaches are used to present data to a human user. Such approaches are often referred to as "visualizations" of the data. For example, a popular visualization is a graph that includes nodes connected by lines or "edges." Such node-edge graphs can include a hierarchical tree structure where a root node is at the top, bottom, left or right of a display. Another type of node-edge graph is a circular graph where the root node may be in the middle of the display surrounded by successive children nodes in expanding concentric circles. Other variations of the node-edge graph are possible, as are many other types or varieties of visualizations.
Modern databases often require displaying and manipulating thousands or more nodes. Although the nodes and edges can be displayed in miniature, it is often not possible to include all or even a significant portion of the data in a single, comprehensible display. A user is typically provided with controls to scroll over the graph by panning and can zoom in and out of the graph to see more or less detail. This pan and zoom metaphor does not scale well as context can be lost while zooming in and out. Many solutions provide some context by displaying a small map in a separate window.
When nodes are made significantly small, it is difficult to include any associated data with the nodes, such as text or numbers, symbols, color or icon images, or other graphics or indicators. To compound the user interface issues, it is often desirable to not only display the nodes, but to also allow a user to interact with the display to scale, modify, or otherwise change the display and/or the underlying data that is represented by the display.

Computer user interface including lens-based navigation of graphs


Performing usage-based software library decomposition is disclosed herein. In some examples, a processor device generates a first library graph representing a first software library including multiple functions. The first library graph comprises a plurality of nodes that each correspond to a function of the first software library. The processor device identifies a function within the first software library (“invoked function”) that is directly invoked by an application that depends on the first software library, then generates a call graph including nodes within the first library graph (“dependency nodes”) corresponding to either the invoked function or another function invoked by the invoked function during application execution. Using the call graph, the processor device generates a second software library including only functions of the first software library corresponding to dependency nodes of the call graph.

A "software library," as used herein, is a collection of resources (in particular, one or more functions implemented as pre-written source code, intermediate code such as bytecode, or machine-executable code) organized in such manner as to be usable by multiple other applications. A software developer may rely on a software library to incorporate additional functionality into an application without having to develop such additional functionality themselves. A software library on which an application depends may be distributed in a "package," or archive file, along with the files constituting the application itself.

Usage-based software library decomposition


A Reed-Solomon decoder includes a Chien search circuit to receive an error location polynomial function, performs Chien search, and finds an error location; a Forney algorithm circuit to receives an error pattern polynomial function and find an error pattern; and, a seed generator circuit to indicates a seed value corresponding to a codeword length for the input data. A Chien search is performed to obtain and outputs exponential terms related to variables for the polynomials, wherein the Chien search is performed in the same computational direction as an order for the input data.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a Reed-Solomon decoder circuit. More particularly, the invention relates to a forward Chien search type Reed-Solomon decoder circuit capable of performing a high speed cyclic redundancy check operation.
A claim of priority has been made to Korean Patent Application No. 2004-5646, filed on Jan. 29, 2004, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
2. Description of the Related Art
Reed-Solomon (hereinafter, referred to as "RS") code is a kind of Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (hereinafter, referred to as "BCH") code and is a linear block code. RS code is a kind of a block error correction code and is widely used in applications such as digital data communication and data storage. For example, RS code has found application in such varied products as hard disk drives (HDD), CDs, DVDs, barcodes, wireless and mobile communication systems, satellite communication systems, and digital television.
The need for error correction coding arises from the inevitable data or signal noise or data errors which result whenever data is stored to physical medium or transmitted over an imperfect communications channel. An RS encoder receives original data in a predetermined block format and adds redundant bits to the data to generate a codeword. An RS decoder receives the encoded data and related parity check data and recovers the original data when an error occurs because of transmission or storage.
FIG. 1 schematically shows a general error check and correction (hereinafter referred to as ECC) system associated with a data storage device. FIG. 1 shows an ECC system 100 for checking and correcting an error in data read or received by a data storage device. In general, the data storage device has an input port (NRZ IN) 12 and an output port (NRZ OUT) 14 forming respective date transmission channel interfaces. The data storage device has a buffer input port (BUF IN)16 and a buffer output port (BUF OUT) 18 forming separate buffer interfaces to (e.g.,) a memory storage core.
Assuming this general structure, and further assuming use of a cyclic redundancy check (hereinafter, referred to as CRC), ECC system comprise a CRC encoder 108 and an RS encoder 104 which respectively generate parity checks for data received through buffer input port BUF IN 16. In the case of decoding, forward error correction (hereinafter, referred to as "FEC") is performed on the data transferred through the input port 12. A signal input through the input port 12 is transferred to both an RS decoder 102 and a CRC decoder 110. RS decoder 102 calculates a syndrome for the input signal, and CRC decoder 110 calculates a CRC operation value for the input signal.
If any one of the syndromes calculated by RS decoder 102 is not zero, a modified Euclid algorithm (hereinafter, "MEA") unit 112 within RS decoder 102 calculates an error location polynomial (hereinafter, referred to as "ELP") and an error pattern polynomial (hereinafter, referred to as "EPP") using a competent MEA. MEA unit 112 outputs the calculation result to both a Chien search circuit 114 and a Forney algorithm circuit 116. The Chien search circuit 114 and the Forney algorithm circuit 116 perform Chien search and a Forney algorithm on an output signal from MEA unit 112, respectively. Chien search circuit 114 finds an error location for the transferred data using the Chien search, and Forney algorithm circuit 116 obtains an error pattern for the transferred data using the Forney algorithm. In order to check for a missed error correction after RS decoding, a CRC decoder 118 performs an additional CRC decoding using the error location and the error pattern obtained after RS decoding. If there is no error in the RS decoding result and the CRC decoding result, data is output through buffer output port 18.
FIG. 2 illustrates the operation of RS decoder 102 in some additional detail. Referring to FIG. 2, RS decoder 102 begins with obtaining a syndrome of a codeword for data r(x) received by the data storage device. A syndrome generator circuit 202 generates a syndrome polynomial S(x). If all the calculated syndromes are zero, an additional RS decoding is not performed. If the CRC operation value for the codeword is zero, it is ultimately determined that no error is found in the received data. If, however, the obtained syndrome is not zero, RS decoding is performed. At this time, the MEA unit 206 performs a MEA using error mode and erasure mode. The MEA unit 206 receives syndrome polynomial S(x) and an erasure polynomial λ(x) generated by an erasure generator 204, obtains an ELP σ(x) and an EPP ω(x), and outputs the ELP σ(x) and the EPP ω(x) to a Chien search circuit 208 and a Forney algorithm circuit 210 respectively. Chien search circuit 208 obtains an error location by performing a Chien search using the ELP σ(x) obtained following application of the MEA. Forney algorithm circuit 210 obtains an error pattern by applying the Forney algorithm using the EPP ω(x) obtained following application of the MEA.
Returning to FIG. 1, ECC system 100 also includes an additional CRC operator 120 to reduce miss-correction by RS decoder 102. This is accomplished by the CRC operator 120 performing a CRC encoding on data received from input port 12. CRC operator 120 includes a first CRC decoder 110 and a second CRC decoder 118. First CRC decoder 110 decodes data received from input port 12. Second CRC decoder 118 decodes data using the error location and the error pattern. First CRC decoder 110 receives a signal input through the input port 12 and performs CRC decoding on the received data. Second CRC decoder 118 performs CRC decoding using the error location and the error pattern obtained after RS decoding is performed. Where the CRC operation value for the data input through input port 12, as obtained by first CRC decoder 110, is identical to the CRC operation value for the error location and the error pattern obtained by the second CRC decoder 118, it is determined that no CRC error is found. As RS decoding is performed symbol by symbol, the first and second CRC decoders should operate symbol by symbol as well.
FIG. 3 shows one data format used widely for data stored in contemporary storage devices. Referring to FIG. 3, the data format includes a 512 byte data sector, a 2 byte embedded sector number (ESN), 4 bytes reserved for CRC operation, and 80 bytes reserved for RS operation. As noted, RS decoding and CRC decoding by the second CRC decoder are typically performed symbol by symbol. The RS decoder uses ELP(σ(x)) and EPP(ω(x)) as initial coefficients when implementing the Chien search and the Forney algorithm. When ELP(σ(x)) and EPP((ω(x)) are used as initial coefficients, the RS decoder should perform Chien search in a reverse order of receiving a message. Accordingly, the conventional RS decoder should store an error location and an error pattern and input the error location and the error pattern to the CRC decoder in a reverse order for the successive CRC operation.

