A graphical user interface of a product configurator is accessible by user computers over a network. In one embodiment, the product configurator presents a plurality of product-based customization options from which a user may select. In response to such options, a user may provide product-based customization information to the product configurator. This information is usable to generate a product-based customized image that may be imprinted across the face of a financial instrument.

Product manufacturers must be able to control the images that are used to portray their products in order to protect their brand. In particular, companies must be able to ensure sufficient resolution and image clarity, prevent the introduction of copyrighted or inappropriate content, and ensure that their products are displayed in a manner which does not tarnish or otherwise dilute the company's image. As such, true product-based personalization of credit cards has not been feasible due to the perceived inability to control the type and quality of the personalization.
Some credit card issuers have offered their customers a "photo card" which is essentially a regular credit card with a one-inch square box onto which a customer-supplied photo is printed. Users can submit their personal photos by either stopping into an approved banking center or by mailing in the picture along with a request form. This approach is offered as a fraud protection tool rather than a personalization tool and is obviously not product-based. The aforementioned issues regarding image control are not a concern in this case since the goal is merely accurate customer identification, and not product image.
Other credit card issuers have offered credit card users the limited customization option of being able to select from among certain approved static images to be displayed on the face of the credit card. Examples of such images include favorite sports teams and universities, which tend to invoke a sense of pride or accomplishment for the customer. However, such static images are only generic impersonalized company-approved images. They are not truly customized images in the sense that they are created using customer-specific information, nor are they product-based images. And unlike the photo card example mentioned above, credit card issuers will not allow their customers to simply submit pictures of their automobiles or other purchased products for imprinting on the face of their credit cards. Such a practice would compromise the product manufacturers' ability to carefully control the manner in which their products are presented to the public.
As with universities and sports teams, certain consumer products tend to invoke a sense of pride or accomplishment for the customer. Automobiles are one such example. However, since credit card issuers will not accept photographs of their customer's specific products (e.g., automobile), as they would for the photo card discussed above, there is currently no way for customers to truly customize their credit cards with an image reflecting the specific characteristics of their purchased product. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for enabling the product-based personalization of financial instruments such as credit cards.

System and method for customizing financial instruments

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


According to one aspect of the invention, a dispense head for a wafer processing apparatus is provided. The dispense head may include an inlet, at least one outlet, a drain, and a passageway therethrough interconnecting the inlet, the outlet, and the drain. The inlet may be at a first height above a bottom of the passageway, the outlet may be at a second height above the bottom, and the drain may be at a third height above the bottom. A first valve may be connected to the inlet, and a second valve may be connected to the drain. When the first valve is opened and the second valve is closed, fluid flows into the inlet and out of the outlet. When the second valve is opened and the first valve is closed, fluid from the passageway flows out of the drain. A pump may be connected to the drain.

1). Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus and a method of processing a semiconductor substrate.
2). Discussion of Related Art
Integrated circuits are formed on semiconductor wafers. The formation of the integrated circuits may include numerous processing steps such as deposition of various layers, etching some of the layers, and multiple bakes.
Often the processing of semiconductor wafers takes place in large wafer processing machines. One of the components found in these machines are known as modules. These modules may receive a semiconductor wafer from a another component, place the wafer on a wafer support, and dispense a solution or solvent onto the wafer as one of the many steps included in wafer processing. The solution may be dispensed onto the wafers from a dispense head that is moved into a position over the wafer. Typically, the solution is fed into inlets of the dispense head through a valve and dispensed onto the wafer through nozzles on the dispense head.
After the solution is dispensed, unwanted solution often leaks or drips onto the wafer or another part of the module due to vibrations of the dispense head as it is moved, extra solution remaining in the dispense head, and air rising through the nozzles on the dispense head. This unwanted solution can damage the integrated circuits that are being formed and lead to increase maintenance costs of the wafer processing machine. One solution is to use a "suck-back" valve on the dispense head, which creates a vacuum back though the inlet causing excess solution to be drawn back through the inlet. However, the suck-back valves are expensive and are not completely effective as some solution still leaks from the dispense head.


A luminescent ovulation/menstrual cycle adjustment process to entrain preselected biorhythms with a scheduled regimen of photic stimulation. This process is performed by subjecting a woman subject to a nocturnal light exposure that corresponds exactly to a lunar cycle of 29.5-days.

The present invention relates generally to luminescent biorhythm cycle adjustment systems and more specifically to a process for phase-locking human fertility or menstrual cycles. Luminescent biorhythm adjustment on some mammals has been implemented in such milestones as U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,923, Apr. 3, 2001, Mammalian circadian regulator M-RIGUI2 (MPER2), Lee, Cheng-chi, U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,719, Oct. 8, 1996, Light therapy method and apparatus, Lopez-Claros, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,398, Jul. 13, 1999, Interactive light filed for non-visual stimulation, by Goldman, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
If the period of the fertility cycle of a woman could be influenced in some way to become highly regular, then the rhythm method, which has serious drawbacks at present, would become a valuable and reliable technique for birth control. It would be especially valuable for populations that are culturally, economically, or medically prevented from using other methods currently available.
It is very common in biology to find synchronization or xe2x80x9centrainmentxe2x80x9d phenomena between environmental influences and various types of rhythms, such as EEG, ECG, and circadian rhythms. This xe2x80x9centrainmentxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9clocking in stepxe2x80x9d phenomenon can also result in a regularization effect. This is illustrated in FIG. 2, which shows the regularization of an irregular electronic oscillator, by entrainment with a very regular external periodic stimulation. Therefore, it seems useful to consider the possibility of entraining the ovulation cycle. While there are encouraging indications that this might be accomplished by the periodic administration of drugs, one should not overlook the possibility of photic stimulation, since it is well known that photic stimulation can profoundly affect the pituitary-gonadal function in many vertebrates.
Estrus and ovulation regulation is more often accomplished by hormonal and chemical agents as shown in such references as U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,278, Feb. 24, 1998, Ovulation control by regulating nitric oxide levels, Garfield, Robert E., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,457, Dec. 31, 1996, Process for the synchronization of ovulation, by Wiltbank.
During research, Edmond Dewan reported that by simulating moonlight with nocturnal light exposures, the menstrual cycles of women could be brought nearer to the lunar cycle of 29.5 days. Dewan argued that such dim light might be used to augment natural contraceptive methods. More specifically, claims that a bedside 100-watt bulb could stabilize irregular menstrual cycles, was initially greeted with skepticism. Recent studies of light treatments of humans have indicated that both bright and dim light have real biological effects. To examine the validity of these ideas, experiments have treated two samples of women with irregular menstruation with randomly assigned 100-watt bedside night lights or dim red light placebos. In both groups, the 100-watt treatments significantly decreased the duration of menstrual cycles and reduced their variability.
A need exists for a practical process to implement the use of light to regulate menstrual cyclicity. The present invention is intended to satisfy that need.
The phenomenon of xe2x80x9centrainmentxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cphase-lockingxe2x80x9d of circadian cycles in animals, including humans, by means of light-dark cycles of approximately 24 hour periods is now well known. It is also known that these cycles in man are of importance to the military (e.g. jet lag, nocturnal operations, etc.) The question raised here is whether or not another human biological oscillation, namely the fertility cycle of about 28 days, is also of interest to the Air Force.
In the sixties a paper was published entitled xe2x80x9cOn the possibility of a perfect rhythm method of birth control by periodic light stimulationxe2x80x9d in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 99, 1016-1019 Dec. 1, 1967. In this paper, some preliminary evidence was shown that suggested that the menstrual cycles of women could be regularized by means of light. Later on, further evidence for this effect on a larger population was published by Dewan et al. in xe2x80x9cEffect of photic stimulation on the human menstrual cyclexe2x80x9d Photochemistry and Photobiology, 27, pp. 581-585 (1978). Still more recently a paper by Daniel F. Kripke entitled xe2x80x9cLight regulation of the menstrual cyclexe2x80x9d was published in a book edited by L. Wetterberg xe2x80x9cLight and biological rhythms in manxe2x80x9d Pergamon Press 1993, ISBN 0-08-0422799. Dr. Kripke repeated the earlier experiments mentioned above and found independent evidence for the regularization effect of the light schedule on the human fertility cycle. The mechanism for this effect may involve the pineal gland, the superchiasmic nuclei, the hypothalamus, melotonin and HIOMT. The original aim of the research was to see if light could serve as a xe2x80x9czeitgaberxe2x80x9d or synchronizer of these cycles. One practical application would be a method to make the so-called xe2x80x9crhythm method of birth controlxe2x80x9d much more accurate. This could be used either to enhance or to avoid conception. From a purely scientific standpoint, the possibility of phase-locking human fertility cycles by means of periodic photic stimulation would have far reaching implications in biology of a fundamental nature.
An important question is whether or not such a possibility would be of practical value to the Air force. For example, would it be useful or beneficial in any way for women in the military to have highly predictable fertility cycles? The second question is whether or not the scientific issue involved should be explored as a basic question of general importance to our understanding, so that future practical problems, not now envisioned, can be solved.
The practical outcome of research on this subject could be a device that would control the brightness and schedule of light in a bedroom (or device covering the eyes) during sleep that would phase-lock human ovulation cycles. The idea behind it is that, during evolution, the fertility cycle of humans and other primates was phase-locked to the moon and that full moon coincided with ovulation. In other words, the original zeitgaber of the human 28-day cycle was the 28-day lunar cycle. Recently published papers show that this idea is no longer as strange as it appeared in 1967 when it was first proposed. The reason for this is that one now knows (as was not known then) that (a) light has such a large hormonal effects that it can be used to cure seasonal affective disorder, (b) the circadian cycles in humans can be phase-locked to light schedules. (Kronauer and Czeisler at Harvard showed this, see page 217 of Wetterberg""s book cited above), and (c) the roles of various organs of the brain, nervous system, and the underlying biochemistry have become better understood the last 33 years.
The present invention is a luminescent ovulation/menstrual cycle adjustment process to entrain preselected biorhythms with a scheduled regimen of photic stimulation. The process is implemented by a control of the brightness and schedule of light in a bedroom (or device covering the eyes) during sleep that would phase-lock human ovulation cycles. The idea behind it is that, during evolution, the fertility cycle of humans and other primates was phase locked to the moon and that full moon coincided with ovulation. In other words, the original zeitgaber of the human 28-day cycle was the 28-day lunar cycle. The attached discussion shows that this idea is no longer as strange as it appeared when is was first proposed. The reason for this is that one now knows (as was not known then) that (a) light has such large hormonal effects that it can be used to cure seasonal affective disorder, (b) the circadian cycles in humans can be phase-locked to light schedules.
In one embodiment of the invention, the process is accomplished by subjecting a woman subject to a nocturnal light exposure that corresponds exactly to a lunar cycle of 29.5-days, said nocturnal light having a schedule of brightness and darkness with a maximum nocturnal brightness corresponding to a full moon, and diminishing to zero brightness corresponding to the new moon; and repeating with regular periodicity. The schedule need not be in phase with the actual moon of course but could be chosen for convenience.

