A system and method for targeting TV advertisements to individual consumers delivering a plurality of advertisements to a display site. A command signal is sent to the display site commanding the display of a selected advertisement suited for the individual consumer. In another embodiment, a predetermined advertisement is delivered upon command from a control center to a viewing site intended for the particular consumer.

This invention relates to an electronic system and a process for enhancing advertising by delivering TV and radio commercials targeted to individual viewer's based desires and needs.
TV has been dominated by the broadcast networks which were the best available means of broad reach for advertisers. Now, however, the world is changing with 67% of U.S. homes wired for cable. Thus, cable systems are effectively replacing on-air broadcast as the actual delivery vehicle for programs.
Broadcast networks and their affiliates however, still receive the vast majority of advertiser dollars for two reasons. First, advertisers believe that placing their commercials in specific programs will ensure that they reach the right kind of viewers. Advertisers however are aware that demographic targeting is highly wasteful. For example, dog owners comprise only 30% of households, thus every Ralston-Purina commercial exposure involves 70% waste.
Target marketing is the answer. Deliver your commercial to only those who are the best prospects.
The second reason broadcasters receive the majority of advertising revenue is because they continue to attract the largest audience (approximately 60% of all viewers) despite the proliferation of cable channels which has fragmented the viewing audience. The likelihood that viewers are watching any particular commercial/advertisement is reduced by the sheer quantity of channels. Advertisers have difficulty setting values on the advertising opportunities.
Advertisers are faced with an even more aggravating situation with the advent of Digital Video Compression (DVC). DVC means that the number of programs which can be carried by any digital media will expand dramatically.
The operators of delivery systems with large capacity are frustrated by the inability to interest advertisers in any significant amount of participation. It is very difficult to demonstrate the effectiveness of advertising in an environment of a hundred or more channels of advertiser supported programming.
While a number of such systems and processes are known in this art, none of these systems and processes deal with a way to provide specific commercials to viewers needs and wants in a multichannel environment.
It would be desirable to have a system for targeting commercials to those particular consumers who represent only the best prospects for an advertiser.

System and method for delivering targeted advertisements to consumers using direct commands


A cap of a closure arrangement of a prefilled disposable syringe is only removed in advance of utilizing the syringe. The disposable syringe has a syringe body (2, 3) and an injection needle (4) integrated in this body. The closure arrangement includes a stiff plastic cap (5) pushed onto the syringe head (2) and includes a lining (6) in the interior thereof which seals the needle tip. In another syringe type without integrated needle, a connecting cone of a conical connection is formed on the syringe body. The closure arrangement includes an elastomeric closure cap (tip-cap) seated on the connecting cone. The closure cap is covered by a stiff plastic cap connected to the syringe body. In both types of disposable syringes, the plastic cap is welded or cemented while forming a desired break location (7) with the syringe body (2, 3).

