The present invention features a hand-held language translation device comprising a microprocessor configured to receive (i) an audio input signal from a foreign speaker, and (ii) a simultaneous visual input signal generated by a camera which captures the facial expression and body language of the foreign language speaker while the foreign language speaker speaks, wherein upon receiving the audio input signal from the foreign speaker the microprocessor is capable of translating the spoken foreign language into a written form in the language of the user, whereby the written translation segment is stored in a searchable and retrievable manner.

The following U.S. Patents are hereby incorporated by reference for their teaching of language translation systems and methods: U.S. Pat. No. 6,356,865, issued to Franz et al., entitled "Method and apparatus for performing spoken language translation"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,023, issued to Bordeaux, entitled "Multi-language speech recognition system"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,584, issued to Brown et al., entitled "Speech recognition system for natural language translation"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,892, issued to Tanaka et al., entitled "Translation apparatus and method for facilitating speech input operation and obtaining correct translation thereof"; U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,412, issued to Yamada et al., entitled "Multilingual conversation assist system"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,917,920, issued to Koizumi et al., entitled "Speech translation device and computer readable medium"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,177/issued to Rondel et al., entitled "Voice language translators; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,750, issued to Frantz et al., entitled "Electronic apparatus from a host language".
Although there have been many advances in system and software for providing language translation and learning assistance to users interested in communicating in a language other than their own, there has not been a system that can facilitate an interactive session of language translation and learning between two users. Accordingly, the present inventor has developed a system that can accommodate more than one user and facilitate an interactive language translation session. The present invention enables two users to interact and communicate using different languages, and can also facilitate learning of languages between two users. Such an advance can find use in international public settings where a language barrier exists between two users, and a translation system deemed necessary to facilitate communications between the users.

Hand held language translation and learning device


A SDE system and a computer program product for secure data communication are provided herein. In one embodiment, the SDE system includes: (1) a processor and (2) a SDE client configured to determine if a document is a secure data document and if not, determine if a user is authorized to create secure data having a predetermined extension by verifying authentication code associated with the user, wherein the authentication code is based on an email address and a user defined identifier associated with the user. If authorized, the SDE client configured to employ a plurality of converters to create a secure data document and direct an electronic mail system to send the secure data document to recipients of a recipients email list provided by the user, wherein the secure data document includes a predetermined extension.

Secure communication is a major concern for individuals and businesses. Electronic digital signatures are employed to provide secure communication by using cryptography to enable a user to authenticate the identity of the originator, the originator's document and digital certificate. Digital certificates, however, are static, vulnerable and subject to fraud and theft. Recent advances using dynamic key cryptography allow improved security wherein the originator can restrict access to a digitally signed document by one or more entities by providing additional data to the system that manages the digitally signed documents. Nevertheless, existing secure systems have to overcome the vulnerability of digital certificates. With many existing systems, the lack of access control and privacy are still a concern since a third party can gain access to a secure message. As such new technology is necessary to provide improved security for communicating electronically.

Apparatus, system and method for secure data exchange


A low profile catheter system includes a catheter hub with a stabilization surface that is located on an underside of the catheter hub and stabilizes the catheter hub on a patient. A substantially linear flow path extends from an opening at the distal end of the catheter hub to an inlet located within an intermediate portion of the catheter hub. The flow path allows fluid to flow between the distal end and the intermediate portion. The intermediate portion receives a base connector having a fluid path. The fluid path has a first opening and is fluidly connected to the inlet of the flow path in the catheter hub and a biasing member biases the first opening toward the inlet when the base connector is received by the intermediate portion.

In instances in which a patient will need regular administration of fluid or medications (or regular withdrawal of fluids/blood), catheters are often inserted into the patient and used to administer the fluids/medications. The catheter may remain in the patient for extended periods of time (several hours to several days or longer). Additionally, an extension tube may be connected to the catheter to facilitate use of the catheter and connection of a medical implement (e.g., a syringe). To ensure that the catheter and/or extension tube remain in place and are not accidentally removed, some prior art systems secure the catheter and/or extension tube to the patient using tape or similar adhesive materials (e.g., a film dressing).
Typical peripheral IV Catheters in the market today possess inlet hubs that utilize ISO 80369-7 Luer connections. These tubular connections are cumbersome for the user to manipulate (often leading to incomplete connections), and they force undesirable profiles that create snag hazards. Additionally, the associated components are uncomfortable pressure points when resting on the skin of patients during the episode of care.


Disclosed is pigmented dispersion containing a non-amine wetting and dispersing agent and a water-dissipatable or dispersible polyester containing sulfonate groups that has improved stability having a substantial number of capped carboxyl groups attached to the sulfomonomer moieties. This polyester can be prepared by capping the carboxyl end groups of the polyester with oxirane compounds or by polymerizing the reactants wherein one reactant is a diol that is a diester adduct of a glycol and a dicarboxylic acid sulfomonomer.

Regulations to limit the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOC) of industrial coatings has encouraged research and development projects directed at inventing new waterborne systems such as paints. With respect to the two most important commercial coating systems, polyesters and acrylics, it is a relatively easy task to characterize the current state-of-the-art: polymeric systems with a carbon backbone (acrylics) are more stable to hydrolysis than polyesters with their carbon-oxygen ester backbone chain. However, considerable research continues toward improving the stability of aqueous polyesters because of their inherently desirable properties of excellent hardness/flexibility ratios and outstanding gloss unattainable from aqueous acrylic systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,519 discloses the composition of certain crystalline and non-crystalline polyesters copolymerized with a metal sulfonate group-containing aromatic acid and up to 10 mol percent (based on the total polyol content) of a polyvalent polyol selected from trimethylolpropane, trimethylolethane, glycerine, and pentaerythritol. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,524 discloses liquid systems comprised of polyesters containing certain metal sulfonates and, optionally, up to 3 percent of a branching agent based upon the total diol component.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,942 discloses linear solvent-soluble copolyester compositions that can be dispersed in water. Water dispersibility is gained by the addition to the copolyester of a small amount (1-2 mol percent) of the metal salt of sulfonated aromatic compounds.
Many patents disclose methods to obtain water-dissipatable polyesters by neutralizing residual or unreacted carboxylic acid groups on the polymer with ammonia or various organic amines. U.S. Pat. No. 3,666,698 utilizes this method as well as phenylindandicarboxylic acid to modify coating performance. U.S. Pat. No. 3,699,066 shows the benefits of certain hydroxy-functional amines for neutralization. U.S. Pat. No. 3,549,577 utilizes the aminoresin crosslinker as the neutralizing agent then adjusts the pH to prepare an alkaline water-reduced system. In these patents as well as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,494,882, 3,434,987, U.K. 1,117,126, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,345,313 carboxylic acid functionality is completely neutralized with excess base yielding an alkaline paint vehicle.
Amine neutralized alkyd or oil-free polyester resin used in waterborne coatings is cured at ambient temperature or by baking. In these resins, the carboxyl end-groups are neutralized with an amine such as ammonium hydroxide, triethyl amine, or N,N'-dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE) to yield ammonium salts which can then be dispersed in water to give waterborne enamels. When the enamel is cured, the amine is given off.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,910,292, 4,973,656, and 4,990,593 the disclosures of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference, disclose an improved novel water-borne polyester resin and coatings specifically containing 5-(sodiosulfo)-isophthalic acid (5-SSIPA or SIP). The resins are prepared by reacting neopentyl glycol (NPG), trimethylolpropane (TMP), isophthalic acid (IPA), and 5-SSIPA in the first stage, followed by the addition of IPA and adipic acid (AD) in the second stage. The clear coating prepared from this resin exhibits good properties of gloss, hardness, flexibility, and solvent resistance. Moreover, the coating is water-resistant, despite the presence of ionic sulfonate groups. However, as with other polyester resins, aqueous dispersions of these resins do not have adequate storage stability and phase-separate over time. Additionally, the pigmented enamels prepared from these dispersions do not have adequate storage stability and phase separate in a relatively short period of time.
A solution to the stability problem is disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 07/765,606 filed Sep. 25, 1991, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. This application discloses end-capping the dicarboxylic acid sulfomonomer. However, pigmented coatings of these compositions are not very water resistant and form wrinkles when cured.
It would, therefore, be very desirable to be able to improve the overall stability, coating smoothness, and coating water resistance of pigmented enamels prepared from dispersions of water-dispersible polyester resins.

Aqueous dispersion compositions and coatings prepared therefrom


An oxide semiconductor thin-film transistor, comprising: a source electrode and a drain electrode formed on a substrate; a composite semiconductor active layer formed between the source electrode and the drain electrode; a gate dielectric layer formed on the source electrode, the composite semiconductor active layer and the drain electrode; and a gate electrode formed on the gate dielectric layer and corresponding to the composite semiconductor active layer; wherein the composite semiconductor active layer comprises a low carrier-concentration first oxide semiconductor layer and a high carrier-concentration second oxide semiconductor layer.

