A control method can be provided for a watercraft that has three or more outboard motors mounted thereon side by side with each other. Two control levers which are primarily provided for shift and throttle controls of respective two of the outboard motors located on the outer-most sides make shift and throttle controls of all the outboard motors. A control range of the respective control levers includes a forward range, a reverse range and a neutral range between the forward and reverse ranges. The method can include, when both of the control levers are placed at a preset position in the respective neutral ranges, setting a shift position of an outboard motor located between the outer-most sides at a forward position or a reverse position, and setting a throttle opening of the outboard motor at a preset opening.

1. Field of the Inventions
The present invention relates to a control device for outboard motors, and particularly relates to a control device for a watercraft that has three or more outboard motors mounted on a transom thereof side by side with each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some watercraft can have three outboard motors mounted on a transom thereof, in a side-by-side arrangement. Conventionally, such watercraft incorporate three sets of shift and throttle levers, each of which corresponds to a respective outboard motor. However, it can be a burden for the operator to operate six shift and throttle levers in addition to operating a steering device.
Recently, an improved control device for a watercraft that can control the entire shift and throttle operations of three outboard motors with two levers disposed transversely next to each other (see Non-patent Literature 1) has been suggested. For example, the i6000 series, shift/throttle lever for three outboard motors, available from the Teleflex Morse Co., Ltd. (USA) is such a device.
Using such a device, the operator can control operations of the outboard motor located on the right hand side (hereinafter called "starboard side outboard motor") using the lever positioned on the starboard side, while the operator controls operations of the outboard motor located on the left hand side (hereinafter called "port side outboard motor") using the lever positioned on the port side. The outboard motor centrally located between the starboard side outboard motor and the port side outboard motor is controlled in accordance with operational conditions of the starboard side outboard motor and the port side outboard motor. That is, if the starboard side outboard motor or the port side outboard motor is controlled to be in a forward mode and the other one of those motors is controlled to be in a reverse mode, the center outboard motor is controlled to be in a neutral mode. If both of the motors are controlled to be in the same mode, the center outboard motor is also controlled to be in the same mode and in the same throttle opening as those of the starboard side outboard motor or the port side outboard motor.
In some cases, during actual control of a watercraft, such as a trolling control, the throttle levers may need to move to a position corresponding to a fully closed position of a throttle valve so that the watercraft can move very slowly at an extremely low engine speed. Under such circumstances, however, such a low speed cannot be obtained, because the total propulsive force of two or three of the outboard motors, while running at their lowest engine speed, is too strong to allow the watercraft to move at the desired speed. For example, even if the operator sets one of the starboard side or port side outboard motors in the neutral mode to eliminate any propulsive force from that motor, so that the watercraft moves with a thrust that is generated by a single outboard motor, the other one of the starboard side or port side outboard motors and the center outboard motor will continuously generate thrust. Thus, the watercraft is not able to move at the extremely low speed that the operator desires to obtain.


A system and method for providing sound in a computer are disclosed. An audio module for controlling digitized sound I/O is included in a media stream controller. The media stream controller may also coordinate graphics and video which allows multiple media subsystems to be supported from a single bus device. A software application may initiate sound data transfer by sending a conventional DMA mode command to the media stream controller. The media stream controller activates an audio interrupt service routine which processes the request without using a conventional DMA controller. Digital sound data is transferred across a local bus using high speed burst mode block transfer commands and is buffered by the media stream controller in a display memory. Concurrently, the media stream controller may output sound data from the display memory to a sound output device using a double buffering method. Alternatively, the media stream controller may read sound data from a sound input device and store it in the display memory. The audio interrupt service routine may be activated to transfer the sound data in blocks to a software application. After sound data transfer is complete the audio interrupt service routine may reset the count in the DMA controller to provide compatibility with software applications written for DMA mode transfer. Thus high speed burst mode block transfer may be used with sound data to free up bandwidth for video, graphics and other uses, and yet still provide compatibility with conventional DMA mode sound I/O.

1. Copyright Authorization
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any one of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
2. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention relates in general to a system and method for processing commands and transferring data in a computer system. More particularly, the field of the invention relates to a system and method for processing sound I/O commands and transferring sound data or the like across a high speed bus.
3. Background
Personal computers and work stations have evolved rapidly since their introduction nearly twenty years ago. Dramatic advances in processor, display and audio technology have transformed the personal computer into a multimedia appliance, capable of combining color graphics, video, and stereo sound in a single application.
As multimedia applications have developed, there has been an increased need for high speed and high bandwidth data transfers between main memory and input/output (I/O) devices. One approach used in expansion bus systems is direct memory access (DMA). A DMA controller takes over the bus and transfers data without intervention by the central processing unit (CPU). This method of data transfer has become prevalent for sound cards attached to an ISA expansion bus, and there is a large installed base of software applications designed for these sound cards.
However, data transfer across conventional expansion buses has not been able to keep pace with the demands of graphics and video systems used with modem multimedia software applications. Rather, graphics and video systems are increasingly being attached to the local bus where burst mode block data transfer initiated by the CPU supports higher data transfer rates than conventional DMA systems. In addition, local buses typically have a wider data path than expansion buses. However, local buses, such as the VESA local bus and the PCI bus, typically do not provide connections to the DMA controller.
Therefore, conventional sound systems and other systems requiring DMA are incompatible with these high speed local bus systems, and have remained on the expansion bus. It is a disadvantage of these systems that they are unable to take advantage of the higher data transfer rates of local bus systems. This has also led to the development of separate graphics, video, and audio subsystems on different buses having independent controllers with incompatible data types. This may lead to wasted memory space and memory bandwidth, duplicated bus interface logic, and wasted CPU cycles to manage independent subsystems.
What is needed is a system and method for emulating conventional DMA transfers while taking advantage of higher rates provided by other modes of transferring data.
What is also needed is a sound system that uses high speed data transfer while maintaining compatibility with the extensive installed base of software applications written for conventional sound systems. Preferably such a system would allow sound data to be transferred across a bus at a high rate of speed to free up bus bandwidth for video and graphics, yet would allow sound data to be played or recorded at a conventional lower frequency. What is also needed is a multimedia system that combines graphics, video, and audio in a single subsystem attached to the local bus or some other high speed I/O bus.

System for command processing or emulation in a computer system, such as emulation of DMA commands using burst mode data transfer for sound


Path transistor malfunction is reduced. A path gate circuit includes transistors MP, MW, and MC. The transistor MP functions as a path transistor that connects a signal line INL to a signal line OUTL. The transistor MW connects a signal line BL for inputting a signal for setting the on or off state of the transistor MP and a node SN (gate of the transistor MP). When a high-level potential is written to the node SN, the potential of BL is set higher than a normal high-level potential if the potential of INL is high. Thus, even when the potential of the node SN is dropped in accordance with transition of INL from a high level to a low level, the potential drop does not influence the operation of the transistor MP because a high potential is written in advance.