The invention relates to a closure arrangement for a prefillable disposable syringe made of plastic having an injection needle which is tightly connected in the outlet end of the syringe body. The closure arrangement includes an outer stiff plastic cap made of hard elastic material. The plastic cap can be seated on the syringe body and encloses the injection needle. In the region of at least the needle tip, the plastic cap is provided in its interior with a sealing lining made of a soft elastic material.
The invention also relates to a closure arrangement for a prefillable disposable syringe made of plastic wherein the closure arrangement includes a connecting cone of a conical connection with the connecting cone being formed on the outlet end of the syringe body. The closure arrangement includes an elastomeric closure cap seated on the connecting cone and the closure cap is covered by an outer stiff plastic cap connected to the injection body.
Prefilled disposable syringes having an integrated injection needle must be provided with a needle cap during storage to protect the injection needle and the syringe content irrespective of whether the syringe is made of glass or of plastic. The needle cap is only removed directly in advance of the application. These disposable syringes are, inter alia, described in well known standards wherein the injection needle is called an injection cannula and the needle cap is characterized as a protective cap. These syringes are typically manufactured for medical purposes (pharmaceutical and diagnostic) but also are made for cosmetic purposes.
Needle caps for the above-mentioned disposable syringes are known in many embodiments. The so-called classical embodiments, which are the widest known, are needle caps which are made of an elastomer, preferably rubber or natural rubber. The length is selected so that the tip of the injection needle sticks into the cap tip when the cap is seated and remains tightly closed by the material of the cap. Such a needle cap is disclosed in combination with an injection needle integrated into the injection head, for example, as shown in German patent publication 2,717,830 (FIG. 6). This needle cap has, on the one hand, the advantageous characteristic that it can be simply pushed onto the syringe head and can be completely pulled off without preparatory steps because the elastic cap skirt fits snugly and sealingly against the syringe head and thereby provides a reliable microbiological seal. The cap however has, on the other hand, several disadvantageous characteristics:
(a) The needle cap can only counter mechanical effects to a limited extent because of the softness of the material. The needle cap can also be penetrated with the handling by the user which can constitute a considerable danger of injury for the user.
(b) The needle cap is pressed together when being pulled off and comes to lie tightly against the cannula surface. This leads to at least partially stripping off the silicone applied to the needle. This silicone is intended as a sliding means during the injection operation. If this slide means is not there, the injection is painful for the patient during the injection process. Furthermore, silicone particles or droplets can form which can get into the body.
(c) The automated assembly of the needle cap is difficult because a reliably controllable path limit for the push-on operation is not present so that it can easily happen that the needle is pushed on too far or not far enough onto the syringe head. Both cases are most disadvantageous because, in the first case, the needle can penetrate through the needle cap and, in the second case, a microbiological reliable seal is no longer ensured.
(d) In the seated condition, the injection needle cannot be controlled by the user or judged, for example, whether the needle is the one suitable for the intended purpose or whether the needle is bent or damaged or contaminated. For this purpose, the needle cap must be pulled off and, if required, must be pushed on again with the very substantial danger of microbiological contamination of the needle or even of the syringe content, penetrating the needle cap and/or a bending of the needle.
(e) After pulling off the needle cap, it can be simply reseated, that is, no original sealing is guaranteed.
(f) By pulling off the needle cap, an underpressure is generated at the needle tip so that the liquid filled in the syringe can easily discharge. For the user, it is necessary to remove this liquid drop which would reduce the actual applied dose and, on the other hand, the external needle surface becomes wetted with the medicine. In this way, and during injection, medicine enters the insert channel undefined and this is generally unwanted and, for some medicines, can lead to hematomas at the injection location. Such medicines are, for example, anti-coagulants (heparin, et cetera).
To counter the above disadvantages (a) to (f), German patent publication 8,906,101 discloses a needle cap consisting of a plastic cap of a relatively hard elastic material which, on the inside, is lined with a soft elastic sealing material at least in the region of the cannula tip. In this way, this soft elastic material can be selected for optimal sealing characteristics (sealing function); whereas, the hard elastic material is more suitable to counter mechanical effects (protective function).