Flexible electronic products are required to be light, portable and flexible so that they can be warped and bended without mal-functionality. Owing to the ionic bond structure in the oxide semiconductor TFT, the on-current characteristics of the TFT are less sensitive to the warping of the substrate. Moreover, since the oxide semiconductor TFT exhibits higher carrier mobility (about 10 cm2/V-sec) than the amorphous (a-Si:H) TFT and can be manufactured under a low temperature, it is very suitable for use in flexible electronic applications.
To enhance the current density of the TFT, U.S. Patent Appl. No. 20050199879 discloses a TFT using a dual-gate structure on the top and bottom surfaces of the active layer so as to enhance the current density by building up more carrier transport paths, as shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. In FIG. 1A, the TFT 100 comprises a substrate 102, two gate electrodes 103, 104, two gate dielectric layer 105, 106, an active layer 107, a source electrode 108 and a drain electrode 109. During the operation of the TFT 100, a channel is induced on each of the surfaces of the active layer by applying a bias voltage across the gate electrode 103/104 and the active layer 107 to enhance the current density. In FIG. 1B, the TFT 101 is similar to the TFT 100 in FIG. 1A except that the order for forming the drain/source 108/109 and the active layer 107 is different. The TFT 100 and the TFT 101 in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are problematic because they are manufactured by lots of steps, which cause complicated processing as well as increased cost.
Therefore, the present invention provides an oxide semiconductor TFT comprising a composite semiconductor active layer to enhance the current characteristics of the oxide TFT, enhance stable driving current and reduce unstable current due to oxygen vacancies. Moreover, by adjusting the thickness of the semiconductor active layer, the leakage current is kept low.

Oxide semiconductor thin-film transistor

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A modular multi-component power distribution system is provided having a plurality of modular components which includes a bus-bar-like power distribution assembly (PDA), branching connectors, flex connectors, and receptacles. A manufacturing process relates to the manufacture of the flex connectors which have plugs provided on the opposite ends of an intermediate cable section. The intermediate cable section includes multiple conductor wires having opposite ends projecting outwardly of an outer insulative cover or jacket. The plugs are attached to the opposite ends of the cable wherein each plug includes an outer housing and cover, as well as a plurality of multi-prong quad-point electrical terminals. Each terminal is connected to a respective wire and then fitted into an appropriate socket therefore.

In office buildings, large open areas are often finished off to define an office environment configured for the specific needs of a business. This may be accomplished through combinations of different building systems such as raised floor systems, ceiling systems, wall panel systems, and desking or other furniture systems.
In typical offices, it is necessary to provide data communication systems and power distribution systems to route power and communications circuits throughout multiple workstation areas. One inventive power distribution system comprises modular electrical components which are readily connectable together in multiple configurations depending upon the specific environment in which the power system will be used. The modular components include a solid wire power distribution assembly which forms a solid wire bus, a receptacle and flexible connector cables wherein the system is generally disclosed in Published PCT Application Publication No. WO/2004/057716 A1, which is owned by the assignee hereof, namely, Haworth, Inc. The disclosure of this published PCT application is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a manufacturing process for manufacturing components of the afore-mentioned power distribution system. This process relates to the manufacture of flex connectors which have plugs provided on the opposite ends of an intermediate cable section. The intermediate cable section includes multiple conductor wires having opposite ends projecting outwardly of an outer insulative cover or jacket. The plugs are attached to the opposite ends of the cable wherein each plug includes an outer housing and cover, as well as a plurality of multi-prong quad-point electrical terminals. Each terminal is connected to a respective wire and then fitted into an appropriate socket therefore. A preferred cable has ten wires therein wherein each opposite end of the cable has ten terminals connected to the ten wires.
The manufacturing method relates to the process for assembling a flex connector and in particular, the process for connecting the terminals to the opposite ends of the wires and then fitting the terminals into the plug housing.
Other objects and purposes of the invention, and variations thereof, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.
Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience and reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, the words "upwardly", "downwardly", "rightwardly" and "leftwardly" will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words "inwardly" and "outwardly" will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the arrangement and designated parts thereof. Said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.

Manufacturing process for a flex connector of an electrical system


A tire having a tread of a cap/base construction where the base rubber compound is comprised of trans 1,4-polyisoprene and at least one additional diene rubber.

Pneumatic rubber tires are often prepared with a rubber tread having a cap/base construction. Such constructions are well known. It may be referred to herein as a composite of such two components.
Typically, the outer cap portion of the tread contains the visible tread grooves and lugs, or raised portions, which is designed to contact the ground. The cap portion usually includes such tread configuration and usually extends to a tread depth of just below the grooves of the tread. The rubber for the cap portion is typically compounded to provide good skid resistance, treadwear and rolling resistance.
The rubber base portion of the tread is positioned beneath the cap portion and, being a part of the tread itself, is located between the outer tread cap and an underlying supporting belt or carcass portion of the tire. Such tire construction is well known. The rubber for the base is typically compounded to enhance rolling resistance and durability for the tire. The terms "rubber composition" and "rubber compound" may be used somewhat interchangeable in this description.
Often, a primary purpose for dividing a tread into an outer cap portion and an inner, underlying base portion is to provide a tread base which will reduce the tire's rolling resistance. Otherwise a single composition tread construction might be satisfactory so that the tread is composed of the tread cap throughout.
In one aspect, the cap/base rubber composite may be designed to improve the rolling resistance of the tire without unduly sacrificing its traction (skid resistance) or treadwear. Such often desirable aspect is usually difficult to obtain with a single tread compound because, for example, rolling resistance reduction is typically obtained at the expense of traction and/or treadwear.
In another aspect, it would seem that increasing the thickness (gauge) of the base rubber compound, while maintaining the same overall thickness of the tread, would provide an additional improvement in tire rolling resistance (lower resistance to the rolling of the tire, usually under loaded conditions).
However, it has been observed that increasing the thickness of the base tread rubber can result, during the molding and curing of the tire, in extreme base peaking of the base rubber into the lugs of the cap rubber itself. Thus, elements of the base are caused to extend substantially outward into the cap portion of the tire. This is disadvantageous both because groove cracking in the tread cap may develop and also primarily as the lugs of the cap wear away as the tire is used, the exposed base compound becoming in contact with the road would result in poor traction and treadwear.
A difficulty of such base peaking may become evident as the tire tread wears during use so that the tread cap becomes thinner and the base peaks eventually become exposed and contact the road surface. The resulting exposed tread surface may then not present optimum tread properties to the road surface.
The phenomenon of the base peaking into the lug portion of the cap is largely attributed to the uncured base rubber viscosity often being lower than the viscosity of the cap rubber. Thus, during the molding and curing of the tire under conditions of heat and pressure, the base rubber may have a greater tendency to flow than the cap rubber and, therefore, allow a displacement of the base rubber as the cap rubber is formed into lugs and grooves.
It is, therefore, desirable to increase the viscosity of the uncured base rubber compound while maintaining a satisfactory resilience (rebound value) of the cured base rubber compound.
In one aspect, the viscosity of the uncured base rubber may be readily increased with conventional compounding ingredients, such as, for example, increasing its carbon black content and, optionally, reducing its oil content. However, it is considered that such technique tends to defeat the overall concept of a tread base because it tends to increase hysteresis of the rubber compound which typically results in poorer rolling resistance of the tire.
The use of trans 1,4-polybutadiene has been disclosed for various purposes, including, for example, tire tread rubber compounds and increasing green strength of rubber mixtures (See Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 60-133,036; 62-101,504 and 61-143,453) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,291.
Trans 1,4-polybutadiene has been previously considered for use in a tread base rubber composition. However, it is further considered that the use of trans 1,4-polyisoprene is a departure therefrom.
Use of trans 1,4-polybutadiene in a tread base composition was considered to be an improvement because it reduced the peaking of the base rubber into the outer cap rubber of the tire tread during the tire curing operation. A particular advantage of the trans 1,4-polybutadiene was its relatively high softening point (e.g. 50.degree. C.), so that it would not begin to flow as rapidly as other tread rubbers as the temperature of the tire would increase in the tire mold. However, uniquely, the trans 1,4-polybutadiene exhibited a second, and primary, softening point (e.g. 25.degree. C.) which was substantially lower than its higher, minor softening point.
Uniquely, the trans 1,4-polyisoprene has only one softening point (e.g. 60.degree. C.) and, thus, might possibly provide an even greater advantage of use in a tread base rubber composition. It might tend to flow even less than the trans 1,4-polybutadiene and, thus, advantageously even further reduce base tread rubber peaking into the tread cap rubber during curing because it does not have the second, lower, primary softening point (e.g. 25.degree. C.) so that it might not be expected to substantially flow in the mold at or near such lower temperature.
Uniquely, trans 1,4-polyisoprene is typically a thermoplastic resin rather than most other rubbers in its uncured state at room temperature by virtue of its high crystallinity. Because it contains many double bonds in its backbone, it can, however, be suitably blended and co-cured with elastomers to yield a cured rubber composition.


