A client server animation system provides services to enable clients to play animation and lip-synched speech output for an interactive user interface character. Through the programming interface of the server, clients can specify both speech and cursor device input that an instance of an interactive user interface character will respond to when the clients are active. Clients can also request playback of animation and lip-synched speech output through this interface. Services can be invoked from application programs as well as web scripts embedded in web pages downloaded from the Internet.

One way to make the user interface of a computer more user friendly is to incorporate natural aspects of human dialog into the user interface design. User interfaces that attempt to simulate social interaction are referred to as social interfaces.
An example of this type of interface is the user interface of a program called Bob from Microsoft Corporation. Bob uses a social interface with animated characters that assist the user by providing helpful tips as the user navigates through the user interface. The Bob program exposes a number of user interface services to application programs including an actor service, a speech balloon service, a tracking service and a tip service.
The actor service plays animated characters in response to an animation request from an application. This service allows applications to play animated characters to get the user's attention and help the user navigate through the user interface. To make the character appear as if it is conversing with the user, the application can use the speech balloon service to display text messages in a graphical object that looks like a cartoon-like speech balloon. Applications can use the speech balloon service to display a special kind of text messages called a "tip" that gives the user information about how to operate the program. In the Bob user interface environment, the application program is responsible for monitoring for user input events that trigger tips. In response to detecting an event, the application passes it to the tracking service, which determines whether a tip should be displayed. One function of the tracking service is to avoid bothering the user by displaying too many tips. To prevent this, the tracking service counts the number of occurrences of an event and prevents the display of a tip after a given number of occurrences. The tracking service tells the tip service whether to initiate the display of a tip. When a tip is to be displayed, the tip service provides information about the tip to the application so that it can display an appropriate text message in a speech balloon.
While the Bob program does provide a number of helpful user interface features, it has a number of limitations. One of the significant limitations is that the animated characters must be displayed within the window of a single host application. Specifically, the animation must be displayed within the window of a host Bob application program where the background image of the window is known. This is a significant limitation because the animation is confined within the window of single application program
Another important limitation of the animated characters in the Bob program is that they have no speech input or output capability. Speech input and output capability makes a user interface much more engaging to the user.
Speech synthesis and recognition software is commercially available. Microsoft Corporation has defined an application programming interface (API) called SAPI (Speech Application Programming Interface), and number of companies have created implementations of this interface. The purpose of SAPI is to provide speech services that application developers can incorporate into their programs by invoking functions in SAPI.
Despite the availability of speech services provided in SAPI compliant speech engines, there are a number of difficult design issues in developing interactive user interface characters that support speech input and output. One difficulty is determining how the interactive animation services will be exposed to application programs. In many applications with interactive animation, such as games for example, the application must provide and control its own user interface. This increases the complexity of the application program and prevents sharing of animation and input/output services among application programs.
A related difficulty with interactive animation is determining how to incorporate it into Internet applications. The content of a web page preferably should be small in size so that it is easy to download, it should be secure, and it should be portable. These design issues make it difficult to develop interactive animation for Web pages on the Internet.

Client server animation system for managing interactive user interface characters


An integrated device for heating and oxygenating blood in an extracorporeal blood circuit, comprising a shell-and-tube heat exchanger module provided with a coupling to a blood supply line and with two couplings respectively for the intake and discharge of the water designed to exchange heat with the blood; ports are also provided for the passage of the blood toward an oxygenator module of the hollow-fiber type which is located at the peripheral region of the heat exchanger and is provided with a coupling to a blood discharge line; the device further comprises means adapted to direct the flow of blood along a turbulence-free path and with optimum distribution within the two modules.

It is known that extracorporeal blood circuits in which blood is circulated during certain surgical procedures comprise, among other components, a heat exchanger, for keeping the temperature of the blood regulated by exchanging heat with a fluid normally constituted by water, and an oxygenator.
Very often, the two apparatuses are integrated into a single device, and the aim of the invention is to provide a device of this type which ensures that the blood flow has a turbulence-free path with optimum distribution in all regions and further provides high efficiency both in the exchange of heat between blood and water and in the exchange of oxygen with the blood.

Integrated device for heating and oxygenating blood in an extracorporeal circuit


Method for reducing the effect of the vibration generated by the driveline of a helicopter. The helicopter includes at least one rotor, the collective pitch of the blades of which can be controlled by a control system. The values of at least one parameter representing the effect of the vibration generated by the driveline are measured. A control signal for the collective pitch of the blades of the rotor is directly formed from the measured values of the parameter. The control signal to the system for controlling the collective pitch of the blades of the rotor generates a set of forces and of moments which oppose the effect of the vibration generated by the driveline. The control signal thus formed is applied to the system for controlling the collective pitch of blades of the rotor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and to a device for reducing the effect of the vibration generated by the driveline of a helicopter, as well as to a helicopter equipped with such a device.
2. Background Art
In the known way, the driveline of a helicopter includes at least:
a main rotor providing lift and forward travel; PA1 as appropriate, a counter-torque tail rotor; PA1 at least one engine providing the motive power needed to drive the said main and tail rotors; and PA1 transmission boxes and associated shafts. PA1 the frequency of the first torsional mode of the driveline is close to the control frequencies, for which controlling the engine gives high gain; and PA1 the rotor lacks damping for the movement of the blades in phase because the drag adapter acts in this case only on the differential movement of the adjacent blades. PA1 the values of at least one parameter representing the effect of the vibration generated by the said driveline are measured; PA1 from the measured values of the said parameter, a control signal for the collective pitch of the blades of the said rotor is formed, the said control signal being such that applying the said control signal to the system for controlling the collective pitch of the blades of the said rotor generates a set of forces and of moments which oppose the said effect of the vibration generated by the driveline; and PA1 either to the main rotor providing lift and forward travel of the said helicopter, PA1 or, as appropriate, to the counter-torque tail rotor of the said helicopter. PA1 the speed, acceleration or the rotation of a shaft of the driveline; PA1 the torque exerted on a shaft of the driveline; PA1 a stress, an acceleration, a speed or a displacement generated on the fuselage of the helicopter; PA1 a parameter of the engine; or PA1 an environmental parameter, especially temperature and altitude. PA1 at least one sensor capable of measuring the values of at least one parameter representing the effect of the vibration generated by the said driveline; and PA1 computation means capable: PA1 on the driveline of the helicopter in order to measure, for example, one of the following parameters: the speed, the acceleration or the rotation of a shaft of the driveline or a torque exerted on a shaft of the said driveline; and/or PA1 on the fuselage of the helicopter, in order to measure, for example, one of the following parameters: a stress, an acceleration, a speed or a displacement generated on the said fuselage; and/or PA1 on the engine of the helicopter.
It is known that under certain flight conditions the natural modes of the said driveline may become coupled with those of the fuselage, especially as the rotor speed varies and as a result of the yawing movement of the fuselage, in such a way as to generate resonance phenomena capable of causing substantial vibration of the driveline. Such vibration is capable of making the assembly thus coupled unstable or difficult to fly.
In the known way, the said coupling may especially be brought about by the controlling of the engine or by a lack of damping at the rotor, or even under the influence of the navigation system such as the automatic pilot or, as appropriate, the helicopter electrical or optical flight controls.
It is also known that the vibration which is the most troublesome as regards stabilizing the driveline and flying the helicopter is that due to the first torsional mode of the driveline, for which mode the movement of the blades of the main rotor is in phase opposition with that of the main transmission box of the driveline.
To overcome these drawbacks, a known solution recommends, naturally in addition to damping the rotor, reducing the gain in the engine control.
This solution is not, however, satisfactory, particularly for high-tonnage helicopters because during flight it is often necessary to have high gain in the engine control, especially in order to obtain good pickup.
Furthermore, it will be noted that the effect of the aforementioned troublesome vibration is generally greater when the helicopter rotors are equipped with so-called "inter-blade" drag adapters corresponding to blade dampers mounted, not between each blade and the rotor mast, but directly between two adjacent blades. This is because in this case:

Method and device for reducing the effect of the vibration generated by the driveline of a helicopter


An image forming material which comprises fine resin particles and a recording component held inside the fine resin particles. The recording component comprises a colorant and water, and the fine resin particles can, when supplied with an electric energy, release the recording component held inside. The image forming material is brought into contact with a latent image holding body on which a latent image has been formed. Then an image is produced by applying an electric energy on the image forming material for the liquefaction thereof to wet and develop the latent image on the latent image holding body with the recording component contained in the image forming material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention related to a novel image forming material based on a material, the fluidity of which varies by the application thereon of an electric energy, and to a method for making an image by using the material.
2. Description of Related Art
In wet development processes for electrostatic photographs, almost all of the carrier liquids which have been hitherto proposed for wet development are organic solvents having high vapor pressures. Therefore, problems common to these processes are as follows: (1) Treatment of the carrier liquid vapor discharged is necessary at, for example, the time of fixing operation; (2) Some of the carrier liquids are inflammable; and (3) After the fixing treatment on such a substrate as paper, residual solvents in the substrate gradually evaporate and the copies generate the odors of the solvent. As a result, these processes cannot satisfactorily meet the recent requirements for environmental conservation.
As a means to avoid the above-mentioned problems, proposed are wet-process developers which are mainly composed of water or a water-soluble solvent that is safe and harmless to office environments and humans and developing methods using the same, such methods as wetting development, flight development, suction development, ink mist development and two-step development, which involve utilizing electroconductive developers.
Of these development methods proposed hitherto, one developing method where a photosensitive body and a developer liquid comes into direct contact with each other, makes it impossible to avoide the smearing of image and the adhesion of the liquid to the entire surface of paper because the developer wets the entire surface of the photosensitive body. A non-contact development system causes, in addition to the above-mentioned smear problem, an undesirable suction of a wet developer into the periphery of image, with the result that the fogging of the image and the bleeding at the fine lines of the image are not avoided. And, none of the development methods of prior art have provided satisfactory quality of image.
To solve these technical problems, one of the measures that have been proposed hitherto is the application of a molecular gel which causes a phase transition by such influencing factors as temperature, solvent composition, pH, ion concentration and electric field.
Details of molecular gels are described, for example, in "Materials having molecular functions and development of elements, Chapter 2, Elements" by the supervision of Takao Shimizu (published by NTS in 1994). Technical literatures other than this also provide the descriptions suggestive of the possibility that above-mentioned phenomenon may be utilized for a sensor, an actuator and a reactor, conversion elements for converting chemical energy into mechanical energy, artificial muscle, a display and a marking device.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) Nos. 62-60,690 and 01-110,971 describe a direct marking process comprising the steps of directly supplying current to a gel by means of pattern-shaped, voltage applying electrodes to form an adhesive sol of ink and transferring the ink. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) Nos. 01-136,761, 01-136,762 and 01-136,763 describe a direct marking process comprising the steps of sandwiching a gel between an absorbent membrane and a porous material held on an electroconductive substrate and supplying a current to the foregoing combination to discharge an ink, which will be transferred to paper through the porous material. None of these proposals has not been put into practice because of the problem of response speed to the volume change of the gel and of the stability at the time of repetitive use.

Method for making an image from a material comprising resin particles and recording component held inside the resin particles


A natural composition for preventing the growth of barnacles, grass, worms and the like on the hull of a boat or ship. The natural, powdered crustacean shell-based composition makes it easy to remove slime and scum formation and is safe to use on all boats or ships, including aluminum and steel. The natural composition incorporates pulverized, powdered, complete crustacean shells as the active ingredient, namely powdered mussel shells or the like.

This invention relates to a natural powdered composition for a paint or coating which prevents the growth of barnacles, grass, worms and the like on the hulls of boats or ships. The natural composition is safe to use on all boats, including, but not limited to, aluminum and steel. Further, this unique natural powdered composition is effective on boats kept in the water or in dry storage.
Anti-fouling compositions for coating the hulls of ships or boats are well known. These formulations utilized a number of chemically-based active ingredients and produced environmentally harmful results.
One solution was disclosed in U.S. Pat No. 117,462, issued on Jul. 25, 1871, which relates to the use of nitrogenized animal substances, acted upon chemically by mineral or other acids. Animal substances such as muscular fiber, gelatinized matter, such as hair, horn, skin or the like, were disclosed. These materials were not used in a submerged environment nor were they environmentally sound.
A second approach was suggested in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,534,881; 4,585,560; 4,587,021 and 4,603,006 wherein complex methods and complex compounds for inhibiting the formation of CaCO.sub.3 deposits on a surface were disclosed by applying a composition comprising an anti-calcification effective amount of a poly amino acid, a poly amino acid amide or derivative thereof. The fractions could be isolated from many CaCO.sub.3 -containing tissues, including molluscan shells, echinoderm skeletons, carbonate sands, crustacean exoskeletons, coral endoskeletons and the like through complex procedures wherein large portions of the items were discarded as waste.
The approach focused on using specific structural parts of the protein matrix from CaCO.sub.3 -forming animals and complex synthetic reproductions of these biopolymers.
Applicant has produced a novel, simplified formulation utilizing as its active ingredient a complete, natural, powdered crustacean shell, such as a mussel shell, clam shell, oyster shell or the like. The use of environmentally safe materials as the active ingredient in a no-growth paint or coating for the hulls of ships or boats was not heretofore contemplated by the references discussed above.
The non-toxic, pulverized, powdered complete crustacean shell active ingredient produced from discarded wastes is not only extremely desirable in its use as a non-growth paint or coating composition but also serves to protect the environment by using what was originally a waste product.


Anti-viral compounds with low cytotoxicity are identified from screening of products found in Red Sea sponges, including the sponge Stylissa carteri. The identified compounds can be brominated pyrrole-2-aminoimidazole alkaloids and derivatives thereof. Specific examples of identified compounds include oroidin, hymenialdisine, and debromohymenialdisine, as well as derivatives thereof. The compounds also can be useful scaffolds or pharmacores for further chemical modification and derivatization. Selected compounds, particularly oroidin, show selective anti-viral HIV-1 activity coupled with reduced cytotoxicity. The compounds can function as HIV reverse-transcriptase inhibitors, and molecular modeling can be used to confirm inhibition.