The invention proceeds from a needle cap of this type insofar as it relates to a prefillable disposable syringe having an integrated injection needle.
In addition to plastic disposable syringes having an integrated injection needle, also such disposable syringes are known which have a connecting cone of a cone connection, a so-called Luer lock cone connection in accordance with DIN ISO 594. The connecting cone is formed on the outlet end of the syringe body. In the case of an application, a separate needle holder can be seated on this connecting cone.
The closure arrangement for this syringe type typically comprises an elastomeric closure cap which is covered by an external stiff plastic cap made of hard elastic material. The closure cap, a so-called tip cap, is seated on the connecting cone.
It is from this kind of cap that the invention proceeds insofar as it relates to an injection body without a needle. This kind of closure arrangement is disclosed, for example, in European patent publication 0,716,860 or in German patent publication 195 37 163.
In both syringe types, the closure system is typically releasably attached via backcuts or projections on the syringe body.
This type of attachment is very complex during manufacture. The type of attachment makes it necessary to operate with high precision with respect to the syringe body as well as the closure arrangement in order to ensure that, for example, the closure arrangement does not drop off or loosen because of the thermal expansion of the entire system, for example, because of a sterilization of the filled and closed syringe such as in an autoclave at 121xc2x0 C./20 minutes in accordance with the requirements of medical standards or that this leads to a closure arrangement which is microbiologically untight.
The following is also considered. Often, the requirement is present that it must be ensured that the disposable syringe cannot be used again. This leads to the necessity of ensuring that a closure system, once opened, cannot be returned to its original state.
Such xe2x80x9coriginal closuresxe2x80x9d (manufacturer""s seal) are, for example, known for the syringe type having an integrated needle from German patent publication 297 08 314 and for the syringe type having a connecting cone from European patent publications 0,917,882 and 0,830,868 (in addition to the already mentioned publications, German patent publication 195 37 163 and European patent publication 0,716,860).
In all these known cases, as with the closure arrangements without an original seal, the external stiff plastic cap is mechanically fixed on the syringe body by backcuts and/or projections and has the disadvantageous consequences already mentioned initially herein.
It is an object of the invention to provide a simple and reliable closure arrangement for a prefillable disposable syringe made of plastic with and without an integrated needle which requires no back cuts or projections for mechanically fixing the closure arrangement on the syringe body and which is configured as an original closure.
The closure arrangement of the invention is for a prefillable disposable syringe made of plastic. The disposable syringe includes a syringe body having a discharge end and an injection needle having a needle tip and the injection needle is fixedly connected to the discharge end. The closure arrangement includes: an outer stiff plastic cap made of hard elastic material; the plastic cap defining an interior and being seated on the syringe body so as to encase the injection needle; a sealing lining disposed in the interior at least in the region of the needle tip and the sealing lining being made of a soft elastic material; the plastic cap and the syringe body conjointly defining a joining interface; and, separable joining means formed at the joining interface to connect the plastic cap to the syringe body so as to permit a user to separate the plastic cap from the syringe body.
In another embodiment, the closure arrangement includes: a connecting cone being formed on the discharge end; an elastomeric closure cap seated on the connecting cone; a stiff plastic cap covering the closure cap and the plastic cap and the syringe body conjointly defining a joining interface; and, separable joining means formed at the joining interface to connect the plastic cap to the syringe body so as to permit a user to separate the plastic cap from the syringe body.
The measures in accordance with the invention provide a simple but reliable connection via the welding or gluing operations, which are relatively simple to carry out in a manufacturing context. This reliable connection fixes the closure arrangement even when there is increased internal pressure in the vessel which occurs during autoclaving and thereby guarantees the seal tightness and especially the microbiological seal tightness and requires no backcuts and/or projections because of the fixing of planar surfaces.
Once the closure arrangement is opened by breaking though the separation location, the closure arrangement cannot again be returned to its original condition at least not with the means available to a user. Desired separation locations in the context of original seals are known from the publications cited initially herein.

