The present invention provides a process and apparatus for manufacturing an electromagnetic interference shielding metallic foil cladded plastic product. The process comprises (a) coating one side of a superplastic alloy plate with a coupling agent or a hot melt adhesive; (b) placing the coupling agent- or hot melt adhesive-coated superplastic alloy plate in a mold, and superplastically forming the superplastic alloy plate to a superplastic alloy foil with a predetermined shape, such that another side of the superplastic alloy foil is attached to the mold and the coupling agent- or hot melt adhesive-coated side of the superplastic alloy foil is spaced apart from the mold to form a mold cavity, wherein an injection machine is attached to the mold cavity, and wherein the injection machine is capable of injecting softened plastic into the mold cavity; (c) introducing softened plastic from the injection machine to the mold cavity, such that plastic adheres on the coupling agent- or hot melt adhesive-coated side of the superplastic alloy foil, and an electromagnetic interference shielding metallic foil cladded plastic product is formed; and (d) removing the plastic product from the mold. The final metallic plastic product can not only have as intricate a shape as an ordinary plastic product, but also has a shielding effectiveness as high as an ordinary metallic shield.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process and apparatus for manufacturing an electromagnetic interference shielding metallic foil cladded plastic product, and more particularly to a process and apparatus for manufacturing an electromagnetic interference shielding metallic foil cladded plastic product by using two techniques, the superplastic forming of a superplastic alloy and the injecting of softened plastic.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, progress in technology has led to an extensive increase in the amount of sophisticated electronic equipment. However, the high-density electromagnetic waves produced from electronic equipment have the risk to damage or adversely affect the performance of other equipment or components. Also, exposure to electromagnetic waves is harmful to the human body. Therefore, an electrically conductive outer shell is needed to shield electromagnetic interference (EMI) produced from electronic equipment.
Heretofore, various methods have been used to shield electronic equipment. Metallic boxes and cans fabricated from steel, copper, aluminum, etc., were used to surround high EMI emitters as shielding. However, metallic shields with intricate shapes were difficult to be fabricated by the conventional metalworking methods. Moreover, metallic shields were cumbersome, heavy and costly. Therefore, the electronic industry has resorted to metallized plating on plastics. Unfortunately, the results obtained with metallic coatings were not always satisfactory. In addition to being relatively non-economical, once such metallic coatings were scratched through, they would lose part of their shielding efficiency. Unless such conductive coatings are continuous and free of voids, electromagnetic waves will be free to pass through. Frequently, it was difficult to obtain a dependable, 100% effective coating which was also resistant to peeling.
Further efforts by the electronics industry to develop more dependable light-weight materials for EMI shielding have led to a third approach, namely electrically conductive component-filled plastic composites. It was anticipated that intricate shapes could be molded from the composite materials by conventional means, yielding a finished part that promised to be more economical and dependable than metal or metal-coated plastics.
The principle factor influencing the performance of conductive component-filled plastic composites is the aspect ratio of the conductive fillers. The aspect ratio is defined as the ratio of the maximum dimension to the minimum dimension of the filler. For example, the aspect ratio of a fiber is the ratio of the length to the diameter of the fiber. According to the electromagnetic wave percolation theory, if the conductive filler in the plastic retains a higher aspect ratio, the filler easily forms a conductive network, thus, the critical concentration of the conductive filler required to achieve the electromagnetic shielding effect (that is, the threshold percolation concentration) is lower.
The methods for preparing conductive component-filled plastic composites can be classified into three types. The first type involves compounding the conductive fillers in the form of powders, short fibers or flakes with the plastic matrix, and then having the mixture hot-press molded or injection molded into various kinds of plastic products for shielding EMI.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,685 discloses a process for fabricating electromagnetic shielding products by first compounding and then molding a composite including a thermosetting resin binder and an electrically conductive filler (including carbon black, graphite and conductive metal powders). However, during the compounding with the resin matrix, the conductive powders may easily cluster, and thus are not capable of dispersing in the resin matrix. Consequently, the electromagnetic shielding efficiency of the molded products can not be effectively improved. Furthermore, since the powder filler has a lower aspect ratio, according to the electromagnetic wave percolation theory as mentioned above, the amount (i.e., threshold percolation concentration) of the powder filler added must be relatively high to achieve electrical conductivity. Consequently, the mechanical properties, color and other physical and chemical properties of the molded products are adversely affected.
On the other hand, if the conductive filler is in a higher aspect ratio form such as fibers or flakes, the filler can be loaded to a lower level. However, the cluster phenomenon is still difficult to prevent. In addition, during the compounding process, in order to maintain the original aspect ratio, the conductive filler should be strong enough to prevent breakage due to compounding. However, such a strong conductive filler is very expensive, and is thus not suitable for ordinary low cost electronic equipment. More seriously, when the resultant plastic pellets containing such conductive filler with high strength are subjected to injection molding, the mold, screws and compressing cylinder walls of the injection machine will suffer extensive wear.
The second type of method for preparing conductive component-filled plastic composites involves binding a plastic layer to enclose the conductive continuous filler by immersion or extrusion, and then cutting the conductive long fiber-filled plastic stick to a predetermined length. For example, Japanese Patent No. 60-112854 discloses a process including continuous extruding thermoplastic plastic to enclose a copper fiber to form a copper fiber-filled plastic round stick, and then cutting the plastic round stick into pellets of a predetermined size. In order to increase the aspect ratio of the filler, the diameter of the conductive long fiber should be as small as possible. The fibrous filler must be strong enough to prevent breakage. Because the compounding step is omitted in the second method, clustering of the filler is improved. However, again, when the resultant plastic pellets containing a conductive filler with high strength are subjected to injection molding, the mold, screws and compressing cylinder walls of the injection machine will suffer extensive wear.
The third type of method for preparing conductive component-filled plastic composites involves sandwiching an electrically conductive metal foil in between two plastic films to form a metallized laminated plastic sheet; slicing the plastic sheet into plastic strips; radially arranging the metallized plastic strips into a die of an extruder to be wetted and bound by softened plastic into a metallized plastic bar; and finally cutting the plastic bar into metallized plastic pellets of a predetermined size, which has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,851 and German Patent DE 19517554C2.
In the third method, the compounding step is omitted, thus clustering of the filler is improved. In addition, the metal foil in the plastic/metal/plastic laminated strips is reinforced by plastic. Therefore, even aluminum foil with lower strength is applicable. Hence, when the resultant plastic pellets are subjected to injection molding, the wearing of the mold, screws and compressing cylinder walls of the injection machine will be lessened. However, in the injection molding step, such aluminum foil with lower strength has a higher possibility of breaking. Therefore, there is a need to use a specially designed injection screw and injection mold.
The above three methods all involve subjecting the conductive pellets to hot-pressing or injection molding to obtain the final plastic article for shielding EMI. When injection molding is employed, in order to prevent lag, segregation, and orientional phenomena from occurring to the metallic filler in the mold, the design of the mold is very critical and complicated, thus increasing costs. Moreover, if a very thin product is desired, such as the outer shell of a notebook computer, the design of the mold is difficult, or even impossible to achieve.
In addition, floating phenomenon in the final conductive plastic article can not be prevented. Therefore, surface plastic coating on the final conductive plastic article is required, thereby increasing cost. Most importantly, according to the above three methods, the conductive filler in the plastic is not continuous (i.e. non-solid). Therefore, the resulting electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of such plastic article is limited and far less than that of a conventional metal outer shell.
Generally speaking, the shielding effectiveness of a conventional metal plate can reach 80 dB or more, which meets the requirement for various electronic equipment in various countries (FCC for U.S.A., VDE for Germany, VCCI for Japan, CSA for Canada, CISPR for Russia). However, a plastic article containing discontinuous (non-solid) conductive filler obtained from the above three methods has a shielding effectiveness of only about 50 dB, which can only meet the requirements for simple electronic equipment (40 dB), such as personal computers.
Nowadays, personal computers are usually equipped with CD-ROM, LSI, or other circuits of high density and high frequency. Therefore, in the future, it is anticipated that personal computers will require a higher shielding effectiveness, for example, 60 dB or more. Obviously, the plastic articles obtained from the above three methods will not meet the future needs. Furthermore, the conductive component-filled plastic articles obtained from the above three methods obviously can not be used for shielding the electronic equipment which needs high shielding effectiveness, such as work stations, remote control systems, cellular phones, and notebook computers.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a process for manufacturing a metallized plastic article having high shielding effectiveness (e.g., higher than 60 dB).

Process for manufacturing an electromagnetic interference shielding metallic foil cladded plastic product


A method of operating a first electronic device is provided. The method includes transmitting stream data to a second electronic device, receiving, from the second electronic device, stream information associated with the stream data received by the second electronic device, and determining at least some of the stream data to be transmitted to the second electronic device based on the received stream information.