Process for phase-locking human ovulation/menstrual cycles

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


Embodiments of the present disclosure describe methods, apparatus, and system configurations for cyclic redundancy check circuits using Galois-field arithmetic.

Data integrity is an important feature for storage and communication systems. It is desirable for detection and, if possible, correction, to occur as early as possible to reduce impact to system integrity and performance.
Cyclic redundancy check (CRC) codes are efficient and effective data integrity tools for error checking. Several methods for calculating CRC and hardware have been proposed in the past. These methods include bit-serial methods that use linear feedback shift registers (LFSRs) and parallel methods that utilize lookup tables for CRC computation.

Efficient and scalable cyclic redundancy check circuit using Galois-field arithmetic


An original input video file is encoded using a machine learning approach. The encoder performs a detailed video analysis and selection of encoding parameters that using a machine learning algorithm improves over time. The encoding process is done using a multi-pass approach. During a first pass, the entire video file is scanned to extract video property information that does not require in-depth analyses. The extracted data is then entered into an encoding engine, which uses artificial intelligence to produce optimized encoder settings. The video file is into a set of time-based chunks and, in a second pass, the encoding parameters for each chunk are set and distributed to encoding nodes for parallel processing. These encoder instances probe-encode each chunk determine the level of complexity for the chunk and to derive chunk-specific encoding parameters. Following completion of the second pass, the results of both passes are then merged to obtain the necessary information for the encoder to achieve the best possible result.

This disclosure generally relates to encoding of video or other media, and more particularly to the encoding of video titles using a customized multi-pass approach.
Due to the increasing availability of mobile high-speed Internet connections like WLAN/3G/4G/5G and the huge smartphone and tablet device boom in the recent years, mobile video streaming has become an important aspect of modern life. Online video portals like YouTube or Netflix deploy progressive download or adaptive video on demand systems and count millions of users watching their content every day. Real-time entertainment produces already nearly 50% of the U.S. peak traffic nowadays. This volume is expected to increase as the distribution of content world-wide moves to streaming platforms and stream size increases with additional audio-visual quality features, e.g., HDR, Atmos, etc., and with higher and higher resolutions, transitioning from 1080p to 4K, 8K, and future developed resolution standards. Moreover, particularly for mobile environments, adaptive streaming is required to cope with the considerable high fluctuations in available bandwidth. The video stream has to adapt to the varying bandwidth capabilities in order to deliver the user a continuous video stream without stalls at the best possible quality for the moment, which is achieved, for example, by dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP.
In this context, adaptive streaming technologies, such as the ISO/IEC MPEG standard Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH), Microsoft's Smooth Streaming, Adobe's HTTP Dynamic Streaming, and Apple Inc.'s HTTP Live Streaming, have received a lot of attention in the past few years. These streaming technologies require the generation of content of multiple encoding bitrates and varying quality to enable the dynamic switching between different version of a title with different bandwidth requirements to adapt to changing conditions in the network. Hence, it is important to provide easy content generation tools to developers to enable the user to encode and multiplex content in segmented and continuous file structures of differing qualities with the associated manifest files.
Existing encoder approaches allow users to quickly and efficiently generate content at multiple quality levels suitable for adapting streaming approaches. For example, a content generation tool for DASH video on demand content has been developed by Bitmovin, Inc. (San Francisco, Calif.), and it allows users to generate content for a given video title without the need to encode and multiplex each quality level of the final DASH content separately. The encoder generates the desired representations (quality/bitrate levels), such as in fragmented MP4 files, and MPD file, based on a given configuration, such as for example via a RESTful API. Given the set of parameters the user has a wide range of possibilities for the content generation, including the variation of the segment size, bitrate, resolution, encoding settings, URL, etc. Using batch processing, multiple encodings can be automatically performed to produce a final DASH source fully automatically.
However, these prior encoding processes involve performing an in-depth analysis of the entire video before the encoding is started, to for example determine a "complexity bucket" into which the video would be categorized. Once a complexity is determined for the video file, the file is encoded according to the settings that have been determined to be optimal for that type of complexity. When the video file is encoded, a target bitrate and associated encoder settings is used throughout the file to encode the video. This approach provides a coarse customization of the encoding process for a given set of complexity buckets and the video files that are categorized into them. However, they do not provide a truly optimized encoding for the particular video title.
Thus, what is needed is an efficient encoding approach that provides an optimized encoding for a given title without significantly impacting the encoding performance.


Balloon especially useful for dilatation of gastrointestinal lesions have a burst pressure of at least 9 atmospheres, a diameter at 3 atmospheres of about 5 mm or more, and an average compliance over the range of from 3 atmospheres to burst of at least 3% per atmosphere. Such balloons and balloons having other combinations of burst strength, compliance and diameter may be prepared by a method wherein a tubing of a thermoplastic polymer material is radially expanded under a first elevated pressure at an elevated temperature to form the balloon at a first diameter and then annealing the balloon at a second elevated temperature and a second pressure less than the first elevated pressure for a time sufficient to shrink the formed balloon to a second diameter less than the first diameter. The thermoplastic polymer material may be a block copolymer material. Catheters bearing balloons prepared by this method have low withdrawal force requirements, especially catheters used in through-the-scope applications.