1. Field of the Invention
In this specification, a semiconductor device, a method for driving the semiconductor device, and a method for manufacturing the semiconductor device are described.
Note that in this specification, a semiconductor device means a circuit including a semiconductor element (e.g., a transistor or a diode). The semiconductor device also means any device that can function by utilizing semiconductor characteristics. For example, an integrated circuit, a chip including an integrated circuit, a display device, a light-emitting device, and an electronic device are all semiconductor devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
A programmable logic device (PLD) is a kind of large integrated circuit (LSI), and is an integrated circuit whose internal circuit structure can be changed by a user with programming after shipment.
Fundamental components of the PLD are a plurality of logic elements that execute logical operation and wirings that connect the logic elements to each other. The function of the PLD is changed by changing the function of each logic element and connection between the logic elements.
For example, a programmable switch circuit in which a path transistor is combined with a memory storing data for setting the on or off state of the path transistor is known as a switch that connects logic elements to each other. By rewriting data for setting the on or off state of the path transistor, connection between the logic elements can be changed.
Data for setting the structure of the PLD is referred to as configuration data. A memory storing configuration data is referred to as a configuration memory.
In addition, it is known that a transistor including an oxide semiconductor has extremely low off-state current. For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose programmable switches each formed using a transistor including an oxide semiconductor. By using the transistor including an oxide semiconductor, unlike a DRAM, the gate potential of a path transistor can be held for a long period without refresh operation.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A signal conversion method including converting an input signal into a 1-bit pulse train representing an analog signal is provided. The 1-bit pulse train has a pulse rising waveform frise and a pulse falling waveform ffall. The pulse rising waveform frise includes a first distortion component with respect to an ideal pulse rising waveform, and the pulse falling waveform ffall includes a second distortion component with respect to an ideal pulse falling waveform. The first distortion component and the second distortion component are substantially line-symmetric with respect to a time axis.

Delta-sigma modulation is an example of a technique of generating a 1-bit pulse train representing an analog waveform (refer to Non-Patent Literature 1).
Delta-sigma modulation is a kind of oversampling modulation. A delta-sigma modulator is configured to include a loop filter and a quantizer. The quantizer can output a 1-bit pulse train as a quantized signal.
The 1-bit pulse train output from the delta-sigma modulator is restored to the original analog waveform by simply being passed through an analog filter. In other words, the 1-bit pulse train output from the delta-sigma modulator is a digital signal, but represents an analog waveform, and therefore, has properties of both a digital signal and an analog signal.

Signal conversion method, signal transmission method, signal conversion device, and transmitter


A behavior information acquirer (11) acquires behavior information representing the behavior of a user detected by a behavior detector (21), and stores the behavior information in a behavior information memory (12). How the influence of the behavior of the user indicated by the behavior information acquired by the behavior information acquirer (11) will spread over a network of mutual information is calculated from mutual information, user information, and a behavior list respectively stored in a mutual information memory (13), a user information memory (14), and a behavior information memory (12). A presentation information generator (16) generates presentation information depicting the way in which the influence of the behavior of the user indicated by the behavior information acquired by the behavior information acquirer (11) propagates to other users, and transmits the presentation information to a terminal device (2B).

A user carries out a variety of behaviors during daily life, and many of these behaviors influence other people. Other users who have seen a certain user carrying out a behavior often carry out the same behavior. For example, there are cases in which another user who has seen a certain user cleaning when using a public place also cleans after using the same place. Conversely, there are also cases in which another user who has seen a certain user throwing away an empty can onto the street also throws away an empty can in the same manner. In this way, when another user who has seen the behavior of a certain user and has a connection with the user carries out a similar behavior, it is inferred that the behavior of the certain user has influenced the another user.
Furthermore, it is thought that the behavior of the certain user influences the another user not only when the another user has directly seen the certain user carrying out the behavior but also when the another user has seen the result of the behavior of the certain user. For example, there are cases in which a user who has seen a place that has been cleaned by the previous user also wants to maintain the cleanliness of that place, or there are cases in which a user who has seen that an empty can has been thrown away also throws away an empty can.
With regard to the example of an empty can, it has actually been reported as the result of a study that when somebody throws away an empty can in a place other than a specified place, there is an increase in cases where somebody else who next comes to that place similarly throws away an empty can in that place. This is said to be because the psychological resistance with respect to throwing away an empty can weakens as the degree to which a person feels that their action of throwing away an empty can worsens the environment decreases due to an empty can having already been thrown away (Non Patent Literature 1).
In this way, the everyday behavior of a user and the results thereof influence other users; yet, there are not many ways in which the user is able to realize this. In the abovementioned examples, the user did not know that another user has cleaned after the user had cleaned, and the user was not able to perceive that throwing away an empty can became the trigger for the similar behavior of another user. If the user knew that it is possible for his or her selfless behavior such as in the former example to induce the selfless behavior of another user, there is a possibility of the selfless behavior of the user being promoted. Conversely, if the user knew that his or her selfish behavior has become the trigger for the selfish behavior of another user, there is a possibility of the selfish behavior of the user being suppressed. In this way, the user knowing what kind of influence his or her behavior will possibly have on other users thereafter becomes a catalyst for changing the behavior of that user.
As an example of technology that notifies a user of what another person has thought upon seeing a behavior of the user or the result thereof after the user has carried out the behavior, in Patent Literature 1 for example, a system is proposed in which a user inputs an image of a behavior to be carried out by the user, the user writes the result of carrying out the behavior in a diary, and the user receives feedback in the form of comments from other users who have seen the diary. Furthermore, as an example of technology that predicts how the future will turn out if a user carries out behaviors in accordance with a schedule, in Patent Literature 2 for example, technology is proposed in which biometric data such as the brain waves and body temperature of the user and environment data such as air temperature and air pressure are analyzed in combination with a list of past behaviors, a comparison is made with the future schedule of the user, and advice is given as to what kind of health condition will be attained if the user carries out behaviors according to that schedule.
In Patent Literature 3, an electronic computer is presented which computes a social network configuration model that takes into account the influence that communication over the social network has on the consumption behavior of a consumer. In Patent Literature 4, a behavior prediction system is presented in which the present condition of a user is analyzed, and behavior candidates which are candidates for the next behavior of the user are generated on the basis of behavior history information. This behavior prediction system learns from user selection results or behavior results, and controls the generation of behavior candidates on the basis of the learning results and the present condition of the user.
In Patent Literature 5, a behavior promotion and suppression system is presented in which the behavior of a user is promoted by presenting information as to his or her (the user) position among all users, and information as to the present condition of other users (rivals) in the vicinity of the his or her position. In Patent Literature 6, a recognition device is presented which extracts a feature quantity indicating a change in the state of a subject, and uses a feature quantity database to automatically recognize the action or behavior indicated by the feature quantity.

Server device, behavior promotion and suppression system, behavior promotion and suppression method, and recording medium


A read-write head of a magneto-optical disc player has an optical head having an optical pickup, and a magnetic head having an electromagnet. Each of the optical head and the magnetic head is slidably held by guide members so as to be moved in a radial direction of an optical disc. Permanent magnets are mounted on both heads for attracting each other head. Thus, when one of the head moves, the other follows.

The present invention relates to a read-write head of an magneto-optical disc player, and more particularly to an improved head capable of quickly searching an area on an optical disc.
There are optical discs such as a CD including a read only CD and a writable CD-R disc which is used as a ROM. Further, as a writable optical disc having a high recording density, a write once disc and a magneto-optical disc are provided. Information is recorded on the disc and reproduced with a laser beam. These discs are different from the CD in the material of the recording surface.
For example, the write once disc has a tellurium or bismuth recording surface on which the lasers burn pits for recording. In another type of the write once disks, the lasers are focused on a recording surface coated with a selenium antimony (Sb.sub.2 Se.sub.3) thin film, or an oxide tellurium (TeOx) thin film, or a thin film of organic pigment, changing the reflectivity of the light.
The magneto-optical disc uses as the recording surface, an amorphous alloy made of rare earth metals such as gallium, terbium, and others. In a magneto-optical recording method, the recording surface of the disc is initially magnetized to form a magnetic field in a direction perpendicular to the surface. The laser heats a predetermined area of the disc to elevate the temperature above Curie temperature, which is about 150.degree. C., thereby reversing the direction of the magnetic field. To read the recorded information, the laser is irradiated on the recording surface so that polarized wave front slightly rotates as a result of the Kerr effect. Thus only the polarized wave deflected by the rotation is read by a photodetector, thereby enabling to read the information.
Referring to FIG. 9, a conventional read-write head for recording information on a magneto-optical disc 1 and reading the information therefrom has a magneto-optical pickup 2 disposed under the disc 1 and a magnetic head 3 disposed above the disc. The pickup 2 and the magnetic head 3 are connected with each other by way of a connecting member 4. The connecting member 4 maintains the relative position between the pickup 2 and the magnetic head 3 constant, so that an area on the disc subjected to a magnetic field of the magnetic head 3 coincides with an area subjected to a laser beam 5 from the pickup 2.
In order to record information on the disc 1, the read-write head is radially moved to an appropriate position of the disc 1. The laser beam 5 from the pickup 2 heats the surface of the disc 1 to Curie temperature. A magnetic field caused by the magnetic head dependent on the information which is to be recorded reverses the direction of the magnetic field on the disc. The information can be written in an area which is already written by modulating the direction of the magnetic field.
Since the magnetic head 3 and the pickup 2 are held together by the connecting member 4, the read-write head is relatively heavy. Hence the head cannot be quickly moved in a radial direction of the disc, which prevents a rapid search of an area on the disc.
Moreover, with the lapse of time, the pickup 2 and the magnetic head 3 may be displaced from each other due to a deformation of the connecting member 4. As a result, the reliability of the optical disc player reduces. In addition, since the connecting member 4 must have a large length in the radial direction of the disc, the player cannot be made much compact.