With the development of information and communication technologies and semiconductor technologies, various types of electronic devices are being developed as multimedia devices that provide diverse multimedia services. For example, the electronic devices provide diverse multimedia services such as messenger services, broadcast services, wireless Internet services, camera services, and music playback services. The electronic devices include high-performance processors to achieve high network speeds and have enhanced hardware specifications to more rapidly perform a variety of functions.
For example, the electronic devices may provide Peer to Peer (P2P) services for sharing content with a counterpart electronic device through a direct connection thereto and may function as a server that provides content to the counterpart electronic device as well as a client that receives content.
The electronic devices may reproduce multimedia content, such as videos provided from content servers, after completely receiving the multimedia content through a download method or while receiving the multimedia content through a streaming method. For example, in the download method, the electronic devices download all multimedia content and then start to reproduce the multimedia content, and in the streaming method, the electronic devices continuously reproduce multimedia content while the multimedia content is being sequentially received.
The Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) is a representative example of the streaming protocol, and a server creates a session while connecting with a client. The session is used to maintain the playback state of the client and changes according to the client's command, such as playback, pause, and stop. While the session is being maintained, the server transmits media data in units of packets and functions as a flow control for transmitting an appropriate quantity of packets according to playback speeds.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

Media streaming method and electronic device thereof


A digital image reading apparatus is provided, which apparatus includes a reading part for optically reading an image of a document to output digital image data, a first setting part for setting a reading rate in a given scanning direction to a desired value, an image memory for temporarily storing the image data, a second setting part for setting parameters related to reading the image of the document based on communication with an external apparatus, and a computation part for computing a total amount of the image data from the parameters, wherein the first setting part sets the reading rate based on the total amount of the image data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to digital image reading apparatuses such as digital copying machines or image scanners, and more particularly to a digital image reading apparatus including a stepping motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional digital image reading apparatus reading a document image and transferring the image data to an external apparatus such as a host computer via an interface such as small computer system interface (SCSI), a document reading rate is determined to be a unique value by preset reading density. A rate of transferring the image data to the external apparatus receiving the image data (hereinafter referred to an image data transfer rate) is fixed by a data processing rate of the external apparatus. Therefore, in the case of transferring a certain amount of image data determined by reading density and a reading area from the digital image reading apparatus to the external apparatus, the image data is transferred to the external apparatus without a delay if the image data transfer rate is higher than the document reading rate. However, if the image data transfer rate is lower than the document reading rate, the image data is temporarily stored in memory housed in the digital image reading apparatus, and the stored image data is transferred in accordance with the image data transfer rate.
In general, the transfer of image data from the digital image reading apparatus to the external apparatus is performed in the following procedure. In step 1, image data read by a reading unit is stored in image memory of a DRAM. In step 2, the image data is transferred from the image memory of the DRAM to the external apparatus. The steps 1 and 2 are performed in parallel. However, there is a difference between a rate of storing the image data into the image memory (hereinafter referred to as an image data storing rate) and the image data transfer rate. Therefore, the image data is gradually accumulated in the image memory if the image data transfer rate is low or the reading of the image data is performed with high density. Since the storage capacity of the image memory is limited, the reading of the image data should be suspended at a certain point.
As a scanning system motor or a document conveying system motor of the digital image reading apparatus, a stepping motor is frequently employed. In controlling the stepping motor, a speed control operation of gradually decreasing the speed of the stepping motor is performed since the stepping motor is characteristically prevented from making an instant stop. At a point when room is generated in the storage capacity of the image memory as the image data is transferred to the external apparatus after the suspension, the stepping motor is driven again by canceling the suspension so that the reading operation is resumed. In resuming the reading operation, a speed control operation of gradually increasing the speed of the stepping motor is performed since the stepping motor is characteristically prevented from being driven instantly.
However, if the image data storing rate is relatively higher than the image data transfer rate, the above-describe speed control operations are sometimes repeated a number of times in a single reading operation. Obviously, a better image quality can be obtained by a reading operation at a constant rate than by a reading operation including the above-described speed control operations. Therefore, frequent occurrence of such a situation may deteriorate the image quality (quality of the read image) to a considerable extent. Indeed, an increase in the storage capacity of the image memory can lower the occurrence frequency of the above-described speed control operations, but at the same time, incurs rising costs.
Therefore, in a reading operation expecting a large data transfer amount of image data, such as a color or multivalue reading operation, a reading rate is preset to be lower than that of a binary reading operation so that the data transfer amount becomes equal to or approaches a read data amount.
However, in the reading operation expecting a large data transfer amount of image data, such as a color or multivalue reading operation, the reading rate is preset to be lower than that of the binary reading operation irrespective of the total image data amount of read image. Therefore, a reading time becomes longer, thus lowering the performance of the apparatus.


In some embodiments, a device in a network receives vehicle characteristic data regarding a set of vehicles. The device identifies, based on the received vehicle characteristic data regarding the set of vehicles, a particular ground-based charging coil with which charging coils of the set of vehicles are expected to be in a close proximity. The device determines, based on the received vehicle characteristic data regarding the set of vehicles, a set of power levels and times at which the particular ground-based charging coil is to be powered. The device dynamically controls the particular ground-based charging coil to be powered at the determined set of power levels and times.

Wireless power transfer (WPT) is an emerging technology that has proven to be effective for charging vehicles, such as electric vehicles (EVs). In a typical WPT setup for EVs, a ground-based charging coil is supplied power, thereby inducing a current remotely in a second, vehicle-based coil located at the bottom of the EV.
No standard yet exists with respect to EV configurations and many EVs vary in several aspects from each other when it comes to the battery configurations, power levels, charging rates, and so on. Often, these can vary across different makes and models. Such variations can also be due to model year changes and different options. For example, one vehicle model may be fitted with large, expensive coils and a battery management system (BMS), to enable faster WPT charging. In contrast, a budget version of the same model may be equipped with a standard set of coils and a BMS that supports a lower rate charging. In other words, it is envisioned that different EVs in the future will have different WPT charging capabilities.
In addition, as battery wears out, the rate and level at which the battery can absorb energy may change. Therefore, the age and number of charge/discharge cycles a battery pack has gone through will also play a role in the power transfer capability and efficiency. A common charging infrastructure that will encounter a large variance of these scenarios will need to be capable of handling these variations and still be able to operate optimum level of efficiency.

Intelligent coil control for vehicle wireless power transfer (WPT)


A construction machine includes: a lower propelling body; and an upper slewing body which is slewably mounted on the lower propelling body. The upper slewing body includes: an engine room provided with an intake opening and a discharge opening; a duct provided in the engine room so as to communicate with the discharge opening; and an exhaust gas pipe which guides exhaust gas discharged from the engine into the duct. The discharge opening and an outlet of the duct are open downward from the engine room. A portion on a distal end side of the exhaust gas pipe is inserted into the duct. The duct and the exhaust gas pipe are configured to cause the exhaust gas to be mixed with cooled air in the duct and cause the mixture of the exhaust gas and the cooled air to be discharged downward from the discharge opening.

A background art will be described by way of a hydraulic shovel, for example.
FIG. 9 illustrates a small hydraulic shovel called a mini shovel.
The hydraulic shovel includes a lower propelling body 1, an upper slewing body 2 mounted on the lower propelling body 1 so as to be slewable about an axis (central axis of slewing) O perpendicular to the ground, and an excavating device A attached to the front of the upper slewing body 2.
The lower propelling body 1 includes a car body (not illustrated) on which the upper slewing body 2 is mounted and crawler-type propelling devices 3 (only one of them is illustrated) attached to both left and right sides of the car body.
An engine room 6 surrounded by an upper frame 4 and an engine guard member 5 such as a panel or a bonnet is provided at a rear part of the upper frame 4 which forms the upper slewing body 2. An engine 7 and related devices thereof are provided in the engine room 6.
Moreover, a driver's seat 8 and an operation lever (not illustrated) are provided on the engine guard member 5. An operator operates the lever in a state of sitting on the driver's seat 8.
In FIG. 9, reference numeral 9 indicates a canopy which covers the driver's seat 8 from the upper side.
In this small shovel, when hot exhaust gas discharged from the engine is discharged upward directly from the engine room through an exhaust gas pipe (tail pipe), exhaust heat and exhaust sound blow directly toward the operator. Due to this, there is a problem in which the operation environment of the operator gets worse.
A feature disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known as an improvement technique related to a structure for discharging exhaust gas. This known technique will be described with reference to FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a cross-section of the engine room 6 when seen from a rear side of the engine room 6.
A cooling fan 10 driven by the engine 7 and a heat exchanger 11 such as a radiator are provided in the engine room 6 on one end side of the engine 7. An intake opening 12 is formed in a portion on a side of an upper wall of the engine guard member 5 where the fan 10 and the heat exchanger 11 are formed, and a discharge opening 13 is formed in a portion on the opposite side of the upper wall. Outside air is introduced into the engine room 6 through the intake opening 12 with rotation of the fan 10 and passes through the heat exchanger 11, and cooled air (discharge wind) is discharged from the discharge opening 13.
On the other hand, a silencer (muffler) 14 is located on the other end side of the engine 7. The exhaust gas emitted from the engine 7 is discharged to the outside through the silencer 14 and an exhaust gas pipe (tail pipe) 15 connected to the silencer 14.
Here, in the known technique, a cylindrical duct 16 is provided at a position below the discharge opening 13 in the engine room 6 so as to extend in the up-down direction in a state where an upper end of the duct 16 is open to the discharge opening 13, and a lower end of the duct 16 is open to the inner side of the engine room 6. A distal end portion 15a of the exhaust gas pipe 15 is bent upward at the lower side of the duct 16 so that the distal end portion 15a is inserted into the duct 16 from the lower end of the duct 16.
By doing so, the discharge wind and the exhaust gas are guided into the duct 16, and both are mixed in the duct 16, whereby the temperature of the exhaust gas is decreased. After that, the discharge wind and the exhaust gas are discharged to the outside, and operating noise in the duct is reduced.
Although the known technique can better decrease the exhaust gas temperature and the operating noise than the conventional structure, the mixture of the exhaust gas and the discharge wind are discharged upward similarly to the conventional structure. Due to this, even if the known technique is applied in particular to the small shovel which does not have a cabin illustrated in FIG. 9, heat and noise still have a large adverse effect on the operator.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H3-229907

Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.


My invention relates to the use of laser light energy to excite oxygen from its normal ambient state to that required for it to convert to molecular ozone. Laser light energy is passed through a flowing stream of oxygen molecules and atoms, either when the oxygen is in a gaseous form or as when it is absorbed as a gas in a halogenated hydrocarbon inert liquid; thus producing ozone, when in the gaseous form, for immediate use, or when absorbed in the inert liquid, for later use.

1. Field of the Invention
Ozone has been called "mother nature's effluent treatment". Ozone (O.sub.3) has been used throughout Europe to disinfect and improve the quality of drinking water since 1906: When the first commercial plant for an application of this sort began operating at Nice, France. Several thousand installations are now in operation, the most of which are in Europe. Ozone is used principally in water treatment for taste and odor enhancement. Present day demands for cleaner effluent streams from Industrial Plants, along with simpler, more efficient means of treating municipal sewage indicate the much greater use of ozone, if its cost of production can be kept competitive with chlorine, chlorine dioxide, peroxide, and permanganate.
The more recent findings that chlorinated water may produce carcinogens with trace hydrocarbons is a further reason to expand the use of ozone as a disinfectant and sterilant.
2. Description of Prior Art
The basic elements of older ozonation systems are an ozone generator and a mixing tank or column.
The heart of the generator is the ozone producer consisting of a pair of large-area electrodes, either flat or concentric tubular, separated by an air gap and a presence of a high-voltage, high frequency silent electric discharge, or corona, ozone is generated from oxygen in the gap between the electrodes. Most generating units are designed to operate in the 5000 to 25,000 volt range, and at frequencies up to 1000, or more H.sub.z.
Many of the operating problems encountered in this type equipment is the heat in the generating area, along with accumulations of nitric acid and nitrogen oxides which occur as by-products of ozone generation from air having a dew point above -40.degree. C. Use of air not only requires drying prior to introduction to the generator, but decreases the oxygen conversion to ozone to 50% of that produced when pure oxygen is used.
Several improvements have been developed in the generation of ozone. Acid-resistant materials have reduced the need for dry air; and electronic circuitry has been fruitful in the design and use of "tuned" circuits that is--spaced or shaped surges of power set resonant circuits "ringing" with a series of descending electronic echoes that maintain the corona at an ozone generating energy level between pulses. This form of electronic coasting has significantly reduced power consumption. Power consumption of 20 watts per gram of ozone has been reduced to 10+.
The most recent being the production of ozone by converting oxygen, absorbed in a liquid dielectric, with either a corona, using the liquid as the dielectric, or ultra violet light irradiation.
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. Nos. ______________________________________ 1,074,106 9/1913 Dumars 204/176 2,992,540 7/1961 Grosse et al 62/48 3,186,930 6/1965 Cook 204/176 3,342,721 9/1967 Debelius et al 250/531 3,766,051 10/1973 Bollyky 250/540 4,140,608 2/1979 Vaseen 204/176 U.S. Patent Applications - No. 885,956 - 3/13/78 No. 044,963 - 6/4/79 ______________________________________


In a swash plate type compressor, a swash plate (22) is fixed to a boss (21) by means of rivets (35). The swash plate is coupled to a plurality of pistons (24) via shoes (25). When a main shaft (16) is rotated to rotate a rotor (18), a rotational motion of the rotor is transmitted to the boss via a hinge mechanism (19) which changes an inclination of the swash plate. Accordingly, the boss is rotated to rotate the swash plate at the inclination to cause the pistons to make reciprocating motions in cylinders (26) via the shoes for performing a compressing operation.

The present invention relates to a swash plate type compressor for use in, for example, an automobile air conditioner.
In a swash plate type compressor, a swash plate is mounted on a shaft which is rotated by an automobile engine. Pistons are indirectly coupled to the swash plate. When the swash plate is rotated together with the shaft, the pistons make reciprocating motions to compress fluid.
In a swash plate type compressor of a variable displacement type, a swash plate boss (which will be abbreviated hereinunder a boss) is coupled to a shaft via a rotor and a hinge mechanism at a variable inclination relative to the shaft. A swash plate is fixed to the boss. In this case, since pistons have a stroke corresponding to the inclination of the swash plate, the displacement of the compressor can be set variable.
In the conventional techniques, fixation of the swash plate relative to the boss has been carried out using a screw. However, since the swash plate type compressor generates various vibrations, there has been a problem of causing loosening of the screw. The loosening of the screw may cause separation of the swash plate from the boss, leading to breakage of the compressor. On the other hand, when welding is used for the fixation, welded portions should be made of the same material and further an influence of heat should be considered, so that it is disadvantageous in view of cost and quality.

Swash plate type compressor in which a rivet means is used to fix a swash plate


Agents which contains a serotonin derivative as an active ingredient are effective for improving hemodynamics and for preventing or improving deterioration of hemodynamics associated with aging and progression of cardiovascular diseases.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an agent for improving hemodynamics. The present invention also relates to methods for improving hemodynamics.
2. Discussion of the Background
With the westernization of lifestyle in recent years, diseases such as angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction and the like, along with cancer, have become the primary cause of deaths of Japanese people. In addition, complications developed with the progression of diabetes, such as nephropathy, retinopathy and the like, increase kidney dialysis and bedridden patients, forming a biggest cause straining the medical expenses. All of these are diseases in the blood vascular system, which are extremely difficult to cure after onset and significantly degrade the QOL (quality of life) of patients. Therefore, an arrangement to always keep damage to blood vessels and the level of aging within appropriate ranges is extremely important also from social aspects.
As risk factors that damage blood vessels and accelerate aging, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, hypertension, obesity and the like are conventionally known. High blood lipid, blood glucose, blood pressure and the like are known to reduce the extensibility of blood vascular walls and change reactivity with various vascular tonus regulatory factors such as nitric oxide (NO) and angiotensin II. Therefore, control of these risk factors to appropriate levels is important, and drugs, food and the like for this object have been continuously developed. Even when the levels of these risk factors are the same, the damage to and aging of blood vessels are interindividually different and cannot be consistent. Therefore, direct measurement of the level of aging of blood vessels becomes important. Recently, it is becoming possible to noninvasively and quantitatively evaluate the aging level of blood vessels by measuring and analyzing changes in the arterial blood pressure due to heartbeat, i.e., pulse wave. In as much as pulse wave velocity (PWV) showing the velocity of the pulse wave along an artery, Augmentation Index (AIx) reflecting the total peripheral vascular resistance, particular wave form component of second derivative of photoplethysmogram, which is the laplacian of the digital plethysmogram finger plethysmogram, as well as a numerical index consisting thereof and the like show certain changes with aging (Schiffrin, Am. J. Hypertens., 17: 395, 2004, and Takazawa, et. al., Hypertension, 32:365, 1998), the concept of "vascular age" based on the standard value for each age is prevailing.
In recent clinical tests, moreover, the number of reports showing the usefulness of PWV, AIx and the like as risk prediction factors of cardiovascular diseases is increasing (Boutuyrie, et. al., Hypertension, 39:10, 2002, and London, et. al., Hypertension, 38:434, 2001). While these indices are considered to mainly reflect extensibility, wall thickness and vascular resistance of blood vascular walls, it is clear that they are not defined only by blood pressure or mere structural stiffness, in view of the reports documenting examples showing that PWV changes differently even when the level of hypotensive effect is the same (Asmar, et. al., J. Hypertens., 19:813, 2001), and that these indices are improved by a light exercise therapy (Sugawara et al., abstract of the third meeting of Clinical Arterial Wave Society, 39, 2003) or a short-term intervention of a certain drug (Matsuo et al., abstract of the second meeting of Clinical Arterial Wave Society, 33, 2002, and Watanabe, et. al., American College of Cardiology 51 st Annual Scientific Session, 2002). Involvement of factors such as sympathetic nerve activity, vascular endothelial function, adiponectin and the like is also suggested (McVeigh, et. al., Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol., 14: 1425, 1994, Agata, et. al., Circul. J., 68: 1194, 2004 and Akimoto et al., 'Pulse wave velocity', 104, MEDICA1 VIEW, 2002), and therefore, these indices are taken as indices of total risk for vascular walls including temporary functional vascular tone rather than mere indices of atherosclerosis.
Therefore, a component capable of directly improving a pulse wave-related index such as PWV, AIx and the like and maintaining the "vascular age" within an appropriate range is highly likely more useful for the prophylaxis or treatment of cardiovascular diseases than a component that indirectly decreases a blood vessel risk through improvement of classic indices such as blood cholesterol, blood pressure and the like. The number of reports relating to a PWV improving effect by a part of pharmaceutical products (statin, angiotensin II receptor blocker, EPA preparation and the like) is increasing in recent years (Agata, et al., Circul. J., 68:1194, 2004, Asmar, 'Pulse wave velocity and therapy', 142, Elsevier, 1999 and Sato, et al., J. Cardiovasc. Pharmacol., 22: 1, 1993). The report on a lower incidence of cardiovascular event in a group showing a good PWV improvement rate, though with a similar level of hypotensive action (Yamashina, Toyama, 'Pulse wave velocity', 120, MEDICA1 VIEW, 2002) is one such example. However, long-term consecutive use of these pharmaceutical products may cause adverse effects, and there have been found only a few food components considered to be safer and known to improve PWV, AIx, second derivative of photoplethysmogram waveform (Teede, et al., Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol., 23: 1066, 2003 and Nestel, et al., Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol., 17: 1163, 1997).
The composition for improvement of hemodynamics of the present invention, as mentioned below, suppresses an increase of the pulse wave velocity (PWV) and Augmentation Index (AIx) in rabbit, as well as decreases the blood pressure (systolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure) and pulse pressure. While these hemodynamic indices are known to increase as atherosclerosis progresses, it is known that they are also degraded by, in addition to structural stiffening of blood vessels, an increase in the total vascular resistance due to promoted functional vascular tone.