Balloons mounted on the distal ends of catheters are widely used in medical treatment. The balloon may be used to widen a vessel into which the catheter is inserted or to force open a blocked vessel. The requirements for strength and size of the balloons vary widely depending on the balloon's intended use and the vessel size into which the catheter is inserted.
Perhaps the most demanding applications for such balloons are in balloon angioplasty in which catheters are inserted for long distances into extremely small vessels and used to open stenoses of blood vessels by balloon inflation. These applications require extremely thin walled, high strength, relatively inelastic balloons of predictable inflation properties. Thin walls are necessary because the balloon's wall and waist thicknesses limit the minimum diameter of the distal end of the catheter and therefore determine the limits on vessel size treatable by the method and the ease of passage of the catheter through the vascular system. High strength is necessary because when the balloon is used to push open a stenosis, the thin wall must not burst under the high internal pressures necessary to accomplish this task. The balloon must have some elasticity so that the inflated diameter can be controlled, enabling the surgeon to vary the balloon's diameter as required to treat individual lesions, but that elasticity must be relatively low so that the diameter is easily controllable. Small variations in pressure must not cause wide variation in diameter. Such angioplasty balloons have nominal diameters in the range of from about 1.25–4.5 mm.
Outside the field of angioplasty, however, relatively high compliant, high strength materials are desirable for some balloons used on esophageal, pyloric, colonic and anastomotic catheters and scopes.
Major advances in the ability to access remote areas within the gastrointestinal tract have allowed endoscopists to reach obstructive lesions previously accessible only via open surgical techniques. There are three primary approaches available to the clinician for endoscopic treatment of gastrointestinal strictures: 1) Mercury bougie dilatation; 2) Over-the-wire passage of tapered dilators; and 3) Balloon dilation.
Of the three, balloon dilatation is the most recently developed modality. Clinical research studies have been conducted to compare the efficacy of the technique to earlier approaches. For example, in one study evaluating Savary-Guillard® Dilators versus balloon dilators for dilatation of benign esophageal strictures, both methods achieved effective dilatation. However, during the 24 month follow-up, 88% of patients treated with Savary dilators required redilations vs 54% of patients in the balloon group. As a result, the researchers concluded that, over the long term, the balloon may provide superior efficacy. Additional studies have clearly documented the convenience, effectiveness and safety of balloon dilatation of strictures.
An important advantage of balloon dilatation over the alternative techniques is that it enables the clinician to dilate remote strictures throughout the GI tract.
An example is the treatment of esophagal achalasia. The esophagus, a hollow, muscular organ that originates at the pharynx and terminates at the stomach, functions to transport food and fluids from the pharynx to the stomach via a complex, neuromuscular response to the act of swallowing. Specifically, the passage of food or fluid from the pharynx into the esophagus stimulates the peristaltic contractions designed to propel the contents forward through the esophagus. Concurrently, the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) at the gastroesophagal junction relaxes allowing the passage of esophagal contents into the stomach. Reflux of stomach contents back into the esophagus is prevented by closure of the LES. Achalasia is a disorder of unknown etiology that disrupts the normal esophageal function (3,4). In this disorder, two deficits are present. First, the normal esophagal peristaltic wave is absent. Second, the lower esophageal sphincter does not relax. The result is esophageal dilatation and severe, progressive dysphagia. Treatment for achalasia is aimed at reduction of LES pressure. This is accomplished nonsurgically via forceful balloon dilatation of the sphincter.
Biliary dilatation may also be performed by such balloon catheter dilatation. Biliary strictures may result from variety of processes including postoperative scarring, inflammation, or malignancy. Endoscopic balloon dilatation of these lesions has been shown to be an effective treatment approach.
There therefore is a need for effective devices which permit endoscopic dilatation of lesions throughout the alimentary tract. It is important that the catheters offer first-use effectiveness in an advanced design to permit rapid inflation, deflation and easy scope passage. The balloons for such devices desirably would have a long dilation length, high operating pressure, typically greater than 50 psi (3 atm, 344.7 kPa) and desirably up to 146 psi, (10 atm, 1013 kPa), low withdrawal force and high compliance. For instance, a compliance change is desirable which would allow a balloon having a 1.25–3.0 mm nominal diameter at 3 atm to grow in a generally linear manner at least 0.25 mm, preferably about 0.5 mm, or more as pressure is increased from 3 to 12 atm. For balloons about 3.25–6.0 mm nominal diameter, a growth of at least 1.0 mm over the same range would be desirable. For balloons in the range of about 6–12 mm nominal diameter, a growth of at least 2.0 mm over a 3–10 atm pressure range would be desirable. For even larger diameter balloons, for instance balloons having 3 atm diameters of 12–30 mm, a compliance curve which provides growth of about 3 mm or more, preferably about 4.0 mm or more, over the range of 3 to 9 atm is desirable.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,538, incorporated herein by reference, there is described a single layer angioplasty balloon made of a material such as PET which follows a stepped compliance curve. The stepped compliance curves of these balloons have a low pressure segment following a first generally linear profile, a transition region, typically in the 8–14 atm range, during which the balloon rapidly expands yielding inelastically, and a higher pressure region in which the balloon expands along a generally linear, low compliance curve. The stepped compliance curve allows a physician to dilate different sized lesions without using multiple balloon catheters.
A polyethylene ionomer balloon with a stepped compliance curve is disclosed in EP 540 858.
In copending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/392,837, filed 2 Mar. 1995, entitled Block Copolymer Elastomer Catheter Balloons, incorporated herein by reference, which corresponds to WO 95/23619, there are described balloons, useful on angioplasty catheters and similar medical devices, which are made from certain block copolymer materials which provide an unusual combination of compliance, softness and strength properties.
Block copolymer balloons for balloon catheters, prepared using a particular heat set technique to stabilize the balloon dimensions, are also described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,180.

High compliance, high strength catheter balloons useful for treatment of gastrointestinal lesions


A DRAM is formed using a process which uses few critical lithography steps and which provides capacitor electrodes and bit line contacts in a self-aligned manner in a common set of processing steps. A multilayer stack including a gate oxide layer, a gate electrode layer, an etch stop layer, and a thicker sacrificial layer are provided over the active device regions of a semiconductor substrate. Photolithography and etching define gate electrodes and wiring lines with patterned etch stop layers and patterned sacrificial layers over and self-aligned with the gate electrodes and wiring lines. Source/drain regions are formed self aligned to the patterned stacks and then an insulating spacer is provided alongside the edges of the gate electrodes. A relatively thin, conformal polysilicon layer is provided over the patterned stacks and in contact with the source/drain regions adjacent the gate electrodes. A planarizing layer is provided to fill in the gaps over the polysilicon layer between the stacks of gate electrodes, patterned etch stop layers and patterned sacrificial layers. A polishing process is performed to remove the conductive layer over the patterned sacrificial layers. The exposed sacrificial layer and the planarizing layers are removed to provide lower capacitor electrodes with vertically extending fins and bit line contacts with landing pads that facilitate making contacts to the bit line contacts. Processing continues to provide a capacitor dielectric layer, an upper capacitor electrode and a bit line contact to complete the DRAM.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the formation of high density integrated circuits and, more particularly, to the formation of high density dynamic random access memories.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a continuing trend toward increasing the storage density of integrated circuit memories to provide increased levels of data storage on a single chip. Higher density memories provide storage that is generally more compact and is often cheaper on a per bit basis than an equivalent amount of storage provided on plural chips. It has generally been possible to provide these higher levels of storage at equivalent or improved levels of performance as compared to the earlier, less dense memory chips. Historically, the density of integrated circuit devices has been increased in part by decreasing the size of structures such as wiring lines and transistor gates as well as by decreasing the separation between the structures that make up the integrated circuit device. Reducing the size of circuit structures is generally referred to as decreasing the "design rules" used for the manufacture of the integrated circuit device.
In dynamic random access memories (DRAMs), information is typically stored by selectively charging or discharging each capacitor of an array of capacitors formed on the surface of a semiconductor substrate. Most often, a single bit of binary information is stored at each capacitor by associating a discharged capacitor state with a logical zero and a charged capacitor state with a logical one, or vice versa. The surface area of the electrodes of the memory capacitors determines the amount of charge that can be stored on each of the capacitors for a given operating voltage, for the electrode separation that can reliably be manufactured, and for the dielectric constant of the capacitor dielectric used between the electrodes of the charge storage capacitor. Read and write operations are performed in the memory by selectively coupling the charge storage capacitor to a bit line to transfer charge either to or from the charge storage capacitor. The selective coupling of the charge storage capacitor to the bit line is accomplished using a transfer field effect transistor (FET). A contact between the bit line and the transfer FET is made to one of the source/drain electrodes of the transfer FET and the charge storage capacitor is formed in contact with the other of the source/drain electrodes of the transfer FET. Word line signals are supplied to the gate of the FET to selectively connect the lower electrode of the charge storage capacitor through the transfer FET to the bit line contact facilitating the transfer of charge between the charge storage capacitor and the bit line.
Applying reduced design rules to a DRAM reduces the substrate surface area that can be devoted to the charge storage capacitor of the DRAM. Thus, applying reduced design rules to conventional planar capacitor designs reduces the amount of charge (i.e., capacitance) that can be stored on the charge storage capacitor. Reducing the amount of charge on the capacitor leads to a variety of problems, including the potential loss of data due to greater susceptibility to decay mechanisms and to charge leakage. This greater susceptibility to charge loss may cause the DRAM to require more frequent refresh cycles, which is undesirable since the memory may be unavailable for data storage and readout transactions during refresh activities. In addition, reduced levels of charge storage might require more sophisticated data readout schemes or more sensitive charge sensing amplifiers. Thus, modern DRAMs require increased levels of capacitance in reduced substrate area DRAM cells. To this end, a variety of very complex capacitor structures having three dimensional charge storage surfaces have been proposed. In general, these complex capacitor structures are difficult to manufacture.

DRAM process with a multilayer stack structure


To provide a waste ink absorber excellent in permeability and retaining performance, a waste ink absorber to be mounted in a waste ink tank to absorb waste ink discharged from a head for ejecting ink, includes, in a state of a single piece of the waste ink absorber not mounted in the waste ink tank, a portion low in density and a portion higher in density as compared with the portion low in density in a direction along a plane surface having a largest surface area.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a waste ink absorber, a waste ink tank, and a liquid droplet ejecting device.
2. Background Technology
A liquid ejecting device is known in which a waste liquid receptacle into which liquid discharged from an injection head flows and a waste liquid absorbing material for absorbing the liquid flowed into the waste liquid receptacle are provided (see, e.g., Patent Document 1).
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2011-167960 (Patent Document 1) is an example of the related art.