Forward Chien search type Reed-Solomon decoder circuit


A thermal convection-type accelerometer includes a first insulating substrate, a circuit formed on the first insulating substrate, a first acceleration-sensing device coupled with the circuit, and a first supporting layer attached on the insulating substrate. The first acceleration-sensing device includes two temperature-sensing components and a heater disposed between the temperature-sensing components. The temperature-sensing components and the heater are directly formed on the first supporting layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal convection-type accelerometer, and relates more particularly to a thermal convection-type accelerometer whose heater and temperature-sensing components are not suspended.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,509 discloses a thermal convection-type accelerometer, which comprises a silicon substrate, a heater and two temperature sensors. The silicon substrate has a deep cavity formed underneath the heater and the temperature sensors. The temperature sensors are positioned at equal distances from the heater on either side thereof.
In order to form a cavity underneath the heater and the two temperature sensors, a silicon dioxide layer is initially formed on the silicon substrate. Thereafter, a poly-silicon layer is formed on the silicon dioxide layer. Next, an oxide layer is formed on the poly-silicon layer using an oxidation process. Subsequently, the poly-silicon layer is patterned to form three poly-silicon bridges. Then, an oxidation process is performed to form an oxide layer on the sides of the poly-silicon bridges. Next, EDP (a mixture of ethylenediamine, pyrocatechol and water) is applied to etch a deep cavity.
According to the description of the above process, the process for manufacturing suspended heaters and temperature sensors is complex and results in thermal convection-type accelerometers being quite expensive. Furthermore, the slender poly-silicon bridges are easily damaged during the manufacturing of the thermal convection-type accelerometer, resulting in a low yield ratio and are easily broken when the thermal convection-type accelerometer operates for a long period of time. Moreover, the components of the above thermal convection-type accelerometer are formed on a silicon substrate. Because the silicon thermal conductivity (1.48 W/(m−K)) is larger, it can quickly dissipate the heat generated from the heater. Therefore, the heater must be formed over a cavity to reduce energy loss. However, despite forming a deep cavity underneath the heater, the silicon substrate still dissipates a significant amount of heat. As a result, thermal convection-type accelerometers using silicon as their substrates will consume larger amounts of energy. In addition, the cavities of present thermal convection-type accelerometers are filled with carbon dioxide or specified concentrations of air, and the gases may oxidize the heaters and temperature sensors, causing the thermal convection-type accelerometers to have a shorter lifespan.
As noted, conventional thermal convection-type accelerometers have some drawbacks. Therefore, a new thermal convection-type accelerometer is required.


A vibration damping alloy has a mixed structure of martensite and austenite. The alloy steel is iron-based to which 14-22% by weight of manganese is added. The vibration damping alloy is manufactured by mixing electrolytic iron and manganese in a molten state. The molten mixture, containing 14-22% of manganese with the remainder of iron, is cast as an ingot. The ingot is homogenized at 1000.degree.-1300.degree. C. for 20-40 hours and then hot rolled at 900.degree.-1100.degree. C. for 20 minutes to 90 minutes. The ingot is cooled with air or water.

The present invention relates to a vibration preventing alloy having a vibration damping ability, and more particularly, to an iron (Fe-Mn) vibration damping alloy having an excellent damping ability with keeping a high strengh and manufacturing method thereof.
Recently, in order to prevent vibration and rumbling sound generated from various machines and instruments such as aircraft, ship, vehicle, machinery, precision machine and the like, using of vibration preventing alloy material is widely spread.
As conventional vibration preventing alloy, Cu-Mn alloy, Ni-Ti alloy, and stainless steel alloy utilizing a twin crystalline transformation have been known.
Such alloys are excellent at adjacent of normal temperature in damping ability, but as they use expensive metals it causes an increasing factor of manufacturing cost, and cold workability is inferior as well as preciseness and complexity are required on manufacturing process in response to respective element.
Further, Al-Zn alloy and cast iron group alloy are in a state of not capable of satisfying a tensile strength as well as hardness value.
On the other hand, a vibration preventing alloy of austenite group being of high Mn steel is known in Japanese laid open patent publication No. 56-258.
This alloy is added with element of chrome, aluminium or Mo, V, Nb, Ti and the like so that it causes an increasing factor of manufacturing cost, and in order to obtain a stable austenite structure, appropriate physical property is required to the austenite such as it requires to closely adjust particularly the contents of carbon (C) and chromium (Cr) among the containing ingredients.
As important forms producing the vibration damping, there are divided into generally three kinds of absorption form, resonance form and historical form.
Damping by absorption form does not depend on an amplitude of vibration but depends on a vibrating frequency numbers, and it is not so greatly considered in view of vibration preventing.
Resonance form does not depend on an amplitude of vibration in a damping ability as same as the absorption form but depends on a vibration frequency numbers, and in this case, maximum damping ability appears when it is in a resonant vibrating frequency.
However, the damping ability of such form is not so greatly important in its function in view of a vibration preventing alloy.
Historical form is a damping form produced due to those courses of stress/strain deformation rates in case of applying a stress from exterior and removing said stress are different each other, and at this moment, an energy as much as corresponding to historical loss becomes a cause of damping.
Accordingly, the damping ability of this form has a property which has no relation with vibration frequency but greatly depends on the transformation amplitude.
Since such historical form has a case of showing up a great damping ability regardless of vibration frequency, it may have a vibration preventing effect industrially.

Fe-Mn group vibration damping alloy manufacturing method thereof


A healthcare footwear article includes an upper shoe body and a sole member provided underneath the upper shoe body and is connected with the upper shoe body to form an integral body. The upper shoe body and the sole member is configured from a material consisting of approximately 70% to approximately 80% of silicon rubber by weight, approximately 5% to approximately 20% of negative ion powder by weight, approximately 2% to approximately 7% of antiwear agent by weight, approximately 5% to approximately 20% of titanium powder by weight, approximately 0.1% to approximately 1.5% of vulcanizing agent by weight, approximately 5% to approximately 10% of infrared ray powder by weight, and approximately 0.1% to approximately 8% of dye by weight.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a healthcare footwear article, and more particularly to a healthcare shoe and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of Related Arts
With the increase of living standard of human beings, the demand for high quality footwear is also increasing. For example, people may want their shoes to have certain specific features, such as waterproof feature, wearproof feature, healthcare feature, and the likes. There exist many healthcare shoes all around the world, but the healthcare features of those shoes are usually accomplished by providing some sorts of medicine or complicated mechanical structure in the shoes. This leads to very high cost and selling price for these conventional healthcare shoes. Apart from high manufacturing cost and selling price, the circumstances in which these conventional healthcare shoes can be used tend to be very limited.
On the other hand, the conventional healthcare shoes mentioned above usually comprises an upper shoe body, a sole member, and an insole received in the upper shoe body. Conventionally, the insole is configured from materials which are stiff, hard and have little elasticity. These adverse properties make the wearers of the shoes very uncomfortable, especially when the wearers need to wear the shoes for an extended period of time.
As a result, there is a need to develop a healthcare footwear article, such as a healthcare shoe, which can resolve the above-mentioned problems.

Silicon rubber healthcare footwear article with silicon rubber insole and its manufacturing method


According to one embodiment, a system for training transcription system trainees is provided. The system includes a memory, at least one processor coupled to the memory, and a training component executable by the at least one processor. The training component is configured to evaluate performance of at least one transcription system trainee.

Technical Field
The technical field relates generally to transcription of content and, more particularly, to systems and methods that provide for training of transcription processes.
Background Discussion
Transcription of internet-hosted media (video and audio) is increasingly in demand. Consumers of such media often prefer having captions available to them, and in some cases (e.g. for the hearing impaired), they require it. New federal and state regulations mandating accessibility to online media are also driving this demand. Additionally, transcription of online content makes possible applications that are difficult if not impossible without transcriptions. For example, television and radio post-production usually require transcriptions of all recorded material so that the producer can easily select segments for the final product. Market research firms use transcriptions of focus group video to search for sections of the videos in which consumers are discussing a certain product. Similar search applications are enticing for institutions with large video archives, such as universities and governments.
However, transcription is expensive. Typically, services for high-quality transcription creation can cost several hundreds of dollars per hour of content. For some types of content, special expertise is needed to create accurate transcriptions. Keeping up with demand for performing transcription services requires organizations to train new editors, new quality assurance specialists, and new auditors. The manual auditing of trainees' work is a time consuming process requiring considerable efforts on the part of qualified auditors. Auditor time might be better utilized completing transcription work for paying customers. Staffing latencies are introduced related to limited availability of qualified auditors capable of performing trainee audits, as well as proficient trainees efficiently completing training exercises but gated by audits from progressing through their training. Both factors limit the ability of an organization to meet customer needs.