A memory control circuit in a CD-ROM driving system is provided which controls the writing and reading of data to and from a memory in accordance with a plurality of data operations. The circuit contains a plurality of requesters, a priority level determiner, and a memory control signal generator. The requesters correspond to the plurality of data operations and respectively generate request signals. Furthermore, the requesters respectively generate physical addresses of the memory which are respectively accessed during the data operations. The priority level determiner determines the priority levels of the request signals and outputs a selection signal based on the request signals and the priority levels. Moreover, the selection signal identifies one of the data operations as a selected data operation. The memory control signal generator generates a memory control signal and a memory address which corresponds to one of the physical addresses to be accessed during the selected data operation. As a result of the above-configuration, a request to transmit data from the memory to a high-speed host computer can be quickly satisfied, and thus, the efficiency of the host computer can be maintained. Also, a method which is performed by the memory control circuit is provided.

A memory in a conventional CD-ROM driving system is typically used in three types of data processing operations. Specifically, the memory may be used to buffer or store data reproduced from a compact disk, may be used during the execution of error-correction operations to correct errors in the stored data, and may be used to transmit data to a host computer.
In order to ensure that the memory is available to perform the above data processing operations, a predetermined time period is divided into several memory time slots, and one of the memory time slots is assigned to each of the operations. In other words, during a particular memory time slot, the memory is available to perform the data processing operation assigned to such time slot.
However, the conventional driving system has several disadvantages. For example, often a high-speed computer is connected to the CD-ROM driving system as the host computer, and thus, the host computer can perform many operations during the time period defined by one of the memory time slots. Accordingly, if the host computer requests use of the memory during a time slot which is not assigned to host transmission operations, the host computer must wait a relatively long period of time until a memory time slot that is assigned to a host transmission operation begins. As a result, the system cannot immediately comply with the host computer's request and thus, makes the host computer inefficient.

Memory control circuit and method for a CD-ROM driving system


A speaker device includes a diaphragm, a frame supporting the diaphragm vibratably along a vibration direction, and a driving part disposed in proximity of the frame and vibrating the diaphragm corresponding to an audio signal. The driving part includes a magnetic circuit having a magnetic gap formed along a direction different from the vibration direction of the diaphragm, a voice coil supporting part having a voice coil and vibrating along the magnetic gap, and a vibration-direction-conversion part direction-converting the vibration of the voice coil supporting part and transmitting the vibration to the diaphragm. The vibration-direction-conversion part includes a link body angle-converting a link part formed between the voice coil supporting part and the diaphragm.

As a general speaker device, a dynamic speaker device as disclosed, for example, in Japanese publication of patent application No. Hei 8-149596 is known. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the dynamic speaker device described in this publication includes a frame 3J, a cone-shaped diaphragm 21J, an edge 4J which supports the diaphragm 21J to the frame 3J, a voice coil bobbin 610J joined to the inner periphery of the diaphragm 21J, a damper 7J which supports the voice coil bobbin 610J to the frame 3J, a voice coil 611J wound around the voice coil bobbin 610J, a yoke 51J, a magnet 52J, a plate 53J, and a magnetic circuit having a magnetic gap in which the voice coil 611J is arranged. In this speaker device, when an audio signal is inputted to the voice coil 611J, the voice coil bobbin 610J vibrates by the Lorentz force developed in the voice coil 611J in the magnetic gap and the diaphragm 21J is driven by the vibration.


An intravenous infusion system that shows infusion flow rate, volume of medication infused, and alarming during malfunction. User intervention to adjust flow rates deviation is possible, using the data already stored in the system prior to the onset of making the adjustment. The system detects flow rate by measuring temperature dynamics in a section of the fluid path, unlike other systems that measures the electromechanical output of the pumping source if the counting of drops is not possible. This fundamental difference allows the invention to be used in any system that has a pumping source that provides a continuous fluid path as it measures actual flow of fluid in a segment of the fluid path, independent of pumping mechanism design.

In infusion therapy, the patient could either be immobilized at bed site or ambulatory. In the former, infusion consist of an intravenous (IV) drip set with gravity means or with the aid of an electronic IV pump while in the latter the patient is ambulatory with a self powered pump like elastomeric or electronic pumps. The inadequacies in either situations relate to the lack of the flow rate display of a gravity IV drip set as well as flow rate drifts of such, hence necessitating frequent drip rate checks and roller clamp adjustments by a healthcare provider. In electronic pumps the flow rate display relates to the functioning of the driving mechanism of such pumps and not the monitoring of actual flow of medication to the patient.
Therefore, improved infusion procedures that address these inadequacies are desirable. In conventional mechanical infusion apparatus like elastomeric, spring powered or gas powered pumps, flow adjustments are non-existent while in electrically driven pumps user/healthcare provider response relates to malfunctioning of the pumping mechanism itself.
It is the object of this invention to provide monitoring of IV infusion by measuring the actual flow of medication independent of the driving mechanism of the source and using the techniques disclosed to enhance patient safety and caregiver efficacy.

Intravenous infusion monitoring apparatus, system and method


The present invention is directed to a switching device with a rotatably mounted operating element (10) and an eccentric element (12) for translating a rotational displacement (14) of the operating element (10) into a translatory displacement (16) of a switching element (18), in particular a selector shaft of a hand-held power tool.

The present invention is directed to a switching device.
It is known to equip a hand-held power tool with a switching device that includes an operating element which is rotatably mounted on a housing of the hand-held power tool, and an eccentric element which is connected with the operating element. The eccentric element is directly or indirectly operatively connected with a switching piece or a switching plate which is axially rigidly connected with a switching element of the hand-held power tool. An indirect operative connection can be created using a leg spring, for example. By way of the eccentric element and the operative connection, a rotational displacement is translated, in a delayed manner, directly or by the leg spring into a translatory displacement of the switching element of the hand-held power tool, by way of which a profile of the switching element can be ultimately engaged with or disengaged from a complementary profile of a transmission of the hand-held power tool. As a result, certain functional units of the hand-held power tool, e.g., a striking mechanism and a rotary drive in the case of a rotary hammer, are coupled to or decoupled from a drive of the hand-held power tool.

Abstract: It is provided that a shape of the eccentric element (12) differs significantly from that of a rod.


A composition for copper patterning and a method of copper patterning using the composition are provided, which composition is excellently safe in copper patterning, sintering at lower temperatures, and capable of forming a highly conducive copper pattern of a desired shape even on a plastic substrate. The composition contains Component A: a copper β-ketocarboxylate compound of formula (1):

Techniques have recently been attracting attention for printing, such as ink jet or screen printing, with a metallic ink on a flexible plastic substrate, followed by sintering, to form desired conductive patterns. The metallic ink used here is desired to sinter at lower temperatures below the heat resistance temperature of the plastic substrate. As such metallic inks for conductive patterning, silver- or copper-containing inks that are sintering at lower temperatures have widely been developed. Among them, copper has advantages over silver for its more excellent electrical characteristics and lower price.
As the inks for copper patterning, there are known inks in which copper carboxylate is used as the copper material (Non-patent Publications 1 and 2) and in which copper fine particles are dispersed (Patent Publications 1 and 2). Since copper is prone to oxidation, sintering of such inks is often performed in a reducing atmosphere, such as of hydrogen or formic acid, which causes safety problems in industrialization. In addition, the sintering temperature is as high as 250° C. or higher, and thus can be applied to only some types of plastic substrates.
In order to solve these problems, there are proposed inks achieving low-temperature sintering, such as the one disclosed in Non-patent Publication 3, which is composed of copper formate, amine, and a solvent. This ink is made into a copper pattern by sintering at 120 to 160° C. in nitrogen atmosphere. However, sintering of such conventional copper ink which contains an organic copper compound or copper fine particles as a copper material may result in shrinkage of the printed film, and the sintered pattern may be different from the desired, as-printed pattern.
On the other hand, it has been reported that materials containing organic components, which decompose and vaporize at lower temperatures, are useful in inks such as those on plastic substrates, which need to be sintered at lower temperatures. As such compounds, silver β-ketocarboxylate compounds are known, which are reported to be capable of silver patterning at lower temperatures (Patent Publication 3).
As a corresponding copper compound exhibiting similar decomposition mechanism, a copper β-ketocarboxylate compound may be envisaged. Copper β-ketocarboxylate compounds have been studied over a long time, and used as a polymerization catalyst or a silver reducing agent (Patent Publication 4, Non-patent Publications 4 and 5).
However, these compounds have never been used as a material for copper patterning, partly because copper is more prone to oxidation than silver, and conductive copper patterns cannot be obtained by techniques similar to those for the silver β-ketocarboxylate compounds.    Patent Publication 1: JP-2007-321215-A    Patent Publication 2: JP-2008-13466-A    Patent Publication 3: JP-2009-197133-A    Patent Publication 4: JP-2007-46162-A    Non-patent Publication 1: Current Applied Physics, 9, 2009, 157    Non-patent Publication 2: Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., 49, 2010, 86501    Non-patent Publication 3: Thin Solid Films, 519, 2011, 6530    Non-patent Publication 4: Journal of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry, 14, 1960, 161    Non-patent Publication 5: J. Am. Chem. Soc., 132(1), 2010, 28