Read-write head of an magneto-optical disc player with both heads magnetically coupled together


A slide operating device (e.g., fader device of a mixer) has a moving block 5 which is slidable along a moving guide 3 and a secondary moving guide 4. The moving guide 3 is composed of a non-magnetic stainless shank 31 and a scale portion 32 formed by magnetizing a permanent magnetic member to have magnetic poles (markings). The moving block 5 is provided with a magnetic sensor 7 opposed to the scale portion 32. The magnetic sensor 7 senses magnetic poles provided on the scale portion 32. Mounting hardware 11A, 11B are provided as stoppers which stop a lever 6a of an operating knob 6. Areas outside a range sandwiched between the stoppers where the magnetic sensor 7 is allowed to travel are dead zones 3A, 3B which do not have magnetic poles. Even if the magnetic sensor 7 travels beyond the points where the operating knob 6 is expected to stop due to an excessive force exerted on the operating knob, the slide operating device can prevent from keeping abnormal count which could be caused by sensing of magnetic poles by the magnetic sensor 7.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an incremental encoding slide operating device which detects a position of an operating knob by sensing markings such as magnetic poles provided on a linear scale with a sensor portion which travels along the linear scale.
2. Description of the Related Art
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-49302 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-21541, for example, such a slide operating device is employed as a fader device for setting a parameter, the fader device being provided on a mixing console.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-49302 discloses a slide operating device having a magnetic linear scale. In the disclosed slide operating device, a magnetic sensor composed of an MR element is mounted to a moving block, while a magnetic pattern in which a north pole and a south pole are alternately arranged is applied as markings to one of paired parallel guides which hold the moving block. In this disclosed art, when the moving block travels by a manual operation of a slide operator or by actuation of a motor, the magnetic sensor outputs pulse signals in accordance with the magnetic poles of the linear scale to allow the detection of the amount (length) of travel of the moving block in accordance with the number of the pulse signals.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-21541 discloses a non-contact digital fader. In this non-contact digital fader, when a moving member travels by a manual operation of a knob or by actuation of a motor, an optical sensor reads a pattern of light and dark recorded on a linear scale to count a relative position on the linear scale to calculate the position of the optical sensor. In this conventional art, the non-contact digital fader also has a sensor for sensing a reference position.


An apparatus and method for creating a flash-free weld between the ends of thermoplastic members, wherein the members are held in position by holders, the ends of the members are softened by a heater, the members and holders are brought together until the ends of the members are joined to result in a flash-free weld.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to an apparatus and process for welding thermoplastic members, and more particularly, to an apparatus and process for creating a flash-free weld.
2. Description of Related Art
In order to weld thermoplastic members, to be used in window or door frames, for example, machines are known in which the thermoplastic members are clamped, the ends of the members are softened by a heating plate, and the softened ends are joined. The resulting flash can be removed while the joint is still warm or machined off after the joint has cooled. If the flash is to be removed after the joint has cooled, the welded members are removed from the welding apparatus and then placed in a second machine in which a router, grinder, or knife blade is used to remove the flash. Depending on the profile of the member, e.g., the inside surface where the window glass will rest, an additional step of removing some of the flash by hand may be necessary. Still other systems choose to remove the flash from the entire profile by hand.
If the flash is removed while still warm, often deformation in the zone of the weld results. To prevent this deformation, other systems, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,574, use a two-step process of first, pinching the flash, and second, manually dragging a scraper around the edges of the joint to remove the remaining flash. The '574 patent discloses a guide means to guide the scraper around the area of the weld, but the actual removal of the flash is not caused by the welding head, but by a manual scraper. All these systems require additional time, effort, and apparatus to remove the flash after the weld is formed.

Deflashing head and method for joining plastic extrusions


The inventive method for remotely maintaining and controlling a security system comprises using a device to communicate using voice capable technology with an IVR in a host facility, selecting an action from a plurality of actions provided by the IVR, performing the action on the security system, and receiving a notification of performance of the action, wherein the host facility contacts the security system to perform the action. In one embodiment, the actions can control and/or monitor the security system. The method can further comprise creating an account with an identification code on the host facility and validating the code on the IVR. The method can also include translating the selected action into a command, sending a message to a GSM device in the security system, and, in response to the message, establishing a GPRS session between the security system and the host facility, wherein the session performs the command.

Security systems are used to monitor homes and businesses to prevent unwanted intrusions as well as to guard against natural disasters. Critical to the operation of such security systems is their arming and disarming. Generally, a security system is armed and disarmed using a keypad on a control panel residing within the structure that the system monitors. Traditional keypads can be wired into the system's control panel or can be wireless. In addition, virtual keypad applications providing remote access to the security system over the Internet, GSMs, LANs, or WANs are also available.
However, the present virtual keypad applications require, for access to a communication system, such as the internet, specific network-enabled equipment. Consequently, there is a need for a security system whose status can be determined and changed with a standard device or standard equipment, such as a telephone, instead of or in addition to specific network-enabled equipment.

Using an IVR to remotely operate security systems


A semiconductor device may include a substrate, conductive patterns stacked to be spaced apart from each other on the substrate, contact plugs coming in contact with the respective conductive patterns, and first and second slit insulating layers of a first group penetrating the conductive patterns. The substrate may include a cell area and a contact area extending along a first direction from the cell area. The conductive patterns may be form a step structure. The first slit insulating layers of the first group may be opposite to each other in a second direction with any one of the contact plugs, interposed therebetween. The second slit insulating layers of the first group, which extend along the first direction in the contact area, may be opposite to each other in the second direction with the first slit insulating layers of the first group and the contact plugs, interposed therebetween.

1. Technical Field
An aspect of the present disclosure generally relates to a semiconductor device and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly to a three-dimensional semiconductor memory device and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Related Art
The miniaturization of semiconductor devices has been made possible by reducing the feature size of the semiconductor devices. In recent years, the size limit for the feature size has made a three-dimensional semiconductor device the key to further miniaturization.
The three-dimensional memory device may include interlayer insulating layers and conductive patterns, which are alternately stacked on a substrate. A process of forming a stacked structure of interlayer insulating layers and conductive patterns may include alternately stacking interlayer insulating layers and sacrificial insulating layers, selectively removing the sacrificial insulating layers, and filling conductive patterns in areas in which the sacrificial insulating layers are removed.
However, the interlayer insulating layers may be collapsed or warped while removing the sacrificial insulating layers. As a result, it may be difficult for the interlayer insulating layers to maintain their intervals, and thus it may also be difficult to provide a stable stacked structure in a process of manufacturing a three-dimensional semiconductor memory device.

Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof


A method of determining a mode of operation for a wireless terminal comprises determining a parameter indicating Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, HARQ, re-transmissions in communications with the wireless terminal. The method further comprises determining a full duplex or half duplex mode of operation based on the parameter of HARQ re-transmissions.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of wireless terminals 20 in communication with an access network 10. The access network comprises one or more network node 30. The wireless terminals 20 are configured to communicate with the network node 30 in cellular communication. At least two of the wireless terminals 20 are configured for Device-to-Device (D2D) communications, which allows each such wireless terminal to communicate with another device having compatible D2D communication capabilities. D2D communications may be network-assisted when one or both devices are operating within the coverage of the cellular network. In this example, wireless terminals 20a,20b are shown in cellular communication with the network node 30, and wireless terminals 20c,20d are in D2D communication.
The wireless terminal 20 may be termed a User Equipment (UE), following 3GPP terminology, or a wireless terminal. Non-limiting examples of wireless terminals 20 include wireless telephones, smart phones, tablets, portable computers, media players. It will be understood that an access network can serve a large number of terminals 20.
The network node 30 may be referred to as a base station. In 3GPP terminology, a base station is called a base transceiver station (BTS), NodeB (UMTS) or an eNodeB (LTE). Base stations configured for smaller coverage areas, such as femtocells, are called Home Node B (HNB) or Home eNodeB (HeNB). In a WLAN network, communication is between the terminal 20 and an access point (AP). The access network 10 may be connected to other network nodes, a core network and/or to an IP network, not shown for clarity.
Communication with a wireless access network may refer to communication with a cellular access network or communication with any other type of network node, e.g. an access point of a network node.
The access network 10 is a radio access network. The access network 10 may operate according to any radio access technology, for example, a radio access technology standardized by the 3rd-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including: Long-Term Evolution (LTE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)/Wideband Code-Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). In some examples, the access network may be an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN). The radio access technology may be a non-3GPP radio access technology, such as WLAN (Wi-Fi) or WiMAX. WLAN technology is described in IEEE 802.11 standards. WiMAX is described in IEEE 802.16.
In some examples, the wireless access network communication (e.g. cellular) between two devices comprises communications are routed through a default path, which includes the core network of the supporting communication network. In this case, signaling between the two devices may be communicated through serving gateway (SGW)/packet gateway (PGW) nodes in the core network associated with the Radio Access Network (RAN) supporting the two UEs.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of two wireless terminals 20c,20d using a "direct mode" of communication (D2D), based on the two devices being in relatively close proximity to one another. The wireless terminals 20c,20d communicate directly with each other, such that at least some communication or data does not pass through the network node 30.
Alternatively, a communication between the two devices may be a "locally-routed" communication, in which the signaling between the two devices is conveyed through a radio access network node such as serving base station, e.g. eNodeB in LTE. However, unlike conventional cellular communication signaling between two devices, the signaling is not routed through the default path, which includes the core network of the supporting cellular communication network. Such "locally routed" communication is considered to be an example of communication between devices via radio access network node, and is not considered as part of a conventional cellular or network communication.
In device-to-device communication, the source and the target are wireless terminals, e.g., UEs. Some of the potential advantages are offloading of traffic from the network, faster communication, increased awareness of surrounding wireless terminals of interest (e.g., running the same application), and higher-quality links due to a shorter distance.
Mode selection (MS) in network assisted device-to-device (D2D) communications is a technique to determine whether a pair of wireless terminals 20 in the proximity of each other should use a direct communication link (D2D) or communicate through a wireless access point or base station, i.e. communicate using the access communication. A mode selection scheme relies on UE and network node measurements to determine whether the D2D link or a pair of links with a network node (uplink and downlink) are more efficient depending on the current geometry, system load, wireless terminal capabilities and other factors.
D2D operation is the basic technology enabler for so called proximity services (ProSe). ProSe is a subject of 3GPP standardization for Release-13 LTE networks. The D2D discovery and D2D communications are two main variants of D2D operation. The D2D operation is also interchangeably termed as Proximity Service (ProSe) or more ProSe operation. Similarly D2D discovery and D2D communications are interchangeably called as ProSe discovery and ProSe communications respectively. The ProSe operation takes place on a radio link called a sidelink and corresponding resources are referred to as ProSe or sidelink resources.
A wireless terminal 20 is configured to communicate signals with the network node 30 or another device 20 in both directions. For example, the wireless terminal 20 is configured to transmit signals to the network node 30 (uplink signals) and receive signals from the network node 30 (downlink). Correspondingly, transmission signals may be transmitted to the other device 20 in D2D operation, and receive signals may be received from the other D2D device 20.
It is known for the wireless terminal 20 to be configured such that different direction signals (e.g. uplink and downlink) avoid interfering with each other, i.e. self-interference. For example, the wireless terminal 20 may operate using frequency division duplex (FDD), in which different direction signals are assigned different carrier (subcarrier) frequencies. A wireless terminal 20 may alternatively or in addition operate using time division duplex (TDD), in which different direction signals are assigned different times or time slots. The FDD and TDD modes are examples of half duplex schemes.
It is further known for a wireless terminal 20 to operate using full duplex. In full duplex (FD) communication, there is a simultaneous transmission and reception of radio signals on the same carrier frequency. In contrast, in a half duplex (HD) mode, the transmission and reception of radio signals do not take place simultaneously and on the same frequency.
Consequently, FD communication systems must manage the problem of self-interference (SI) such that the received signal from a transmitter can be decoded in the presence of the interference caused by the simultaneously transmitted signal. Obviously, the caused SI depends on the transmit power of the wireless terminal, the spatial separation of the transmitter and receiver entities, beamforming capabilities of the transmitter (e.g. of the network node), available channel state information and other factors.
A wireless terminal may use half duplex method (e.g. FDD or TDD) to provide a service which appears to a user as a full-duplex service. The user is not aware that different frequencies and/or time slots are used for uplink and downlink communication. However, such FDD or TDD schemes are not actually operating with the wireless terminal in a full duplex mode.
In a cellular system that supports proximity services (ProSe) by D2D communication, the wireless terminals may operate in different modes. There is a need to select a mode to operate effectively in this scenario.

Method of determining a mode of operation for a wireless terminal


The present invention is related to a medical device carrying at least on a portion of its surface at least one drug or drug preparation and at least one lipophilic lubricant at a ratio of 0.1-500% by weight of the at least one lubricant in relation to 100% by weight of the drug, wherein the at least one drug is selected of paclitaxel, arsenic trioxide, and lipophilic derivatives of corticoids and selected Limus drugs, and the at least one lipophilic lubricant is a C6-C30-monocarboxylic acid salt.

Medical devices may contain drugs either to improve the tolerance, efficacy, or in vivo life-time of the device or use the device as a carrier for the drug. In either case the dose density (e.g. mg drug/mg device or mg drug/mm2 device surface), chemical stability, adherence, premature loss of drug, release rate, and total amount released are important and often critical features of the drug formulation. These properties are the more critical the more the requirements during production and application of the device vary or may even be contradictory. Drug-coated angioplasty catheters are typical examples: the drug coating must adhere firmly to tolerate mechanical stress during production including folding of balloons, crimping of stents, packaging, shipping to customers, and during final application, which involves passage through a narrow hemostatic valve, an introductory sheath or guiding catheter, and a variable distance of possibly tortuous and narrow blood vessels. When the balloon is inflated the drug should be released as rapidly and as completely as possible within a minute or less. The problem was demonstrated by Cremers et al. (Cremers B, Biedermann M, Mahnkopf D, Böhm M, Scheller B. Comparison of two different paclitaxel-coated balloon catheters in the porcine coronary restenosis model. Clin Res Cardiol 2009; 98:325-330), who retrieved as much as 50% of the dose from balloons after expansion for one minute in coronary arteries of pigs, whereas other catheters coated with the same drug and dose but in a different formulation released more than 95%. Almost perfect results (i.e., loss of only 10% of dose and only about 10% residual drug on the balloon after expansion in an artery) were achieved with a rigid prototype balloon (Scheller B, Speck U, Abramjuk C, Bernhardt U, Böhm M, Nickenig G. Paclitaxel balloon coating—a novel method for prevention and therapy of restenosis. Circulation 2004; 110: 810-814). The application of the same coating composition to more flexible modern balloon catheters resulted in problems, i.e., larger premature loss of the drug.
Another problem relates to the increased roughness of drug-coated medical devices, e.g., balloon catheters and stents. Usually, the surface is very smooth, which is accomplished by careful polishing in case of stents. In case of catheters a thin slippery hydrophilic layer may be coated on the surface to reduce friction inside guiding catheters and tortuous and narrowed vessel segments.