Waste ink absorber, waste ink tank, liquid droplet ejecting device


On an outer surface 2b of a spindle 2, a first end surface 2f abutting on one end surface 11d in an axial direction of an inner ring 11 of a first ball bearing 10 is formed so as to be positioned in a plane perpendicular to an axial center, and a second end surface 2c is formed so as to be parallel to the first end surface 2f and be positioned a predetermined distance t apart in the axial direction from the other end surface 11c′ in the axial direction of an inner ring 11′ of a second ball bearing 10′, and a flange member 17 is attachably/detachably fitted to the second end surface 2c so as to come into close contact with the second end surface 2c, and between the flange member 17 and the other end surface 11c′ of the inner ring 11′, a collar member 19 having an axial-direction dimension slightly longer than the predetermined distance t is interposed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bearing preload structure of a machine tool, which gets a preload force in an axial direction to act on a ball bearing.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a spindle device of a machine tool, a spindle is rotatably supported on a spindle head via a ball bearing. As a conventional structure to fix the ball bearing, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 7-24687, for example, discloses one in which nut members fixed to the axial-direction inside of a spindle and a bearing pressing screwed to a male thread portion on an outer periphery of a tip of the spindle fix ball bearings to fixed positions.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-237902 discloses one in which nuts shrink fitted and fixed to the inside of a spindle and a stepped portion formed at a tip portion of the spindle fixedly position ball bearings.

Bearing preload structure of machine tool


The present invention provides a wireless electronic device including an adaptive antenna unit and a processing unit. The adaptive antenna unit directionally receives data from a first electronic device. The processing unit estimates a feedback time for when the wireless electronic device may receive data from the first electronic device when a predetermined condition is met, and enables the adaptive antenna unit to form a specific radiation field in a specific direction to receive data through the specific radiation field after the feedback time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a wireless electronic device; and in particular to a wireless transmission method capable of receiving data directionally.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, electronic devices have become much higher-end and their functions have also increased in variety. For example, notebooks, cellphones, tablets and other handheld devices can have telecommunication capabilities, receiving and sending emails, maintaining social networks, managing contacts, media playback, and many other functions and applications.
Currently, many types of portable communications equipment can transfer information using wired and wireless internet connections. In the field of wireless communication systems, the next generation aims to research and develop a more efficient data transfer system. To increase the efficiency of wireless equipment and systems that transfer communications data, there needs to be a better mechanism to execute wireless communication; to create a better network environment.

Wireless electronic device and wireless transmission method thereof


An MRI apparatus and method for reducing wrap around artifacts during image reconstruction is provided. An RF coil and control configuration includes a center coil and at least one pair of end RF coils configured to encode and excite spins over an adjustable field-of-view (FOV). The adjustable FOV has at least two size designations in response to an FOV size request input. The control connected to the RF coil assembly is capable of switching between the FOV size designations by switching power to activate a center coil alone or the center coil in conjunction with the end coils in unison.

The present invention relates generally to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and more particularly, to a switchable field-of-view (FOV) apparatus and method to reduce the occurrences of wrap around artifacts during image reconstruction.
When a substance such as human tissue is subjected to a uniform magnetic field (polarizing field B0), the individual magnetic moments of the spins in the tissue attempt to align with this polarizing field along a Z-axis, but precess about it in random order at their characteristic Larmor frequency. If the substance, or tissue, is subjected to a magnetic field (excitation field B1) which is in an x-y plane and which is near the Larmor frequency, the net aligned moment, or xe2x80x9clongitudinal magnetizationxe2x80x9d, MZ, may be rotated, or xe2x80x9ctippedxe2x80x9d, into the x-y plane to produce a net transverse magnetic moment Mt. A signal is emitted by the excited spins after the excitation signal B1 is terminated and this signal may be received and processed to form an image.
When utilizing these signals to produce images, magnetic field gradients (GxGy and Gz) are employed using gradient coils. Typically, the region to be imaged is scanned by a sequence of measurement cycles in which these gradients vary according to the particular localization method being used. The resulting set of received MRI signals are digitized and processed to reconstruct the image using one of many well-known reconstruction techniques.
The transmission of a radio frequency (RF) excitation pulse through a subject and the reception of the resulting resonant signal is known in the art of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. Examples of structures capable of transmitting and receiving RF pulses include a helical coil, saddle coil, resonant cavity, and a birdcage resonator or coil. While the use of these structures for transmission and reception of image signals has greatly improved reconstruction of an image, there are some existing drawbacks to the current designs. For example, the occurrence of wrap around artifacts can create distortion during the image reconstruction process. Due to the non-linearity of the gradient coils and the in-homogeneity of the uniform background magnetic field B0, there are areas outside the FOV that resonate at the same frequency as portions inside the FOV, such that aliasing wrap around artifacts are displayed upon image reconstruction. These undesirable wrap around artifacts cause a portion of the imaged subject, which is located outside the FOV, to appear inside of the FOV as part of the volume imaged.
The birdcage resonator and other structures cause limitations as to the strengths of magnetic fields introduced in the system because of their whole-body imaging methodology. Whole-body coils cause more irradiation of patient volume than equivalent shorter length coils. Irradiation levels are regulated according to an average specific power absorption rate (SAR) per unit mass for patients under examination. As a result, there is a need for an apparatus capable of operating with increased magnetic field strength without exceeding regulated absorption rates that also reduces the occurrence of wrap around artifacts during image reconstruction.
It would therefore be desirable to have an RF coil and control apparatus to restrict sensitivity in areas outside a selected FOV, thereby reducing the occurrence of wrap-around artifacts caused by extended areas of a whole-body coil while maintaining good sensitivity and homogeneity within the FOV.
The present invention provides a switchable FOV magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and method solving the aforementioned drawbacks.
The invention includes the use of a magnet to produce a magnetic field for MRI imaging of a subject. After the subject is placed within a bore of the magnet having a uniform linear magnetic field so that nuclei within the subject are excited and encoded using a set of magnetic field gradient coils, a desired FOV size is selected by an operator. This selection causes an automatic determination and activation of a center coil only or the center coil and a pair of end coils in combination for transmission of a signal desired to perform imaging of a subject. During activation of the center coil only, the effective longitudinal length of the RF coil is less causing a reduction in wrap around artifacts as compared to a standard whole-body coil. A shorter RF coil causes limited excitation of nuclei in areas outside the desired FOV.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, an RF coil and control configuration includes an RF coil assembly having a center coil and a pair of end coils. Each end coil is comprised of at least one RF coil, but can include more. The RF coil assembly is configured to encode and excite spins over an adjustable FOV. With activation of both the center coil and the pair of end coils, an imaging scan can be acquired that is comparable to a whole-body coil imaging scan. A control is connected to the RF coil assembly to switch the RF coil assembly between at least two general FOV sizes based on an FOV size input from an operator. The at least two general FOV size designations are determined by the control switching power to activate either a center coil alone or the center coil and the pair of end coils in unison.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention an MRI apparatus to acquire images is disclosed having an MRI system having a plurality of gradient coils positioned about a bore of a magnet to impress a polarizing magnetic field B0 through a subject under examination. An RF transceiver system and an RF switch controlled by a pulse module are included to transmit RF signals to an RF resonator assembly having a center resonator enclosed by a set of end resonators to acquire magnetic resonance (MR) images of the subject. A computer is further included and programmed to receive an FOV input and based on that input, cause transmission of a signal from either the center resonator only or the center resonator and the end resonators simultaneously.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a technique of controlling an MRI device having a central RF coil assembly comprised of a central RF coil and at least one pair of end RF coils includes the steps of creating a predetermined parameter based on a length of the central RF coil and then comparing a desired FOV to the predetermined parameter. If the desired FOV is not greater than the predetermined parameter, then the central RF coil is selected for energization so as to perform an image scan of the desired FOV. If the FOV is greater than the selected parameter, then the central RF coil and the at least one pair of end RF coils are selected for energization thereby performing an imaging scan of the desired FOV.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description and the drawings.