In 2013, there were an estimated 35.3 million people that had been infected and were living with HIV and the number has continued to increase [1]. HIV includes both HIV-1 and HIV-2. Drugs currently used as anti-HIV-1 therapeutics fall under five categories, including inhibitors of viral entry, membrane fusion, the reverse transcriptase, the integrase, and the protease. Highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) combines drugs from at least two of the different classes of the anti-retroviral agents available [2]. Nevertheless, the emergence of drug resistant retroviruses is still a major issue associated with current anti-HIV-1 drug therapies [3]. Hence, the effectiveness of HIV therapy relies on the discovery and approval of novel therapeutics, which are able to combat the various viral replication phases of HIV.
The first anti-retroviral medicine, AZT, was approved in 1987 for the treatment of HIV-1 [4]. This drug terminates DNA strand elongation by the addition of an azide group at the C-3 of the nucleoside sugar. This modification to the 5-carbon sugar is thought to be inspired by the nucleoside analogs produced by the sponge Tethya crypta, that possess an arabinose sugar instead of the deoxyribose sugar required for DNA strand elongation [5]. By substituting the groups bound to the 2′ and 3′ carbons of the nucleoside sugar, a number of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitors had been generated. This example demonstrates the chemical novelty provided by natural products, which can lead to therapeutic ingenuity. However, the process of finding appropriate natural products can be difficult.
In the past 15 years of clinical trials, it is believed only five novel natural product pharmacophores were investigated in clinical trials. The majority of the 133 naturally derived compounds in clinical trials for the period of 2008-2013 are derivatives of existing pharmacophores that are already present in existing human medicines. For this same time period, only 2 of the 133 compounds, both derivatives of the cyclosporin A pharmacophore, were investigated as anti-viral therapeutic candidates in the treatment of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) [6]. This reveals that there is a need for novel anti-viral pharmacophores and their derivatives in clinical trials.
A statistical review by Hu et al. [7] illustrates that bioactivities were assigned to only approximately 25% of the marine natural products reported in the literature from 1985-2012. This does not mean that the remaining 75% do not possess bioactivity; instead it suggests a discrepancy between the rate of discovery for marine natural products and the investigation of their associated bioactivities. A further look into the type of bioactivities reported revealed that 56% of the bioactive compounds were associated with anti-cancer activity, but only 3% with anti-viral activity. Interestingly, in years where a greater variety of disease targets were screened in order to identify inhibitors, the proportion of reported bioactivity was the greatest.
This illustrates that there is a need to expand marine natural product screening efforts beyond the detection of anti-cancer activity in order to fully realize the potential utility of marine secondary metabolites.
One Red Sea sponge, Stylissa carteri, is known to produce a number of pharmacologically active brominated pyrrole-2-aminoimidazole alkaloids, which are also produced by sponges from the families Agelasidae, Axindellidae, Hymeniacidonidae [8]. A review of the literature showed that the chemical repertoire of Stylissa sp. is well characterized with nearly 100 compounds reported. Among these compounds, a dimer of oroidin known as sceptrin along with its derivatives debromosceptrin, dibromosceptrin, and oxysceptrin have been reported to inhibit Herpes Simplex Virus-1 (HSV-1) and Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV) [9]. This lends support to the aim of identifying molecules with anti-viral activity from S. carteri. More specific to anti-retroviral activity, another derivative of oroidin, hymenialdisine (HD), has been used experimentally to inhibit Nuclear Factor-kB (NFkB), and subsequently inhibit transcription from the long terminal repeat (LTR) of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in vitro [10].
In a nutshell, while the sponge Stylissa carteri is known to produce a number of secondary metabolites displaying anti-fouling, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer activity, the anti-viral potential of metabolites produced by S. carteri has not been extensively explored or reported.
US Patent Publication 2010/0280004 reports that the chemical structures of latonduine A and esters thereof have been described in the reference, Linington et al. (2003) "Latonduines A and B, New Alkaloids Isolated from the Marine Sponge Stylissa carteri: Structure Elucidation, Synthesis, and Biogenetic Implications" Organic Letters, 5: 2735.

Alkaloids from sponge, scaffolds for the inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

KING ABDULLAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


A method is provided for a proxy server to assist in the testing of a product. The method includes receiving, from the product, a first request and passing the first request to a server, receiving, from the server, a first response to the first request and passing the first response to the product, recording the first request and the first response, generating one or more second responses from one or more simulated servers based on the first request and the first response, intercepting a second request from the product, in response to the second request, matching the second request to a second response, and sending the second response to the product.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Software testing determines if a software application meets its design and behaves as intended. The software application may be tested in individual units of code and as an integrated unit. Test cases are written and executed to determine if the software application is working correctly under a variety of conditions.


An elevator door control apparatus according to the present invention includes a driver for driving an elevator door; a torque detector, connected to the driver, for detecting torque command values during driving and the maximum torque command value; a standard door memory; an optimal door speed calculator for calculating an optimal door speed from the standard door values stored in memory and from the torque command values detected by the torque detector; and a door speed command for outputting a speed command signal to the driver, based on the door speed calculated by the optimal door speed calculator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an elevator door control apparatus, and more particularly, to an elevator door control apparatus for not only increasing safety to users in opening and closing motions of an elevator door, but also making it easy to perform door speed adjustment at installation.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing internal construction of this type of elevator door control apparatus, and FIGS. 2 to 4 show waveforms of door closing motions. In FIG. 1, reference numeral (hereinafter: numeral) 1 represents an elevator control panel, and numeral 2 an I/O port where a door open command is inputted from the elevator control panel 1. Further, numeral 3 represents a ROM saving operation programs for a CPU 4 and several sorts of predetermined motor speed commands beforehand, and numeral 4 the CPU controlling internal operations of the elevator door control apparatus. Furthermore, numeral 5 represents a pulse width modulation (PWM) unit converting a PWM command inputted by the CPU 4 into a gate signal, numeral 6 a gate signal generator driving a below-mentioned power circuit 7 based on the gate signal from the PWM unit 5, and numeral 7 the power circuit 7 for driving motor 8 represents. Moreover, numeral 8 the motor, numeral 9 a pulse encoder attached to the motor 8, and numeral 10 a pulse count unit counting output pulses from the pulse encoder 9. In addition, numeral 11 represents a RAM saving calculation results of the CPU 4 and various data, numeral 12 a power supply, numeral 13 a display unit providing various displays to a user, and numeral 14 a speed adjustment set pin for switching speed command values that are saved in the ROM 3 and read by the CPU 4.
Next, using FIGS. 1 to 4, known control of door closing motions will be described. When a door close command is generated by the elevator control panel 1, the command is read into the I/O port 2, and, according to this door close command, a motor speed command, as represented by reference waveform (hereinafter: waveform) 1a in FIG. 2, is read from the ROM 3 into the CPU 4. Here, by the motor speed command, the pulse count unit 10 counts output pulses from the pulse encoder 9 attached to the motor 8, and the counted value is sent to the CPU 4. Then, the CPU 4 calculates the position of a door from the counted value to read an adequate motor speed command value from the ROM 3 using the positional information. In addition, the motor speed command value read from the ROM 3 can also be switched by the speed adjustment set pin 14.
The CPU 4 obtains a torque command value, as represented by code 3a in FIG. 4, that is calculated from the speed difference between the motor speed command value read from the ROM 3 and an actual motor speed which is obtained from the counted value outputted from the pulse count unit 10 and is represented by code 2a in FIG. 3, and that is necessary to make the motor follow the motor speed command value. Further, the CPU 4 sends a PWM command corresponding to this torque command to the PWM unit 5, which converts it into a gate signal, and the power circuit 7 is driven by a command outputted from the gate signal generator 6 receiving this gate signal. Furthermore, the power circuit 7 drives the motor 8, so the rotation speed of the motor 8 follows the motor speed command value.
Regarding the above-mentioned door closing motion, door closing energy is regulated by national regulations (ASME 112.4 or BS 2655 Part 1 2.7.2, and the like). The door closing energy can be obtained by door weight and door speed as shown in equation (1). EQU Door Closing Energy={(Door Weight)/(2.times.(Gravitational Acceleration))}.times.(Door Speed).sup.2 ( 1)
Then, in order to meet the standard values of the national regulations, it is necessary to change the door speed, that is, a motor speed according to the door weight. However, sizes and materials of doors vary since elevator specifications are different in every building. Presently, installers calculate door weight from door specifications and perform speed adjustment at sites.
As a supplementary explanation regarding the door closing energy, the door speed is an average door closing speed, which is also clearly written in the national regulations. Specifically, door speed is obtained from the following equation (2). EQU Average Door Closing Speed=(Moving Distance from a fully Opened Position to a fully Closed Position)/(Run Time) (2)
In addition, the run time is defined, for example, as the time required for running through the distance that is the result of subtraction of 25 mm from each distance between the fully opened and fully closed positions, in case of a parting-from-center door. For more specific explanation, referring to FIG. 5, if the door speed is the value represented by waveform 4a in FIG. 5, the partition t1 in FIG. 5 corresponds to the part being 25 mm distant from the fully opened position, and partition t2 corresponds to the part being 25 mm distant from the fully closed position. Hence, the running time in this case corresponds to the partition T1 between the partitions t1 and t2.
As described above, in the door closing motion, there are regulations on the door closing energy, and the known art has a problem of requiring significant man-power for establishing the of weight of every door at all sites, and for adjustment of door speeds for every door.
In addition, another problem is that, as described above, door weight is calculated by installers, and hence, there are possibilities of calculating an erroneous door weight due to human errors.
Moreover, an additional problem on the contents of speed control is that, as understood from the definition of the average door closing speed, it is not determined as the speed adjustment corresponding to the door closing energy even if closing time is changed by adjusting the speeds only near the fully opened and fully closed positions.