Composition for forming copper pattern and method for forming copper pattern

Abstract: (R1, R2: H or C1-C6 straight- or C3-C6 branched-hydrocarbon group, etc.); and based on 1 mol of this compound, Component B: an amine compound having a boiling point of not higher than 250° C. at 0.1 to 500 mol; and Component C-1: an organic acid having pKa of not more than 4 at 0.01 to 20 mol, and/or Component C-2: an organic copper compound composed of copper and an organic acid having pKa of not more than 4 at 0.01 to 100 mol. The composition is useful in the field of electronics.


A center console for a motor vehicle comprising a stationary housing mounted within the vehicle. The housing includes an open center defined between opposing ends and has a console body mounted within the open center of the housing. The console body is rotatable about a longitudinal axis running through the console body and is mounted such that an operator may remove the body from the frame. Also, at least two longitudinal side walls of the rotating body are visible within the open center and the console body may be rotated such that alternate side walls may be positioned in an uppermost position with respect to the center console. Thus, a user may exchange the console body for another and access multiple sides of the console body, regardless of which is in the uppermost position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to automotive interior subsystems. More specifically, the invention relates to a reconfigurable, interchangeable, rotating center console for a motor vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Operators and passengers of motor vehicles may spend many hours within a vehicle interior. As a result, significant effort is expended by manufacturers to ensure the interiors of their vehicles provide a comfortable, functional, space from which to operate the vehicle. This requires well positioned controls and comfortable seats. However, another important feature is storage and organization.
This is particularly important for people who do business or travel the country in their vehicle. These individuals may have extensive storage needs. In filling this need, manufacturers have provided closable boxes, of which the traditional glove box is a classic example.
Over the years the storage needs of users of motor vehicles has grown. Today, users expect to store cellular phones, drinks, notebook computers, compact discs, portable music players, wallets and purses securely and within easy reach. This has resulted in expanded storage requirements for modern vehicles. For example, manufactures now include cup-holders, door mounted storage compartments, large glove boxes and center console bins. In addition, as storage requirements have changed, so to have the bins and compartments designed to meet those requirements.
An example of this is the removable bins disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,481 ("Fluharty"). Fluharty discloses a center console frame work with multiple windows for receiving various storage bins to allow a user to rearrange the storage configuration. This allows users to customize their console configuration for each individual trip. However, this arrangement does not necessarily make the most efficient use of space within the console. This is because the bins are stationary when in use and they must be oriented so the opening is always up, lest items fall out of the bin.
An alternative arrangement that allows the opening of the bin to be oriented in multiple directions involves a module that rotates about a longitudinal axis. A typical example is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,599 ("Gray"). Gray discloses a center console that includes a drum-type carrousel that rotates about a generally horizontal axis. This allows a user to access multiple storage bins attached to the carrousel by rotating the carrousel about the axis and causing a bin to rotate into an access window. The remaining bins are enclosed within the console, thus preventing items from falling out while also providing access. However, only a single bin of the carrousel may be accessed at any one time.
In view of the above, it is apparent that there exists a need for an improved center console that provides enhanced utility customizability.


The present technology relates to a dietary supplement, composition, nutraceutical, and/or system for inducing or treating biological responses or conditions (namely sleep or sleep disorders) which utilize ultra-low dosage amounts of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, co-enzymes, stimulants, and/or similar ingredients in a highly bio-active delivery system which bypasses first pass metabolism. In particular, the present technology relates to a nutraceutical composition/formulation which substantially bypasses first pass metabolism and such as, but not limited to, sleep apnea. Methods of using the composition/formulation to elicit enhanced sleep quality, induce short duration sleep and/or treat sleep disorders are also provided.

Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and co-enzymes are compounds required by an animal or human body in small amounts for metabolism, biophysiological repair, to protect health, and for proper growth and cellular reproduction. These compounds also assist in the formation of hormones, blood cells, nervous-system chemicals, and genetic material. Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and co-enzymes are often referred to as nutrients, defined herein as a substance or ingredient which may be found in food which imparts a medicinal or health benefit. The various nutrient compounds are not chemically related, and most differ in their physiological actions. They generally act as catalysts, combining with proteins to create metabolically active enzymes that in turn produce hundreds (or more) of important chemical reactions throughout the body. Without nutrients, many of these reactions would slow down or cease. The intricate ways in which nutrients act on the body (e.g., positive and negative feedback regulatory processes), however, are still far from clear.
Dietary supplements are generally nutrient mixtures commonly taken in single mega-dose dosage forms which contain vitamin, mineral and other nutrient doses. Although mega-dose regimens are a common practice for the prevention of disease, there is a great deal of debate in the conventional literature regarding the efficacy of such regimens. Moreover, consuming large doses of vitamins, minerals, or other nutrients, in the absence of some deficiency or without proper medical supervision, may cause harmful toxic effects and/or result in hypervitaminosis.
Additionally, a consumer usually has little choice in choosing the variety of ingredients, dosage levels, or dosing regimens of a conventional dietary supplement, such as a standard vitamin tablet. Conventional dietary supplements may be effective for a general purpose, but can provide an excess of vitamins, minerals, stimulants, or other compounds which a consumer does not desire, or those supplements may not adequately target an individual's specific dietary need or desired biological response. Additionally, conventional dosage forms of dietary supplements only allow a consumer to take one or two doses per 24 hour period. As a result, conventional dietary supplements fail to recognize that the physiological state and resultant nutrient requirements of any single individual can depend upon and fluctuate based upon a number of different biophysical variables during the course of each day or dosing regimen. For example, individual variations in diet, and the amount and intensity of physical activity, provide physical and chemical stimuli that stress various systems of the body to differing degrees from one person to the next and for each of those individuals on any given day. Thus, standard "one size fits all" mega-dose dosage forms/regimens are not amenable to empirical dosage adjustment to achieve an individualized biophysiological objective or response such as, but not limited to, enhanced sleep quality, initiation of sleep, sleep maintenance, and the like.
Another drawback with most conventional dietary supplements is that they suffer from poor degrees and/or rates at which the various nutrients are absorbed into the systemic circulation of the body and made available for biophysiological activity (e.g., "bioavailability"). These degrees or rates of bioavailability typically depend upon the dose, dosage form, and method of administration.
One particular barrier to efficient nutrient bioavailability is "first-pass metabolism", which is defined herein to mean a process in which the nutrient compound(s) are modified, activated, or inactivated before they enter the systemic circulation, or are left unchanged and excreted. Alternatively, it may be defined as the intestinal and hepatic degradation or alteration of a drug or substance taken by mouth, after absorption, removing some of the active substance or nutrient from the blood before it enters the general circulation.
For example, it is generally understood by those skilled in at least the nutraceutical and/or supplements field that one significant drawback to "mega-dosing" of vitamins and minerals is that increased dosages may not be adequately absorbed into the body, or may actually decrease absorption. Thus, available transport mechanisms may become saturated and unable to absorb the excess dose of the vitamin, mineral, or other nutrient. Additionally, a drawback to vitamin or mineral delivery via a conventional tablet or capsule is that differences in luminal pH along the gastrointestinal tract lining, surface area per luminal volume, blood perfusion, presence of bile and mucus, and the nature of epithelial membranes may prevent or alter efficient absorption, activation, and the like of a nutrient, thereby decreasing its bioavailability and subsequent usage by the human body.
To compensate for first pass metabolism effects, some previous efforts have been directed to enterically coated tablet or capsule dosage forms which pass through the stomach unaltered to disintegrate in the lower intestines. However, aside from a delayed biophysiological response as gastric emptying becomes rate-limiting, gastric irritability, and potential allergic reactions from the ingestion of such coating materials occurs, and these enterically coated delayed release dosage forms dissolve and are absorbed within a narrow time frame. As a result, the body typically excretes the non-absorbed vitamins or minerals.
Additional previous attempts in addressing the challenge of bypassing first pass metabolism have been directed to continuous or gradual release dosage forms. U.S. Pat. No. 4,882,167, to Jang, discloses dry direct compressed products for controlled release of actives including vitamins or minerals. However, there still remains the challenge of a composition having ultra-low dosage amounts of vitamins or minerals, dosing flexibility, or alternatively systems, compositions, or methods for individualized responsive dosing based on at least one desired biological response such as increased sleep quality or treatment of a sleep disorder.
WO 99/17753 (to Awamura et al.) discloses rapidly dissolving films for delivery of drugs to be adsorbed in the digestive tract. U.S. Pat. No. 6,596,298, to Leung, discloses consumable oral care films which may optionally contain active amounts of pharmaceutical drugs. However, there still remains the challenge of utilizing vitamins or minerals, and more specifically, ultra-low dosage amounts of nutrients which would operate to provide flexibility for individualized dosing, especially in the promotion, enhancement or improvement in sleep initiation, maintenance, and/or quality. Moreover, these products or processes do not provide a system or selection for varying the type or level of dosage depending on a biological response desired, such as a focus upon sleep.
Therefore, there is presently a need for an efficient process for producing a nutrient dosage and delivery system that is capable of individualized biological response dosing (i.e., dosing based upon empirical analysis and adjustment in response to a desired biological outcome such as enhanced sleep quality and the like), which is available in a suitable dosage form, and preferably is efficiently absorbed and made bioavailable to animal or human tissue. Additionally, there is presently a need for a treatment method for managing finely tuned biological needs and responses which utilizes ultra low dosage amounts, substantially avoids first pass metabolism, and allows for varied dosage/dosing regimens within each dosing period (e.g., 24 hours, 6 hours, 1 hour). Furthermore, there exists a present need for an ultra low dose nutraceutical that substantially avoids first pass metabolism and which enhances sleep quality and/or can be used to treat sleep disorders including, but not limited to, sleep apnea.