Systems and methods for automated transcription training


An absorbent device which comprises an absorbent layer having an apertured contoured polymer film attached to a surface, wherein this surface is provided with a plurality of depressions which communicate directly with the apertures in the film. The device may be produced by separating the polymer film and a carrier material which have been formed into a laminate having impressed therein raised areas defining, for example, the strands of net and depressed areas such that upon separation the depressed areas of the film remain attached together with associated portions of the attached absorbent, to the carrier, leaving the raised areas attached to the remainder of the absorbent.

Absorbent devices such as dressings and hygienic devices conventionally employ a water permeable film for their body contacting surface to act as a barrier between the body surface and the absorbent. A wound contacting layer, for example, for use in a dressing should also be conformable, non-adherent to the wound and to act as a means of preventing the healing wound incorporating the absorbent material into regenerating surface. One successful non-adherent absorbent wound dressing comprises a hydrophilic polyurethane foam bonded to a wound contacting layer comprising an elastomeric separator layer which is the polymer net.
Those prior art dressings may be made by casting the net in a mold and then casting the foam on top of the net. This process involves many steps, expensive raw materials and imperfections in the mold may cause uneven net strand thickness and prevent clean release of the net from the mold. A further disadvantage is that the surface of the absorbent between the strands may be very close to the surface of the dressing hence presenting an opportunity for the absorbent to become incorporated in the healing wound or for the dressing to be more adherent than desirable under some circumstances.

Absorbent devices and precursors therefor


Disclosed is a method for implementing data backup and recovery in a computer hard disk. The method includes the following steps. First, a computer motherboard is powered up and BIOS is booted through triggering of hardware. At the same time, information about a computer bootstrap mode is stored in a recording device, the information representing a mode to start a conventional operating system or a mode to start a backup/recovery function. Then BIOS reads the information about the computer bootstrap mode from the recording device and determines which mode it represents. If the information represents a mode to start a conventional operating system, the computer is booted with a preinstalled conventional operating system. If the information represents a mode to start a backup/recovery function, BIOS operates the protection partition of a hard disk, loads the kernel of an inserted operating system and performs the backup/recovery processing. According to the invention, the data backup/recovery function can be started directly through triggering hardware, and the loaded inserted operating system can be dynamically updated, so it is more convenient and flexible in application.

As computers have increased in popularity, the number of computer viruses has increased. Accordingly the security requirements for computer data are also increasing. Since the hard disk is a main device for storing computer data, security of its data is a serious concern.
Except for computer viruses, many other factors, such as a user operation error, a hacker attack, etc. can possibly harm the data security of a hard disk. All of these can immediately destroy data that has been created by users with hard work, and furthermore, it is possible to crash the whole computer system and lose all stored data. This can result in great loss for the user.
In order to maximize protection of the hard disk data, data backup and recovery technology for hard disk has been created. With this technology, the important data in a hard disk can be safely copied to a protection area and the data can be recovered when destroyed. Users need not worry about data security again to a certain degree.
At present, there are several methods for data backup and recovery in a hard disk. In one method, data backup and recovery is accomplished through a backup hard disk. In this method, except for the working hard disk for storing the operating system and user data to be used, another hard disk, known as backup hard disk, for backing up data in the working hard disk is needed. With this method, all user data can be backed up completely and this method hence has a high reliability. Nevertheless, adding an independent backup hard disk increases the cost of the computer, and at the same time, the setting of basic input output system (BIOS) should be changed. Accordingly, this is not a useful method for a common user.
In a second method, data backup and recovery is accomplished with an optical disk or a floppy disk. In this method, when a computer is dispatched from the vendor, a recovery disk made by an optical disk or a floppy disk is provided. The recovery disk records the operating system and a portion or all of application software that has been installed in the computer delivered from the vendor. When the computer system crashes, the user can recover the computer to the original state when it is delivered from the vendor with this recovery disk. This method is easy to use but has two disadvantages. Firstly, the computer can only be recovered to the state it was in when it was delivered from the vendor, and thus this method is unable to provide a real-time backup and recovery. Secondly, the user must reserve the recovery disk carefully, so this method has much limitation in use.
In a third method, data backup and recovery is accomplished through a hard disk partition. At present, there is some hard disk partition software available, such as GHOST, etc. With the hard disk partition software, a hard disk can be separated into several logically independent partitions and one of which, referred to as the backup partition, can be used to store the backup data. When data in other partitions is destroyed, the data can be recovered with the backup data in the backup partition. Although this is a good technique, destruction of data by virus and some operation errors cannot be fully avoided since the backup partition and other partitions are located in the same hard disk.
In a fourth method, data backup and recovery is based on BIOS. Chinese application number 01134778.3, by the same applicants and titled "Method for Data Backup and Recovery of Hard Disk," provides a method for data backup and recovery based on BIOS. In this method, the program for implementing data backup and recovery is set in the BIOS chip and cannot be modified. During BIOS booting, a user can press the hot key of backup to enter the backup menu, or the hot key of recovery to enter the recovery menu. This method is reliable and secure, but it has two shortcomings. Firstly, the operation is inconvenient because a pressed hot key can be responsive only during the short BIOS boot period. If the BIOS boot period is over, the computer must be rebooted for data backup and recovery. Secondly, since the program for implementing data backup and recovery set in the BIOS chip cannot be modified, the BIOS chip must be replaced when the software needs updating. So it is inconvenient for users to update or modify the software.
As mentioned above, though several methods for data backup and recovery have been provided and put to use, each of them has various disadvantages respectively. The fourth method has the highest security and reliability among the above-mentioned methods, but ease of use is poor. The present invention provides a more convenient method for data backup and recovery.

Method for implementing data backup and recovery in computer hard disk


A layout process using content data as output and a template containing regions to which content data is assigned is provided. A document processing apparatus performing the process includes a priority order setting unit that independently sets, for regions to lay out contents data, priority orders by assigning contents data in the regions and a determining unit for determining the size of a region for which a first priority is set. The determining unit uses a template containing the regions and sizes of contents data to be assigned to regions, and determines a size and a position of remaining regions using a portion of the template to which the regions having higher priorities than the remaining regions not laid out and sizes of the contents data to be assigned to the remaining regions.

Since the merchandise service life decreases recently due to a variety of merchandise items, and customization service orientation of consumers who use the Internet strengthens, the necessity of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and one-to-one marketing has received a great deal of attention. These methods aim at increasing the customer satisfaction and winning and networking new customers.
The one-to-one marketing is a kind of database marketing. Personal attribute information such as the age, sex, hobby, taste, and purchase log of each customer is stored as a database. The contents of the information are analyzed, and a proposal that meets customer's needs is presented. A typical method is variable print. Along with the recent progress in DTP (DeskTop Publishing) technology and the spread of digital printers, variable print systems have been developed, which customize and output a document for each customer. Such a system is required to optimally lay out and display contents in information quantity that changes for each customer.
In a conventional variable print system, containers (also called field regions in a document form) are laid out on a document as regions where pieces of information are displayed. A database and the containers are associated with each other to achieve layout display.
However, each container serving as a partial display region in which a text or image is to be pasted has a fixed size. For this reason, when data in the database is inserted in the container, and the data size is larger than the container size, text overlap or image clipping occurs. If the data size is smaller than the container size, a space is formed in the container. In either case, optimum layout display corresponding to the information amount of a text or image to be displayed cannot be implemented.
To solve this problem, automatic layout systems which change the container size in accordance with the information amount have been proposed. An automatic layout system can flexibly set the container size of a text or image. Some automatic layout systems can set a variable container size and increase the container size in accordance with the amount of data to be inserted. In another technique, if text data larger than a fixed container size is inserted, the font size of the text is reduced to display the entire text in the container.
However, when the size of a container is increased, it overlaps another container on the document. When the font size is adjusted in text data with a large amount, the font size becomes too small. Another automatic layout technique to solve these problems is disclosed in the "layout design apparatus" of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 07-129658. This document is referred as the patent document 1, hereinafter. In this technique, when the size of a container is increased, the size of another container adjacent to it is reduced.
However, the layout design apparatus described in the patent document 1 manages the priority orders of layout materials. A layout is determined by laying out materials in accordance with the priority order. The apparatus only determines the layout order of unit materials. Since the material with lowest priority is always laid out in a narrow region, the layout desired by the user cannot be obtained. In the automatic layout system described in the patent document 1, the priority order is determined by the type of material. For this reason, when the layout is calculated automatically on the basis of the size of data in the database, the user cannot specifically set how to change the size of each container. For example, assume that two variable containers A and B are present, and data from a database are inserted in them. If both the data inserted in the containers A and B are too large to fit in the page, the mechanism described in patent reference 1 determines the layout on the basis of the priority order set by the type of material. If the priority order is set in order of image, graphic, and text data, the size and position of the container A which receives, e.g., image data are determined first. Then, the size and position of the container B which receives text data are determined.
Even when the user wants to display (print) a specific container created in the document to be created with priority over remaining containers independently of the type of the content to be inserted in the container, the automatic layout system of patent reference 1 determines the predetermined priority order on the basis of the type of content. Even when a content which should have a greater appeal than remaining contents independently of the content type is inserted in a container, the size of the container is determined in consideration of the types of remaining contents. That is, each container cannot preferentially be laid out independently.
It is also impossible to set equal priority orders and determine the layout by increasing the size of each container on the basis of the size of a content inserted in it and changing the sizes of a plurality of containers relative to each other.