The present invention relates to radar and antenna technique, and more particularly, to a radar apparatus and an antenna apparatus having antenna configuration of arranging a plurality of array antennas capable of concentrating antenna gain on a direction for sensing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radar apparatus and an antenna apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional radar apparatus utilizes an arrangement of a plurality of array antennas, and this causes a problem of dispersing antenna gain obtainable from the plurality of array antennas into various directions rather than concentrating on a direction for sensing. Moreover, this causes failure to sufficiently reducing a Side Lobe Level due to the dispersed antenna gain obtainable from the plurality of array antennas.

Radar apparatus and an antenna apparatus


A windscreen wiper device comprising at least one yoke which is attached to a carrier in such a manner as to be capable of pivotating movement about a first pivot axis, wherein both said carrier and said yoke have a substantially U-shaped cross-section at the location of their interconnection, said windscreen wiper device further comprising a oscillating arm pivotally connected to said carrier about a second pivot axis near one end, wherein said carrier is provided, at the location of said second pivot axis, with a transverse shaft, with the special feature that said oscillating arm and said carrier are interconnected with the interposition of a joint part, wherein said joint part comprises at least one resilient tongue engaging in a correspondingly shaped hole provided in said oscillating arm.

1. Technical Field
The present invention is related generally to windscreen wiper devices. More particularly, the invention relates a windscreen wiper device having a joint part for interconnecting a carrier of the windscreen wiper device with an oscillating wind screen wiper arm.
2. Related Art
A windscreen wiper device of this type is generally known and is usually provided with a plurality of yokes, in order to ensure that a wiper blade thereof is in contact with a, usually curved, windscreen along its entire length. Each yoke is thereby pivoted to the end of a carrier in its central portion, which carrier itself may also be a yoke. Usually said carrier and yoke(s) are made of metal, so that a plastic part often called "spacer" is interposed at the location of the connection of a carrier and a yoke, said plastic part being stationary with respect to a carrier associated therewith. The oscillating arm has a hook-shaped end hooking up the shaft of the carrier.
A disadvantage of such a known windscreen wiper device is that, due to high forces exerted in practice on the connection between the oscillating arm and the carrier, the reliability of said connection appears to diminish with the passage of time, resulting in play between the oscillating arm and the carrier. Such a play in practice has proven to lead to frictional contact between these parts and therefore leads to wear.


The invention is a method for managing an instance of a class in a secure element embedded in a hosting machine and including a Central Processing Unit, a storage area and a virtual machine. The method comprises a step of receiving by the secure element a load file containing a binary representation of a package of the class and a step of instantiating the instance from the package and storing the instance in the storage area. The load file includes a specific component which is a custom component within the meaning of Java Card™ specifications and which contains executable data. The instance requests the execution of a subset of the executable data by directly invoking the subset of executable data through an Application Programming Interface.

Secure elements can be small devices comprising a memory, a microprocessor and an operating system for computing treatments. Such secure elements may comprise a plurality of memories of different types, like non-volatile memory and volatile memory. They are called "secure" because they are able to control the access to the data they contain and to authorize or not the use of data by other machines or entities. Secure elements may also provide computation services based on cryptographic components. In general, secure elements have limited computing resources and limited memory resources and they are intended to be connected to a host machine which provides them with electric power. Secure elements may be removable or fixed to a host machine. For example, smart cards, embedded secure element (eSE) and integrated secure element (iSE) are a kind of secure elements.
An application intended to be installed on a secure element may be developed as a class or a set of classes which is stored into the secure element. Typically a Java Card™ applet can be handled through several classes defined in one or several packages. Such applet is installed by creating an instance of each of its associated classes. Such applet may need to be personalized with diversified data specific to the context of operation and/or to the end-user. The executable code relating to such personalization phase is part of the applet executable code. This increase the overall size of the applet executable code which must remain stored in the secure element during all the applet life. Moreover, commands which need to be executed for running the executable code relating to such personalization operation is typically bound to the I/O interface on which these commands are transported. (e.g. to APDU defined by ISO-7816 standards in the case of smart cards). This makes uneasy or impossible to issue such commands if any of the I/O interface protocols changes.
The document WO2008/068576 A1 describes a way to use custom components of a CAP file for conveying static personalization data of a Java Card™ application.
The document WO2015/078614 A1 describes a way to use custom components of a CAP file for loading patch written in native code.
There is a need to improve management of instance of class, and especially there is a need to make more flexible how to handle executable code relating to personalization operation of an instance of a class in a secure element.

Method for managing an instance of a class


A light-inverse type guidelight plate adopted for a backlight module having at least one lighting member includes a reflection portion, a reflecting member partially covering the reflection portion, and a light-guiding portion connecting the reflection portion for providing a displaying region. Wherein the light-guiding portion locates behind the lighting member's back, which faces the reflecting member and dispose in a slot of the reflection portion. The light-guiding portion is shaped variously to meet requirements. The reflection portion has a reflection face, which reflects light emitted from the lighting member to the light-guiding portion to get a high uniformity thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light-inverse type guidelight plate. More particularly, the present invention relates to a light-inverse type guidelight plate with a high uniformity.
2. Background of the Invention
As consumable electrical goods develop, the backlight modules, which provide lighting, are broadly applied to various fields. Such as a cell phone, a notebook, a screen or a keystroke of a PDA, a Touch-pad, and even a Pointing Sticks.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional guidelight plate 1a is adopted for a backlight module, which has a LED (Light Emitting Diode) 5a facing a displaying region 6 of the guidelight plate 1a and disposed on an edge of a body 10a of the guidelight plate 1a. The LED 5a has a various lighting angle α depending on each plant's processing or design ability. The lighting angle α is determined and sandwiched by a first guiding path 51a and a second guiding path 52a respectively being the broadest limits. The edge of a body 10a, where the LED 5a disposed, symmetrically has two lateral side portions having no light and being dark, where each defines a dark region d, and the conventional guidelight plate 1a cannot have the light evenly transferring around therein and cannot get a high uniformity.
Hence, the prior art improved is required to overcome the disadvantages thereof.


Embodiments relate to earmuffs with speakers, and attempt to improve speaker acoustic quality without negatively impacting sound attenuation of the earmuffs. Embodiments may comprise a speaker plate located behind a speaker unit, and typically the speaker plate comprises a recessed portion with a plurality of holes. When the speaker plate is in place behind the speaker unit, it may cause the speaker to be more accurate across a broad range of frequencies without negatively impacting sound attenuation.

Given physical constraints, headphone design is typically a study in compromise. This means that at each distinct price point, headphones generally have to balance the conflicting goals of speaker performance and sound attenuation. One way to address this problem might be to use a more expensive speaker to improve speaker performance without negatively impacting the sound attenuation qualities of the earmuff, but this would result in headphones that are too expensive for average consumers (i.e. change the price point). A more typical compromise is to use a standard, less expensive speaker with good mid-range but weak high and/or low frequency response in conjunction with standard headphone sound attenuation. This approach might provide for adequate sound attenuation of external sounds (for hearing protection and/or sound isolation), but the sound quality produced by the headphones would not he particularly good. Applicants are seeking to provide another option, which uses improved design to provide good sound attenuation while also providing quality speaker performance for a moderate price range that rivals that of high-end expensive speakers.