A support for plural display modules each including a rearwardly extending heat sink includes a compound structural frame that defines a frame frontside, a frame backside, and a vertical cooling conduit, the frame backside for mounting the structural frame to a mounting structure, the frame frontside defining a bay member, the bay member defining an opening that couples to the vertical cooling conduit, the bay member configured to receive and support one of the display modules with the heat sink extending through the opening and into the vertical cooling conduit whereby the display module is convectively cooled by the vertical motion of air through the cooling conduit.

Retrofitting non-digital billboards have proven to be expensive, time consuming and labor intensive. Moreover, simply removing an older non-digital billboard and replacing it with a new digital billboard has not proven entirely satisfactory since older installed, non-digital, billboard panels represent substantial capital outlays making it financially difficult, if not impossible, to discard such panels arbitrarily for replacement with digital panels. Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved billboard retrofit kit that can be easily and quickly installed on an existing billboard, without the need to replace or discard existing non-digital panels. The new and improved billboard retrofit kit should greatly improve displayed information, displaying such advertising information, with improved resolution, contrast and brightness characteristics. Moreover, the retrofit kit should enable the displayed content to be easily and quickly changed or updated, either on-site or remotely, at a lesser cost than updating the content of an older non-digital billboard. Finally, installation of the kit in the field on an existing billboard structure should not require any special installation equipment and should be able to be accomplished by one or two individuals in a fast and convenient manner.

Compound structural frame with integrally formed thermal cooling channels and method of using same


Disclosed are highly convergent processes for preparing compounds of formula (I), which compounds are potent active agents for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection:

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to an improved process for the preparation of macrocyclic compounds useful as agents for the treatment of hepatitis C viral (HCV) infections.
2. Background Information
The macrocyclic compounds of the following formula (I) and methods for their preparation are disclosed in the following patent applications and publications: Llinas Brunet et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0080005 A1; Samstag et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0248779 A1 and Busacca et al, U.S. application Ser. No. 11/078,074, filed Mar. 11, 2005:
wherein Het is a five-, six- or seven-membered saturated or unsaturated heterocycle containing from one to four heteroatoms selected from nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur; said heterocycle being substituted with R1 at any available position on the heterocycle;    R1 is selected from R20, —NR22COR20, —NR22COOR20—NR22R21 and —NR22 CONR21 R23, wherein    R20 is selected from (C1-8)alkyl, (C3-7)cycloalkyl and (C3-7)cycloalkyl(C1-4)alkyl-, wherein said cycloalkyl or cycloalkylalkyl may be mono-, di- or tri-substituted with (C1-3)alkyl;    R21 is H or has one of the meanings of R20 as defined above,    R22 and R23 are independently selected from H and methyl,    each Alk is independently a C1-C6 alkyl group;    R3 is hydroxy, NH2, or a group of formula —NH—R9, wherein R9 is C6 or C10 aryl, heteroaryl, —C(O)—R10, —C(O)—NHR10 or —C(O)—OR10,            wherein R10 is C1-6 alkyl or C3-6 cycloalkyl;            D is a 3 to 7-atom saturated alkylene chain;    R4 is H, or from one to three substituents at any carbon atom of said chain D, said substituent independently selected from the group consisting of: C1-6 alkyl, C1-6 haloalkyl, C1-6 alkoxy, hydroxy, halo, amino, oxo, thio, or C1-6 thioalkyl; and    A is an amide of formula —C(O)—NH—R11, wherein R11 is selected from the group consisting of: C1-8 alkyl, C3-6 cycloalkyl, C6 or C10 aryl, C7-16 aralkyl and SO2R11A wherein R11A is C1-8 alkyl, C3-7 cycloalkyl or C1-6 alkyl-C3-7 cycloalkyl;    or A is a carboxylic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof;
The compounds of formula (I) are disclosed in the above-mentioned patent documents as being active agents for the treatment of hepatitis C viral (HCV) infections and can be used for said treatment indication as described therein. The problem addressed by the present invention is to provide highly convergent processes which allow for the manufacture of these compounds with a minimum number of steps and with sufficient overall yield.

Process for preparing macrocyclic HCV protease inhibitors


When an extra-high density optical disc, a DVD having a recording density lower than that of the extra-high density optical disc, a CD having a recording density lower than that of the DVD, and a combined optical recording medium in which the extra-high density optical disc, DVD, and CD are appropriately combined and integrally stacked are selectively recorded or reproduced by an objective lens whose numerical aperture (NA) is set to 0.75 or more, the objective lens satisfies the following expression:t<a·f+b