Document processing apparatus, method and program for layout of data contents assigned to regions on a template


There are disclosed a para-aramid shaped article having a density of 1.390-1.470/cm.sup.3. The para-aramid has an inherent viscosity .eta.inh of at least 3.5 and contains metal ions of 500 ppm or less, the metal ions being combined with acid end groups linked with the para-aramid molecules. The invention also relates to a process for preparing the same. Due to a reduced rate of moisture sorption, a reduced hygroscopic expansion coefficient and excellent mechanical properties, the para-aramid of the present shaped article is suitable for use for reinforcing fiber materials for a composite material and for a magnetic recording medium.

A para-aramid is a polymeric material with excellent crystallinity and excellent resistance to heat. Preparations of para-aramid and PPTA films are disclosed PPTA films in U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,255 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,643, and para-aramid films composed of a para-aramid consisting of aromatic rings having a nuclear substituting radical are disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications No. 58-42649, No. 59-45124, and No. 62-70421.
In the meantime, there are proposed preparations of para-aramid fibers in U.S. Pat. No. 3,819,587, No. 3,767,756, No. 3,869,429, No. 4,016,236, No. 4,419,317, and No. 4,374,978. These known para-aramid shaped articles have generally excellent mechanical properties and heat resistance properties. Accordingly, applications of the shaped articles have been attempted in various fields of use. It has been a problem, however, that para-aramid shaped articles exhibit a great moisture absorption and a high hygroscopic expansion coefficient. A para-aramid shaped article tends to suffer a dimensional change due to moisture absorption (hygroscopic absorption). Problems are encountered in various applications of the shaped articles; for example, a composite material made of PPTA fiber will exhibit crack formation, which results from a repetition of moisture absorption-desorption cycles, and applications of the film as a high-density magnetic recording medium, high-density printed circuit, or the like, will exhibit problems, because the film is required to exhibit dimensional stability.
There have been proposed attempts to obtain PPTA films having improved hygroscopic properties by promoting orientation and crystallization of PPTA by means of extensive heat treatment and/or stretching in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications No. 62-246719 and No. 6-136156. In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-246719, for example, a process for preparing a film is described where a raw film obtained through coagulation and washing is treated by heating under tension at 300.degree.-500.degree. C. Although application of heat-treatment at high temperature in the known processes can produce films having a low coefficient of hygroscopic expansion, the heat treated films have excessively reduced elongation and tend to become brittle. Satisfactory improvement of films in hygroscopic expansion coefficient cannot be obtained by these known processes when elongation of the films must be maintained at a desired level.
In order to prevent deterioration of the mechanical properties of film during heat-treatment, an acid component contained in a shaped article after coagulation should be removed as completely as possible, not only in the case where a film is cast directly from a polymerization reaction mixture obtained by polymerizing a diacid chloride with a diamine, but also in the case where a film is cast from a dope prepared by dissolving a polymer separated from the reaction mixture in a strong inorganic acid, such as concentrated sulfuric acid. It is noted that satisfactory removal of an acid component in a shaped article cannot be successfully accomplished only by conventional washing with water or warm water. In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 50-102650, for an example, there is described a preparation of a film containing 500 ppm or less of an ionic inorganic compound by washing. However, deterioration of the mechanical properties of the film tends to occur when heat is applied to the film during film making or in the event of application, since a minute amount of acid, either derived from the acid generated during polymerization or introduced into a dope for casting as a solvent, is difficult to remove even by this process.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-134229, a method of washing a coagulated film with water for effective removal of an acid component is described in which the coagulated film is washed after it has been neutralized by aqueous alkaline solution. In a process for producing fiber, a similar method is proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 58-91809, in which PPTA fibers as spun from a concentrated sulfuric acid dope are piled up on a net conveyor while the fibers are neutralized before they are washed with a low-ion concentration water.
As explained above, in a process for making a para-aramid shaped article having an improved hygroscopic property by enhancing the crystallinity of the para-aramid by heat treatment, generally, a strong acid component, such as sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid, generated during polymerization of the para-aramid or introduced into a dope for casting, is completely removed by neutralizing with an aqueous alkaline solution, and then the salt formed by the neutralization is washed off.
In the meantime, para-aramid prepared by conventional polymerization contains a carboxyl end group which is derived from the monomeric aromatic dicarboxylic acid, and further it sometimes contains a sulfonic group as a substituent of a benzene ring in the case where a shaped article is cast from a concentrated sulfuric acid solution. These acid groups (alkali reactive groups) turn into salt forms with alkali metals combined at their ends when they are neutralized in an aqueous alkaline solution. Since the salts are stable in the vicinity of neutrality, the metal ion combined with the end groups cannot be removed by washing in water after a neutralizing step. Accordingly, a para-aramid shaped article, prepared by casting which involves conventional neutralization by an alkali, contains a metal ion combined with the acid end group. A content of the acid end group varies with a feed ratio of monomer in the polymerization; in the case of a carboxyl group, the content is normally 40-80 meq/Kg, and in the case of a sulfonic group, the content is 0-10 meq/Kg. Therefore, in the case where the acid end groups are combined with an alkali metal, for example sodium, metal ions (sodium ions) by weight are contained in an amount of from about 1000 ppm to about 2000 ppm.
In the prior art technique, no attention has been paid to the influence of a relatively minute amount of metal ions combined with the acid end groups on an improvement in hygroscopic properties of a para-aramid shaped article. This is because the influence of the presence of a relatively minute amount of combined metal ion on the hygroscopic properties of a para-aramid shaped article has not been appreciated and because no efficacious method of extracting the combined metal ion contained in para-aramid has been available in the art.
Regarding removal of the contaminant, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-115036 proposes a process for preparing PPTA film in which the film is, after being neutralized, washed or rinsed in warm water in the presence of ultrasonic irradiation (ultrasonic cleaning).
This known washing method can remove metal ions and counter-ions of inorganic salts and alkaline compounds included in a shaped article, but it cannot remove the metal ions combined by ionic bonds with acid groups, such as the carboxyl end group or the like. Accordingly, the method cannot improve the hygroscopic properties of para-aramid shaped articles. A similar result is obtained in the case where a polymerization reaction mixture is supplied after being neutralized for film casting.
As explained above, a para-aramid shaped article having a sufficiently improved hygroscopic expansion coefficient, while maintaining excellent mechanical characteristics of the shaped article, is yet unknown.
As explained above, a para-aramid shaped article according to the prior art, though being excellent in mechanical characteristics and heat durability, exhibits a large hygroscopic absorption (moisture absorption) as well as a high hygroscopic expansion coefficient. A para-aramid shaped article is liable to give rise to dimensional change by moisture absorption, and in its use, this dimensional change invites problems in applications where dimensional stability of the shaped article is required.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a para-aramid shaped article in which moisture absorption and the hygroscopic expansion coefficients are improved without losing its excellent mechanical properties, and a process for preparing the same.

Para-oriented aromatic polyamide shaped articles and preparation thereof


A method for maintaining a transfer roller in an ink jet printer. In an ink jet printer having a transfer roller on which an image is formed by an ink jet printhead, the printhead is periodically purged to prevent clogging. During purging the ink discharged by the printhead is used to wet the entire surface of the roller to dissolve residual dried ink and the transfer roller is then cleaned with a wipping pad or roller.