Closure arrangement for a disposable syringe


A zoom lens consists of, in order from its object side, a first lens group of negative refracting power, and a second lens group of positive refractive power. Zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end is implemented by changing a distance between the respective lens groups. The first lens group consists of, in order from its object side, a front unit of negative refracting power, and a rear unit of negative refracting power. The front unit consists of, in order from its object side, a first lens that has negative refracting power, and a second lens with smaller refracting power than the first lens. The rear unit consists of, in order from its object side, a third lens of negative refracting power, a fourth lens of negative refracting power, and a fifth lens that has positive refracting power.

The present invention relates generally to a wide-angle zoom lens including a wide-angle end having a large angle of view. Specifically, the invention relates to a wide-angle zoom lens used with electronic imaging devices such as CCDs or CMOSs. More specifically, the invention relates to a wide-angle zoom lens well suited for digital single-lens reflex cameras having a reflective surface at a back focus, and an imaging apparatus incorporating the same.
In recent years, the market for single-lens reflex cameras using electronic imaging devices such as CCDs or C-MOSs has grown steadily. However, there have not been many proposals of a superwide-angle zoom lens that has an angle of view of 100° or greater at a wide-angle end, is of small-format size and comprises fewer lenses. For instance, Patent Publications 1, 2 and 3 have come up with a superwide-angle zoom lens having an angle of view of about 102° and a zoom ratio of about 1.9, a superwide-angle zoom lens having an angle of view of about 110° and a zoom ratio of about 1.7, and a superwide-angle zoom lens having an angle of view of about 110° and a zoom ratio of about 1.5, respectively.
Patent Publication 1: JP(A)2004-21223
Patent Publication 2: JP(A)2007-94176
Patent Publication 3: JP(A)2001-166206
For the arrangement of such superwide-angle zoom lenses, it is general that there are a front lens group having negative refractive power and a rear lens group having positive refracting power. In this case, to image light beams incident at a wide range of angles within an electronic imaging device in a predetermined range, it is required to make the negative refracting power of the front group strong. Especially when it is attempted to set up the front group of negative refracting power with fewer lenses so as to reduce the size of the optical system, power loads on the respective lenses increase, rendering correction of aberrations difficult. Even when, in this case, it is intended to use aspheric surfaces to enhance the effect on aberration correction, lens configuration grows more complicated, offering problems such as difficulty of lens fabrication. For light incident on the electronic imaging device, it is desired to have telecentric capability, and it is required to make sure a certain flange back so as to insert various optical filters between the electronic imaging device and the optical system, which arises a problem that the total length of the optical system grows long. For that very reason, the diameter of lenses forming the front group having negative refracting power grows large, offering an obstacle to size reductions of the optical system.
With the superwide-angle zoom lens set forth in Patent Publication 1 (JP(A)2004-21223), superwide-angle design is achieved by using a lot of aspheric surfaces while the negative front group is simplified in construction. Because the power construction of the first lens that is an aspheric surface is not tight, however, that zoom lens is still less than satisfactory in both total length reductions and diameter reductions.
With the superwide-angle zoom lens disclosed in Patent Publication 2 (JP(A)2007-94176), the correction of aberrations necessary for superwide-angle design is implemented by applying aspheric surfaces to the negative second lens. For this reason, however, the first lens grows large, failing to achieve size reductions.
With the superwide-angle zoom lens shown in Patent Publication 3 (JP(A)2001-166206), the correction of aberrations necessary for superwide-angle design is implemented by applying aspheric surfaces to the first and second lenses having negative refracting power and incorporating a plurality of positive lens components in the first lens group. To this end, however, a lot more lenses of strong power are needed, rendering the optical system bulky. In addition, that zoom lens is generally unsatisfactory in terms of how to avoid decentration and slash cost.
Having been made with the aforesaid problems in mind, the invention has for its object the provision of a small-format, superwide-angle zoom lens that is well compatible with a lens interchangeable type single-lens reflex camera through the optimization of the construction of the first group, and an imaging apparatus incorporating the same.

Zoom lens and imaging apparatus incorporating the same


An novel interferometric apparatus and method for measuring the topography of aspheric surfaces, without requiring any form of scanning or phase shifting. The apparatus and method of the present invention utilize a white-light interferometer, such as a white-light Twyman-Green interferometer, combined with a means for dispersing a polychromatic interference pattern, using a fiber-optic bundle and a disperser such as a prism for determining the monochromatic spectral intensities of the polychromatic interference pattern which intensities uniquely define the optical path differences or OPD between the surface under test and a reference surface such as a reference sphere. Consequently, the present invention comprises a "snapshot" approach to measuring aspheric surface topographies such as the human cornea, thereby obviating vibration sensitive scanning which would otherwise reduce the accuracy of the measurement. The invention utilizes a polychromatic interference pattern in the pupil image plane, which is dispersed on a point-wise basis, by using a special area-to-line fiber-optic manifold, onto a CCD or other type detector comprising a plurality of columns of pixels. Each such column is dedicated to a single point of the fringe pattern for enabling determination of the spectral content of the pattern. The auto-correlation of the dispersed spectrum of the fringe pattern is uniquely characteristic of a particular optical path difference between the surface under test and a reference surface.