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an optical pickup device in which a working distance is set corresponding to an optical recording medium having a larger substrate thickness to prevent an objective lens from colliding with each optical recording medium during selective recording or reproducing of at least two or more types of optical recording mediums having different substrate thicknesses using an objective lens with a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.75 or more.
2. Background Art
In general, disc-shaped and card-shaped optical recording mediums such as an optical disc and an optical card have been frequently used, because desired tracks are accessible at a high rate in recording information signals such as video information, sound information, and computer data in spirally or concentrically formed tracks on a transparent substrate with high density and in reproducing a recorded track.
As an optical disc constituting this type of optical recording medium, for example, a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD), or the like has been already on the market. In recent years, in order to further increase density of the optical disc, an extra-high density optical disc (Blu Ray Disc) has been well developed, which is capable of recording or reproducing the information signals at an extra-high density as compared with the above-described CD, DVD.
First, in the CD, a laser beam formed by focusing laser light having a wavelength of about 780 nm with an objective lens having a numerical aperture (NA)=about 0.45 has heretofore been applied to a disc substrate to record or reproduce the information signal on or from a signal surface distant from a laser beam incidence surface of a disc substrate approximately by 1.2 mm.
Moreover, in the DVD, the laser beam formed by focusing the laser light having a wavelength of about 650 nm with the objective lens having a numerical aperture (NA)=about 0.6 has heretofore been applied to the disc substrate to record or reproduce the information signal on or from the signal surface distant from the laser beam incidence surface of the disc substrate approximately by 0.6 mm. In this case, a recording capacity of DVD is increased to six to eight times that of CD, and is about 4.7 gigabytes (GB) on one surface, when the disc substrate has a diameter of 12 cm.
Furthermore, the above-described extra-high density optical disc has been developed in such a manner that the laser beam obtained by focusing the laser beam having a wavelength of 450 nm or less with the objective lens having a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.75 or more is applied onto the disc substrate and that the information signals can be recorded on or reproduced from the signal surface distant from a laser beam incidence surface by about 0.05 mm to 0.15 mm. In this case, the recording capacity of one surface of the extra-high density optical disc is around 25 gigabytes (GB), when the disc substrate has a diameter of 12 cm.
Additionally, there is an optical pickup device which records or reproduces three types of optical discs having different disc substrate thicknesses to the signal surface from the laser beam incidence surface (see, for example, "Thoroughly Analyze Next Generation Optical Disc Technique (No. 2), Nikkei Electronics 2003. 5. No. 12, pp. 131 to 133).
In the "Thoroughly Analyze Next Generation Optical Disc Technique (No. 2)", as a related art of the optical pickup device which records or reproduces three types of optical discs having different disc substrate thicknesses, a double-lens system using two objective lenses (example of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Korea), and a single-lens system using one objective lens (example of LG Electronics Inc., Korea) are described.
Additionally, in the double-lens system described in the document, a CD/DVD combined-use objective lens and an objective lens for Blu-ray disc are arranged on the same base. According to this example, optical adjustment peculiar to the Blu-ray disc can be performed independently with respect to a CD/DVD system. However, since both the objective lenses are controlled in a focusing direction and a tracking direction with one actuator, the weight of a movable portion of the actuator increases, and it is remarkably difficult to realize an actuator of a high band corresponding to a high transfer rate. Moreover, since two objective lenses are used, there is also a cost problem.
On the other hand, in the single-lens system described in the document, the objective lens having a single lens and a high numerical aperture (NA) of 0.85 is used in order to secure a working distance set between the objective lens and each optical disc, but any concrete numerical value example is not described with respect to each working distance for each objective lens.

Abstract: wherein t: an axial thickness of the objective lens, f: a focal distance of the objective lens, a: a coefficient, and b: a constant, and the coefficient a and the constant b satisfies that a=2.02, b=−1.94; a=2.08, b=−1.84; or a=2.11, b=−1.77.


A color image forming apparatus and an image forming unit thereof, the color image forming apparatus including: photosensitive bodies; a transfer drum to rotate while contacting the photosensitive bodies; a transfer device to transfer visible images overlapped on the transfer drum from the photosensitive bodies onto a printing medium; a photosensitive body driving gear to rotate with the transfer drum, and having a radius smaller than the transfer drum and having a same rotational center as the transfer drum; and photosensitive body gears coupled to the respective photosensitive bodies to be engaged with the photosensitive body driving gear, each of the photosensitive body gears having a radius larger than that of the photosensitive bodies. Accordingly, a size of each of the photosensitive body gears can be larger than that of each of the photosensitive bodies, and thus the photosensitive bodies can rotate stably.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a color image forming apparatus that is provided with plural photosensitive bodies on which visible images are formed, and forms a color visible image by overlapping the visible images of respectively different colors formed on the respective photosensitive bodies.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus is an apparatus that prints a black and white image or a color image on a printing medium (e.g., paper) according to an image signal. Examples of an image forming apparatus include a laser printer, an ink-jet printer, a copying machine, a multi-function printer, a fax machine, etc. An image forming apparatus is classified as an electrophotographic type or an ink-jet type. In the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a beam is scanned onto a photosensitive body to form an electrostatic latent image and a developer is adhered to the electrostatic latent image to transfer the same onto a printing medium. In the ink-jet image forming apparatus, a liquid type ink is ejected onto a surface of a printing medium according to an image signal.
Furthermore, the electrophotographic image forming apparatus is configured such that a surface of a photosensitive body is charged with a predetermined electric potential, a beam is scanned onto the photosensitive body to form an electrostatic latent image due to an electric potential difference, and a developer is adhered to the electrostatic latent image to form a visible image. The visible image formed on the photosensitive body is transferred onto the printing medium, and is fixed to the surface of the printing medium by applying heat and pressure to the printing medium.
Such an electrophotographic image forming apparatus is classified as a mono image forming apparatus that prints a black and white image, or a color image forming apparatus that prints a color image. The mono image forming apparatus uses only a black developer and thus requires only a black developing device. However, the color image forming apparatus requires a plurality of developing devices, typically, of four colors (e.g., magenta, cyan, yellow and black) to form a color image.
There are two types of currently well-known electrophotographic color image forming apparatuses. Specifically, a multi-path type color image forming apparatus is provided with one photosensitive body, and a single-path type color image forming apparatus is provided with a plurality of photosensitive bodies corresponding to the respective developing devices.
The multi-path type color image forming apparatus is configured such that one developing device operates while one photosensitive body rotates once in order to form a visible image of one color on the photosensitive body. The visible image formed on the photosensitive body is then transferred before another developing device operates. The formation of the visible image of one color is repeated by the remaining developing devices. Therefore, the exposure process, the developing process and the transfer process are repeated four times in order to obtain a color image. In particular, the visible images of the respective colors are overlapped in order on the intermediate transfer device and transferred together onto the printing medium.
The single-path type color image forming apparatus is configured such that the visible images of the respective colors are formed in order on the respective photosensitive bodies provided corresponding to the respective developing devices at a slight time difference. Then, the visible images formed on the respective photosensitive bodies are transferred in order onto the intermediate transfer device or the printing medium at a slight time difference and overlapped. Therefore, the single-path type color image forming apparatus has an advantage that the image forming time is shorter than the multi-path type color image forming apparatus.
One example of the single-path type color image forming apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 11-52651 (Feb. 26, 1999). The disclosed conventional single-path type color image forming apparatus is configured such that the visible images of the respective colors formed by four developing devices are transferred in order onto the printing medium fed by a belt, and overlapped on the printing medium. The developing devices are respectively provided with photosensitive bodies on which the visible images are formed. The photosensitive bodies are respectively provided with driving gears to transmit power. The driving gears of the respective photosensitive bodies are connected to one photosensitive body driving motor through gear trains including a plurality of gears.
However, in the above conventional color image forming apparatus, the power transmission mechanism is complicated because the photosensitive bodies are connected to the photosensitive body driving motor through a plurality of gears. Moreover, the gears should have small sizes due to limits of the mounting space. Thus, as modules of the gears are small, the loads applied to teeth of the gears are large, so that the teeth of the gears may be easily deformed or broken. Furthermore, the deformation or damage to the gears causes a printing error (such as jittering or banding) and a deterioration in printing quality.
Even more, the large number of power transmission gears causes an assembling error of the gears and, consequently, a rotational imbalance of the respective photosensitive bodies. Accordingly, a phase difference between the visible images transferred onto the printing medium becomes large, and a color registration error very possibly occurs.

Color image forming apparatus and image forming unit thereof


Method for suppressing adhesion of the intestines or therapeutic treatment of adhesion of the intestines comprising administering to a patient in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of 4-[(5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-5,5,8,8-tetramethyl-2-naphthalenyl)carbamoyl]benzoic acid. There is also provided a medicament for suppressing adhesion of the intestines and/or therapeutic treatment of bowel diseases such as inflammatory bowel diseases, including Crohn's disease, which comprises as an active ingredient a retinoid such as, for example, 4-[(5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-5,5,8,8-tetramethyl-2-naphthalenyl)carbamoyl]benzoic acid.