Switchable field of view apparatus and method for magnetic resonance imaging

GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC


A polarizing plate including a polarizer for polarizing incident light; first and second protection films arranged respectively on top and bottom surfaces of the polarizer; and an optical compensation film arranged on the first or second protection film, wherein the optical compensation film includes a moisture absorption rate substantially similar to moisture absorption rates of the protection films.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a polarizing plate, a method for manufacturing the same, and a liquid crystal display panel having the same, and more particularly, to a polarizing plate in which bending due to difference between shrinkage and expansion rates is prevented by controlling a moisture absorption rate of a compensation film thereof, a method for manufacturing the same, and a liquid crystal display panel having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, the application of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) has been extended because of their features of light weight, slimness, low-power drive, full colors, high resolution and the like. At present, LCDs are used in computers, notebook computers, PDAs, telephones, TVs, audio/video devices, and the like. Such an LCD displays desired images on an LCD panel by adjusting the quantity of light to be transmitted in response to image signals applied to a plurality of control switches arrayed in a matrix.
FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a structure of a general polarizing plate. The polarizing plate shown in FIG. 1 comprises a polarizer 21, protection films 22a and 22b, an adhesive 23, and surface protection films 24a and 24b. The polarizer 21 is arranged between the protection films 22a and 22b to polarize incident light. The adhesive 23 has the function of attaching the polarizing plate to a substrate such as an LCD panel. The surface protection films 24a and 24b are attached to protect the polarizing plate from foreign substances and are separated from the polarizing plate when a process of attaching the polarizing plate to the substrate is performed.
FIGS. 2a and 2b are sectional views of a conventional polarizing plate having an optical compensation film and a conventional polarizing plate having an integrated type protection film, respectively.
The polarizing plate shown in FIG. 2A comprises a polarizer 31, protection films 33a and 33b arranged on the top and the bottom of the polarizer 31 to protect the polarizer 31, respectively, and an optical compensation film 35 arranged on one of the protection films 33a and 33b. The polarizer 31 may include poly vinyl alcohol (PVA), and the protection films 33a and 33b may include tryacetyl cellulose (TAC). A viewing angle compensation film having a viewing angle compensation function may be used as the optical compensation film.
The polarizing plate shown in FIG. 2B comprises a polarizer 41, a protection film 43 arranged on one surface of the polarizer 41 to protect the polarizer, and an integrated type protection film 45 arranged on the other surface of the polarizer 41 to have a polarizer-protecting function as well as an optical compensation function. The polarizer 41 may include poly vinyl alcohol (PVA), and the protection film 43 may include tryacetyl cellulose (TAC).
As described above, the optical compensation film 35 or the integrated protection film 45 is different from the protection film in view of materials and components. Thus, there is difference in moisture absorption rate between them. As a result, there is a problem in that the polarizing plate may be bent due to difference between shrinkage and expansion rates of components of the polarizing plate. This will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 3.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are views showing differences between shrinkage rates of components of a conventional polarizing plate in a state where the polarizing plate with an optical compensation film is attached to an LCD panel.
FIG. 3A shows a state where a polarizing plate with the optical compensation film 35 of FIG. 2A is attached to the top of an LCD panel 39 using an adhesive 37, and FIG. 3B shows a state where a polarizing plate with the integrated protection film 45 of FIG. 2B is attached to the top of an LCD panel 49 using an adhesive 47.
Referring to FIG. 3A, the moisture absorption rates of the polarizer 31, the protection films 33a and 33b, and the optical compensation film 35 are different from one another. Since both moisture absorption and shrinkage rates are generally in substantially proportion to each other, a shrinkage or expansion rate increases as a moisture absorption rate increases. In general, the moisture absorption rate of poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) is about 5% or more, that of tryacetyl cellulose is about 1.5% and that of an optical compensation film is about 3%. Accordingly, in FIG. 3A, dimensional changes become larger in the order of the protection films 33a and 33b (ΔL3), the optical compensation film 35 (ΔL1) and the polarizer 31 (ΔL2).
Even in the case of FIG. 3B, since the moisture absorption rates of the polarizer 41, the protection film 43 and the integrated protection film 45 are different from one another, there is difference between dimensional changes of the components when the polarizing plate is attached to an LCD panel and the LCD panel is then driven.
As described above, the dimensional changes cause bending of the polarizing plate and thus there is a problem in that the polarizing plate gets loose from the LCD panel, which consequently causes a problem of light leakage.
FIGS. 4A to 4C are views showing light leakage defects in driving a conventional LCD panel to which a polarizing plate with an optical compensation film is attached. FIG. 4A shows the state of the LCD panel during initial driving, and FIG. 4B shows a state where a light leakage phenomenon occurs in the LCD panel after driving for 50 hours. FIG. 4C shows a state where a light leakage phenomenon occurs in the vicinity of corners of the LCD panel upon estimation of reliability thereof.

Polarizing plate, method for manufacturing the same, and liquid crystal display panel having the same


A combination mouse pad and writing pad comprised of a plurality of sheets of paper secured together and further secured to a chip board base, with each of the sheets of paper having a textured surface with a large number of shaped "micro-domes" thermographically printed thereon and spaced apart between 0.005" and 0.100". The sheets of paper are secured together along two substantially perpendicular side edges and to the base which has a non-skid backing.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to writing pads, and more particularly, to a writing pad that may also be used as a computer mouse pad.
2. Description of Related Art
Numerous types of writing pads are known for use to take notes or draft letters or the like. These writing pads are usually comprised of a series of sheets of paper held together on a chip board base by an adhesive or glue strip, and are of limited use, in that they are only used to write on in pencil or ink. Known writing pads do not have a surface which provides sufficient friction so that it can also be used to operate a computer mouse thereon.
Therefore, it is well known to use a computer mouse pad to allow a computer user to more accurately operate a mouse connected to a computer, such as a personal computer. Such mouse pads come in many different varieties and include various types of operating surfaces. However, to enable the mouse to be properly operated, the surface should provide sufficient friction to allow a one-to-one relationship between the linear movement of the mouse across the surface and the rotational movement of a track ball in the mouse. It has been found that the best operating surfaces of mouse pads have a uniform random texture to provide friction, and are of sufficient hardness that the mouse will not experience excessive drag.
Using separate mouse pads and writing pads take up precious space on already cramped working surfaces. Therefore, some of the known mouse pads have been designed with more than one purpose or use in mind.
One such prior art mouse pad having a dual purpose is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,168, which discloses a combination mouse pad and note pad. The combination pad includes a working surface on which notes can be written and a computer mouse operated. The combination pad includes a plurality of secured together sheets of paper further secured to a chip board base. The sheets of paper are fabricated from textured paper, preferably 70 pound, CLASSIC (registered trademark) Laid Text Paper, such as that used in letterhead paper. This paper provides an embossed surface over which a computer mouse may be operated. The plurality of sheets of paper are secured together at opposing edges, such as the top and bottom, with glue strips. However, as this patent points out, since the surface is so rough, it is not easy to write on the surface of such paper, and, therefore, notes cannot be smoothly written on the surface. Also, this patent suggests that other papers, such as bond paper cannot be used. Furthermore, it has been found that it is not always easy to tear off a sheet of paper from such a combination pad, without tearing the sheet itself. Finally, the chip board base used in the combination pad of this patent has been found to move or slip when supported on a smooth desk or other surface when trying to write thereon, and/or move a mouse across its top surface.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,075 there is disclosed an ergonomic mouse pad which includes a polymorphic top surface for supporting a mouse and a curved region for facilitating the comfort and ease of use of the hand and wrist of a mouse user. This mouse pad, however, cannot be written upon.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,781 discloses a mouse pad composed of number of layers of specific plastics with a bottom non-skid layer. This mouse pad, also does not provide a surface which can be written upon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,054 discloses a mouse pad having a specific control surface having a random uniform texture formed on a control layer supported on a resilient intermediate layer. Optionally, the control layer is formed from a transparent material and an information display can be provided on the side of the control layer opposite from the control surface that allows visual information to be permanently displayed. However, this mouse pad also cannot be written upon.
While the foregoing described prior art devices provide some limited improvements in mouse pads, there still remains the need in the art for a combination mouse pad and writing pad that may be more cheaply made using substantially any available paper or similar material, and which is easily and conveniently used to take notes neatly thereon, as well as smoothly operate a computer mouse thereon. And, which pad may easily have a sheet of paper torn off of it top without tearing the sheet, and which includes a base which will not move or slip when trying to remove a sheer of paper, write on, and/or move a mouse across its top surface.

Combination computer mouse pad and writing pad


An internal combustion engine includes: a cylinder block having a block cooling water passage that supplies cooling water to a plurality of cylinder bores, and an inter-bore cooling water passage provided between cylinder bores that supplies cooling water between the cylinder bores; a cylinder head having a first cooling water passage to which cooling water is supplied from the block cooling water passage, and a second cooling water passage, which is provided independently from the first cooling water passage, and to which cooling water is supplied from the inter-bore cooling water passage; a heat exchanger; a first cooling water introducing part that leads cooling water, which is flown out from the first cooling water passage, to the heat exchanger; and a second cooling water introducing part that leads cooling water, which is flown out from the second cooling water passage, to a downstream side of the heat exchanger.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an internal combustion engine having a cylinder head with a plurality of independent cooling water passages.
2. Description of Related Art
In an internal combustion engine, since it is difficult to form a block water jacket between cylinder bores in a high-temperature cylinder block, a inter-bore cooling water passage provided between cylinder bores, which is made of a drilled hole or the like, is formed between cylinder bores, and cooling water is introduced from a block water jacket into the inter-bore cooling water passage.
An internal combustion engine is disclosed, in which a block cooling water passage is communicated with an upper stage water jacket in a cylinder head through a inter-bore cooling water passage in order to cool a part between cylinder bores effectively (for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-168147 A (JP 2002-168147 A)).
In the internal combustion engine, after a lower part of the cylinder head, which faces a high-temperature combustion chamber, is cooled by a lower stage water jacket, cooling water in the lower stage water jacket is supplied to the upper stage water jacket.
Therefore, by leading the inter-bore cooling water passage to the upper stage water jacket having lower pressure than that of the lower stage water jacket, differential pressure between the block cooling water passage and the upper stage water jacket is increased, and thus a flow rate (flow velocity) in the inter-bore cooling water passage is increased, thereby improving cooling performance between cylinder bores.


There is disclosed a device for applying vibrations to a cantilever used in an atomic force microscope. The cantilever has a base portion, and a probe is attached to the front end of the cantilever. The device has a piezoelectric plate subassembly consisting of first and second piezoelectric plates having junction faces cemented together. A piezoelectric plate subassembly support portion supports a part of the second piezoelectric plate. A voltage is applied to the piezoelectric plates so that one of them is stretched vertical to the junction faces and that the other is contracted vertical to the junction faces.