The subject invention relates to an apparatus and method for printing images. More particularly, it relates to an offset printing apparatus incorporating an ink jet for producing images on a transfer roller for printing variable images such as postal indicia printed by postage meters to evidence that appropriate postage has been paid on a mail piece.
As evidence that postage has been paid, i.e. that the prepaid amount stored in the meter has been properly decremented, a postage meter will print a postal indicia on a mail piece. Typically, indicia have been printed by complex mechanical rotary or flat bed printing elements which include a fixed printing element for printing fixed information and adjustable elements for printing variable information.
Such meters have been highly successful and are presently used to account for the expenditure of billions of dollars of postage in the United States alone. However, in an effort to increase the security of these funds above the present high level, the U.S. postal service has proposed a standard which would require that the indicia include encrypted information which would vary from indicia to indicia so that counterfeit indicia could not be produced without knowledge of the encryption method and key used.
Additionally it is very advantageous to provide users of postage meters with the ability to print ads or slogans along with the postal indicia, and it would be highly desirable to enable these users to easily vary such ads or slogans.
In response to these needs the applicant has proposed an offset printing apparatus which incorporates an ink jet for producing images on a transfer roller. This printing apparatus is more fully described in commonly assigned co-pending U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 08/751,290 and 08/751,663, filed on even date herewith. (E-519 and E-557)
While it is expected that these apparatus will provide very substantial advantages in the printing of variable images such as postal indicia, some problems are anticipated. As is common with all ink jets conventional maintenance operations to prevent clogging of the ink jet nozzles are necessary. Further, as the number of print cycles increases it is expected that areas of dried and partially dried ink may form on the transfer roller; causing smearing on the envelope or other substrate.
Thus, it is an object of the subject invention to provide an improved method for maintenance of a printing apparatus which incorporates an ink jet for producing images on a transfer roller.

Method for cleaning residual ink from a transfer roller in an ink jet printing apparatus


A processor (604) determines (502) a channel metric from a data signal received on a diversity branch. The processor calculates (504) an index into a final metrics buffer (702), the index determined from a position of the channel metric within an interleaved frame of data. The processor places (506) a value derived from the channel metric into the final metrics buffer at a location defined by the index. A corresponding method and apparatus as well as communications receiver utilizing the processor (604) are described.

In a communication system that uses time interleaving and a form of repeat diversity such as frequency diversity, the receiver must collect channel metrics and perform deinterleaving and diversity combining. A prior-art method of doing this has required a buffer for the storage of all channel metrics, in addition to a buffer for the final metrics, those that have been deinterleaved and combined. The prior-art method utilizes memory inefficiently, because ultimately only the final metrics will be used in the demodulation and decoding, and the stored channel metrics will be discarded. The buffer of channel metrics is at least as large as the buffer of final metrics, and in most cases, much larger.
Thus, what is needed is a method and apparatus for facilitating an efficient deinterleaving and diversity-combining of a data signal. The method and apparatus preferably will substantially reduce the memory resources required to perform the deinterleaving and combining.

Method and apparatus for facilitating efficient deinterleaving and diversity-combining of a data signal


Disclosed is a multifiber optical cable array connector which includes a central block having a plurality of bores that is made up of a lower chip having v-grooves on its upper surface and an upper chip having v-grooves on its lower surface which is superimposed over the lower chip to form the bores. An optical fiber ribbon cable has its insulation removed and the fibers are inserted through every other bore in the block. A second optical fiber ribbon cable similarly has its insulation removed at one end and is superimposed over the first ribbon cable with its fibers being inserted through the remaining bore. Because of this construction substantial numbers of fibers may be received in this connector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical fiber connectors and, more particularly, to chips for use in connecting optical fiber ribbon cables.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
As fiber optics emerged in the mid 1970's, engineers improved data transmission rates to 45 megabits per second over 24 fibers using single fiber connectors. Twenty years later, a 32 fiber parallel array system can transmit 16 Gb/s for computer technology requiring faster transmission rates exceeding the coaxial capacities and lengths. Several array technologies and consortiums have evolved that incorporate the parallel fiber array technology. The list includes Optoelectronic Technology Consortium (OETC) composed of AT&T, IBM, Honeywell and Martin Marietta.
The OETC group has developed a 32 channel optical link by introducing new packaging techniques for the devices and optical fibers. The transmitter and receiver modules were designed to eliminate pigtails by connecting directly to the fiber optic cable assemblies. The fiber density was increased in the devices, connectors and cables by maintaining a tighter pitch between fibers. New test procedures were developed for the 18 fiber test units to address the new 32 fiber cable. The higher density MACII.RTM. in the standard connector shell maintains compatibility through existing connector designs.
Conventional MACII.RTM. configurations include the 18 and 32 fiber chips. The 18 fiber chips place the fibers on 250 micron centers since the fiber's construction limits the higher densities in a single dimension with the MACII.RTM. hardware. The ribbonized fibers (62.5/125/250) core/cladding/buffer dimensions in microns) are placed side by side in a single row. When the 18 fibers are ribbonized in a single layer, 18.times.1, buffer to buffer, the fiber's centers require 250 micron spacing since the buffers control the linear layout. During the assembly, the buffer material is removed 9.5 millimeters from the fiber end to expose the 125 micron cladding. Though the 18 Fiber MACII.RTM. chips house the 125 micron diameters, the 250 buffers space the fibers 250 microns apart. In OETC, MACII.RTM. standard parts are used with a 32 fiber chip design. In the 32 fiber chip, a 62.5/125/135 fiber placed on 140 micron centers increased the density. It will be understood that the preferred groove dimensions disclosed in connection with FIGS. 36-38a below will be for the fiber shown in FIG. 35a and that these dimensions will be adjusted for the larger fiber shown in FIG. 38b.


The present test device provides a merocyanine protein error indicator compound. Merocyanine compounds are a new class of protein error indicators, providing an analytical tool useful in the detection of protein in a sample.

A. Field Of The Invention
The present invention is related generally to the detection of protein; and more particularly, to a novel class of protein error indicators.
B. Description Of The Background Art
The detection of protein is important in the diagnosis of disease, in medical research and in industry. Several methods exist for the detection of protein in a sample. With the exception of the methodologies using protein error indicators, all of the protein detection techniques are multi-step processes, often requiring highly complex equipment and several hours to complete.
One technique commonly used to measure protein in a sample is the Biuret method. According to this method, the sample is first acidified to precipitate any protein in the sample. The precipitated protein is then re-solubilized in a moderately alkaline medium and treated with a solution containing cupric ions. The peptide bonds of the protein and the cupric ion react to form a colored chelate. The absorbance of the treated solution is then determined using a spectrophotometer. From this data, the amount of protein in the sample is estimated using calibrated spectrophotometric absorbance curves. This method generally takes form 1 to 3 hours to perform.
A variation of the Biuret method is the Lowry method. According to the Lowry method, after the precipitated protein is re-solubilized, a phosphotungstomolybdic acid reagent is added to the solution under alkaline conditions to oxidize any phenolic compounds in the solution. Inasmuch as substantially all proteins contain some phenolic compounds, e.g., tyrosine, this technique is capable of measuring protein in a sample. The absorbance of the treated solution is then measured with a spectrophotometer. Using calibrated spectrophotometer curves, the measured absorbance is thereafter used to estimate the amount of protein in the sample. A number of buffers and other compounds, however, containing amine groups, e.g., TRIS, glycine and amide buffers, interfere with the test.
Another method used to determine the presence of protein in a sample is measuring turbidity following sample acidification. According to the method, the turbidity of the sample is measured using a spectrophotometer following the addition of a protein precipitating agent, generally an acidifying agent, to the sample. The calculated turbidity of the sample is compared to spectrophotometeric standard curves to determine the presence of protein in the sample. Common precipitating agents used in this method include sulfosalicylic acid, trichloracetic acid and tannic acid.
Methodologies using protein error indicators are widely used to determine the presence of protein in a sample. Methods using protein error indicators are inexpensive, fast, simple and convenient. Phenolsulfonephthalein compounds, such as bromophenol blue, bromocresol green and coosmassie blue, are, perhaps, the most widely used protein error indicators. Methodologies using protein error indicators often involve reagent strips which are impregnated with the protein error indicator. According to these methods, the reagent test strip is contacted with a small quantity of the sample. If protein is present in the sample, the test strip will indicate this by simply changing color. The color observed may vary depending on the concentration of protein in the sample. This variable color change is used to quantify the protein in the sample. Reagent strips of the above-type require a minimum of training to use correctly. These reagent test strips provide an accurate, convenient, and rapid vehicle for the on-the-spot determination of protein. Test papers such as these are widely used by technicians in industry, research and clinical laboratories.
In more detail, protein error indicators are pH indicators including an ionizable group which has a pKa value that is displaced by the presence of protein. In the case of the phenolsulfonephthaleins, the ionizable group is a phenolic hydroxyl. The release of the proton from the phenolic hydroxyl causes the observable color change which is indicative of protein in the sample being tested. Protein error indicators which are generally considered useful for the analytical determination of protein in a sample are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,416.