Bowel diseases are diseases with abnormal condition of small intestine or large intestine, which are accompanied with major symptoms including diarrhea (bacterial and viral infectious diarrhea, diarrhea caused by inflammatory bowel diseases, irritable bowel syndrome, or drug-induced enteritis and the like), constipation, or mucous bloody stool or the like. Among them, inflammatory bowel disease including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic nonspecific inflammatory disease of the bowel which is frequently observed in Western countries, and the number of patients with the disease has been rapidly increasing also in Japan. Although a cause of the inflammatory bowel disease has not yet been identified, it is considered that the onset of the disease involves complicated participations of genetic, immunologic, and environmental medicinal factors.
For treatment of Crohn's disease, in order to control abnormally activated immunological reactions, nutrition therapy is generally applied to reduce exposure to food antigen which causes a stress to gastrointestinal tract. However, because the nutrition therapy alone is not expected to be effective for ulcerative colitis, an adrenal corticosteroid such as prednisolone is administered. As drug therapies, 5-aminosalicylic acid (tradename: Pentasa) and salazosulfapyridine (tradename; Salazopyrin), which are known to suppress inflammation-inducing substances (inflammatory cytokines, leukotriene, active oxygens and the like), have been generally used, and for patients with severer symptoms than moderate, adrenal corticosteroids (tradename; Prednisolone, Rinderon, and the like), cyclosporine (tradename: Sandimmune) and FK506 (tradename: Prograf) as immunosuppressant agents have been used. However, no medicament has been developed which exhibits remarkable effectiveness against inflammatory bowel disease or has reduced adverse effects.
Retinoic acid (vitamin A acid), an active metabolite of vitamin A, has extremely important physiological functions, e.g., inducing differentiation of immature cells under development processes toward mature cells having specific functions, acceleration of cell proliferation, and life support action. It has been revealed that various vitamin A derivatives synthesized so far also have similar physiological functions, for example, the benzoic acid derivatives disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) Nos. (Sho) 61-22047/1986 and (Sho) 61-76440/1986, and the compounds described in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 1988, Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 2182. "Retinoids" is a general term for retinoic acid and the aforementioned compounds having retinoic acid-like biological activities.
For example, it was proved that all-trans retinoic acid binds as a ligand to the retinoic acid receptor (RAR) present in cellular nucleus, which belongs to the intranuclear receptor super family (Evans, R. M., Science, 240, p. 889, 1988), and regulates proliferation and differentiation of animal cells or cellular mortalities (Petkovich, M., et al., Nature, 330, pp. 444-450, 1987). In addition, as for the expression of physiological activities of retinoic acid, the existence of retinoid X receptor (RXR of which ligand is 9-cis-retinoic acid) has been elucidated. The retinoid X receptor has been revealed to control the expression of the physiological activities of the retinoic acid by inducing or suppressing the transcription of a target gene by forming a dimer between the retinoic acid receptor (RAR) (Mangelsdorf, D. J. et al., Nature, 345, pp. 224-229).
It has also been suggested that the aforementioned compounds having the retinoic acid-like biological activities, e.g., 4-[(5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-5,5,8,8-tetramethyl-2-naphthalenyl)carbamoyl]benzoic acid: Am80, also bind to RAR in similar manners to retinoic acid to exhibit their physiological actions (see, Hashimoto, Y., Cell Struct. Funct., 16, pp. 113-123, 1991; Hashimoto, Y., et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 166, pp. 1300-1307, 1990). Clinically, these compounds were found to be useful for therapeutic and preventive treatments of vitamin A deficiency disease, hyperkeratosis of epithelial tissue, rheumatism, delayed allergy, bone diseases, leukemia and certain types of cancer.
As for a relation between retinoids and bowel diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, a supply of Vitamin A to patients with Crohn's disease was studied. However, the study was reported to be ineffective (Gastroenterology, 88, pp. 512-514, 1985). Drug therapies by using retinoids have been applied for psoriasis and acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), and several clinical cases were reported in which all-trans retinoic acid or analogues thereof was administered to the patients who were also suffering from Crohn's disease. However, effectiveness of retinoids against Crohn's disease was not clarified (The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 252, pp. 2463, 1984; Arch. Dermatol., 124, pp. 325-326, 1988; Br. J. Dermatol., 123, pp. 653-655, 1990; Cancer Invest., 18, p. 98, 2000).

Method for treatment of adhesion of the intestines


An apparatus for telescopically extending the shaft length of a tool including a handle with a circular or noncircular hollow core shaft with at least one longitudinal extension channel, a circular or noncircular hollow shank wherein one end has an internally threaded drive ring with at least one tab for insertion into an extension channel, and the second end has a head assembly to receive various tool fittings where an externally threaded adjusting rod extends into the hollow shank and is engaged in the threaded drive ring and is operated by a rotatable adjusting knob is attached to the adjusting rod, and a lock assembly is used to selectively eliminate rotation of the knob; the lock assembly comprises a pair of facing spline faces which engagingly prevent rotation of the knob.

This invention relates generally to the field of hand tools, and more particularly to an apparatus for telescopically extending the shaft length of a tool used for turning a fastener or the like while protecting the critical mechanisms for extending the tool shaft by moving the mechanism inside the handle. An additional feature of the invention is adaptation to use multiple replaceable tool ends for performance of multiple tasks.
All too often, the problem is found in the field, when a user must access a fastener that is in difficult location. Traditionally, a user must have available for ready access tools of multiple lengths. Short tools must be available for working in restricted spaces, long tools must be available for reaching the tool into a restricted space or moving the user away from the fastener.
Short or xe2x80x9cstubbyxe2x80x9d tools are useful and often necessary for working in a confined space, but, suffer from an additional shortcoming of being small and therefore having small handles that are frequently difficult to grasp and apply sufficient torque to the fastener. While longer tools do not suffer the same shortcoming""s as short tools they have there separate problems, including being large and therefore difficult to store.
As a result, most conventional screwdrivers and tool handles are of medium length and perform adequately in most circumstances, but, cannot be used in all circumstances necessitating the user owning and using multiple drivers as the task requires.
The tool industry over the years has innovated new and useful tool designs to meet specific industry requirements for additional tool utility. Tools of multiple functionality have entered the tool industry, and have found valued place in many tool boxes. Telescoping shaft length tools can improve work efficiency by reducing the number of tools of that a user must have available for use. Thus a user can perform more work in a given time.
The invention is to provides a telescoping shank for telescopically extending the length of a screw driver, socket end, or a wrench; making the tool more versatile than existing tools having a smooth, non-threaded shank, which is easy and relatively inexpensive to manufacture. The telescoping mechanisms is housed internally in the tool handle, providing protection to these critical mechanisms, and making the tool more dependable, and of greater utility.
The telescoping of the tool is controlled by a lockable adjustment knob located on the end of a handle so that a user can easily alter the length regardless of the location of the tool. The telescoping shank is nonremovable and can be integrated into a handle minimizing the size of the tool while protecting the adjustment mechanism.
An apparatus for telescopically extending the shaft length of a tool, comprising: a handle with a circular or noncircular hollow core shaft with at least one longitudinal channel in combination with a hollow shank with circular or noncircular cross section, with integral, internally threaded drive ring on one end. The drive ring has at least one associated tab for insertion into the longitudinal channel. The second shank end has a head assembly to receive screw driver, socket, or wrench tool fittings. Circular shaft and shank cross sections are associated with the screw driver or socket configuration, in addition, a noncircular or elliptical cross section is associated with a wrench configuration. An externally threaded adjusting rod engages the threaded drive ring, and extends into the hollow shank. A rotatable adjusting knob is attached to the adjusting rod. A lock mechanism which is integral to the adjusting knob attached to the handle which is used to selectively eliminate rotation of the knob. The lock assembly comprises a first friction washer attached to the knob and a second friction washer attached to the handle wherein the washers engage each other to prevent rotation of the knob. Alternatively, the lock assembly comprises a first splined portion attached to the knob and a second splined portion attached to the handle wherein the portions engage each other. A spring, and spring retainer system is attached to the adjusting rod to provide engaging force on the splined portions. A key is attached to the adjusting rod as a means of transferring rotational force between the adjusting knob and the adjusting rod.