A system in which blocks are classified into one or more fixed shape blocks in which terminal positions are previously determined and one or more variable shape blocks in which terminal positions are changeable. The system includes an initial terminal assign section for provisionally assigning terminal positions relating to the variable shape blocks for the purpose of minimizing the total length of the wirings; and a terminal distribution and assign section for evaluating the provisionally assigned terminal positions and for distributing the provisionally assigned terminal positions on the basis of the evaluation.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system for assigning block terminals, and more particularly to a system for optimizing block terminal positions when automatically designing a layout for a semiconductor device such as a VLSI.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a semiconductor device such as a VLSI, generally, a plurality of blocks are disposed, and block terminals or pins are electrically connected via wirings. The assignment of the positions of such terminals is manually performed by a circuit designer while taking into account the connection of signals.
In the prior art, therefore, it is difficult to simultaneously satisfy the two requirements that the terminal positions are to be optimized to avoid the local concentration of the terminals and that the total wiring length is to be minimized. Furthermore, in a manual terminal location assignment process, such a problem is encountered that considerably increased manhours are required for designing the layout of a VLSI, creating the difficulty in reducing the designing period.

System for assigning positions of block terminals in a VLSI

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A system comprising a microprocessor-controlled transfer device and a separate catheter for intraluminal treatment of a selected site in a body of a patient by at least one treating element advanced from a removable treating element cartridge received in the transfer device into a lumen of the separate catheter by means of pressurized fluid controlled by a fluid control switch moveable between send and return positions. A safety interlock is provided for preventing both (1) the disassembly of the system unless the treating element resides in the treating element cartridge and (2) the actuation of the fluid control switch unless the system is assembled. The safety interlock comprises a first lock moveable from a first position to a second position only if both the catheter and the treating element cartridge are secured to the transfer device. The first lock blocks the movement of the fluid control switch to the send position when in its first position and prevents disassembly of either the catheter or the treating element cartridge from the transfer device when in its second position. The fluid control switch further locks the first lock into its second position when the fluid control switch is in the send position. A system is also provided for detecting whether the treating element resides at a targeted location along the lumen of the transfer device. The detection system comprises a pressure transducer that is in fluid communication with the lumen of the transfer device so as to be capable of measuring the fluid pressure at the targeted location of the lumen. Circuitry is provided for comparing the measured presssure to a reference pressure corresponding to the pressure at the targeted location when the treating elements are stored at the targeted location under fluid pressure. A signal generator provides a signal when the measured pressure differs from the reference pressure by more than a predetermined amount. The signal may activate an optical signal and/or a mechanical interlock, the latter preventing separation of the catheter from the transfer device and preventing closure of the gate when activated by a signal from the signal generator corresponding to the pressure encountered when the treating element does not reside at the targeted location.

The present invention relates generally to an intraluminal radiation system for the delivery of treatment elements by way of a catheter to a selected location within the intraluminal passageways of a patient. More particularly, the present invention relates primarily to an improved transfer device for handling the treatment elements and delivering them to the catheter.
Since the late 1970""s balloon angioplasty techniques have become widely used for opening blockages in coronary arteries. Briefly, the enlargement of the artery is achieved by advancing a balloon catheter into a narrowed portion of the artery and inflating the balloon to expand the diameter of the artery, thus opening the artery for greater blood flow. Atherectomy techniques, in which blockages are removed or reduced in size, have also been used to the same end.
While balloon angioplasty has proved an effective way of opening the coronary arteries, in a significant number of cases the arteries narrow again at the location where the balloon was expanded, such narrowing being termed restenosis. Restenosis is believed to be caused by formation of scar tissue at the site of the angioplasty that results from the injury to the artery caused by the inflation of the balloon. More recently, intraluminal radiation has been used after angioplasty or atherectomy to treat the affected area of the artery to inhibit cell proliferation and wound healing response and, consequently, help to prevent restenosis. Methods and apparatus for such intraluminal radiation treatment are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,899,882 and 6,013,020, and applications Ser. No. 09/304,752, filed May 4, 1999, and Ser. No. 09/469,510, filed Dec. 22, 1999, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. These applications generally disclose an apparatus comprising a catheter, which is inserted intraluminally into the patient and advanced to the site of the area to be treated, and a transfer device for facilitating either the hydraulic or pneumatic advancement and retrieval of individual radioactive treating elements or xe2x80x9cseedsxe2x80x9d along the catheter to and from the treatment site. A plurality of treatment elements comprises a xe2x80x9csource train.xe2x80x9d
As with any device inserted into the vascular system, it must have sufficient integrity to insure that no pieces or elements are separated from or exit the device into the vascular system. This is particularly true for the treating elements which are moved to and from the distal end of the catheter. Additionally, because the device is intended to use radioactive treating elements, there is a heightened need for safety to prevent any unintended exposure of either the patient or the user to radioactivity.
Actual use of the apparatus described in the above-identified patents and co-pending applications has suggested several areas where the device could be improved to reduce the possibility of having treatment elements escape from the system, thus enhancing patient and user safety.
Consequently, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide a transfer device and catheter assembly that has additional safeguards to protect the patient and user for unintended exposure to radiation.
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a transfer device/catheter assembly in which the treatment elements cannot be inadvertently released from the transfer device.
Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a transfer device capable of advancing and retrieving source trains of varying lengths for treatment of different sized lesions. More particularly, the transfer device is adapted to receive interchangeable cartridges which house source trains of varying lengths.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a delivery system that requires both automation and manual manipulation to successfully and safely advance the user through the treatment procedure. More particularly, the transfer device automatically creates the pressurized fluid flow, senses the presence or absence of the treating elements within the transfer device, and permits or prevents movement of the gate mechanism to the open or closed position through the use of electromechanical means and prompts the user to sequentially follow the appropriate manual steps for safely providing treatment to the patient.
These objects, as well as others which will become apparent upon reference to the following drawings and detailed description, are provided by a system comprising a microprocessor-controlled transfer device and a separate catheter for intraluminal treatment of a selected site in a body of a patient by at least one treating element advanced from a removable treating element cartridge received in the transfer device into a lumen of the separate catheter by means of pressurized fluid controlled by a fluid control switch moveable between send and return positions. A safety interlock is provided for preventing both (1) the disassembly of the system unless the treating element resides in the treating element cartridge and (2) the actuation of the fluid control switch unless the system is assembled. The safety interlock comprises a first lock moveable from a first position to a second position only if both the catheter and the treating element cartridge are secured to the transfer device. The first lock blocks the movement of the fluid control switch to the send position when in its first position and prevents disassembly of either the catheter or the treating element cartridge from the transfer device when in its second position. The fluid control switch further locks the first lock into its second position when the fluid control switch is in the send position.
In a preferred embodiment, the safety interlock comprises a spring having two arms, each arm being engaged by one of the catheter or the treating element cartridge when attached to the transfer device. A slidable switch is provided including a yoke that is moveable from a first position to a second position to capture the arms of the spring and to lock both the catheter and the treating element cartridge to the transfer device only if each arm of the spring is engaged by one of the catheter and treating element cartridge. Each arm of the spring is independently capable of blocking movement of the yoke from its first position to its second position if the spring arm is not engaged by one of the catheter or treating element cartridge.
The fluid control switch actuates a gate mechanism moveable between open and closed positions to respectively permit or prevent the treating element from moving out of the treating element cartridge when subjected to pressurized fluid. A solenoid is provided to lock the gate mechanism in the open position and disengages the gate mechanism to permit it to close only when the treating element resides in the treating element cartridge.
Photo interrupters or other sensors may be associated with the first lock or the fluid control switch to detect their position and generate a signal sent to the microprocessor to permit the treatment to continue in accordance with the position of the first lock and the fluid control switch.
In a further aspect of the invention, a system is provided for detecting whether the treating element resides at a targeted location along the lumen of the transfer device. The detection system comprises a pressure transducer that is in fluid communication with the lumen of the transfer device so as to be capable of measuring the fluid pressure difference across the targeted location of the lumen. Circuitry is provided for comparing the measured pressure difference to a reference pressure difference corresponding to the pressure difference at the targeted location when the treating elements are stored at the targeted location under fluid pressure. A signal generator provides a signal when the measured pressure difference differs from the reference pressure difference by more than a predetermined amount. The signal may activate an optical signal and/or a mechanical interlock, the latter preventing separation of the catheter from the transfer device and preventing closure of the gate when activated by a signal from the signal generator corresponding to the pressure difference encountered when the treating element does not reside at the targeted location.
In an alternate embodiment of this aspect of the present invention, the pressure transducer is in fluid communication with the lumen of the transfer device so as to be capable of gauging the fluid pressure at a single point along the lumen of the transfer device and distal to where the treatment elements reside at a targeted location along the lumen of the transfer device. The measured pressure at this single point is compared to either a predefined pressure or a reference pressure corresponding to the pressure at the same point when the treating elements are stored at the targeted location under fluid pressure. A signal generator provides a signal when the measured pressure differs from the predefined or reference pressure by more than a predetermined amount.