Where the topography of a sample surface is investigated by a scanning probe microscope such as a noncontact atomic force microscope (NC-AFM), it is necessary to maintain constant the space between the sample surface and the probe tip. Therefore, this space must be constantly detected. One method of accomplishing this is to utilize changes in the attractive atomic force (i.e., force gradient) exerted between the sample surface and the probe tip. That is, the attractive force increases as the space decreases.
FIG. 6 illustrates a noncontact atomic force microscope (AFM) This microscope has a scanner support portion 01 that supports an XY scanner 02 moving within the XY plane and a Z scanner 03 moving quite small distances along the Z-axis, or up and down. A sample 04 is placed on the top end surface of the Z scanner 03. An XY-scanning signal generator 06 and a Z scanner drive circuit 07 supply a scanning signal and a driving signal, respectively, to the XY scanner 02 and the Z scanner 03, respectively.
A cantilever 08 made of a resilient material is positioned above the sample 04. One end of the cantilever 08 is fixed to piezoelectric plates 09 that apply vibrations to the cantilever. A probe 012 is mounted to the front end of the cantilever 08 such that the tip of the probe 012 faces the sample 04. The piezoelectric plates 09 are made of bimorph and act to vibrate the cantilever 08.
Heretofore, some methods have been available to detect the force gradient in the noncontact atomic force microscope described above.
(a) Slope Detection Method
FIG. 7 illustrates the slope detection method. The cantilever 08 is forcedly vibrated at a frequency of .omega..sub.d. The space S (FIG. 6) between the probe 012 on the cantilever 08 and the sample 04 varies. The resonance frequency of the cantilever 08 changes from .omega..sub.0 to .omega..sub.0 '. At this time, the amplitude of the cantilever varies. The result is shown in the graph of FIG. 7. Where the space S is reduced while the atomic force is exerted between the probe 012 and the sample 04, the resonance frequency of the cantilever 08 drops.
As can be seen from the graph of FIG. 7, where the resonance frequency .omega..sub.0 of the cantilever 08 is moved away from the fixed frequency .omega..sub.d and reaches .omega..sub.0 ', the amplitude of the cantilever 08 forcedly vibrated at .omega..sub.d decreases from A.sub.0 to A.sub.0 '. Accordingly, the changes in the space S can be detected by detecting the increases in the amplitude .DELTA.A. In this way, the slope detection method is to detect changes in the space S between the probe 012 and the sample 04 by detecting the decreases in the amplitude .DELTA.A.
(b) FM Detection Method
In FIG. 6, if the space S between the probe 012 of the cantilever 08 and the sample 04 varies, the resonance frequency of the cantilever 08 changes. That is, where the space S decreases within the range in which an atomic force is exerted between the probe 012 and the sample 04, the resonance frequency of the cantilever 08 drops. Therefore, changes in the space S can be detected by vibrating the cantilever 08 at its resonance frequency at all times and detecting variations in the vibration frequency of the cantilever 08. In this method, the Q value of the mechanical vibration of the cantilever 08 becomes very large in a vacuum. Therefore, it is considered that the FM detection method is more appropriate than the slope detection method that is generally used under atmospheric pressure.
In the above-described FM detection method, the cantilever 08 is vibrated always at its resonance frequency, and changes in the vibrational frequency of the cantilever are detected. Thus, changes in the space S are detected. Therefore, the degree of stability of the oscillating system containing the cantilever 08 greatly affects the performance of the instrument. That is, the ability to supply a stable oscillating signal to the cantilever-vibrating device dominates the performance of the instrument. The following techniques related to this kind of cantilever-vibrating device are known.
FIG. 8 illustrates a noncontact atomic force microscope (AFM) equipped with a cantilever-vibration device making use of the prior art FM detection method. It is to be noted that like components, or 01-012, are indicated by like reference numerals in both FIGS. 6 and 8. A laser 013 directs laser light L onto the cantilever 08. The laser light reflected by the cantilever 08 reaches a photodetector 014, which detects the incident light. This photodetector 014 consists of two discrete photodiodes. The laser light L reflected from the top surface of the cantilever 08 oscillates across the boundary between the two photodiodes. The difference between the output signals from the two discrete photodiodes is a sine wave corresponding to the vibrations of the cantilever 08. The oscillation frequency of the cantilever 08 is detected from this sine wave.
The obtained oscillation signal is fed to an amplifier 017 whose gain is adjusted by an AGC (automatic gain control) circuit 016. This AGC circuit 016 controls the gain of the amplifier 017 in such a way that the amplitude of the output signal from the photodetector 014 is kept constant. The output signal from the amplifier 017 is supplied to a band-pass filter 018, which extracts only frequencies close to the resonance frequency of the cantilever 08. The phase of the output signal from the band-pass filter 018 is adjusted by a phase-adjusting circuit 019. The output signal from the phase-adjusting circuit 019 is supplied as a driving signal to the vibration-applying piezoelectric plates 09. As a result, a self-oscillating positive feedback loop is formed. Consequently, the cantilever 08 is vibrated at its resonance frequency.
The output signal from the photodetector 014 is converted into a voltage signal by a frequency-to-voltage converter circuit 021. The voltage signal Vfv from the converter circuit 021 is sent to a reference voltage comparator 022. This comparator 022 produces the difference between the voltage signal Vfv and a reference voltage signal VfvO and sends a signal to the Z scanner drive circuit 07 via a low-pass filter 023 so that the difference (Vfv-VfvO) becomes zero. The reference voltage signal VfvO is a voltage corresponding to the preset-space between the probe 012 and the sample 04.
The differential signal extracted via the low-pass filter 023 and a scanning signal from the XY scanning signal generator 06 are supplied to an image-creating circuit 024, which in turn creates a topographic image of the surface of the sample 04.
The sample 04 is moved toward the probe 012 while the cantilever 08 is oscillating with a given amplitude, until an atomic force is exerted between the sample 04 and the probe 012. Then, the space is maintained constant. The surface of the sample 04 is scanned within the XY plane in two dimensions by the XY scanner 02. As the distance between the sample 04 and the probe 012 decreases, the resonance frequency of the cantilever 08 decreases by the effect of the atomic force acting on the probe 012. The cantilever 08 vibrates at reduced frequencies. As the distance between the sample 04 and the probe 012 increases, the cantilever vibrates with increasing frequency. At distances where the atomic force can be neglected, the vibration frequency is coincident with the resonance frequency of the cantilever 08 that is intrinsic to the cantilever.
For example, if the surface of the sample 04 has a convex portion, and if the cantilever 08 vibrates at decreasing frequency as the distance between the probe 012 and the sample 04 decreases as a result of the two-dimensional scan made by the XY scanner 02, the voltage signal Vfv drops, thus increasing the differential signal. The Z scanner 03 immediately lowers the sample 04 so that the distance to the probe 012 increases, thus providing feedback control. Therefore, the distance between the probe 012 and the sample 04 is held at a given value determined by the reference voltage VfvO. Since this control is constantly provided, the feedback signal (differential signal) supplied to the Z scanner drive circuit 07 corresponds to the topography of the sample surface. This feedback signal is accepted as an image signal into the image-creating circuit 024 in relation to the two-dimensional scan made by the XY scanner 02. An image is displayed according to the accepted image signal. In this way, a topographic image of the surface of the sample 04 owing to the atomic force can be displayed.
The prior art technique has the following problems. Generally, the bimorph forming the vibration-applying piezoelectric plates 09 has a high degree of sensitivity. That is, these piezoelectric plates are displaced by large amounts when a unit voltage is applied. It is assumed that the cantilever 08 has a spring constant of approximately 40 N/m and a resonance frequency of about 300 kHz. If this cantilever 08 is vibrated at its resonance frequency in an ultrahigh vacuum, the amplitude of vibrations at the tip of the cantilever 08 is tens of thousands times as large as the amplitude of the applied vibrations. Accordingly, if vibrations are applied, using piezoelectric plates having a relatively small sensitivity of about 1 nm/V, and if the amplitude of the vibrations at the tip should be set to the order of nanometers, then the voltage applied to the piezoelectric plates is approximately 0.1 mV. This feeble voltage must be controlled within the oscillator circuit. As a result, the oscillation becomes unstable, and variations in the resonance frequency of the body of the cantilever due to the atomic force are detected with decreased sensitivity.


The present invention provides a biphenyl benzamide-derived derivatives, which structure is selected from formula I or formula II

In the bone regeneration process, once the balance of the bone remodeling is broken, the bone resorption of the osteoclasts is dominated over bone formation of the osteoblasts, the bone remodeling would be imbalanced. As a result, the osteocytes would decrease, osteopenia or bone mineral density decrease to induce lots of bone disease, such as osteoporosis, periodontitis or osteoarthritis.
The osteoclasts origins from hematopoietic precursor cells. Further, the Macrophage-Colony Stimulating Factor (M-CSF) secreted by osteoblast and Receptor Activator of Nuclear factor Kappa B Ligand (RANK. L) would combine with the c-Fms and RANK on the cell membrane of the osteoclast precursor cells, and induce the secretion of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), integrin b3 expression, and actin ring formation, etc. These changes of protein activity and cell morphology would enhance the osteoclasts motility and help the osteoclasts adhere on the bone surface. On the other hand, the expression of cathepsin K matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), dendritic cell-specific transmembrane protein (DC-STAMP), ATPase, H+ transporting lysosomal V0 subunit D2(ATP6V0D2) would induce the osteoclast precursor cells differentiate into a hung matured (diameter is 20-100 mm) multinucleated cells (MNCs) (containing 4-20 nucleus), which also have the bone resorption function.
The osteoblasts would secret M-CSF and RANKL, which induce the osteocytes growth and differentiation, and would also secret the osteoprotegerin (OPG). OPG would associate with RANKL to prevent the association of RANKL and RANK, so as to prevent the formation of osteoclasts and inhibit the formation of osteoclasts, to decrease the bone resorption; besides, OPG would involve in the osteoclast apoptosis.