The dynamic semiconductor memory is divided into word line blocks and bit line blocks, word line blocks consisting of a plurality of bit line blocks, which includes for each bit line block a local SAN driver (LTN) and an decelerator circuit for driving the read amplifiers (LV1 . . . LVi) associated with the respective bit line block, and the accelerator circuits of which can be driven in such a way that, to achieve a low total peak current, only the accelerator circuit belonging to the bit line block is active whose bit lines are switched through to IO lines (IO, ION). The accelerator circuit consists, for example, of only one driver transistor (NT.sub.n+1) in each case.

The invention relates to a dynamic-semiconductor memory.
A dynamic semiconductor memory in which all the read amplifiers are connected via in each case one transistor, connected as a resistor, to a common SANN line which has a line impedance and can be connected via a single common driver transistor (global SAN driver) to reference potential, and in which one SAN input of a respective read amplifier can be connected to reference potential via a respective further transistor, which can be driven from a column decoder via a bit-line selection signal, has been disclosed in the publication having the title "Decoded-Source Sense Amplifier For High-Density DRAM's" by Okamura et al. (Toshiba), from the Digest of Technical Papers from the 1989 Symposium on VLSI Circuits (pages 103 to 104). The transistors which are connected as resistors are provided in order that the read amplifiers are not driven significantly differently as a function of the geometric distance to the common driver transistor, as a result of the line impedance, and in order that certain mutual decoupling of the SAN inputs of the read amplifiers takes place. In this case, only one common driver transistor (global SAN driver) is required and not, as in the case of the invention, a plurality of existing local SAN drivers, but in each case one transistor connected as a resistor and one transistor driven by the column decoder are required for this purpose per read amplifier.
A further prior publication by Okamura et al. (IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 25, No. 1, February 1990, pages 18-22) additionally discloses, for example, in each case four read amplifiers having to be connected to a common SANN line via a transistor connected as a resistor, and the SAN inputs of these read amplifiers having to be connected to reference potential via only one further transistor, which can be driven by the column decoder, in order to save chip area. However, for example, this has the disadvantage that only partial decoding is possible.
IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. Sc-22, No. 5, October 1987, pages 651 to 656 discloses a semiconductor memory in which in each case one multi-phase SAN driver which is common (global) to all the read amplifiers is connected to one end of a common SANN line per word line block, and, in addition, a driver transistor is connected to the other end of the SANN line, the function of the driver transistor not, however, being dependent on bit-line selection signals and hence acting simultaneously on all the read amplifiers of a word line block.

Dynamic semiconductor memory having a read amplifier drive circuit for achieving short access times with a low total peak current


An ophthalmic placido pattern 10 is used to determine a curvature of an anterior surface of a cornea of an eye. The pattern 10 includes a series of alternating light and dark concentric rings 12 and 14 centered about a central point 16. A series of shaped geometric shapes 18 and 20 are placed about at least some of the concentric rings 12 and 14. The shapes 18 and 20 are of a contrasting color with respect to the ring 12 or 14 on which the shape 18 or 20 is placed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel placido pattern. More specifically, the novel placido pattern of the present invention allows for easier, more accurate, and more economical detection of concentric anomalies that may occur on the eye being examined.
2. Description of Related Art
Placido imaging and placido examinations commonly referred to as keratometry date back over 150 years. Traditionally keratometry enables measurements of eye curvature that depend on the fixturings used, as well as set-up geometry. Using keratometry, the geometry of an eye can be derived manually by examination of a photograph. A reference placido pattern is first captured photographically after being reflected off of a sphere of known radius. A fundamental theorem of placido geometry states that the magnification of the reflected placido image is directly proportional to the radius of curvature of the examined object. Traditional patterns typically employed a series of concentric light and dark circles, such as shown in FIG. 1.
The concentric ring pattern of FIG. 1 developed by Placido was developed on the premise that the concentric ring patterns reflected from the human cornea would distort based on the anterior shape of the examined cornea. In the case of radical change of curvature of the cornea, such as a smaller radius or more curvature, the rings would appear to be further apart. For areas that are larger in radius, the rings would appear to be closer together. For a perfectly spherical cornea, the rings remain concentric and evenly spaced.
Within the last twenty years or so, it has been found that if a recording device, such as a camera, captures these images, the captured images can be compared to an image from the reflection of a close-to-perfect reference sphere. The differences between the two images then indicate how much the curvature of the anterior surface of the examined eye has changed from a perfect sphere. Other prior art placido patterns include a spider-web pattern, which is fully described in U.S. Publication 2004-0061833 and is commonly assigned with the present invention to Bausch & Lomb Incorporated. An example of such spider-web pattern is shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 shows yet another prior art placido patter which may be referred to as a dartboard pattern. The dartboard pattern can be said to be a combination of concentric and radial edges.
A camera typically is placed behind a hole in the center of the placido pattern and is aimed toward a patient's eye. During an acquisition of an image of the eye with a reflected placido pattern, the device is placed in an appropriate location in front of the eye. The surface of the cornea of the eye being examined then reflects the pattern and the images captured by the camera placed behind the placido pattern. The reflection of the pattern will change or distort depending on the changes in curvature on the corneal surface from that of a perfect sphere. With certain image processes and analysis software in known instruments, such as the Bausch & Lomb Incorporated Orbscan II™ Systems or other known keratometors or topography systems, it is possible to build a curvature map of the anterior surface of the cornea being examined.
A major problem with the ringed placido of FIG. 1, is the possibility of acquiring ambiguous data. If a curvature anomaly occurs, tangentially to a ringed edge from the X-Y perspective of the eye image, an ambiguity may occur. This is referred to as a concentric anomaly. Another type of anomaly that may be found is a radial anomaly. A radial anomaly is detected from the reflection of the placido rings.
However, if specific points are added to the ring pattern in the middle of the rings, it is much easier to detect a concentric anomaly. The spider-web placido pattern of FIG. 2, does not share the limitation on detecting concentric anomalies with the pattern of FIG. 1. However, the algorithm required to find the edges in a spider-web placido pattern is very complex relative to the algorithms used for a simple placido pattern of FIG. 1. This is especially true since the concentric edges in the spider-web pattern are interrupted by radial lines or edges, which corrupt some of the relevant data with regard to the concentric edges.
The dartboard placido of FIG. 3 also does not have the concentric anomaly limitation of the simple ring placido. However, like the spider-web placido pattern, a more complex edge detection algorithm is required. In addition, the alternating black and white blocks do not produce smooth single edges, especially if the placido is slightly out of focus.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a placido pattern which can detect concentric anomalies relatively easily with the use of less complex edge detection algorithms required of some prior art patterns.