Ultra low dose nutraceutical compositions for enhancing sleep quality and treating sleep disorders


Systems and techniques for pre-coordinating delivery and service for item searching and filtering are described herein. Large or specialized products, such as household appliances, may require setup and installation services at the time of delivery, leading to additional complexity and coordination from multiple service providers. The present techniques and system configurations address these complexities by providing functionality in search and information user interfaces, which enable a user to search, filter, and identify the delivery and installation availability for a listing of products. The present techniques and system configurations may calculate and cache the availability dates for service fulfillment of respective products. The present techniques and system configurations enable a user to request and receive a listing of the earliest available products for delivery and installation based on the cached availability dates for service fulfillment of respective products.

Many online retailers offer expedited delivery services or guaranteed delivery dates for their products. These types of services may be available for a variety of products, from toothpaste to hardcover books. The commonality of the products that these delivery services are available for is that the products are commonly packed into a small box and delivered by a major parcel shipping service or the United States Postal Service. Additionally, these products are typically functional to the user upon delivery and do not require separate services or features.
There are other products which cannot be as easily guaranteed by a certain date while being functionally operational to the user. The largest category of such items is household appliances such as dishwashers, ovens, refrigerators, washers, and dryers. These items present additional delivery complexities because of their size. Additionally, these items typically require a trained service technician to install or configure such items in a person's home.
Further, determining a coordinated delivery and installation date for an appliance involves added factors that are not considered for most items. For example, specialized products such as household appliances often require setup and installation services at the time of delivery, leading to additional complexity and coordination from multiple service providers (e.g., coordinating work between an electrician, plumber, in addition to a product moving crew). Existing approaches for coordinating fulfillment of delivery and installation of specialized products often involves manual human involvement and observing multiple computing systems, which leads to incomplete or vague information about service availability and delivery times. Such existing processes may lead to unexpected and unreliable outcomes, and a lack of information for consumers with existing types of user interfaces.
Adding to the complexity, many times when a shopper is looking to purchase an appliance it is because their current appliance has broken, and the shopper is in need of a new appliance to be installed and functional as soon as possible. Existing user interfaces may allow filtering of results based on whether a product is currently in stock at a location (e.g., a store or warehouse), but such information may not reflect the installation and delivery service availability needed to make the product fully functional. As a result, reliable information about when an appliance may be delivered and installed for the shopper is not attainable by existing systems.

Pre-coordinating delivery and service information for item searching and filtering


A conventional display device is constituted such that, when the display section is rotated to change the orientation thereof, the center of rotation and the center of the display section do not coincide, whereby the rotation operation lacks balance. Hence, the present invention provides a display device comprising a guide mechanism that comprises an annular track that rotates as the display section rotates and a guided member that is fixed to contact the annular track contained in the guide mechanism. By providing the annular track with recesses for fixing the position of the display section when the orientation of the display section is vertical or horizontal, the center of rotation and the center of the display section coincide, and also the screen height following the rotation can be optimized as a result of the rotation operation.

Display devices and, in particular, liquid crystal display devices, are used on many occasions as display devices of PCs (Personal Computers) because they are small, lightweight and offer space savings. Due to the diversity of the application programs that are run on PCs, there are instances where it is appropriate to use the long side of the screen vertically and parallel to the upright direction rather than using the screen, which has a substantially rectangular shape, horizontally. For example, when content on the Internet is viewed by means of a browser, because displaying the browser on a vertical screen reduces the need for vertical screen scrolling on account of the large amount of information displayed at the same time, such a display is easy for the user to use. In addition, so too with document editing, when a vertical document screen is displayed in full screen mode, the vertical screen is easy to see and easy to edit. Accordingly, cases where users employ display devices by frequently changing the vertical or horizontal orientation of the screen in accordance with the application program are also increasing.
Various proposals have been made in the prior art with respect to display devices that allow the orientation of such a screen to be changed. According to Japanese Application Laid Open No. H11-338363, a thin-type display device and a screen vertical and horizontal switching mechanism that simplifies the structure by integrating the rotation mechanism required to change the orientation of the screen and the vertical movement mechanism that adjusts the height of the screen rather than separating these two mechanisms have been proposed. Furthermore, according to Japanese Application Laid Open No. H11-7250, a thin-type display device that allows interference with the floor of the screen when switching between a vertical and horizontal orientation to be prevented and allows the screen position when the screen has an upright orientation to be lowered has been proposed. In addition, according to Japanese Application Laid Open No. H10-240140, a thin-type display device in which the rotational center is designed so that the screen center in the vertical position and the screen center in the horizontal position are different has been proposed. Furthermore, according to Japanese Application Laid Open No. 2000-47591, a display device that comprises an open/close mechanism that moves to open and close a shutter in accordance with the rotation of the display section and in which an air-hole shutter located at the top of the display section is open irrespective of the vertical or horizontal orientation of the display section has been proposed.
However, in the prior art, which relates to a display device that allows the orientation of the screen to be changed, the rotational center does not necessarily match the screen center, the rotation operation lacks balance, and weight is placed on inclined parts. Therefore, wear damage to members which are used as the rotation mechanism and the support mechanism for supporting the screen is sometimes premature. When members wear out due to periods of long usage, in cases where the user removes the hand supporting the rotation operation by mistake, the display device is damaged through contact with the floor or desk as a result of the screen turning by itself due to the eccentricity of the rotational center and the possibility exists that the user will be injured.
Furthermore, in the prior art, there have been instances where the direction of rotation is one preset direction and, when the user applies an excessive force by mistake in the direction in which the screen is unable to rotate, the result has been damage to the rotational mechanism. Thus, the mismatch between the rotational center and screen center and the asymmetry such that rotation is possible in only one direction are not user-friendly and bring about the result of reducing the user convenience of the product.
In addition, when accessories such as operation keys for making adjustments to the speaker or screen are provided on the display device, the accessories have sometimes been moved to positions in which the accessories rotate together with the rotation of the screen and are used when the screen has a vertical or horizontal orientation. Although there are also products that allow accessories to be detached from the screen, there is work required in re-attaching the accessories at suitable points after the orientation of the screen is changed, which is troublesome.


Most information retrieval systems start with a user's explicit query. Systems and methods are provided that perform implicit or background queries to one or more information sources based on the ongoing activities of users. The methods provide users with the results of such automated contextualized searches in an unobtrusive manner. In one aspect, implicit queries are run when users are reading, working on or composing an application. Queries can be automatically generated by analyzing an application, and results can be presented in a variety of peripheral display configurations, including a small pane adjacent to a current window to provide peripheral awareness of related information that is automatically determined from existing user context and/or related content from the application. The invention includes methods for building models that predict the value of different queries, and of the results generated by such queries, based on logged data, and for using such models to control query formulation and to mediate decisions about displaying the results of implicit queries.