Automated system for the radiation treatment of a desired area within the body of a patient


Strip edge relief is adjusted in a twenty-high cluster rolling mill by a set of double-tapered intermediate rolls in contact with the work roll. Rolling forces bend the work roll ends toward the tapered sections of the intermediate rolls to provide strip edge relief. Hydraulic actuators rotatably contact journals on the intermediate rolls and exert bending forces bending forces which bend the intermediate rolls so as to bending in the work rolls. This adjusts the strip edge relief.

It is known that rolls in a rolling mill flatten slightly due to rolling forces imposed on the working rolls and intermediate rolls as they are squeezed between the backing bearings and the material being rolled. Since the width of the strip material being rolled is always less than the length of the working rolls, the ends of the working rolls are not flattened by these forces and there is a transition area extending inward from the edge of the strip being rolled. This transition section causes the edges of the strip to be over-rolled at the edges. This is because the distance between the flattened work rolls in the central portion of the strip is greater than the distance between the partially flattened work rolls at the edge of the strip. A strip that is over-rolled at the edges will result in wavy or "pie crust" edges.
The prior art has sought to control the polarity of the rolled material in various ways, for instance by controlling the surface profile of the work rolls and intermediate rolls, by controlling the surface profile of the backup bearing rolls through hydraulic cylinders actuating eccentric shaft mounting, or by selective bending of rolls.
Currently, a popular method for adjusting the strip edge relief in a twenty-high cluster rolling mill is to employ a pair of intermediate rolls in contact with the upper work roll which are tapered on one end, and a pair of intermediate rolls in contact with the lower work roll, which are tapered on the other end. Then, by selectively shifting one or the other of the sets of tapered rolls in a lateral direction, using rotating couplings and linkage rods attached to hydraulic actuators, the degree of strip edge relief may be adjusted. The disadvantage of this system is that the rotating couplings must be small in diameter in order to function. Therefore lateral adjustments of the tapered rolls may only achieved under light rolling loads.
Although the prior art system utilizing lateral adjustments of the single-end-tapered intermediate rolls is effective for controlling over-rolling of strip edges, the lateral shifting mechanisms required are complicated and expensive. Also removal and replacement of the single-end-tapered intermediate rolls is cumbersome and time consuming.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for controlling strip edge relief in a cluster rolling mill.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for controlling polarity of strip material rolled in a twenty-high cluster rolling mill.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for utilizing tapered intermediate rolls to adjust strip edge relief, without requiring lateral adjustment of the tapered rolls.

Method and apparatus for controlling strip edge relief in a cluster rolling mill


A method and apparatus for processing moving picture signals on a real time basis using flash memories, in which the moving picture signals can be recorded and reproduced on the real time basis according to time division technology using multi-stage flash memories. The moving picture signal real-time processing apparatus using the flash memories provide a data output with which the moving picture signal can be processed on a real time basis, by a time division technology which uses an overlappingly multi-stage register portion, a multi-stage FIFO memory portion and a multi-stage flash memory portion.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for processing moving picture signals using flash memories. More particularly, the invention relates to a method an apparatus for processing moving picture signals on a real time basis using a time division technology and a multi-stage flash memory.
The flash memory is a non-volatile semiconductor memory in which stored data is preserved even if power applied to the memory is disconnected. Data is recorded on and reproduced from the flash memory in units of one byte or one page (which corresponds to 256 bytes or 264 bytes), using various control ports and input/output (I/O) ports of the flash memory.
When flash memories are used for a moving picture recording and reproducing apparatus in the prior art, one flash memory is selected from among a number of the flash memories to perform data input and output in units of one page (264 bytes). The rest of the flash memories are sequentially accessed to record or produce a moving picture signal in units of one page.
However such a conventional method cannot process moving picture signals on a real time basis because the flash memory access time is long for the data recording and reproducing operation.
For example, flash memory model No. KM29N1600 made by the Semiconductor Division of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, requires approximately 155.9 ns to reproduce one byte and about 1.14 .mu.s to record one byte when data is recorded and reproduced in units of one page. By contrast, it takes about 69.84 ns byte to process the composite video signal for moving picture signal on a real time basis. Thus, it is impossible to process a moving picture signal on a real time basis using a the above flash memory.

Method & Apparatus for real-time processing of moving picture signals using flash memories


The improved aqueous, non-cyanide zinc electroplating solution prevents iron contamination during electroplating. The solution, in addition to water, has a copper salt, preferably copper sulfate, in a concentration of about 0.01-6% by weight of the solution, and the water-soluble reaction product of epichlorohydrin with Compound A, preferably in a concentration of about 16.67-26.67 gm./liter of solution. Compound A is a nitrogen-containing compound selected from aliphatic amine, unsubstituted heterocyclic nitrogen compound having at least two reactive nitrogen sites, and substituted heterocyclic nitrogen compound having at least two reactive nitrogen sites and 1-2 substitution groups selected from methyl, ethyl and amino groups. The reaction product, providing it includes the substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic nitrogen compound, before use in the solution may be further reacted with a reagent of at least one of ammonia, aliphatic amine, polyamine or polyimine. A preferred reaction product is that of imidazole and epichlorohydrin in a molar ratio of about 0.7-1.7:1.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to electroplating or electrodeposition of metals and more particularly to an improved aqueous non-cyanide electroplating solution useful as a strike bath for deposition of copper on zinc or other metals.
2. Prior Art
The electrodeposition of metals from aqueous solutions is well-known. Typically, an electroplating system includes an electroplating bath and two or more electrodes immersed in the bath. The cathode is the object to be plated. The anode may be either carbon or a piece of the metal to be plated on the cathode. When the anode is the plating metal, it is consumed during the electroplating process, providing a constant source of metal ions to the plating bath.
In electroplating metals such as copper on active metals such as zinc, it is necessary to first make the initial deposit from a strike bath in order to avoid immersion plating, that is, chemical deposition of metal. The strike bath ordinarily contains a sufficiently low concentration of metal ions so as to avoid the undesired chemical deposition of immersion plating.
Copper-containing strike baths usually utilize copper as a cyanide. Cyanides of other metals are also used in strike baths. However, cyanides are extremely dangerous to use. If the pH of the strike bath drops to 7.0 or becomes acidic (i.e., below pH 7.0), then there is real danger of producing hydrogen cyanide gas in the process. Hydrogen cyanide gas is colorless, odorless and deadly. Toxic metal cyanides are also hazardous. If the electroplater happens to absorb the dissolved cyanide, as through a skin cut or the like, injury or death can also occur. Moreover, the used cyanide-containing bath is difficult to dispose of safely without harming the environment. In addition, if an attempt is made to recover the metal cyanide from the used strike bath, special equipment and techniques must be employed which raise the overall cost of the electroplating operation.
Various attempts have been made in the past to carry out electroplating steps without the use of cyanides. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,475,293 which calls for the use of diphosphonates or monoamino lower alkylene phosphonates in electroplating divalent metal ions. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,706,634 and 3,706,635 which utilize various types of phosphonic acids as complexing agents. Unfortunately, immersion plating may still occur. Metal deposited by immersion plating is spongy and has poor adhesion so that subsequent metal deposited electrically tends to crack and peel.
Newer cyanide-free solutions for use as strike baths are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,879,270 which utilizes cyanuric acid or a salt thereof, U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,162 which employs a carboxy alkylene amino di(methylene phosphonic acid) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,928,147 which employs an organophosphorus chelating agent. Such solutions work with indifferent results.
A problem not addressed by the prior art but which needs to be solved for best plating results is the unwanted contamination by iron which occurs during the electroplating of copper on zinc. The iron is typically derived from the parts which are to be plated. Once the iron begins to deposit during electroplating (which begins to occur noticeably after a few days of electroplating), it forms a metal complex with the desired metal being deposited, which complex weakens the adhesion between the metal being plated and the plating metal, specifically the adhesion between the copper being plated and the zinc being plated by the copper.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to be able to provide an improved electroplating bath, more particularly, a strike bath useful for the plating of copper on zinc or the like without interference from iron contamination and without the necessity of using harmful dangerous chemicals such as cyanides in the bath. Such bath should be inexpensive, efficient and easy to make up and dispose of without contamination of the environment and without risk to the plater.