An electrostatic chuck 75 for holding a substrate 25 in a process chamber 20, comprises an electrostatic member 80 including an insulator having an electrode 95 therein and a receiving surface for receiving the substrate. A base 85 supports the electrostatic member, the base having a first thermal resistance R.sub.B and having a lower surface that rests on the process chamber. A thermal transfer regulator pad 100 is positioned between the receiving surface of the electrostatic member and the lower surface of the base, the thermal pad comprising a second thermal resistance R.sub.P that is sufficiently higher or lower than the thermal resistance R.sub.B of the base, to provide a predetermined temperature profile across a processing surface of the substrate during processing in the chamber.

The present invention relates to electrostatic chucks for holding substrates in process chamber. The present invention is also related to
In semiconductor fabrication processes, chucks are used to hold semiconductor substrates to prevent movement or misalignment of the substrate during processing. Electrostatic chucks, which use electrostatic attraction forces to hold a substrate, have several advantages over mechanical and vacuum chucks. Electrostatic chucks reduce stress-related cracks which are often caused by mechanical clamps; allow utilization of a larger portion of the substrate surface; reduce formation of corrosion particles which deposit on the substrate; and allow use of the chuck in vacuum processes.
A typical electrostatic chuck includes an electrostatic member supported by a thermally conductive base in a process chamber. The electrostatic member includes at least one electrode covered by, or embedded in, an electrical insulator or dielectric material. The electrode of the electrostatic member is electrically biased with respect to the substrate by an electrical voltage, causing electrostatic charge to accumulate in the electrostatic member. In monopolar electrostatic chucks, a plasma in the process chamber provides electrically charged species that accumulate in the substrate. The accumulated charge in the substrate has opposing polarity to the charge accumulated in the electrostatic member, resulting in an attractive electrostatic force that holds the substrate to the chuck. In bipolar electrostatic chucks, a plurality of electrodes are charged to different electrical potentials to electrostatically hold the substrate to the chuck.
During processing, the substrate and underlying chuck are exposed to high temperatures that can cause undesirable temperature gradients across the surface of the substrate. In conventional chucks, the electrostatic member is typically directly bonded to the thermally conductive base, and the heat from the substrate travels through the electrostatic member to the base. Differences in heat conduction or heat generation in conventional chucks can cause temperature gradients across the processing surface of the substrate. For example, temperatures at the perimeter of the substrate are often higher or lower than temperatures at the center of the substrate. In plasma processes, this temperature variation can occur due to differences in plasma density at the center and perimeter of the substrate. During processing, discharge of thermal energy from the plasma to the substrate increases its temperature. Higher plasma density at portions of the substrate result in higher thermal discharge and higher substrate temperatures.
The temperature variations across the substrate can also be caused by differences in electric field flux and RF energy arising from different electrical impedances across the substrate. For example, RF energy fields can accumulate at low impedance areas around the perimeter of the substrate, increasing the temperature of the substrate at its perimeter relative to its center. The higher temperatures at the perimeter of the substrate also occur when the substrate perimeter forms an overhang that is not in direct thermal contact with the thermally conductive base of the chuck. As a result, heat from the perimeter of the substrate dissipates at a lower rate than the heat from the central of the substrate. As a result, the steady state temperatures at the perimeter and center of the substrate can vary by as much as 5 to 10.degree. C., during processing of the substrate.
While temperature gradients across the substrate surface are generally undesirable, in certain fabrication processes, it may become desirable to maintain a predefined temperature profile across the substrate to compensate for other variations in processing conditions across the substrate surface, for example, process gas flow or RF plasma energy. However, uncontrolled or fluctuating temperature gradients across the processing surface of the substrate are not desirable. In deposition processes, such fluctuating temperature variations can result in deposition of a film having varying grain size, surface roughness, or film structure across the substrate, which changes the electrical properties of the deposited films. In etching processes, fluctuating temperature gradients can cause profiles of etched features to vary across the substrate surface, with some portions of the substrate having etched features that are substantially straight walled and other portions having etched features with tapered sidewalls. Also, lower temperatures can cause excessive deposition of passivating polymeric deposits (because the sticking coefficient of the polymeric deposits is higher) resulting in more tapered etched features at portions of the substrate. This variation in etched feature profile is undesirable and such excess passivating deposits are difficult to remove from the substrate.
Thus there is a need for an electrostatic chuck capable of maintaining predefined temperature profiles across the processing surface of the substrate. In certain processing applications, it is desirable to maintain the center of the substrate at higher or lower temperatures relative to the perimeter of the substrate to compensate for other variations in processing conditions across the substrate surface, for example, differences in plasma density or electrical impedances. In other processes, there is a need for an electrostatic chuck that can provide a substantially uniform and consistent temperature profile from the center to the perimeter of the substrate.

Electrostatic chuck having a thermal transfer regulator pad


A semiconductor device includes a scan chain that scans out latch signals of a plurality of latches; a first switch that selects any one of an output signal of a combinational circuit and a signal of the scan chain; a first latch that is inserted into the scan chain and receives an output signal of the first switch; a second latch that receives an output signal of the combinational circuit; and a second switch that selects any one of a latch signal of the first latch and a latch signal of the second latch and supplies the selected one to a combinational circuit in a following stage.

In order to examine whether or not a large scale integration (LSI) circuit is properly operated at the time of LSI batch release testing, a test using a scan chain is performed. For this test, a subsidiary flip-flop (hereinafter, referred to as a subsidiary FF) for latching output signals of each flip-flop (hereinafter, referred to as a main FF) in a test target circuit is provided, and each subsidiary FF is connected using a snapshot scan chain (hereinafter, referred to as an SS scan chain). In addition, the subsidiary FF latches an output signal of the main FF at an arbitrary timing, and the output signal of the subsidiary FF is externally output through the SS scan chain, so that troubleshooting is performed without interrupting an internal operation of the LSI.
Followings are related prior arts; Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2010-531001, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2004-157029, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-337289.
The aforementioned subsidiary FF is only for latching an output signal of the main FF, so that more area on the chip as appropriate is used to interconnect a snapshot scan chain. Providing the LSI with the subsidiary FF and the SS scan chain increases cost, which is not preferable.


A process for tipping surgical sutures includes dispensing tipping agent one drop at a time and contacting the suture portion to be tipped with the drop of tipping agent. A transversely oriented lifting/wiping string may be used to lift the suture into contact with the drop and may wipe away excess tipping agent. Alternatively, a transversely oriented string may be used to catch a drop and then place the drop onto the suture. The tipping agent absorbed into the tipped portion can then be cured and cut to provide a tipped suture. The tipping process and apparatus can be used in conjunction with a needle-suture assembly process. The process advantageously controls application of a droplet of tipping agent to minimize the amount of tipping agent used, thereby providing an aesthetic needle-suture attachment. Apparatus are disclosed for performing the process.