One common problem for many search systems is that users first have to explicitly determine and define search criteria before actual searching can commence. Crafting appropriate queries based on an information need can be a difficult task for many users. Another problem is that users will often not think to search for information related to their current task as their attention is focused on the specifics of displayed content or explicit goals at hand.

Systems and methods for performing background queries from content and activity


The present disclosure provides a method of generating a control signal to control a motion of a robot arm device by a brain-computer interface (BCI) apparatus and the BCI apparatus. The present method includes: measuring a first electroencephalogram (EEG) and extracting an abstract feature of the first EEG; determining one of a reaching control mode, a hand grasp/opening control mode, and a wrist rotation control mode based on the abstract feature of the first EEG; performing feedback of the determined control mode to a user; measuring an error-related potential as a second EEG; redetermining the control mode by re-extracting an abstract feature of the first EEG when the error-related potential exceeds a threshold value or measuring a third EEG when the error-related potential does not exceed the threshold value; extracting a result value by applying different feature extraction methods and different classification methods to the third EEG depending on the determined control mode; and supplying a control signal generated based on the result value to the robot arm device.

In general, brain waves can be classified into various types depending on their temporal feature, frequency band feature, and spatial feature are classified as follows. That is, the brain waves are classified into an alpha wave (frequency of 8 Hz to 13 Hz, amplitude of 20 V to 60 V) generated during relaxation with eyes closed, a beta wave (frequency of 14 Hz to 30 Hz, amplitude of 2 V to 20 V) generated during conscious concentration, a theta wave (frequency of 4 Hz to 7 Hz, amplitude of 20 V to 100 V) generated during light sleep, and the like. Notably, a Mu-band wave (8 Hz to 12 Hz) generated from the motor cortex of the brain during motor intention (or motor imagery) can be classified separately from the alpha wave.
A non-invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) refers to a technology capable of measuring and analyzing a user's brain waves without a separate surgical operation and thus controlling various external devices. A BCI apparatus can analyze brainwaves in a specific pattern generated intentionally just by thinking and thus control external devices. Such a BCI apparatus has been used to control prosthetic devices for disabled people who are not free to move their bodies due to severe disabilities such as Lou Gehrig's disease or spinal cord injury and used in medical field applications such as word spellers for communication.
Recently, BCI technology has been applied in various fields through the development of daily assistance services for people. In order to apply the BCI technology to daily life, an apparatus using the BCI technology needs to process various commands. However, conventional apparatuses using the BCI technology have been used only to detect and process a specific motor imagery. Therefore, the BCI technology has been limited in application to daily life.
In this regard, Korean Patent No. 10-1205892 (entitled "Analysis method of user intention recognition for brain-computer interface) discloses a method including: obtaining and converting brainwave data of a user into a frequency signal and then classifying a frequency domain related to motor sensation depending on a band of the converted frequency signal; detecting the user's intention recognition by analyzing features depending on the user's motor imagery; and displaying the result of detection of intention recognition to be seen by the user. However, this method is still limited to detecting and processing various motor imageries.

Brain computer interface (BCI) apparatus and method of generating control signal by BCI apparatus

Korea University Research and Business Foundation


For replacing SRAM with very high speed FRAM, new memory architecture is realized such that plurality of FRAM cells is connected to a local bit line pair, a local sense amp is connected to the local bit line pair, a global sense amp is connected to the local sense amp through a global bit line pair, and a locking signal generator is connected to the global sense amp for generating a locking signal which disables the local sense amp after reading for quick write-back operation. With short bit line architecture, bit lines are multi-divided for reducing parasitic capacitance of the local bit line, which realizes to reduce the ferroelectric capacitor proportionally. The FRAM cell includes an access transistor pair, a ferroelectric capacitor pair for storing positive data and negative data, and a reset transistor pair for resetting storage nodes. And various circuits for implementing the memory are described.

FRAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory) is a type of non-volatile memory device that uses such a ferroelectric capacitor and preserves stored information even when the power is off. Additionally, the FRAM has high-speed access, less power consumption, and excellent shock-resistance. Accordingly, the FRAM would be expected to be used as a main storage device for various electronic devices and equipment, such as computers, networks and mobile devices.
In the FRAM, a memory cell is composed of the ferroelectric capacitor and a pass transistor, and which stores logical data "1" or "0" depending on polarization state of the ferroelectric capacitor. When a voltage is applied across the ferroelectric capacitor, a ferroelectric material is polarized according to the direction of an electric field. Hence, a threshold voltage at which a change in the polarization state of the ferroelectric material occurs is called a "coercive voltage". In reading data stored in the memory cell, a voltage is applied between both electrodes of the ferroelectric capacitor to cause a potential difference, and accordingly excite charges on a bit line. The state of the data stored in the memory cell is sensed as a change in an amount of the charges excited on the bit line.
In FIG. 1, a circuit of the ferroelectric random access memory is illustrated, as a prior art, "A 0.25-um 3.0-V 1T1C 32-Mb Nonvolatile Ferroelectric RAM with Address Transition Detector and Current Forcing Sense Amplifier Scheme", IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 37, No. 11, November 2002, wherein a word line 111 is connected to memory cells 150 and 151, next word line 112 is connected to memory cells 152 and 153, and last word line 113 is connected to memory cells 154 and 155. The memory cell 150 is composed of the pass transistor 156 and the ferroelectric capacitor 157. And plate lines 121 and 122 are connected to the capacitor of the memory cells. As shown in the figure, a plurality of memory cells is connected to single bit line for integrating more memory cells on a chip, so that the bit line is long and heavily loaded. With heavily loaded bit line, capacitance value of the ferroelectric capacitor should be big enough to drive the bit line for reading. And access time is slow because there is a waiting time before the bit line is redistributed by the charges of the ferroelectric capacitor.
And a problem with the conventional one transistor-one capacitor FRAM is slow speed, because the plate line of the capacitor is driven by a plate line driver circuit from ground voltage to high voltage for reading and writing. For driving the plate line, a big driver circuit is required because the plate line is much heavier than that of bit line. Driving the plate line takes time and adding the driver circuit occupies more chip area. In order to force the plate line to a constant voltage, there are many prior arts as published, U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,735, "Non-volatile random access memory with ferroelectric capacitor", U.S. Pat. No. 6,147,895, "Ferroelectric memory with two ferroelectric capacitors in memory cell and . . . ", and U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,353, "Ferroelectric capacitor memory circuit MOS setting and transmission transistor". However, the FRAM is not so fast, because other memories, such as DRAM and SRAM are still better than that of FRAM.
For improving the performance, hierarchical bit line architecture is applied as published, U.S. Pat. No. 7,382,641 "FeRAM for high speed sensing", and U.S. Pat. No. 6,574,135 "Shared sense amplifier for ferroelectric memory cell". Even though those hierarchical bit line architectures have been applied for improving the FRAM, the FRAM with the prior arts is not fast than SRAM, not denser than DRAM and not denser than flash memory.
In these respects, there is still a need in the art for improving the FRAM, because the FRAM is a good candidate for replacing the conventional semiconductor memory. In the present invention, new memory architecture is realized for focusing on replacing SRAM with a re-invented FRAM, which reduces area of the memory cell. And speed of the FRAM is close to that of the conventional SRAM with the new memory architecture and circuit.
And this application is a continuation of the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/253,997, filed on Oct. 19, 2008 and application Ser. No. 12/471,472, filed on May 26, 2009. In the present invention, the FRAM is renovated for realizing high speed and achieving area reduction by applying short bit line memory architecture, while most of the prior arts have tried to develop FRAM memory cell array structure with conventional circuits and architecture. And two 2T1C FRAM cells are used for storing a non-inverting data and an inverting data, which need not a reference voltage generator for sensing. And a local sense amp is used for reading the memory cell through a short local bit line pair, a global sense amp is connected to the local sense amp through a global bit line pair for receiving the read output, and a locking signal generator is used for locking or disabling the local sense amp after reading, which reduces a cycle time with quick write-back operation. More detailed description will followed as below.


A receptacle support for supporting a receptacle such as a paint can on a ladder rung or rail. The receptacle support is constructed of a steel rod having a plurality of bends to provide a hook end and a clamp receiving end. There is a bend in the center of the rod to provide a pair of arms. The bend has an angle greater than 90 degrees, where the hook end engages an end of a ladder rail and one of the arms rests on a rung. The other arm extends downwardly where a clamp holds a receptacle on the outside of the ladder. A spring securing device attached to the steel rod and stretched so it attaches to the hook end. When the securing device is in place the receptacle support and spring encircle a ladder rail to stabilize the receptacle holder and receptacle.