An exercising device for gymnasium or playground structurally designed to support an occupant in a partially reclining position. The structure is basically conical and includes a personal support area surrounded by a structure support area that is designed for contact with the ground or floor surface. Suitable means are provided within the conical structure for the occupant to position his hands and feet so that the unit may be thereafter moved in a rotational fashion by shifting the center of gravity of the unit-occupant combination.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an exercise and/or recreational device; and more particularly to apparatus suitable for gymnasium or playground use and adapted to move in response to selective body movements of a user.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Apparatus used for exercise and recreation in gymnasiums and playgrounds must be extremely strong in order to endure the physical abuse to which it is subjected. Such apparatus must frequently bear not only the weight of full grown persons; it must also accept without damage unusually high impacts during its employment. Where the apparatus is left out in a playground it must be at least weather resistant and preferably require no maintenance.
Appropriate prior art for the present invention includes the familiar "monkey bars" and also the manually activated horizontal carrousels adapted for rotation about a center pivot and arranged to receive one or more peripherally seated people.
The riding devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,084,935, 3,145,990, and 3,649,007 are somewhat more relevant than either monkey bars or carrousels in that they utilize an important principle of the present invention; namely, they are adapted to operate with two points in contact with a planar surface in order to yield rotary and translatory motion when a rider modifies his body weight to change the center of gravity of the unit-person combination. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,197,202 and 3,197,203 are also of interest because they illustrate a unit of generally conical form within which a rider may position himself in order to ultimately achieve head over heels or rotational motion. U.S. Pat. No. 3,460,828 has relevance because it too discloses certain embodiments that are conical in form and which can be positioned on their side in order horizontally or nearly horizontally support an occupant capable of generating random motion by physical changes in his position.
While believed relevant, each of these existing and prior recreational and/or exercising devices exhibits a number of limitations in design, durability, use or flexibility. They are not all equal strong or weather resistant and in many instances they are severely limited in the type of movements and use to which they may be subjected.


A magnetic recording medium is disclosed. The magnetic recording medium includes at least a disc-shaped non-magnetic substrate having a hole at a center, a soft magnetic underlying layer, and a magnetic recording layer. Relative permeability of the soft magnetic underlying layer under a magnetic field having one of the frequencies 100 MHz to 700 MHz increases gradually from a disc outer circumference to a disc inner circumference and a characteristic frequency of the relative permeability increases gradually from the disc inner circumference to the disc outer circumference.

There is an increasing demand for further improving the performance such as recording capacity and processing speed of hard disk drive (HDD). Thus, it is necessary to further improve the recording density of magnetic recording media incorporated in the HDD. To meet such a demand, a perpendicular magnetic recording technique is employed as a recording technique of magnetic recording media. In a perpendicular magnetic recording technique, signals are recorded in a direction perpendicular to a principal plane of a magnetic recording medium. A magnetic recording medium used in the perpendicular magnetic recording technique includes, at least, a magnetic recording layer formed from a hard magnetic material having perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and a soft magnetic underlying layer (SUL) which performs a role of concentrating the magnetic flux generated by a single-pole head used for recording signals on a magnetic recording layer.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, a typical perpendicular magnetic recording system of the conventional art includes a magnetic recording medium 17 and a single-pole head 10. The single-pole head 10 includes a main pole 11, a return yoke 12, and a coil 13 surrounding the return yoke 12. A magnetic flux 14 generated from the main pole 11 passes through a magnetic recording layer 15 immediately below the main pole 11 and reaches the inside of an soft magnetic underlying layer 16. The magnetic flux then passes and spreads through the soft magnetic underlying layer 16 in an in-plane direction, passes through the magnetic recording layer 15 immediately below the return yoke 12, and returns to the return yoke 12. With this mechanism, a region of the magnetic recording layer 15 immediately below the main pole 11 is magnetized in a predetermined direction.
In recent years, there is a problem in that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) decreases when signals are recorded in high recording density. In general, the disk rotating speed of a magnetic recording medium is constant regardless of recording density. Thus, in order to record signals in high density, it is necessary to write signals at higher frequencies. The problem of decrease in SNR results from the inability of the magnetization response characteristics of the soft magnetic underlying layer to follow the increase in the frequency accompanied by the high recording density.
Further, in a ring-shaped magnetic recording medium used in the HDD, signals on the disc outer circumference side are recorded at higher linear velocity than on the inner circumference side close to the center of the disc. Due to this, in HDDs, a plurality of zones is set so as to be arranged from the inner circumference side of the magnetic recording medium to the outer circumference side, and bit pitches are equalized by changing the recording frequency in the respective zones. As a result, in the magnetic recording medium, the recording frequency on the outer circumference side is higher than the recording frequency on the inner circumference side.
In general, a magnetic material having high relative permeability has a low characteristic frequency, and the relative permeability under a recording magnetic field having high frequencies decreases, which results in a large loss. Conversely, a magnetic material that has a high characteristic frequency and satisfies high-frequency characteristics has low relative permeability. Due to this, in a magnetic recording medium, in order to cope with the high recording frequency on the outer circumference side, it is necessary to use a magnetic material having a relatively low relative permeability.
In the present specification, "characteristic frequency of relative permeability" is often referred to simply as "characteristic frequency." In the present specification, the expression "characteristic frequency" means a frequency at which when the frequency of a magnetic field is increased, the relative permeability of a magnetic material decreases by a predetermined amount as compared to the relative permeability of the magnetic material under a magnetic field having a reference frequency.
With regard to this problem, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H5-282647 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-268341 disclose a magnetic recording medium in which a soft magnetic oxide represented by ferrite is used as a magnetic material that forms a soft magnetic underlying layer to reduce loss based on eddy current under a high-frequency recording magnetic field to thereby improve magnetization response characteristics and to provide excellent recording performance in high recording density (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H5-282647 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-268341).
Moreover, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-328046 discloses, as a material capable of satisfying both high-frequency characteristics and high saturation magnetization, a magnetic thin film that microscopically includes a first ferromagnetic amorphous phase containing Fe and Co and a second amorphous phase containing boron (B) and carbon (C), although this magnetic thin film is not applied to magnetic recording media (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-328046).

Magnetic recording medium having a soft magnetic underlayer with tailored relative permeability regions


An inkjet coating device comprises a support board and a sprinkler head. The support board is provided for placing the glass plate, the sprinkler head comprises a plurality of spray nozzles, wherein, the spray nozzles comprise an ink entrance port and an ink exit port, the ink is poured from the ink entrance port and poured onto the glass plate from the ink exit port, the internal diameter of the ink entrance port is larger than that of the ink exit port. The inkjet coating device comprises a trumpet-shaped spray nozzle which are closed together without gap, so as to not only increase the spraying capacity, but also make the trumpet-shaped ink drop more disperse in each coating interval belt uniformly to form an ink coating layers with uniform thickness.