Novel polypeptides and nucleic acids that encode the polypeptides are disclosed. The polypeptides and nucleic acids are differentially expressed in liver tumors relative to expression in normal liver tissues. In humans, the nucleic acid sequence maps to a region of chromosome 9p.

Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer worldwide. More than 400,000 cases were reported in 1990. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for 80% of all liver cancer. Liver cancer can result from both viral infection and chemical exposure. Known risk factors include hepatitis B and C virus infection and exposure to aflatoxin 1. It is not known whether distinct routes to liver cancer affect the same or different cellular pathways. No mutational model has yet been developed for liver cancer as it has been for other cancers such as colon cancer. The molecular events that precede neoplastic transformation of the liver are not well understood. With no clearly identified cause, successful treatment options are lacking. In fact, the specific genes that are deregulated in liver cancer have not yet been enumerated. This is a critical first step in developing a successful strategy for treating liver cancer.
There is a pressing need to understand the molecular events associated with development of liver cancer, both in humans and in animal model systems where liver cancer is extensively studied, and to provide diagnostic and therapeutic reagents for treating same.


A thin film transistor array panel includes a gate line formed on a substrate, an interlayer insulating film formed on the gate line and having an opening, a gate insulator formed in the opening, a data line formed on the interlayer insulating film and including a first conductive layer made of a transparent conductive oxide and a second conductive layer made of a metal, a source electrode connected to the data line and made of a transparent conductive oxide, a drain electrode facing the source electrode and made of a transparent conductive oxide, a pixel electrode connected to the drain electrode, and an organic semiconductor contacting the source electrode and the drain electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film transistor array panel and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, flat panel display devices such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), organic light emitting diode displays (OLED displays), electrophoretic displays, and the like include a plurality of pairs of electric field generating electrodes and an electro-optical active layer. A liquid crystal display includes a liquid crystal layer as the electro-optical active layer, and an organic light emitting display includes an organic light emitting layer as the electro-optical active layer.
One of electric field generating electrodes forming a pair is usually connected to a switching element and receives an electrical signal, and the electro-optical active layer converts the electrical signal into an optical signal, thereby displaying an image.
A flat panel display device uses a thin film transistor (TFT), which is a three-terminal device, as a switching device. Gate lines transmitting scan signals for controlling the thin film transistor and data lines transmitting signals to be applied to pixel electrodes are provided on the flat panel display device.
Organic thin film transistors (OTFTs), including organic semiconductors instead of inorganic semiconductors such as silicon (Si) can be easily produced into fiber or film shapes and can be employed as a core element of a flexible display device.
Organic thin film transistors can be fabricated by means of a solution process such as inkjet printing and can be easily adapted to larger area flat panel display devices than can be achieved by a deposition process alone.
However, organic semiconductors may be easily damaged in subsequent processes because they have less heat resistance and lower resistance to process chemicals than inorganic semiconductors. When source and drain electrodes are made of low resistance conductive materials such as aluminum (Al), a Schottky barrier is formed between the organic semiconductor and the source and drain electrodes, thereby degrading the thin film transistor characteristics.
Consequently, in order to protect organic semiconductors and prevent the characteristics of an organic thin film transistor from being degraded, many more lamination structures and subsequent additional procedures as well as additional masks are required which drastically increases the manufacturing cost.

Thin film transistor array panel and method of manufacture


The method of polishing metal layers on wafers comprises the steps of: providing indicator areas on said wafer, said indicator areas having combinations of line widths and pattern factors violating existing ground rules of metal lines thereby said indicator areas being dished out during said polishing using a chemical-mechanical polisher to polish the metal layers to remove material therefrom, inspecting indicator areas on the wafer to determine an amount of material removed from said areas, and adjusting the operation of the chemical-mechanical polisher in response to the inspection of the indicator areas. The indicator areas may include macroblocks comprised of a multitude of individual blocks. The wafer may be inspected by optically identifying the polishing state of to blocks in the macroblock. Additionally, the process may be automated for mass production. A feedback loop to the polisher can be formed where data from optical inspection of macroblocks on a polished wafer can be immediately fed back to the polisher in order to adjust process parameters.

This invention generally relates to a method and apparatus for detecting the endpoint in chemical-mechanical polishing of semiconductor wafers; and more particularly, the invention relates to detecting the endpoints of critical areas on the wafer.
In the production of ultra-high density integrated circuits, chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) processes are used to remove material from the surfaces of wafers. In a typical CMP process, a wafer is pressed against a polishing pad in the presence of a slurry under controlled chemical pressure, velocity, and temperature conditions. The slurry solution generally contains small abrasive particles that abrade the surface of the wafer, and chemicals that etch and/or oxidize the surface of the wafer. The polishing pad is generally a planar pad made from a continuous phase matrix material, such as polyurethane. Thus, when the pad and/or the wafer moves with respect to the other, material is removed from the surface of the wafer by the abrasive particles (mechanical removal) and by the chemical (chemical removal) in the slurry.
When a conductive layer is polished from a wafer, the CMP processes must accurately stop polishing the wafer at a desired endpoint. Conductive layers are typically deposited over insulative layers to fill vias or trenches in the insulative layer and to form electrical interconnections between device features on the wafer. To isolate electrically the interconnects from one another, it is desirable to stop the CMP process below the top of the insulative layer and above the bottom the conductive material in the vias and trenches. If the CMP process is stopped before the desired endpoint ("under-polishing"), then the interconnects will not be electrically isolated from one another and shorting will occur in the circuit. Conversely, if the CMP process is stopped after the desired endpoint ("over-polishing"), then interconnects may be completely removed from the wafer. Therefore, to avoid serious defects in a wafer, it is highly desirable to stop the CMP process at the desired endpoint.
It is particularly difficult to determine the endpoint of the CMP process on wafers that have small "critical areas." The critical areas are typically depressions on the surface of the wafer that are the last point on the wafer from which the conductive material is removed by CMP processing. The location and size of the critical area is a function of the circuit design and the uniformity of the polishing rate across the surface of the wafer. As a result, the critical areas vary from one type of die to another, and they typically occupy a minuscule portion of the wafer surface.
Metal CMP uniformity and performance (i.e. meeting the process parameter specs) can be controlled by carrying out R.sub.s (sheet resistance) measurements and measuring the yield of open/short yield macros after CMP processing. However, such techniques generally require removal of the wafer from the CMP processing area with the need to reinstall the wafer in the CMP unit in the event polishing is measured to be incomplete. Optical thickness measurements as commonly used in oxide CMP are not possible because of the reflectivity of metal films. Profiler measurements are time consuming and are highly affected by the topography under the feature to be profiled. Thus, there is a need for improved methods of judging the uniformity of polished wafers while the wafers are still in the CMP area.