This invention relates to a receptacle holder of the type supported on a ladder rail or rung and in particular a receptacle holder which is secured to a ladder.
It has been pointed out that devices of this type are of utility to painters, window washers, carpenters, fruit pickers and others who desire or need a receptacle held in some position handy to their work. The principal object of receptacle holders is to place a receptacle at or near a work area and to insure that the contents of the receptacle will not spill.
Heretofore, several receptacle holders have been patented, however each of these devices lack critical features. In the first place they are limited to a particular type structure on which they attach. And secondly, they do not provide a positive type securing device.
A primary object of the invention is to provide a receptacle holder that can be secured to different structures.
A study was made of the patented art relative to the present invention and the following listed patents are of interest:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,102,078 issued to Kemp
U.S. Pat. No. 2,308,805 issued to Dahl
U.S. Pat. No. 2,453,670 issued to Persson
U.S. Pat. No. 2,597,756 issued to Sitek
U.S. Pat. No. 2,634,937 issued to Welsh
U.S. Pat. No. 3,108,776 issued to Cook
U.S. Pat. No. 3,013,759 issued to Close
U.S. Pat. No. 3,625,388 issued to Golden
U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,131 issued to Francis
The Persson patent is directed to a receptacle support with a hook to hang the support on a ladder rung. Persson provides a clamp with a movable jaw on a threaded member to grip the side wall of a receptacle. Other patents which show a receptacle holder with a clamp to grip the wall of a receptacle are Dahl, Close and Cook.
A feature of interest to the present invention is shown in the patents to Dahl, Welsh and Close where the receptacle support is hung from a ladder rail with the receptacle on the outside of the ladder to provide easier access. Dahl uses a hook to engage a rung and an L-shape member attached to the hook to wrap around a rail. Welsh shows a pair of L-shaped members that are spring biased together to partially wrap around a rail. In Close, the support has a U-shaped end which wraps around a rail using the weight of the receptacle to hold the support in place. These patents lack a security means to prevent the receptacle holder from losing its holding force and spilling the contents of the receptacle.
There are two patents which teach a tether for holding a support on a ladder. The Francis patent uses a flexible tether with a snap hook which is fastened to the tether after it has been wrapped around a rung. Golden uses a similar tether and snap hook to connect a support to a ladder rung. The tethers of the Francis and Golden patents are not applicable to the present invention, which will become apparent in the disclosure.


An optical system controlling apparatus includes a plurality of lenses for varying an optical characteristic, a plurality of driving parts for driving the plurality of lenses, respectively, a plurality of sensors for detecting the respective states of drive of the plurality of lenses, and a controlling circuit for driving each of the driving parts on the basis of detection information provided by the sensor and controlling each of the lenses during a steady state, the controlling circuit being capable of performing initialization for the respective lenses by parallel processing during an initial state before the steady state is established.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical system controlling apparatus and, more particularly, to an arrangement suitable for use as, for example, a lens position controlling apparatus for adjusting focus or varying magnification by moving lenses.
2. Description of the Related Art
The recent trend of cameras which are desired to have distinctive performance and miniature size is the wide use of a so-called inner focus lens arranged to adjust focus by moving a rear group of lenses.
FIG. 1 schematically shows one example of a lens construction used in the inner focus type of lens system. The shown lens construction includes a fixed first lens 101, a second lens (zooming lens) 102 for varying magnification, an iris 103, a fixed third lens 104, a fourth lens (focusing lens) 105 which performs both a focus adjusting function and the function of correcting the movement of a focal plane resulting from the magnification varying operation of the second lens 102, and an image plane 114.
FIG. 2 is a graphic representation using a subject distance as a parameter, and shows the loci of the fourth lens 105 for forming an in-focus image in the image plane 114, the fourth lens 105 being shown as moving with respect to variations in the focal length in the case of the inner focus type of lens system which is placed under electronic control. Since the fourth lens 105, as described above, performs both the focus adjusting function and the function of correcting the movement of the focal plane resulting from the magnification varying operation, the movement of the fourth lens 105 draws correction curves unique to individual subject distances. In other words, when zooming is to be performed, it is necessary to select one correction curve corresponding to a subject distance of interest from those shown in FIG. 2 and cause the fourth lens 105 to move in accordance with the selected correction curve.
A method of causing the lens 105 of FIG. 1 to move along a correction locus unique to a particular subject distance is proposed in, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 1-280709.
In this method, the loci shown in FIG. 2 are divided into zones each including a group of loci drawn at an approximately equal inclination as shown in FIG. 3, and one representative speed is assigned to each of the zones. Before zooming, if the fourth lens 105 is located in an in-focus position with respect to a subject, a specific zone is determined from among the zones of FIG. 3 in accordance with the positions of the zooming and focusing lenses. At the same time that zooming is started, the representative speed of the fourth lens to be driven, i.e., the focusing lens 105, is determined. After the zooming has been started, the focal length and the position of the focusing lens 105 vary progressively. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, the focusing lens 105 progressively moves from one zone to another and its representative speed also changes progressively.
By connecting the steps of displacement corresponding to the changes in the representative speed, it is possible to obtain curves which approximate those shown in FIG. 2, whereby the zooming can be performed with an in-focus state maintained.
However, the above-described method has the problem that the representative speed for each of the zones is determined with respect to a single zooming-lens moving speed and if the zooming-lens moving speed varies due to, for example, a variation in the torque of a zooming motor, a temperature change or a change in the attitude of a camera, the focusing lens does not correctly follow any of the loci of FIG. 2 and defocus occurs during zooming.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 1-319717 proposes a method of adjusting a zooming-lens driving speed during zooming by increasing or decreasing a coefficient to be multiplied by the aforesaid representative speed in accordance with a change in an actual zooming speed.
Referring to FIG. 3, for example, the horizontal axis is divided into 16 equal parts. If it is assumed that the speed of the zooming lens is set to a speed which permits the zooming lens to move between a telephoto end and a wide-angle end in 7 seconds, 26 vertical sync periods (26 Vsync) are required for the zooming lens to pass through a single zone 701 as shown in FIG. 4 in the case of the NTSC system. If N (Vsync) is taken to pass through the single zone during actual zooming, the change ratio RZS of the actual zooming speed to a reference value (7 seconds from the telephoto end to the wide-angle end) of the zooming speed is expressed as: EQU RZS=N/26 (1)
Accordingly, during zooming, by always measuring the number of vertical sync periods required to pass through the aforesaid single zone and multiplying 1/RZS by the aforesaid representative speed, it is possible to perform the zooming at the moving speed of the fourth lens 105 according to a variation of the zooming speed without defocus.
If the first zooming is to be performed after the power source has been turned on, there is no measurement data as to zooming speeds and RZS is not updated with a correct value obtained from the actual driving speed of the zooming lens. To cope with this problem, the present applicant has developed a system which includes the steps of causing the zooming lens to move by the minimum amount required for measurement immediately after the power source has been turned on, determining the initial value of RZS, finding an actual focusing-lens speed by multiplying this value of RZS by a representative speed corresponding to the zone where the zooming lens is located, then returning the zooming lens to its original position, and subsequently establishing ordinary operating conditions.
Position control over the fourth lens, i.e., the focusing lens 105, will be explained below.
As is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 3 as well as the foregoing description, drive control over the fourth lens requires accurate position detection and good speed switching performance. To meet the requirement, a stepping motor or a similar device which is not easily influenced by inertia and which provides a constant amount of drive with respect to a drive signal and has a wide speed response range, is widely used as an actuator which constitutes a fourth-lens driving means. If a stepping motor is used as an actuator for the focusing lens 105, it is convenient to utilize a position detection method including the steps of counting the number of drive pulses outputted from the stepping motor by using a counter and causing the count to correspond to the position of the focusing lens. In this method, the counter serving as a position encoder is an incremental counter, and to cause the count to correctly correspond to the coordinate of the vertical axis of the locus diagram of FIG. 3, from the time the power source is turned on until the time an ordinary photographic operation is started, it is necessary to execute control to move the focusing lens 105 to a predetermined position, substitute a value corresponding to the predetermined position into the counter with the focusing lens 105 located at that position, and start counting for detecting the position of the focusing lens 105 which varies with the movement thereof.
To realize such control, in the above-described system, it is necessary to perform measurement of the zooming speed and presetting of the position detection counter for the fourth lens 105 between the time the power source is turned on and the time the ordinary photographic operation is started.
However, the above-described arrangement has contradictory problems. Since plural kinds of preparatory operations must be performed within a short time between the time the power source is turned on and the time the ordinary photographic operation is started, it takes a long time to effect a reset operation. As a result, a photographer must wait for a long time until the system starts the ordinary photographic operation. If a reset time is limited so as to reduce the waiting time of the photographer, imperfect resetting will take place and a good ordinary photographic operation will not be performed due to variations in the state of the lens system immediately after the power source is turned on.


Methods of treating a retinal degenerative disorder.