Corneal surgery is currently undergoing rapid evolution with improvements designed to minimize or eliminate astigmatism following penetrating keraplasty (corneal transplants), as well as to correct refractive error. Because the cornea is the most powerful refracting surface of the eye, numerous procedures have been devised to incise, lathe, freeze, burn and reset the cornea to alter its shape. Currently practiced keratorefractive surgical techniques include: cryorefractive techniques (keratomileusis, keratophakis, ipikeratophakia), radial keratotomy, thermal keratoplasty, corneal relaxing incisions and wedge resections.
When preparing the patient for any of these surgical techniques, it is essential to accurately measure the corneal curvature. Existing methods to measure corneal curvature include central keratometry and photokeratoscopy with central keratometry. However, with these methods the diameter of the cornea that can be accurately measured is limited. Recently, photokeratoscopy has been adapted to provide a topographic map of the cornea. However, existing keratometers are limited in two important regards. Firstly, these instruments are predicated on geometrical image forming principles and assume the corneal topography can be expressed in terms of zones of various spherical radii. This in turn involves assumptions as to the nature of the surface under test. With more strongly aspheric corneas or as larger areas on even the average or typical size cornea are considered, the measurement becomes extremely ambiguous. Secondly, primarily as a consequence of the above, but also because of optical engineering considerations, most instruments are limited in terms of the aperture of the cornea that can be measured. Existing instruments typically cover corneal diameters no greater than three millimeters.
It is recognized that optical interferometric techniques for non-invasive measurement of corneal topography provides a way of producing a contour map of the corneal surface directly. A suitable achromatic or white-light interferometer is disclosed in co-pending patent application, Ser. No. 07/364,165, filed Jun. 12, 1989 and of which this application constitutes a continuation-in-part. However, a disadvantage of prior art interferometric corneal mapping devices is the requirement for a scanning operation in order to have sufficient phase information for mapping the entire surface of the cornea. This means that the cornea must be stationary during the scanning process. If the scanning can be performed faster than typical eye movements, that difficulty can be overcome. However, a technique that does not require scanning and captures the topographical information in one short duration exposure would be preferable. Thus, there is an ongoing need for a real-time "snapshot" keratometer system for medical diagnosis and for preparation of a corneal contour for eye surgery, as well as for post-operative analysis of completed eye surgery.

Method and apparatus for white-light dispersed-fringe interferometric measurement of corneal topography


A plug valve assembly includes a plug and a segment seal assembly. The segment seal assembly is configured to reduce the differential pressure load across the segment seal assembly when the valve is closed. The segment seal includes an opening in fluid communication with a sealed vent region that is formed between the segment seal and the plug.