Refer to FIG. 1, in the conditional inkjet coating device, the spray nozzle 200 is straight-shaped which are correspondingly toward to the coating interval belt 300 on the glass-plate. The ink is spraying from the spray nozzle to the coating interval belt correspondingly. Because there is gap between the adjoined spray nozzles, the ink is usually remained in the gap on the spraying process. The ink is usually adhered on the spray nozzles to block up it, so that the spray nozzle is not spraying smoothly. The spray nozzle is necessary to be usually cleaned. At the same time, the ink is also often dropping around the coating interval belt and spreading on the adjoined coating interval belt, so as to form an uneven diffusion and different thickness coating interval belt. That is to say, the thickness of the coating interval belt is not easy to be controlled or adjusted.

Inkjet coating device and coating method

SHENZHEN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD


A thin film transistor (TFT) array panel for a Liquid Crystal Display apparatus (LCD) is provided. The TFT array panel comprises a plurality of gate lines, at least one data line intersecting the plurality of gate lines and at least one thin film transistor connected to at least one of the gate lines and the at least one data line. The at least one film transistor comprises a drain electrode. In addition, the TFT array panel further comprises at least one pixel electrode including at least one first subpixel electrode connected to the drain electrode of the thin film transistor and a second subpixel electrode capacitively coupled to the at least one first subpixel electrode. Moreover, the pixel electrode has a partitioning member for partitioning the pixel electrode into at least two partitions having portions which do not overlap the drain electrode. The at least two partitions are disposed symmetrically to a reference line equidistant from the plurality of gate lines.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film transistor (TFT) array panel.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display apparatus (hereinafter referred to as an LCD) is one of the most widely used flat panel displays. An LCD typically includes two panels provided with field-generating electrodes such as pixel electrodes and a common electrode and a liquid crystal (LC) layer interposed therebetween. The LCD displays images by applying voltages to the field-generating electrodes to generate an electric field in the LC layer, which determines orientations of LC molecules in the LC layer for adjusting polarization of the incident light.
One popular type of LCD, is the vertical alignment (VA) mode LCD, which aligns LC molecules such that the long axes of the LC molecules are perpendicular to the panels in the absence of an electric field. Much attention has been focused on the VA mode LCD because of its high contrast ratio and wide reference viewing angle.
Wide viewing angle of the VA mode LCD can be achieved via cutouts in the field-generating electrodes and protrusions on the field-generating electrodes. The cutouts and the protrusions affect the tilt directions of the LC molecules, e.g., the tilt directions can be distributed into several directions such that the reference viewing angle is widened. However, lateral visibility may not be improved in comparison to front visibility.

Thin film transistor array panel having a pixel electrode including a first subpixel electrode and a second subpixel electrode connected to the drain electrode of the thin film transistor and a third subpixel electrode capacitively coupled to a coupling electrode extended from the drain electrode


A subject estimation system includes a convolutional neural network to estimate a subject label of a dialog. The convolution neural network includes: one or more topic-dependent convolutional layers and one topic-independent convolutional layer, each of the one or more topic-dependent convolutional layers performing, on an input of a word-string vector sequence corresponding to dialog text transcribed from a dialog, a convolution operation dependent on a topic, and the topic-independent convolutional layer performing, on the input of the word-string vector sequence, a convolution operation not dependent on the topic; a pooling layer performing pooling process on outputs of the convolutional layer; and a fully connected layer performing full connection process on outputs of the pooling layer.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a subject estimation system, a subject estimation method, and a non-transitory recording medium having a computer program stored thereon, the system, method, and program estimating a subject of a dialog.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are systems that perform pattern recognition by utilizing a convolutional neural network (for example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0174881 (hereinafter referred to as "Patent Document 1")). Patent Document 1 disclose a typical method for pattern recognition using a convolutional neural network.
Methods in which a convolutional neural network is applied to the field of natural-language processing have also been known (e.g., Yoon Kim, "Convolutional Neural Networks for Sentence Classification", searched on the Internet, URL:http://arxiv.org/abs/1408.5882, on Mar. 29, 2016 (this document is hereinafter referred to as "Non-Patent Document 1")). Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a method for classifying a sentence by using a convolutional neural network made to perform learning using a known data set.
However, the sentence classification methods using the above-described related art are based on the premise that the convolutional neural network is learned using a sufficient amount of learning data, and much consideration has not been given to cases in which the amount of learning data is not sufficient.
Thus, even when the convolutional neural networks disclosed in the related art are used, there is a drawback in that a task for estimating a subject of a dialog cannot be accurately performed when the amount of learning data is not sufficient.

Subject estimation system for estimating subject of dialog

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A non-contact power supply device, which supplies electric power to a power reception coil from a power transmission coil in a non-contact manner, includes a power transmission coil, a power transmission circuit switchably coupling a voltage source to the power transmission coil, the power transmission circuit configured to resonate at a fundamental frequency, and a serial LC resonant circuit in parallel with the power transmission coil, and configured to resonate at a frequency of a harmonic wave of the fundamental frequency. The non-contact power supply device suppresses a harmonic wave noise by providing a resonant circuit that resonates at a specific harmonic wave.

In recent years, a non-contact power supply device that supplies electric power in a non-contact state is widely used. The non-contact power supply device supplies electric power to a power reception device, such as a portable terminal and a tablet terminal, from a power transmission device in a non-contact state through electromagnetic coupling, such as an electromagnetic induction or a magnetic field resonance. The non-contact power supply device includes a power transmission circuit and a power transmission coil to transmit electric power. The power reception device includes a power reception coil for receiving electric power, a power reception circuit for using the received electric power and driving the power reception device, and a charging circuit for charging a secondary battery that is equipped with the power reception device.
In the non-contact power supply device, in order to supply the electric power to the power reception device from the power transmission device even in a case where devices are separated from each other more than 1 centimeter (cm) or 2 cm, a switching frequency having several megahertz (MHz) or more may be used in some cases. Such a switching frequency increases a quality (Q) value of a coil. For example, the switching frequency having 6.78 MHz or the switching frequency having 13.56 MHz is used. By increasing the Q value of the coil, it is possible to efficiently supply the electric power even when the power transmission coil and the power reception coil are far away from each other.
In the non-contact power supply device, it is possible to supply the electric power with respect to the power reception device with high efficiency, but it is necessary to suppress a radiation noise. In order to suppress the radiation noise, in some cases, an amplifier using a resonance, such as a class E amplifier that reduces a switching loss through zero-voltage switching (ZVS) or zero-current switching (ZCS), is used as the power transmission circuit of the non-contact power supply device. ZVS is a technique for switching a switching element such as a MOSFET in a zero-voltage state, and ZCS is a technique for switching a switching element such as a MOSFET in zero-current state. The ZVS and ZCS techniques are referred to as soft switching. The soft switching may reduce the switching loss, and realize the power transmission circuit with high efficiency.
In the non-contact power supply device in which the electric power may be supplied to the power reception device from the power transmission device even in a case where the power transmission coil and the power reception coil are separated from each other more than 1 cm or 2 cm, or more than several cm, the power reception coil is not tightly coupled with the power transmission coil. Thus, it is likely that electromagnetic waves are radiated to a space from the power transmission coil. In order to reduce the radiation noise radiated to the space from the power transmission coil, a low pass filter can be inserted into a previous stage of the power transmission coil to reduce harmonic components. However, since the amplifier in the non-contact power supply device performs the soft switching such as the ZVS or the ZCS by using an inductance (L) value of the power transmission coil and an inductance-capacitance (LC) resonance, insertion of an LC filter changes the resonance condition. Thus, the soft switching may operate incorrectly. As a result, there is a problem in that the circuit may operate incorrectly. In addition, in order for the resonance condition to remain unchanged in when the LC filter is inserted, a circuit constant is required to be reset. However, it can be difficult to adjust the circuit constant.
An induction heating device is a known device including the power transmission circuit that is used as a non-contact power supply device. The power transmission circuit in the non-contact power supply device of the induction heating device is configured such that the electric power is supplied to the power transmission coil from a high-frequency inverter that includes a switching element driven by a two-phase oscillator. The harmonic components radiated from the power transmission coil are reduced, and thus an L-type resonance circuit that includes an inductor and a capacitor is provided between the switching element and the power transmission coil. The L-type resonance circuit functions as the low pass filter. The switching frequency of the induction heating device is set as 80 kilohertz (KHz).
Since the resonance frequency of the L-type resonance circuit that functions as the low pass filter is required to be lower than the switching frequency, it is necessary that the inductors have relatively large values and be connected between the switching element and the power transmission coil in series. Since the large-value inductors are used, it is not possible to supply a sufficient electric current to the power transmission coil. As a result, the supplied power is also decreased.


A method of mapping an input message to an output message by a keyed cryptographic encryption operation, wherein the keyed cryptographic encryption operation includes a first round, including: performing a substitution function on a first portion of the input message to produce an output, wherein the substitution function incorporates a portion of a cryptographic key; and performing a watermarking function on the output, wherein the watermarking function produces a watermark output when the first input portion has a specific predetermined value, wherein the watermark output uniquely identifies the keyed cryptographic encryption operation.