Preparation and pharmaceuticals of biphenyl benzamide-derived derivatives

Abstract: and the synthesis and the application thereof.


The present invention is directed to utilizing the capabilities of multi-stage actuators in disk drives to write servo tracks that have a variable number of tracks-per-inch (TPI) from head to head, thereby improving both the performance of the drive and manufacturing yields. An appropriate TPI for a particular head has been found to depend on a number of factors that vary from head to head. Consequently, the initial step is to determine an appropriate TPI for at least one of the heads or, more preferably, all of the heads in the drive. The determination typically involves measurements such as read and write width measurements and off-track performance tests for the relevant heads. Once an appropriate TPI format has been determined, the servo tracks are written according to the TPI formats using either a servo track writer or self servo track writing.

The present invention relates to disk drives and, in particular, to the writing of servo tracks on a disk within the disk drive.
A disk drive is a device that is commonly employed in computer systems to store data. Typically, a disk drive includes: (1) one or more disks that each have a plurality of concentric tracks on which data is stored; (2) a spin motor for rotating the disk or disks; (3) one or more heads that are each capable of writing and/or reading data to/from a track on a disk; (4) an actuator for moving the head or heads to a desired location adjacent to a disk so that data can be written to the disk or read from the disk; and (5) circuitry for transferring data between a disk and a portion of a host computer system that is exterior to the disk drive, such as a random access memory (RAM).
A disk drive also typically includes a servo system that operates to move a head over a defined track on a disk surface and maintain the head over the defined track until directed to move the head over a different track. The servo system maintains the position of the head over a defined track based upon information that is read from a servo track. In one type of drive, the servo tracks are embedded in or coincident with the user data tracks, i.e., the servo track and the user data track form a single physical track with the servo data interspersed among the user data. Typically, the servo track: (1) identifies the particular track over which a head is positioned; and (2) provides data from which the position of the head relative to the center line of the track can be determined. The identification of the particular track is primarily used when the head is being moved from one track to another track (which is commonly known as a seek operation) to determine when the head is positioned over the desired track. Once the head is over the desired track, the data indicating the position of the head relative to the center line of the track is determined and used to maintain the head over the desired track (which is commonly known as a tracking operation). For example, if the data indicates that the head is positioned to one side of the center line, the servo system causes the actuator to move the head towards the center line.
Presently, the servo tracks are written on the disk surfaces of a disk drive during the manufacturing process by a servo track writer. The servo track writer uses a xe2x80x9cpush pinxe2x80x9d to move the actuator arm and thereby position the heads for writing the servo tracks. To elaborate, the servo track writer uses the xe2x80x9cpush pinxe2x80x9d to move the actuator and, as a consequence, position the heads for the writing of first servo tracks (one per disk surface). Once the first servo tracks have been written, the servo track writer uses the xe2x80x9cpush pinxe2x80x9d to move the actuator and thereby reposition the heads for the writing of the second servo tracks. This process is repeated until all of the servo tracks have been written. As an alternative to using a servo track writer, the drive itself can be used to write the servo tracks in what is known as self servo writing. In this case, a motor associated with the actuator is used to move the actuator arm in discrete steps to write each servo track. In either case, for at least a band or section of contiguous tracks, the heads are either: (1) moved such that the arc that the heads move through from one track to the next track is substantially equal, which results in the track density changing over the band of tracks and is known as the xe2x80x9cequal-arc drive formatxe2x80x9d; or (2) moved such that the distance between adjacent tracks remains substantially constant over the band of tracks, which is known as the xe2x80x9cequal-length drive format.xe2x80x9d
Regardless of whether a servo track writer or self servo writing is used to establish the servo tracks in a drive or the track format (equal-arc or equal-length) used, the track density measured in tracks per inch (TPI) at a give radius is the same for all of the disk surfaces in the drive.
The present invention recognizes that the optimal servo track density at a given radius can vary from disk surface to disk surface within the drive and that the present methods of writing servo tracks do not provide for writing the servo tracks on different disk surfaces with different densities at a given radius. The present invention is directed to using a multi-stage actuator within the drive to write servo tracks on two or more disk surfaces within a drive with the track density on each surface at a given radius approaching the optimal track density for that surface. The multi-stage actuator includes a primary actuator for coarsely positioning a head and a secondary actuator for finely positioning the head.
In one embodiment, a disk drive includes at least two separate and substantially parallel disk surfaces that are capable of storing data. Associated with each disk surface is a head for transferring data between the disk surface and the exterior environment. A multi-stage actuator is used to move the heads to desired positions over the disk surfaces for the transfer of data. The multi-stage actuator includes a primary actuator for coarsely positioning the heads relative to the disk surfaces. Associated with each head is a secondary actuator that permits the position of the head to be more finely controlled. The data transfer circuitry of the disk drive, which is normally used to write/read user data to/from the disk, is also adapted to write the servo tracks on the track surfaces. Initially, the tracks per inch (TPI) format that is appropriate for each disk surface on which servo tracks are to be established is determined. While the TPI format may be the same for each disk surface, it is more likely that the TPI format will be at least slightly different for each disk surface. Typical measurements from which the TPI format for a particular surface is determined include the read head width, the write head width and off-track performance based upon a bit error rate and read channel quality factor. Once the TPI format for each disk surface has been determined, the primary actuator is used to position each of the heads for the writing of the first servo track on each of the disk surfaces. The secondary actuators are also used to position each of the heads for the writing of the first servo tracks. Once the heads have been positioned, the first servo tracks are written on each of the disk surfaces. After the first servo tracks are written, the heads are repositioned to write the second set of servo tracks on the disk using the secondary actuators. Because the secondary actuators are capable of operating independently of one another, a different TPI format can be implemented for each disk surface. Once most or all of the servo tracks that can be written for a given position of the primary actuator by using the secondary actuators to move the heads have been written, the primary actuator is repositioned and the process is repeated.
In one embodiment, the position of the actuator arm that carries the heads is adjusted using the actuator motor in a self servo writing operation. In this case, the actuator motor is used to position the actuator arm associated with the primary actuator.
In another embodiment, the position of the primary actuator and, more specifically, the actuator arm that carries the heads (as is part of the primary actuator) is adjusted by a servo writer. In this case, a xe2x80x9cpush pinxe2x80x9d associated with the servo track writer contacts the actuator arm and pushes the arm such that the heads are positioned over the desired locations on the disk surfaces.

Disk drive with variable TPI servo tracks


A window generating circuit of an image processing apparatus which processes an image is provided. The circuit includes a main controller, a memory device, first, second and third registers, and a window generator. The main controller inputs an original clock signal and generates first and second line memory read control signals, first and second line memory write control signals, a pixel clock, and address signals for first and second line memories based on the original clock signal. The memory device contains the first and second line memories. The first register stores current pixel data in accordance with the pixel clock, and the current pixel data relates to a current line of pixels of the image. The second register stores first line memory data output from the first line memory in accordance with the first line memory read control signal, and the first line memory data relates to a first line of pixels which precedes the current line of pixels. The third register stores second line memory data output from the second line memory in accordance with the second line memory read control signal, and the second line memory data relates to a second line of pixels which precedes the first line of pixels. The window generator inputs the current pixel data, the first line memory data, and the second line memory data from the first, second and third registers, respectively, and generates an n.times.n window of data based on such data. Also, a method performed by the circuit is also provided.