1. Technical Field
The present apparatus and method relate to the tipping of surgical sutures with tipping agent to stiffen a portion of the suture prior to cutting.
2. Background of the Art
Tipping of surgical sutures is known in the art and is generally performed to prevent the brooming of a multifilament surgical suture when cut so that it may be more easily inserted into the shank end of a surgical needle.
For many years, surgeons have employed needle suture combinations in which a suture or ligature is attached to the shank end of a needle. Such needle suture combinations are provided for a wide variety of monofilament and braided suture materials, both absorbable and non-absorbable, e.g., catgut, silk, nylon, polyester, polypropylene, linen, cotton, and absorbable synthetic materials such as polymers and copolymers of glycolic and lactic acid.
One typical method for securing a suture to a needle involves providing a cylindrical recess in the shank end of a needle and securing a suture therein. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,558,037 teaches the addition of a cement material to such a substantially cylindrical recess to secure the suture therein. Additional methods for bonding a suture within a needle bore are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,928,395 (adhesives) and 3,394,704 (bonding agents). Alternatively, a suture may be secured within an axial bore in a needle by swaging the needle in the region of the recess. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 1,250,114.
Insertion of sutures into a hole, recess or tube for attachment to surgical needles presents problems peculiar to suture needle combinations. Braided multifilament sutures in particular are difficult to insert into the very small aperture of a surgical needle; unless modified, they are too limp for the suture tip to be controlled for insertion and they have a tendency to "broom", i.e, the filaments have a tendency to flare out at the cut end so that the diameter of the cut end exceeds the diameter of the needle hole. Various techniques have been employed to modify sutures to overcome the problems of limpness and brooming. One known method employs a tipping agent, which is a material used to coat the suture to stiffen the filaments and adhere them together.
Typically, a suture to be tipped is first placed under tension to reduce slack so that the suture may be maintained in a predetermined position on a frame or rack or other suture holding device. Optionally, the tension may be such as to reduce the diameter of the suture. See Canadian Patent No. 1,009,532. The suture is then dipped into the tipping solution and allowed to dry while under tension. The sutures are then dried, such as by being warmed in a drying oven at about 225.degree. F. for about 10 minutes. After drying the sutures can be cut and released from tension. The process results in a tipped end on each side of a cut. Where tension has optionally been employed to reduce the suture diameter, release of said tension will allow the suture to expand to its original diameter except at the tipped end portion. This can facilitate insertion of the end into a needle.
Tipping agents may be dissolved in solvents to form dipping solutions. By way of example, Mariotte mixture is a dipping solution comprising nylon dissolved in isopropyl alcohol. Other polymers and solvents may also be used. Gould mixture is a dipping solution comprising nylon dissolved in methanol. At least one major manufacturer of surgical needles recommends use of Mariotte mixture or Gould mixture for tipping sutures. A multitude of other tipping agents, including polymers and solvents, have been proposed. For example McGregor U.S. Pat. No. 3,890,975 discloses coating the suture with a binding resin or adhesive. The composition may be any non-toxic adhesive composition, either organic, inorganic or a hybrid. Suitable organic materials are such natural products as starch, dextrin, asphalt, animal and vegetable proteins, natural rubber, shellac, semi-synthetic products such as cellulose nitrate and the other cellulosies, polyamides derived from dimer acids, castor-oil based polyurethanes; such well-known synthetic resins as vinyl-type addition polymers, both resins and elastomers; polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl alcohol, acrylics, unsaturated polyesters, butadiene/acrylonitrile, butadiene/styrene, neoprene, butyl rubber, polyisobutylene; and polymers formed by condensation and other step-wise mechanisms, i.e., epoxies, polyurethanes, polysulfide rubbers, and the reaction products of formaldehyde with phenol, resorcinol, urea, and melamine. McGregor states that particularly preferred bonding compositions are epoxide resins and polyester resins.
Schmitt U.S. Pat. No. 3,736,646 discloses that it is known to tip braided sutures by dipping the end of the suture in a plastic such as a solution in isopropyl alcohol. Schmitt suggest that for absorbable sutures an absorbable tipping agent is desirable, and proposes that a copolymer of lactic and glycolic acid dissolved in a suitable organic solvent, such as xylene or toluene, be applied to tip the suture.
Nichols U.S. Pat. No. 2,734,506 discloses a dipping solution of polymers of methacrylic acid esters in an organic solvent such as toluene, xylene acetone, ethyl acetate, methylethyl ketone, or naphtha.
Shepherd et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,185 discloses the use of an acrylic casing syrup as a tipping agent, the syrup being fully polymerized after being applied to the suture.
In addition, paraffin/hexane solution (10% paraffin has been used as a suture coating agent as well as Arrochem (TM), a nylon resin plus methanol composition manufactured by ArroChem, Inc. of 201 Westland Farm Road, Mt. Holly, N.C. 28120, and SILASTIC (TM) Medical Adhesive (a silicon elastomer composition manufactured by Dow Corning Co.)
An improved method of tipping sutures is disclosed and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,808, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. In this method cyanoacrylate monomer is used as the tipping agent. The suture portion to be tipped is passed through a mist of cyanoacrylate which has been generated by an ultrasonically powered nozzle. The cyanoacrylate hardens very rapidly after being absorbed into the braided suture and adheres the filaments so that the filaments will not broom when the tipped portion is cut. One of the advantages of this method is that the cyanoacrylate works very well on sutures which have previously been coated and/or filled with lubricants, and/or therapeutic agents and the like.
While the spray application of cyanoacrylate has been effective for tipping sutures there is yet a need to apply the cyanoacrylate or other tipping agent more efficiently. In particular, it would be desirable to minimize the length of suture tipped so that little, if any, of the tipped portion extends out of the needle shank after needle-suture attachment.


According to one aspect of the present invention, provided is a method for providing face-based services, comprising the steps of: (a) collecting, for at least one user, face-related data including face data; (b) determining a service provider matching the face-related data of a first user who wants to receive the service, by using a service provider introduction algorithm; (c) transmitting the face-related data of the first user to a server of the service provider; and (d) receiving, from the server of the service provider, the face-related data which is changed or newly generated by the service provided to the first user from the service provider, wherein information related to data processed in at least one step of steps (a), (b), (c) and (d) or information related to operations performed in at least one step of steps (a), (b), (c) and (d) is provided to a terminal device of the first user.

Growing interest in appearances is increasing interest in services and products that assist in decorating appearances, such as cosmetic surgery, dermatologic treatment, cosmetics, and accessories. Traditionally, such services and products have been offered individually through small business entities. The small business entities have been forced to perform reactive marketing rather than proactive marketing, and to provide the services and products according to circumstances. In recent years, as demand for the services and products that assist in decorating appearances has increased explosively, problems and limitations are being revealed in providing the services and products in conventional manners.
Particularly, as for medical services such as cosmetic surgery, although the size of domestic cosmetic surgery market amounts to about 5 trillion won, the manners of providing services related to cosmetic surgery are still traditional and causing many problems. For example, there are frequent cases where a patient undergoes cosmetic surgery only depending on promotion or explanation from a hospital and fails to get a satisfactory surgical result, or where a broker who mediates cosmetic surgery between a patient and a hospital conducts improper mediation solely for his/her economic benefit, so that the patient suffers economic or mental damage.
Since cosmetic surgery is basically medical practice, patients receive services in a state where they do not have enough information compared to hospitals (or brokers as mentioned above), and such information imbalance causes a lot of problems. Particularly, there are cases where foreigners visiting Korea for cosmetic surgery suffer significant damage due to linguistic barriers and ignorance about domestic circumstances.

Method and system for providing face-based services and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium


A system for detecting interactions between charged targets and analytes. The system includes a fluid channel, and a waveguide associated with the fluid channel. A detection region is associated with the waveguide, and a biasing element is operatively coupled to the detection region. The biasing element is adapted to electrically bias a portion of the waveguide at the detection region, and the charged targets are electrostatically bound to the detection region when the portion of the waveguide is electrically biased. An optical detector is adapted to detect optical changes from the detection region.