A method for manufacturing an SIP semiconductor device is provided. In this method, a first Organic Solderability Preservative (OSP) is coated over an upper surface of a semiconductor device including a plurality of elements and a first through electrode. An electrochemical plate (ECP) process is then performed on the semiconductor device. A second OSP is then coated over a lower surface of the semiconductor device, the lower surface including a Cu plug that has been formed over the first through electrode through the ECP process. The upper and lower (first and second) OSPs are used to prevent the Cu plug from being easily oxidized when exposed to the air.

Technologies required to achieve smaller and lighter semiconductor devices include technologies for reducing the size of each embedded component, a System On Chip (SOC) technology for integrating a number of components into one chip, and a System In Package (SIP) technology for integrating a number of devices or chips into one package.
The SIP technology incorporates (or mounts) a plurality of silicon chips vertically or horizontally into one package. The SIP technology is an extension of the Multi-Chip Module (MCM) concept. Manufacturing a package using a horizontal mounting technique may be used for an MCM. A technique for stacking a plurality of chips vertically may be used in the SIP technology.
In a complete system, many passive devices such as resistors, capacitors and inductors are mounted on a system board in association with the characteristics of a plurality of stacked chips and to reduce power input noise. In SIP technology for stacking a plurality of chips, a number of through electrodes for electrical connection and through electrode plugs may be provided between the upper and lower chips. The through electrodes and the through electrode plugs may be formed of a metal such as tungsten (W), copper (Cu), or aluminum (Al). However, if the through electrodes and the through electrode plugs are formed of Cu, reliability may suffer since Cu is easily oxidized when exposed to the air. Oxidation may increase contact resistance.

Method for manufacturing SIP semiconductor device


An amphibious shoe has a sole with a fin compartment therein. The fin compartment provides retractable housing for a lightweight fin for conversion from a walking to swimming shoe. In one embodiment the amphibious shoe includes a fin comprising a plurality of ridges. The ridges are intermittently disposed between material arranged in an accordion construction. When ejected from the compartment, the ridged material expands to a fan configuration. The fan is further appointed with a pivotal stabilizing strap for enhanced stability during swimming. In another embodiment the amphibious shoe includes at least two fin plates pivotally attached about an axis. The fin plates are stowed in an overlapping condition. They are capable of being ejected from the compartment and opposingly rotated toward the front of the shoe abutting to form a swim fin. In operation, the wearer can comfortably run or walk swiftly along the land as the integrated fin has a thin lightweight construction. Upon reaching the water's edge, the shoe is readily converted for swimming by ejecting and positioning the fin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an amphibious shoe for swimming and walking; and more particularly, to an amphibious shoe having a sole with a fin compartment adapted to retractably house a lightweight fin enabling conversion from a walking to a swimming shoe.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Increased propulsion and maneuverability in water during diving, swimming, and snorkeling is typically achieved by utilizing fins. However, donning fins on land and then walking into the water presents difficulties that oftentimes cause the wearer to trip and fall. Even still, carrying fins onto the beach or to the water's edge can be cumbersome, especially if other items are also needed to be hauled.
Amphibious shoe devices have been provided that utilize a separate mountable fin appointed to be removably attached to a shoe for swimming. Mountable fin devices pose significant problems, including time consuming attachment processes and burdensome carrying of the flipper. During walking, debris will easily lodge into screw holes, or other attachment means, clogging or damaging same so that attachment of a fin would become further aggravating, if not impossible. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,039 to Chang discloses an amphibious shoe including a shoe having a fastening plate at its front end for connection to a diving flipper.
Several swim shoes have been provided that utilize a rotatable fin attached or mounted on an exterior portion of a shoe construct. These external foldable fins, propellers, or blades are hingedly or bendabley attached to the exterior of the shoe in a vertical orientation for walking and rotated to a horizontal orientation for swimming. External positioning of the fin structure exposes the rotatable fin to damage and poses tripping problems as the fin readily snags on objects as the wearer is walking. Further, the external fin mounted on the shoe causes the shoe to appear aesthetically gaudy if the wearer exits the beach to walk on the boardwalk, or other proximate locations. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 1,627,521 to Menschel discloses a shoe having a laterally pivoting aluminum frame; U.S. Pat. No. 1,702,681 to Barbosa discloses a sandal/shoe with a blade structure hingedly attached to the side of the shoe; U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,584 to Korn discloses a collapsible swim fin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,259 to Tackett et al. discloses a rotatable two-part fin; U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,327 to Klein discloses a retractable rotating swim fin; U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,457 to Kamitani discloses a pivoting swim fin; U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,212 to Kennedy discloses a rotatable blade (swim fin); U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,902 to Burns et al. discloses a shoe-like structure fused to a foldable one-piece continuous sole-fin; U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,898 to Burns et al. discloses a fin blade that rests adjacent to a wearer's instep; U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,982 to Walker discloses a rotatable fin; U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,574 to Hashizume et al. discloses a foldable diving flipper; U.S. Pat. No. 7,159,336 to Burns et al. discloses an improved amphibious shoe with a folding swim fin; and Foreign Publication No. FR 2565498 A1 to Vielle discloses a sandal having a rotatable flexible paddle.
Various swim shoes have been provided wherein a pivoting propeller or swim blade is laterally integrated within the heel or back of the sole of a shoe. These propellers or blades generally operate to pivot from an axis located in the heel of the shoe so that the blades do not act as fins in the front of the shoe, but instead engage as propeller blades on either side of the back of the shoe. When deployed, the propeller blades do not act as a fin construct as there are spaces between the blades, which are not as effective as a fin during swimming. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 1,688,498 to Jacobsen discloses a swimming shoe wherein a device having pivoting propeller blades is appointed to be attached to the soles of a shoe so that propeller blades pivot outwardly from the heel of the shoe to operate as pedals.
Even where swim shoes have been provided with swimming propellers, fins or blade integrated within a cavity stowed in the front portion of a sole of a shoe, these swim shoes fail to provide stabilization means that operate in conjunction with the fin to prevent buckling of the fin or loss of the shoe during swimming. The frontward integrated swim shoes heretofore disclosed and utilized are generally constructed as sandals with instep straps, toe straps, and a heel strap with a retractable fin, failing to provide enhanced stabilization means during swimming. Other disclosed embodiments only provide a clog-like shoe structure, lacking heel supports altogether. For examples: U.S. Pat. No. 2,980,926 to Wolshin discloses a swimming appliance or fin shoe that contemplates a shoe similar to a beach sandal which is provided with an extensible fin having a plurality of relatively flexible ribs connected by integral flexible webbing which expands when pulled forward from the shoe and contracts when pulled back into the shoe; U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,071 to Juang discloses an adjustable beach shoe having a platform and straps, as a sandal, wherein peripheral walls of the platform are formed with a first cut-out on the front end for admitting a web to pass through, so that when the web is pulled out and held between the sole and the platform at the front end of the platform, the shoes can be used as a diving flipper; and Foreign Publication No. SU 995825 to Berman et al. discloses footwear for swimming including a shoe portion having a fin housed therein.
None of the water-land shoes heretofore disclosed provides a show having a sole with a compartment therein for housing a fin or fin forming blade structure, which further provides enhanced stabilization means for comfort and securement of the shoe during swimming. Such a construct would provide an amphibious shoe that can readily be manipulated from a walking configuration to a swimming configuration, while activating stabilization means for providing enhanced stability of the shoe during swimming.
There remains a need in the art for an amphibious shoe having a lightweight fin portion internally integrated therein for immediate access enabling conversion from a walking shoe to a swimming shoe. Further needed is an amphibious shoe having enhanced stabilizing means integrated therein for superior operation of the fin and stabilization of the shoe during swimming as water is propelled to-and-fro against the fin.