Generally, in high definition image processing, image data corresponding to an image is input via a scanner. Then, the image data is typically transmitted after enhancing the data relating to an edge portion of the image so that the image can be transmitted with a high definition. For example, when text is scanned via a facsimile machine, the edges of various letters may be enhanced so that the resolution and definition of the transmitted letters is high.
In order to process an image to enhance its edges, the data of an A4 size input via a scanner is stored in 1728 facsimile data buffers and processed by software. Specifically, the current pixel value of the data stored in the data buffer is compared with adjacent pixel values before determining whether the current pixel value should be black or white. As a result, the dark portions of the corresponding text become even darker and the bright portions become even brighter, thereby producing the high definition of the text.
When an image is processed in one dimension, the pixel values as shown in FIG. 1 are processed to determine if the pixels should be black or white. In particular, as shown in FIG. 2, the current pixel value is weighted by a factor of +2, and the pixel values to the left and right of the current pixel value are weighted by a factor of -1. Then, the current pixel value is enhanced as follows. First, the weighted values of the left pixel, the right pixel, and the current pixel are combined to produce a combined weighted value. Then, the weighted value is divided by the magnitude of the combined weighting factors (e.g. .vertline.-1.vertline.+.vertline.+2.vertline.+.vertline.-1.vertline.=4), and the combined weighted value is divided by such magnitude to produce a calculation value. Finally, the current pixel value is enhanced by adding the calculation value to the current pixel value.
For example, FIG. 1 is a diagram of pixels [1], [2], [3], . . . [1728], and the pixels [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], and [6] respectively have pixel values which equal 10, 10, 5, 5, 5, and 10. Accordingly, if pixel [2] is the current pixel and is processed according the method shown in FIG. 2, the pixel value 10 of the pixel [2] is enhanced to produce the enhanced pixel value 11.25. Specifically, the current pixel value 10 of the pixel [2] is weighted by a factor of +2 to produce a weighted current pixel value of 20, the left pixel value 10 of the pixel [1] is weighted by a factor of -1 to produce a weighted left pixel value -10, and the right pixel value 5 of the pixel [3] is weighted by a factor of -1 to produce a weighted right pixel value -5. Then, the weighted current, left, and right pixel values are combined to produce a combined weighted pixel value +5 (i.e. -10+20-5), and the combined weighted pixel value is divided by the magnitude of the combined weighting factors (i.e. 4) to produce a calculation value 1.25. Then, the calculation value is added to the current pixel value 10 of the pixel [2] to produce the enhanced pixel value 11.25.
The enhanced pixel values of pixels [2] to [5] are illustrated in FIG. 3. Since the enhanced pixel values of pixels [2], [3], and [5] are different than the corresponding original pixel values, an image having a higher definition can be obtained.
When the image is processed in one dimension in the above manner, the image can be processed without major problems since only the current, left, and right pixel values need to be stored and processed via software. However, when an image is processed in two dimensions, the image cannot be efficiently processed. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a current pixel is two dimensionally processed by weighting its pixel value by a factor of 8 and by weighting the eight pixels surrounding the current pixel by a factor of -1. Then, the nine weighted values are processed to produce the enhanced pixel value for the current pixel. Since nine pixels are needed to two-dimensionally process the current pixel value, 1728.times.2 buffers are required for the processing. The reason for the large number of buffers is that all the pixel values with respect to the previous line and the line before the previous line need to be stored. Accordingly, the two dimensional processing method is disadvantageous because a lot of buffers are needed for software processing and the calculation time increases. Thus, the processing speed is dramatically reduced.

N.times.n window processing method and system for an image processing system


A connection between supporting and supported structural members, particularly between curtain walls and interior support structures, wherein the connector is a member having first portion and a second portion joined at a junction and the second portion is formed with a plurality of elongated slots and the connector rides in a track attached to the first structural member.

The present invention belongs to a class of connectors that are useful in the construction of buildings. The present invention provides an improved connection between two structural members made with a connector and a track.
For a variety of reasons, it is often advantageous to construct walls systems with connectors that permit a degree of relative movement between the different portions of the building. Buildings often settle unevenly on their foundations once they are constructed and this can cause exterior walls to shift with respect to the interior structural elements of the building. Exterior walls of buildings are also subject to deflection from wind or seismic forces. A degree of freedom of movement between different portions of the building can reduce stress and prevent fracture of connected parts, or opening of gaps between parts. Similarly, certain walls are not designed to support vertical loads and must therefore by isolated from the deflection of the primary load-bearing support structure of the building due to changes in live or dead loads carried by that structure.
There are a variety of patented connectors that permit relative movement between different portions of the building. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,664,392, 6,612,087, 6,688,069 and 8,555,592 all teach metal slip clips with special reinforcing members such as flanges or embossments to strengthen the clip. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,720,571 and 5,846,018 teach slip clips that use a rivet as the fastener on which sliding between the members occurs. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,104,024 and 7,503,150 teach connecting sliding fasteners in separate slots of the connector with a u-shaped washer to strengthen the connection between the connector and the structural member to which it is fastened. U.S. Pat. No. 8,511,032 teaches using multiple sliding fasteners in a single slot.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,720,571, 6,213,679, 7,104,024, and 7,503,150 teach slip clips that travel in tracks attached to first structural members so that movement along the first structural member is also possible.
The connection of the present invention has been designed to achieve strong load values while being inexpensive to manufacture and install. The connector is formed in such a manner that it can slide easily along the track.


An electrostatic image developer contains a toner and a carrier having a resin coating layer formed on the surface of a core material containing a ferrite component, wherein a ratio R1/R2 is from 0.88 to 0.92 where R1 is the resistance value (Ω) of the developer having a toner concentration of 2 mass % in a state formed into a magnetic brush, at an applied voltage of 104 V/cm, and R2 is the resistance value (Ω) of the developer having a toner concentration of 12 mass % in a state formed into a magnetic brush, at an applied voltage of 104 V/cm.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to an electrostatic image developer, a process cartridge, and an image forming apparatus.
2. Related Art
In electrophotography, an electrostatic latent image is formed on an image supporting member (photoreceptor) though a charging step and a light exposure step, then the electrostatic latent image is developed with a toner, and the developed image is transferred onto a transfer material and fixed on the transfer material by heating or the like to obtain an image. Developers used in electrophotography can be broadly classified as one-component developers using only a toner having a colorant dispersed in a binder resin and two-component developers consisting of the above toner and a carrier. In a two-component developer, the carrier has functions such as stirring, transportation and charging and has separate its functions from those of the developer, thus attaining features such as excellent controllability and, therefore, two-component developers are widely used at present.
In recent years, digitalization processing has come to be used as a method that achieves high image quality, and by this digitalization processing, high-speed processing of complicated images has been made feasible. In a process of forming an electrostatic latent image on an image supporting member, a laser beam is used as an exposure light source, and the development of exposure technology with a small laser beam has enabled achievement of finer electrostatic latent images. By such image processing technology, electrophotography is extending to light printing and the like. In recent electrophotographic devices, higher speed and downsizing are required. Particularly with respect to full-color image quality, high resolution and high quality of a similar level to high-quality printing and silver halide photography are required. Consequently, it is important to maintain the electrification of a toner in the developer in order to faithfully visualize a finer latent image. That is, further improvement of the charging maintenance of a carrier having a charging function is required.
Meanwhile, carrier resistance is also significant in terms of its influence on higher image quality. In recent digital equipment, the carrier has a smaller diameter and lower resistance in order to cope with higher image quality. By reducing the diameter of the carrier, a fine image can be reproduced, and stable charging can be imparted even to a small-diameter toner. By reducing the resistance, the reproducibility of a solid image is improved and, in particular, the carrier is suitable for full-color high-density images.
However, when the resistance of the carrier is reduced, there is the problem of easy carrier scattering.
Various research has been conducted with a view to reducing carrier scattering. For example, there has been a proposal to increase the resistance of a developer or carrier, but when a carrier of extremely high resistance is used, development is extremely susceptible to an edge effect whereby a toner is developed easily in a region toward the edge of a latent image forming a solid portion and, as a result, problem occur such as reduction in the density of a solid image. For the purpose of improving developability, a method of regulating the resistance of a magnetic brush to within a certain range has also been proposed, but a reduction in the resistance of a carrier occurs due to the abrasion and release of a resin layer of the carrier during long-term use and, as a result, the adhesion of the carrier to an image supporting member occurs. It can hardly be said, then, that a carrier of such high resistance has a sufficient performance in terms of reduction in the adhesion of the carrier to an image supporting member.
When used in an actual machine, the electrification of a toner tends to decrease, for example, in a high-temperature high-humidity environment, and thus fogging easily occurs at high toner concentration, whereas while the electrification of the toner is increased at low toner concentration, so that image density is stabilized without generating fogging, carrier scattering onto a photoreceptor easily occurs, which may result in image defects such as white spots or pollution in the background. In a low-temperature and low-humidity environment, the electrification of a toner tends to increase, and thus the charge of the toner is too high at low toner concentration thus destabilizing image density in some cases. Carrier scattering also easily occurs to cause image defects such as white spots or pollution in the background in some cases. At high toner concentration, on the other hand, there may easily occur image defects or the transfer of a carrier to a photoreceptor due to a charge injection from the tonier to the carrier.
In such cases, when a carrier having a flat resistive characteristic (that is, less change in resistance) with respect to changes in toner concentration is used, the charge of a toner from low to high toner concentrations is stabilized, and carrier scattering is suppressed, so the carrier is effective in respect of fogging, image density and carrier scattering. Even if the toner concentration is arbitrarily changed, the respective characteristics are stable and hardly influenced by the environment.

Electrostatic image developer, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus


A system and method are provided to improve power efficiency of processor cores, such as processor cores in a multicore processor. A break-even time of a processor core may be determined that affects which power saving mode a processor core should enter when an expected idle of the processor core is identified. The break-even time of the processor core may be determined during run-time to help determine an applicable power saving mode that improves power efficiency of the processor core.

Continual development and rapid improvement in modern technology has resulted in the widespread availability and use of electronic devices. Electronic devices are used in nearly every facet of life today. Electronic device and component manufacturers are continually developing additional features and functionality that consume power at increasing rates. As electronic devices become increasingly portable and functionally powerful, manufacturers and consumers have an increasing interest in improving the power efficiency of electronic devices.

Leakage variation aware power management for multicore processors