Roughly 42 million people around the world are infected with HIV (AIDS). In 2003 alone, there were five million cases of HIV infection and three million people died from AIDS. One fourth of the patients were unaware they had the virus and could unknowingly pass the virus onto others. Currently, there is no cure for AIDS.
A number of laboratory methods are available to screen blood, diagnose infection, and monitor disease progression in individuals infected by HIV. These tests can be classified into those that (a) detect antibodies, (b) identify antigens, (c) detect or monitor viral nucleic acids, and (d) provide estimates of T-lymphocyte numbers (cell phenotyping).
Of these methods, antibody detection is the most widely used and most effective in identifying HIV infection. Such tests include Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assays (ELISA), Western Blots, and Indirect Fluorescent Antibody (IFA) tests.
ELISA stands for "enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay". This screening test is usually the first test that is used to detect infection with HIV. One common feature to all varieties of ELISA is the use of enzyme conjugates that bind to specific HIV antibodies, and substrates/chromogens that produce color in a reaction catalyzed by the bound enzyme conjugate.
A Western blot test, which is harder to perform and interpret than an ELISA test, is usually done to confirm the results of two positive ELISA tests. A typical Western blotting technique consists of the following parts: (1) separation of polypeptides by SDS-PAGE; (2) electro-transfer of separated proteins from the gel onto the blotting paper; (3) labeling of the transferred proteins by antibodies conjugated with the enzyme; and (4) detection of the labeling enzyme signal.
Indirect Fluorescent Antibody (IFA) tests can be used to detect antibodies that are made to fight an HIV infection. Like a Western blot test, it is used to confirm the results of ELISA tests. IFA tests are more expensive than Western blot tests.
While the above-described antibody tests are effective, HIV antibodies generally do not reach detectable levels until 1-3 months following infection. For example, it sometimes takes up to 6 months for antibodies to be generated in large enough quantities to show up in standard blood tests.
Another type of test is P24 antigen testing. P24 antigen is a protein that is part of the HIV virus. Early in the infection process, P24 antigen is produced in excess (each particle of the virus contains about 3,000 molecules of the p24 protein) and can be detected in the blood serum by a commercially available test. The P24 test can detect HIV infection before the body develops enough detectable viral antibodies.
Yet another type of test is a Plasma Viral Load (PVL) test. There are several different plasma viral load tests. Two are currently approved for general use. The first one is called the Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor test, better known as the PCR test. The other is called NucliSens HIV-1 QT or NASBA. These tests were approved by the FDA to check the health of people with HIV. The Plasma Viral Load test measures the quantity of RNA of the HIV virus in human plasma.
For people who are already diagnosed with AIDS, a T-lymphocyte (also called CD4+, a type of white blood cell) count measurement can be performed regularly to monitor how the HIV virus affects the immune system. (It is well known that HIV infects CD4+ cells.) Most people infected with HIV who are not being treated experience a gradual drop in the number of CD4+ cells over time. The number of CD4+ cells indicates the health of the immune system and the likelihood that opportunistic infections may occur.
The above tests are useful, but are fairly time- and sample-consuming. For instance, ELISA results are usually available in two to four days. Results of other tests, such as the Western blot or IFA, take as long as one to two weeks.
It would be desirable to provide for a improved tests and testing methods. Embodiments of the invention address these and other problems.

Combined electrostatic and optical waveguide based microfluidic chip systems and methods


In cycle etching in which a depo process and an etching process are repeated, a depo film thickness over a pattern is controlled precisely, and etching is executed to have a desired shape stably for a long time. There are included the depo process (S1) of introducing a reactive gas having a deposit property to a processing chamber and forming a deposit layer over the surface of a pattern to be etched of a substrate to be etched, the etching process (S2) of removing a reaction product of the deposit layer and the surface of the pattern to be etched, and a monitoring process (S3) of irradiating light to the pattern to be etched at the time of the depo process of cycle etching for executing two processes alternately and working a fine pattern and monitoring a change amount of the film thickness of the deposit layer by change of a coherent light having a specific wavelength reflected by the pattern to be etched, the depo process being for forming the deposit layer, in which a processing condition of processes for forming the deposit layer of the next cycle and onward of cycle etching is determined so that an indicator of the depo film thickness calculated from the change amount of the film thickness of the deposit layer monitored falls in a predetermined range compared to reference data.

Because of miniaturization of the functional element products such as a semiconductor element, development of the device working technology has been accelerated which uses multi-patterning such as double patterning using the side wall of the spacer of the thin film as a mask.
Accompanying it, in the working process of the device of three-dimension and the like, the technology of the trench working using various insulating material such as a thin film spacer as a mask has become important. The thickness of the mask, the gate insulation film, the etch stopper, and the like has become thin, and highly selective working of controlling the shape at an atomic layer level has been requested. Also, accompanying implementation of a three-dimensional device, a process for working a complicated shape has been increasing such as simultaneously working patterns formed in layers with different depth from the wafer surface, and working patterns whose opening dimension changes according to the depth. Conventionally, in plasma etching for working Si, an oxide film such as SiO2, and a nitride film such as Si3N4, there is known a technology for etching using a gas mixture having a high deposit property such as a fluoro-carbon gas and a hydrofluoro-carbon gas in order to work fine trenches and holes with a high selection ratio with respect to the material to be etched. In this regard, in Patent Literature 1, there is disclosed a method for controlling the etching parameter so that the thickness of the deposition (will be hereinafter referred to as "depo") film over a mask becomes within a permissible value during etching.
As the dry etching technology coping with miniaturization, thinning, and high selection of the three-dimensional device of recent years, development of the cycle etching technology has been accelerated in which working is executed while repeating the depo process of forming the deposit film by a gas with high deposit property and the etching process of executing etching by ion irradiation and heat and precisely controlling the shape. However, in such cycle etching using a gas with high deposit property, although it was required to execute etching while precisely controlling the depo amount in the depo process and the etching parameter such as the ion energy in the etching process, due to the temporal change and the like of the state of the etching chamber wall and the atmosphere inside the chamber, it was hard to precisely control the depo process and the etching process stably for a long time and to execute etching into a desired shape.
On the other hand, as the film thickness measuring technology of a thin film, such technology as shown in Non-patent Literature 1 is known which measures the thickness of the adsorption film formed over a flat wafer where the pattern is not formed and the residual film thickness of the material to be etched by ellipsometry in an atomic layer etching in which the adsorption process and the desorption process are repeated.

Plasma processing method and plasma processing apparatus


A method of alignment of a first object with a second object includes the steps of determining the location of a feature on a surface of the second object using a probe of a scanned probe microscope, and positioning the first object in preselected spatial relationship with respect to the located feature. In an apparatus for performing lithography on a substrate, having a mask and a mask holder supporting the mask, an improvement includes an apparatus having a probe of a scanned probe microscope, for determining the location of a feature on a surface of the substrate. A method of forming a probe of a scanned probe microscope on a substrate includes the steps of providing a conductive base, having a tungsten surface layer, on the substrate, providing a dielectric layer and a high-temperature polymeric layer on the conductive base; opening a hole through the dielectric layer and the organic compound layer to the tungsten surface layer of the base, and selectively depositing tungsten by chemical vapor deposition on the tungsten surface in the hole to form a substantially conical tungsten tip in the hole.

This invention relates to methods and apparatuses for alignment of objects, and relates in particular to alignment techniques for use in lithography in the manufacture of semiconductor devices.
In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, a large number of patterning steps are carried out in the formation of complex, multi-layer structures. Each patterning step is carried out through lithographic techniques, involving exposure of selected portions of a resist to particles or light. In the fabrication of such multi-layer structures, it is extremely important that each pattern layer be aligned or in registration with, other layers in the structure. Mistakes in alignment or registration will result in unusable structures.
Conventionally, registration is accomplished by optically locating alignment marks on the surface of a wafer. For example, a low energy laser beam may be projected on such an alignment mark on the wafer surface. Analysis of the reflected image then indicates the position of the lithographic system with respect to the alignment mark. The accuracy of optical alignment techniques is limited due to the limited resolution of light beams.
Objects of the invention will become evident from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment which follows.

Apparatus and method for high-accuracy alignment