CMP process using indicator areas to determine endpoint


A product packaging comprises a cap on a transparent bottle to seal in a protected product. The cap includes an RFID chip and antenna that can report a serial number and product identification code to a nearby scanner. Reports from several such scanners in the distribution chain from manufacturer to retailers are logged and used to validate legitimate products by their movements. The caps are designed such that when opened the RFID antenna will break away from its associated RFID chip. The cap is molded of cross-linked polymers with a memory that makes it impossible to reseat it properly to the bottle once removed. A hologram target is placed backwards under a label on the side of the bottle so a laser beam can be directed through the backside of the bottle, through the contents, and to the hologram. The reflected laser light will have a signature that is very sensitive to the exact chemistry of the contents. Adulterations and fake products substituted for the genuine articles inside the bottle are detectable using non-invasive hologram reflected laser light and analysis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to product packaging, and in particular to methods, systems, and devices for resisting all physical attempts at entering or removing the product packed in a container, closed with such device, and for verifying and assuring that the contents of a package are genuine and unadulterated.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Lisa Lerer wrote in IP Law & Business magazine that radio frequency identification device (RFID) technology is being touted as a counterfeiting cure-all, but says this new technology is hardly more than a placebo. "Bad Medicine," September 2006 issue, pp. 26-30. Pfizer's popular LIPITOR medicine has been the subject of wide-spread counterfeiting, and in 2003 the US-FDA had 18-million fake LIPITOR tablets recalled. It was estimated more than 600,000 Americans had received some counterfeit pills before the recall. As a result, Pfizer launched a $5-million program to test RFID on VIAGRA packaging.
Lisa Lerer despairs that RFID won't stop counterfeiting because RFID tracks packaging and not the pills themselves. She says savvy pirates can still sneak fakes into legitimate boxes, and for pharmaceutical companies facing serious counterfeiting problems, RFID is little more than a placebo.
Previous attempts at using polymer materials in secure cap systems have been far less than favorable because untreated polymer components exhibit "creep" or movement away from the points of stress. In vital medical packaging, such creep represents a potential loss of sterilization seal integrity. Since high temperatures are required to sterilize the finished products, the creep effect can be greatly accelerated by the necessary heating. The conventional polymers soften such that the plastic parts will loose their strength and rigidity. They can relax, or literally melt away from the points of stress. The joints and seals place the polymers under stress, and it these points that will be the first to fail.
In just today's pharmacological market, there are many lifesaving medications that retail to the end-customer patient for $1,000-$1,850 per month for only a five milliliter doses of medication. Such has enticed far too many unscrupulous individuals, including at least one US pharmacist, to dilute fully authentic and authorized medications so the diluted compounds could be sold several times to several patients.
So what is needed is a reasonably priced, multi-phased polymer based packaging system for a vial, bottle, jar, etc, that cannot be physically penetrated or removed and reused in a non-tamper-evident manner. Such system must prevent unscrupulous individuals or terrorists from passing-off faked or adulterated contents as legitimate. The physical preventative features should be supplemented by RFID protection components designed specifically to be integrated with mechanical locking, cross linked, and even crosslinked expanded polymer packaging and with tamper resistant/evident features.
A final assurance that is needed is a simple-to-use, non-invasive way to verify what is actually inside the protected package. Secure packaging systems with multi-phased safeguards would find immediate applications for high-end consumer cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, etc.


Apparatus and method are provided for fault detecting in an electrical system such as a redundant or fault-tolerant system. A current receiving device connected in shunt or in series in such a system draws electric current from the electrical system being monitored. During normal operation, while current is still flowing properly through the system being monitored, an appropriate indication such as a continued series of pulses is generated, which is interpreted as indicating proper operation. If that current flow is cut off, indicating a fault condition, then the apparatus and method provide an appropriate signal (such as cutoff of the series of pulses) to a communication system which provides an appropriate indication to an external location. The current receiving device can be a relaxation oscillator together with another device which can be a pulse generator, an L-C energy transfer arrangement, a bridge circuit including an inductor, a two-winding inductor or a capacitor. The latter such device can be connected in shunt or in series with the electrical system being monitored. The relaxation oscillator is connected in shunt with the system being monitored. The communication device can, for example, be a photoemitter in combination with a photodetector, or could alternatively be a two-winding transformer.

In the field of fault-tolerant systems, it has been a general practice to employ redundant circuitry. Thus, if one part of a redundant system fails, the other part of the redundant system is still available to perform the intended function of the system. Although such devices have served the purpose, they have not proved entirely satisfactory under all conditions of service because latent faults can develop in a portion of a redundant system that is not then in use. If, for example, in a redundant power source, one portion of the redundant system is currently in use while the other portion is serving as an unused backup, any error or fault condition in the backup portion would not normally be detected during system operation unless and until the backup portion is put into use. Since that would generally only happen when the first portion of the system failed, the presence of a latent fault could result in a catastrophic failure of the entire system. Thus, if one portion of a redundant system fails, and the backup portion of the redundant system already had an undiscovered fault, a failure of the entire system would result. Such a failure would defeat the purpose of redundancy. Latent faults essentially rob redundant systems of the advantages of uninterrupted operation for which such systems had been designed.
The performance of fault-tolerant systems is dependent upon redundant operations and circuitry. For example, critical power subsystems are supported by more than one energy path. However, whenever one path provides total support while the other path is unused, a small but nonetheless real possibility exists that an unknown, undetected fault exists in the path not currently in use. If the primary support channel fails subsequently, then this latent fault would cause failure of some or all of the load circuits downstream, resulting in the cessation of operation due to loss of system integrity.
One such prior art redundant power system is illustrated in FIG. 1. A critical load element 11, such as a power converter, is supported by two DC sources 13 and 15 via respective duplicate buses 17 and 19. Bus 17 includes isolation diodes 21 and 23. Bus 19 includes isolation diodes 25 and 27. Each isolation diode is connected at one electrode to load 11 and thus to the respective opposite bus 17 or 19. Isolation diodes 21, 23, 25 and 27 thereby permit load 11 to obtain power from one such bus or the other, and also protect against overload on one bus if the other bus fails. It is probable that one of the two sources 13 and 15 produces a higher voltage than the other, so that the higher voltage bus will then always be the one actually supporting load 11.
Bus 17 is also provided with protective fuses 29 and 31, while bus 19 is provided with protective fuses 33 and 35. Each fuse 29, 31, 33 and 35 is connected in series to a respective diode 21, 23, 25 or 27. Thus, diode 21 is connected between fuse 29 and load 11. Diode 23 is connected between fuse 31 and load 11. Diode 25 is connected between fuse 33 and load 11. Diode 27 is connected between fuse 35 and load 11. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the cathodes of diodes 21 and 25 are connected to each other and to load 11. Also, the anodes of diodes 23 and 27 are connected to each other and to load 11.
Incorporation of diodes 21, 23, 25 and 27, and of fuses 29, 31, 33 and 35, into respective buses 17 and 19, while providing valuable protection to the system of FIG. 1, also each provide a source of a possible failure. Any one or more of diodes 21, 23, 25 and 27 could fail open or could fail short-circuited. Also, any one or more of fuses 29, 31, 33 and 35 could fail open. Thus, there are 12 possible fault conditions for the apparatus of FIG. 1. Because redundant buses 17 and 19 are provided in FIG. 1, if a conducting diode or the fuse connected thereto fails open then the other bus will provide power to the load. While operation would continue uninterrupted, no indication of the failure would be recognized by the system of FIG. 1. Furthermore, if, for example, diode 25 fails while bus 17 is in use and bus 19 is serving as a back-up, that failure would likely go undetected. If a failure then occurs on bus 17, and bus 19 is already crippled by a disabling failure, the results could be catastrophic. Such a situation would deprive the user of an important benefit of utilizing a redundant or fault-tolerant system, and the ability of uninterrupted operation notwithstanding any presence of fault conditions.
If one or more of diodes 21, 23, 25 and 27 fails shorted, then the fault may propagate further. For example, in a telecommunications environment where equipment is connected to a central office battery via redundant building distribution buses, an external circuit exists between the two positive supply buses, and between the two negative supply buses of such a system. If that system is configured as shown in FIG. 1, and if, for example, diode 23 fails shorted, and if voltage source 15 has a higher voltage output than does voltage source 13, then a line overload may occur because source 15 will attempt, through the sneak path created by shorted diode 23 and the connections between the external distribution systems, to support any other loads connected to voltage source 13. As a result, either or both of fuses 31 and 35 may then clear and the system fail.

Apparatus and method for detection of latent faults in redundant systems


An exposure method includes the steps of introducing fluid between a surface of an object to be exposed, and a final surface of a projection optical system, displacing an interface of the fluid arranged between the surface of the object and the final surface of the projection optical system, and projecting a pattern on a mask onto the object via the projection optical system and the fluid.