Retinal degeneration, a process of progressive and eventual death of retina cells, is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness. It results from various disorders or injuries (e.g., retinal ischemia and retinal neovascularization). As no reliable therapy is currently available, there is a need for an effective method of treating retinal degeneration.

Treating retinal degeneration caused by retinal vein occlusion or retinal ischemia


An extendable electronic stylus is described. The extendable electronic stylus has a distal end that provides an electronic input to an electronic device and a first cam with an elongated member that extends between a proximal end of the stylus and its distal end. The stylus also includes a second cam that rotates relative to the first cam when the proximal end of the stylus is pushed in a distal direction. The pushing of the proximal end of the stylus causes a surface of the second cam to contact the first cam surface. The stylus also includes a cover with a first look surface. The rotation of the second cam relative to the first cam cause a second lock surface of the second cam to abut the first lock surface, thereby locking the second cam in a fixed position relative to the first cam.

Electronic devices such as tablet computers, slate computers, personal digital assistants, gaming consoles, and smart phones can permit users to provide input thereto using a digital pen, a digitizer pen, a stylus, a stylus pen, or the like, generally referred to herein as an "electronic stylus" or "stylus." For example, a stylus can be used to control a tablet computer as with a mouse, a joystick, or a keyboard, such as by manipulating icons on the tablet computer's screen, by moving windows on the screen, etc. Besides functioning as a basic selection tool, the stylus can allow writing (text, drawing, etc.) on the tablet computer's screen, such as to jot down notes and illustrations, which can be stored digitally.
An electronic stylus can facilitate use of an electronic device, but electronic styluses involve a number of potential hazards. Electronic styluses can be easily misplaced, as with ordinary writing implements such as pencils and ballpoint pens. Replacing misplaced electronic styluses is typically more costly than replacing ordinary writing implements and can result in interrupted use of an electronic device for hours, days, or more while a user obtains a replacement electronic stylus. Another potential hazard with electronic styluses is that they usually must be stored and transported with increased care and safety over non-electronic devices in order to avoid stylus damage, e.g., from being dropped, from being exposed to rain or other moisture, from being cracked or crushed by a heavier object, etc.
Many electronic devices do not include storage space for an electronic stylus. The stylus must therefore be otherwise stored and/or transported by a user, which can increase chances of stylus damage and/or increase chances of misplacing the stylus. Even if an electronic device does include storage space for an electronic stylus, the stylus occupies valuable device real estate, thereby preventing other aspects of the device from occupying that space. The electronic device may thus be limited in any one or more of its processing capabilities, battery power, memory size, audio output ability, etc., in order to provide storage space for the electronic stylus. Built-in storage space for an electronic stylus can additionally or alternatively increase an electronic device's size, which can make the electronic device less attractive to a user.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an improved electronic stylus.


Delivering document fragments from a web server to a server-deployed client application. The invention includes a data structure of a request for data including a namespace field, an event handler field, and a parameter field. A first process sends a populated data structure to a second process. The second process executes logic maintained by the second process and identified in the populated data structure to generate result data. The second process sends the result data to the first process for display to a user or other processing by the first process.

Some server-deployed, web-based mail applications give users access to their centrally located mailboxes. These applications also provide the ability to send and receive electronic mail (email), schedule appointments, and perform other personal information management (PIM) tasks from a network such as the Internet. Some of these applications execute in a browser and are a companion to other PIM applications. Such client web applications require a great amount of client-server traffic to be able to implement the PIM functionality. For example, when a user refreshes a list of email in an inbox to check for new email, a web request is sent to the server to retrieve the new list of email in the inbox.
For some client applications, the client-server traffic is a mix of Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) extensions to the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) and other various schemas (e.g., based on simplistic name-value pairs in HTTP POST requests). The use of multiple protocols for data access in these prior systems complicates the implementation and contributes to poor maintainability. These prior systems also use inconsistent and insufficient schema for the requests. The name-value format such as used in some prior systems is very limited and does not easily support strongly typed data or more complex structures or arrays. In addition, because the name-value format requires a line break as the separator for name-value pairs, all data for a particular name-value pair has to be encoded without a line break before transmission and then decoded upon receipt. These extra steps in some existing systems slow the processing and increase complexity. Yet another problem with some existing web client applications is that the server-side code providing various functionality to the client application is chaotic and disorganized. Adding new request handlers to the server-side code of the existing systems is difficult.
Accordingly, an improved system for client-server communication is desired to address one or more of these and other disadvantages.

System and method for producing and communicating requested data among networked application programs


A system and method for optimizing an illumination source to print a desired pattern of features dividing a light source into pixels and determining an optimum intensity for each pixel such that when the pixels are simultaneously illuminated, the error in a printed pattern of features is minimized. In one embodiment, pixel solutions are constrained from solutions that are bright, continuous, and smooth. In another embodiment, the light source optimization and resolution enhancement technique(s) are iteratively performed to minimize errors in a printed pattern of features.

In conventional semiconductor processing, circuit elements are created on a wafer by exposing photosensitive materials on the wafer with a pattern of transparent and opaque features on a mask or reticle. The selectively exposed areas of the photosensitive materials can then be further processed to create the circuit elements. As the size of the circuit elements to be created on the wafer becomes similar to, or smaller than, the wavelength of light or radiation that illuminates the mask, optical distortions can occur that adversely affect the performance of the circuit. To improve the resolution of the photolithographic process, many circuit design programs utilize one or more resolution enhancement techniques (RETs) that attempt to compensate for the expected optical distortion such that the mask patterns will be printed correctly on the wafer.
It is well known that one factor in determining how well a pattern of features on a mask will print is the pattern of light or radiation that illuminates the mask. Certain types or orientations of features on a mask will print with better fidelity when exposed with a particular illumination pattern. For example, off-axis illumination has been used in microlithography for projection printing since the late 1980s because it increases resolution and depth of focus for certain layout patterns and design styles. Due to the demand to resolve smaller and smaller images, the deployment of a variety of off-axis illumination source shapes was developed: first annular, then quadrapole, and lately dipole. These illumination source shapes can be formed by hard stop apertures or by diffractive optical elements (DOE). The latter is advantageous because it preserves light energy on the way from a laser source to the mask (object) resulting in less throughput loss. In addition, DOEs can form very complex source shapes, with a smooth distribution of light across the aperture. This enables source tuning to print certain layout features with high resolution. Although lithographic exposure equipment is compatible with the use of more complex illumination shapes, there has been no technique to reliably determine a practical optimum illumination pattern for a given layout pattern, and in particular for that layout pattern once RETs have been applied. Therefore, there is a need for a method of determining what illumination pattern should be used for a particular pattern of features to be printed on a wafer.

Source optimization for image fidelity and throughput


An air re-circulating vacuum for cleaning loose fabric and other non-tensioned surfaces is disclosed. The vacuum has an air intake and an air exhaust located together inside an air space to create a turbulent flow to pull air and debris through an air flow space as the air flow space is pulled over the surface to be cleaned. The vacuum can be battery powered, or powered by plugging into a standard household current.

Many products exist that can be used to apply scent to fabric, or try to get odors out of fabric or to sanitize a fabric. Examples include Febreeze®, scented sprays, Lysol® and many similar products. Although these products can make fabrics smell better between washings, they do nothing to remove loose debris from the fabric. Vacuums are well known in the art. They are used for cleaning many rigid surfaces, including floors with various coverings, walls, and furniture. One of the well known limitations of most vacuums is that they cannot be used to clean "loose" fabrics, that is fabrics that are not mounted to a surface or sewn into pillows, because the strong suction necessary to pull up debris causes the loose fabric to be pulled into the intake nozzle of the vacuum. This means that loose fabric, including, but not limited to, bedding, curtains, throw rugs and lap rugs cannot be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner. This is particularly true of light weight fabric, such as sheets, sheer curtains and the like. Therefore, these fabrics must either be washed, dry cleaned, or shaken out to remove dirt and other loose debris. Repeated washing can damage some fabrics, dry cleaning is expensive and shaking often does an incomplete job of cleaning the fabric.
Most prior vacuum systems have a non-circulating air stream. The air flow comes in to the intake, flows through the debris container and then exists through an air exhaust that is spatially removed from air intake. Therefore all of the force to lift up debris is generated by suction into the air intake. It is for this reason that loose fabrics get pulled into the intake of the vacuum.
A different type of vacuum system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,500 by Allen et al. entitled Air Recirculating Surface Cleaning Device. The vacuum system disclosed in this document re-circulates the air flow in the vacuum, instead of having the air blown out the back of the vacuum. The exhaust air is directed to the surface to be cleaned in a specific manner to loosen debris. The loosened debris are then sucked up by the air intake, which is preferably at an angle to the exhaust. See, for example, FIG. 13 of Allen et al.
The foregoing example of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.

Re-circulating vacuum apparatus for cleaning fabric and other non-tensioned surfaces