The Internet provides users with convenient and ubiquitous access to digital content. Because the Internet is a powerful distribution channel, many user devices strive to directly access the Internet. The user devices may include a personal computer, laptop computer, set-top box, internet enabled media player, mobile telephone, smart phone, tablet, mobile hotspot, or any other device that is capable of accessing the Internet. The use of the Internet as a distribution medium for copyrighted content creates the compelling challenge to secure the interests of the content provider. Increasingly, user devices operate using a processor loaded with suitable software to render (playback) digital content, such as audio and/or video. Control of the playback software is one way to enforce the interests of the content owner including the terms and conditions under which the content may be used. Previously many user devices were closed systems. Today more and more platforms are partially open. Some users may be assumed to have complete control over and access to the hardware and software that provides access to the content and a large amount of time and resources to attack and bypass any content protection mechanisms. As a consequence, content providers must deliver content to legitimate users across a hostile network to a community where not all users or user devices can be trusted.
Cryptographic algorithms are typically designed with the black attack model in mind. This means that the attacker is assumed to have only access to the input/output behavior of the algorithm. In practice, however, an attacker typically has access to more information. The attacker may, for instance, have access to side-channel information on the execution of the algorithm. In this case, the attack model is referred to as being grey-box. In the most extreme case, called the white-box attack model, an attacker may even have full access to and full control over the execution environment running the algorithm.
In the white-box attack model, secure software applications may be called upon to carry out various functions such as, for example, cryptographic functions used to protect and authenticate digital content. In order to counter attacks, these algorithms have to be obfuscated (hidden) in order to prevent reverse engineering and modification of the algorithm or prohibit obtaining the user-specific secure information. Accordingly, the functions of the secure software application may be carried out by various functions as defined by the instruction set of the processor implementing the secure software. For example, one way to obscure these functions is by the use of lookup tables.
Content providers must deliver content to legitimate users across a hostile network to a community where not all users or devices can be trusted. In some cases the user devices may have a hardware cryptographic solution to assist in the distribution of content. Even though this hardware solution may only allow observation of the input and output, it may also be possible as described above for an attacker to gain access to side channel information that allows the attacker to defeat the cryptographic function.
The situation where a hardware cryptographic solution is not possible has led to the development of white-box cryptography. In the white-box cryptography scenario it is assumed that the user has complete control of the hardware and software that provides access to the content, and an unlimited amount of time and resources to attack and bypass any content protection mechanisms. The secure software code that enforces the terms and conditions under which the content may be used should be tamper resistant. Digital rights management is a common application of secure software applications. The general approach in digital rights management for protected content distributed to user devices is to encrypt the digital content using for example, DES (Data Encryption Standard), AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), or using other known encryption schemes, and to use decryption keys to recover the digital content. These decryption keys must be protected to prevent unauthorized access to protected material.
In the digital right management scenario, the attacker has complete control of the software enforcing the management and access to the protected content. Accordingly, the attacker can modify software and also seek to obtain cryptographic keys used to encrypt the protected content. Such keys may be found by analyzing the software

Watermarking input and output of a white-box implementation


The invention describes nematic compositions for electrooptical devices for modulation of the transmitted or incident light and for the rendition of numbers, symbols and images as orientation in the spectroscopy and gas chromatography. The compositions comprise, liquid crystalline compounds such as dyestuffs and at least one of the compound having the following general formula: ##STR1## wherein ##STR2##

The invention relates to novel nematic liquid crystal compounds for electrooptical devices for modulation of the transmitted or incident light and for the rendition of numbers, symbols and images; further as orientation medium in the spectroscopy and gas chromatography.
It is known that nematic liquid crystal compounds can be rearranged in electrical fields and are thus useful for the making of electrooptical devices (M. Tobias. International Handbook of Liquid Crystal Displays 1975-1976 Ovum Ltd. London 1976).
Liquid crystals are also highly useful as orientation medium in the spectroscopy in the visible and near UV field, in the nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy as well as in the gas chromatography (G. Meier, T. Sachmann, J. G. Grabmaier, Applications of Liquid Crystals Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York 1975).
Heretofore there were used for the mentioned purposes in many cases the substituted benzoic acid phenylesters (economic patent No. 86,269 of the German Democratic Republic; Steinstrasser, Z. Naturforsch, 27b, 774 (1972)). These esters possess a relatively high viscosity which causes undesirably long starting and shut-off times, particularly at low temperatures when used in electro-optical devices. The clearing points are partly undesirably low and the melting points have values which are too high.

VEB Werk fur Fernsehelektronik Berlin im VEB Kombinat Mikroelektronik


A system and method for creating an automatically updatable Website metadata catalog for search engine optimization are disclosed. In one embodiment, a system and method may be directed to defining a metadata formula for a Website using parameters by an application server and storing the metadata formula in a database communicatively connected to the application server. When a Web server receives a search request for the Website via a search engine through a Web server, the metadata formula for the Website is validated using a cache memory of the database so that the metadata formula is automatically updated as a search is initiated. In some embodiments, the validation of the metadata formula can be done based on changes in the content of the Website.

Search engines utilize information related to (or associated with) Websites to generate a list of search results by matching or otherwise comparing that information to search terms or keywords provided by a user. The information about or associated with a Website is derived from one or more of the webpage contents, HTML tags, or other data associated with a Website or webpage, and is typically referred to as metadata. Because metadata related to a Website or webpage is communicated to and used by search engines, it has been found that the metadata may be used to improve the accuracy of the search results produced by the search engines, and such techniques are often referred to as search engine optimization (SEO).
To obtain the "best" search results (i.e., results having the greatest likelihood of being of value to a user in terms of identifying a Website or webpage of potential interest), it has been found to be desirable to construct a "catalog" of the metadata manually, thereby reflecting attributes of the contents of the Website or webpage; for example, for an eCommerce platform Website or webpage, these attributes may include brands, colors, styles, and apparel sizes. The metadata may then be subjected to further evaluation or processing, such as by a curation process or operation. However, changes to the Website contents (as may arise due to sales, promotions, bundling of items, changes in availability, etc.) may not be reflected in the metadata unless the metadata catalog construction and curation are performed manually and at regular enough intervals (i.e., regularly enough to reflect the majority of the changes or those expected to be most significant). Unfortunately, in conventional systems and applications, the metadata regarding a Website tends to not accurately reflect the latest (most current) information regarding the Website and its contents (or at least the information that may be used to characterize a Website or webpage for purposes of responding to a search query) without the use of regular review and manual input. This means that the search results returned in response to a query or search may not be as complete or as accurate in the absence of manual curation or another form of regular updating. Further, unless the curation or updating is performed regularly and relatively frequently, some users may still receive stale search results, or at least sub-optimal results. This can be a serious problem; in the case of an eCommerce website, such a result may lead to missed sale opportunities and/or dissatisfied customers.
Embodiments of the inventive system and methods are directed to overcoming the limitations associated with conventional approaches to updating and maintaining Website or webpage metadata, both individually and collectively.

System and methods for creating automatically updatable website metadata catalog for search engine optimization


A method of dilating an infundibular space within the human head includes directing at least a distal portion of an elongate member of a medical device into a nasal cavity of the human head, the distal portion including a piercing tip and an expandable portion. The piercing tip is directed through tissue of an uncinate process or tissue near an uncinate process and into an ethmoid infundibulum and the expandable portion of the distal end is expanded within the ethmoid infundibulum.

Various methods and devices for the treatment of sinusitis have been developed over the last few decades. Some of those methods involve dilating a sinus ostia with inflatable devices (e.g., balloon catheters) that are inserted trans-nasally or via a trans-canine fossa approach.
A need exists for new and improved methods and devices for treating sinusitis.

Method and apparatus for treating dilating the ethmoid infundibulum


Eaves section system comprising a first section part with a covering strip, a downward-directed covering flange at right angles thereto an upright rib and a second section part which encloses said rib, is coupled to the first section part and is provided with a second covering strip above the first covering strip and with at least one coupling piece to be fitted between the first and second covering strip, and which is on the one hand to be coupled to the first section part, and to which on the other hand the second covering strip is to be locked.

The invention relates to an eaves section system comprising a first section part with a covering strip to be fitted on the roof covering material, a downward-directed covering flange chiefly at right angles thereto and to be fitted in front of the outside wall of the roof, an upright rib and a second section part which encloses said rib, is coupled to the first section part and is provided with a second covering strip above the first covering strip. Such an eaves section system is known in practice as the "double trim system" and is described, for example, in EP-A-0 312 896.
Although this double trim system was found in practice to be a considerable improvement compared with the known systems, the object of the invention is to improve the known eaves section system even further in the sense that the system requires fewer preliminary operations and can be fitted with fewer actions, while improved protection against the penetration of water is obtained.