The present invention relates generally to an exposure apparatus and a method used to fabricate various devices including semiconductor chips such as ICs and LSIs, display devices such as liquid crystal panels, sensing devices such as magnetic heads, and image pick-up devices such as CCDs, as well as fine patterns used for micromechanics, and more particularly to an immersion type exposure method and apparatus that immerse the final surface of the projection optical system and the surface of the object in the fluid and expose the object through the fluid.
A projection exposure apparatus has been conventionally used to transfer a circuit pattern on a reticle (or a mask) via a projection optical system onto a wafer etc. and high-quality exposure at a high resolution has recently been increasingly demanded. The immersion exposure has attracted attention as one means to meet this demand. The immersion exposure promotes a higher numerical aperture ("NA") by replacing a medium (typically air) at the wafer side of the projection exposure with a fluid. The projection exposure apparatus has an NA=n·sin θ where n is a refractive index of the medium, and the NA increases when the medium has a refractive index higher than the air's refractive index, i.e., n>1.
For the immersion exposure, some methods have already been proposed which fill the fluid between the object to be exposed, and the optical element in the projection optical system that is closest to the object. See, for example, International Publication No. WO99/49504, and International Symposium on 157 nm Lithography, 3-6 Sep. 2002, Belgium, Bruce Smith et al. (Rochester Institute of Technology), Extreme-NA Wafer Immersion Lithography for 35-65 nm Technology. These prior art references propose to provide, as shown in FIG. 9, a supply nozzle 18 and a recovery nozzle 20 near a final lens 14 in the projection optical system, and to supply fluid 16 from the supply nozzle 18 between the substrate W and the final lens 14. In addition, an air curtain is formed by blowing compressed air to the outside of the fluid 16 and maintaining the fluid 16 between the substrate W and the final lens 14. Here, FIG. 9 is a schematic sectional view for explaining the fluid supply and recovery by a conventional immersion type exposure apparatus. Upon introduction of the fluid 16, an interval between the substrate W and the final lens 14 is maintained to be a necessary interval for exposure, and the exposure becomes immediately ready after the introduction. The exposure is performed, while the supply nozzle 18 continuously supplies the fluid 16 and the recovery nozzle 20 continuously recovers the fluid 16 or while the fluid 16 circulates between the substrate W and the final lens 14.
However, the conventional immersion exposure shown in FIG. 9 causes, when the end of the substrate W is located inside of the outer edge of the supply nozzle 18, dropping of the fluid 16 supplied from the supply nozzle 18. Since the recovery nozzle 20 collects the fluid 16, no fluid 16 exists between the final lens 14 and the substrate W, or at least air bubbles mix. The air bubbles shield the exposure light, resulting in lowered transfer accuracy and yield, so that the demand for the high-quality exposure cannot be satisfied. The air bubbles cannot be eliminated even when the fluid 16 is supplied and recovered continuously.
Even when there is fluid between the substrate W and the final lens 14 as a result of the initial filling, etc., if the surface of this fluid is spaced from the surface of the fluid supplied from the supply nozzle 18, the contact of these surfaces of the fluids by the continuous supply of the fluid from the supply nozzle 18 is likely to generate air bubbles.


A device of driving a plurality of lamps is provided, which includes: a transforming unit supplying driving voltages having inverted phases to adjacent lamps; and an inverter controlling the transforming unit.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display and a device of driving a light source therefor.
(b) Description of Related Art
Display devices used for monitors of computers and television sets generally include self-emitting display devices such as organic light emitting displays (OLEDs), vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs), field emission displays (FEDs), and plasma panel displays (PDPs), and non-emitting display devices such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs) requiring external light source.
An LCD includes two panels provided with field-generating electrodes and a liquid crystal (LC) layer having dielectric anisotropy and interposed therebetween. The field-generating electrodes that are supplied with electric voltages generate electric field across the LC layer, and the light transmittance of the liquid crystal layer varies depending on the strength of the applied field, which can be controlled by the applied voltages. Accordingly, desired images are displayed by adjusting the applied voltages.
The light for an LCD is provided by lamps equipped at the LCD or may be a natural light. When employing the lamps, the brightness on a screen of the LCD is usually adjusted by regulating the ratio of on and off durations of the lamps or regulating the current flowing in the lamps.
The lamps for the LCDs usually include fluorescent lamps driven by an inverter. The inverter converts DC voltage into AC voltage and applies the AC voltage to the lamps to be turned on. The inverter adjusts luminance of the lamps according to a luminance control signal to control the luminance of the LCD. In addition, the inverter feedback controls the voltages applied to the lamps based on the currents of the lamps.
Recently, an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL) receives attention as a substitute of a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) since EEFL is relatively cheap and facilitates the parallel driving. In detail, EEFL includes external electrodes attached at both ends of a discharge tube and thus the external electrodes and the discharge tube play a role of ballast capacitors, thereby requiring no separate ballast capacitor, which is necessary for CCFL having inner electrodes. Accordingly, the parallel driving of EEFL is easy.
Since EEFL has a symmetrical structure that the ballast capacitors are disposed at both ends of the tubes, the electrodes at the both ends of the tube are required to be supplied with equal voltages, while the voltage difference between the electrodes are required for generating a current in the tube. Accordingly, so called floating type driving that applies two voltages having equal magnitude and opposite polarities to the electrodes is usually employed. In other words, two voltages having a phase difference of 180 degrees are applied to the opposite electrodes.
In order to generate such voltages, a secondary coil of a transformer for generating voltages for driving the lamps is usually divided into two equivalent sub-coils and the node between the sub-coils is grounded via resistors. The inverter performs the above-described feedback control based on the current flowing in one the two sub-coils.
However, since adjacent lamps are supplied with the same periodical voltages that may cause constructive electromagnetic interference therebetween and may interfere the electric field applied in the LC layer.

Liquid crystal and device of driving light source therefor


The present invention discloses a fire extinguishing system for a battery pack, including a detection control apparatus, a fire suppression apparatus, and a hydrant water extinguishing apparatus. The detection control apparatus is disposed inside or outside a battery pack. The fire suppression apparatus and the hydrant water extinguishing apparatus are disposed outside the battery pack. The detection control apparatus is connected to the fire suppression apparatus. The hydrant water extinguishing apparatus is connected to the fire suppression apparatus. Beneficial effects: It is ensured that initial fire can be suppressed and later reignition can be resolved, so that fire extinguishing is adequate. Fire is directly extinguished at a core position inside the battery pack. An exhaust filter device gains valuable time after initial fire extinguishing.

Three mandatory national standards (referred to as "three mandatory standards" for short hereinafter), namely, GB 18384-2020Electric Vehicles Safety Requirements, GB 38032-2020Electric Bus Safety Requirements, and GB 30381-2020Safety Requirements for Power Batteries for Electric Vehicles, formulated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China on May 12, 2020 were approved and published by the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Standardization Administration of China and will come into effect from Jan. 1, 2021.
The three mandatory standards mandatorily stipulate that a battery system should provide an alarm signal within five minutes after thermal runaway occurs in a battery cell to ensure a safe egress time for passengers, imposing a higher requirement for the safety of new energy vehicles. It is specified in 12.10.3 in GB 7258-2017Technical Specifications for Safety of Power-driven Vehicles Operating on Roads that a battery electric bus or a plug-in hybrid electric bus having a length greater than or equal to 6 m shall be capable of monitoring the working status of the power battery and alarming when an abnormal situation is found, and there shall be no fire or explosion outside the battery box within 5 min after alarm. It is specified in 11.3 in JT/T1240-2019Technical Specifications of Special Safety Facilities for Urban Public Bus and Trolleybus that when thermal runaway occurs, a battery box fire extinguishing apparatus shall ensure that there is no fire or explosion outside the battery box within 5 min after a thermal accident signal is generated. General Technical Specifications for Fire Prevention and Control Apparatuses for Power Lithium Ion Battery Boxes in Electric Buses (CCCF/XFJJ-01) proposes that a fire prevention and control apparatus for a power lithium ion battery box in an electric bus includes a danger source detection product, data collection, transmission, linkage, and feedback apparatuses, an audible and visual alarm, a fire suppression agent, storage and release apparatuses, and the like. The suppression of thermal runaway in batteries satisfies requirements of the three mandatory standards and becomes a difficult issue that urgently needs to be resolved in the field of new energy vehicle safety.
In existing technical solutions of thermal runaway handling, for example, a single complex detection controller provides an alarm signal or a complex detection controller and a fire suppression apparatus are combined. In the foregoing technical solutions of handling, a single complex detection controller solution can only prompt a warning signal but cannot suppress thermal runaway. In the solution in which a complex detection controller and a fire suppression apparatus are combined, initial fire can be suppressed, but later reignition cannot be resolved. In addition, thermal runaway in ternary batteries or the like is intense to cause excessive pressure or even bursts in the box body of a power battery pack, leading to fires instantly.
At present, the most commercially applied solution is the solution in which a complex detection controller and a fire suppression apparatus are combined, thermal runaway with slow initial reaction can be suppressed, but thermal runaway with later reignition and intense combustion reactions cannot be suppressed.
Therefore, how to resolve later reignition of thermal runaway and intense thermal runaway is a problem that requires urgent research of persons skilled in the art, to ensure that initial fire can be suppressed and later reignition can be resolved, thereby reducing economic losses and avoiding injuries and deaths.

Fire extinguishing system for battery pack

YANTAI CHUNGWAY NEW ENERGY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.