Plug valves have been used, and continue to be used, in various industries. The plug valve is relatively simple in construction, and may be used to control the flow of fluid, both liquid and gas, through various parts of a system. Many conventional plug valves include a substantially cylindrical plug that is rotationally mounted within a valve body. The valve body includes inlet and outlet flow ports. The plug additionally includes a flow passage that may be selectively aligned with the valve body inlet and outlet ports, or positioned transverse to the valve body inlet and outlet ports. When the plug flow passages are aligned with the valve body inlet and outlet ports, the valve is open, and fluid flow through the valve is allowed. Conversely, when the plug flow passage is transverse to the valve body inlet and outlet ports, the valve is closed and fluid flow through the valve is prevented.
The plug may include a pocket into which a segment seal is installed. In many plug valves, this pocket is positioned on the plug such that the segment seal is pressure loaded against the valve body outlet port when the valve is closed. As a result, the segment seal may experience relatively large radial forces in the closed position. Thus, when the plug valve is subsequently moved to the open position, the plug and segment seal may experience relatively high frictional forces. These high frictional forces may result in the need to use a higher power valve actuator than might need to be otherwise used, which can result in increased valve and system costs. Moreover, the high frictional forces can damage the segment seal and/or plug.
Hence, there is a need for a plug valve that experiences lower frictional forces, as compared to presently known plug valves, when it is being moved from a closed position to an open position, and/or a plug valve that does not rely on relatively high power actuators, and/or reduces the likelihood of segment seal damage during operation, and/or reduces valve and system costs. The present invention addresses one or more of these needs.

Valve assembly having a pressure balanced segment seal


A circular median filter outputs a median value among data expressed as angles as well as magnitudes. If external new data is input to the circular median filter, a plurality of median cells delete the firstly input data among a plurality of prestored data and sort a plurality of data including the remaining prestored data and the newly input data after deletion of the firstly input data on the basis of a data magnitude. A median determiner receives the sorted data from the plurality of median cells, selects particular data corresponding to a maximum distance from the sorted data, and then outputs the selected particular data as median data. Here, the maximum distance is a maximum value among distances representing differences between data stored in two neighboring median cells among the plurality of median cells for storing the sorted data, and the particular data is data received from the median cell which is the farthest from the two median cells corresponding to the maximum distance.

The present invention relates to a median filter, and more particularly, to a circular median filter which can provide a median value with respect to data expressed as magnitudes or angles.
A median filter is a non-linear filter which outputs data of a medium magnitude as a median value among a predetermined number of data. The median filter has an excellent filter characteristics in which impulse noise is removed from the received data effectively and a boundary portion of an image does not deteriorate. Having theses characteristics, the median filter is widely used for video signal processing in TVs or medical equipment.
FIG. 1 shows an existing median filter, particularly a four degree median filter. In FIG. 1, median cells 11-15 store five data values which are recently input. The five data values stored in the median cells 11-15 are sorted in a descending order from the data value stored in the leftmost median cell 11. The data value DATA.sub.-- IN input to the median filter of FIG. 1 is individually compared with the stored data values in the median cells 11-15. Then, according to the comparison result, the input data is stored in one of th median cells 11-15 in a manner that a descending order is maintained. At the same time, the data which was firstly input to the median filter of FIG. 1 is deleted. In this manner, the data stored in the respective median cells 11-15 always maintain a descending order. As a result, the median filter can output a middle value stored in the median cell 13 which is positioned in the middle of the median cells 11-15, as a median value OUT.
FIG. 2A shows a definition domain of data expressed as magnitudes on a line segment AB, in which A is a minimum value and B is a maximum value. When the median filter of FIG. 1 sorts five data values X[0], X[1], X[2], X[3] and X[4] expressed as magnitudes as shown in FIG. 2A, the median filter is appropriate to the case where a median value is provided considering only magnitudes of the input data because the data X[3] is the middle value. Meanwhile, FIG. 2B shows a definition domain of data expressed as angles on a circle C, in which angles "0" and "2.pi." correspond to the same point on the circle C. Therefore, points on the circle C corresponding to angles have a circularly corresponding relationship as angle increases. In the case when the following data belonging to the definition domain shown in FIG. 2B are input, EQU R[0]=.theta..sub.1, R[1]=.theta..sub.2, R[2]=.theta..sub.3, R[3]=2.pi.-.theta..sub.1, R[4]=2.pi.-.theta..sub.2
where 0<.theta..sub.1 <.theta..sub.2 <.theta..sub.3 <.pi./2, PA1 since the existing median filter compares only magnitudes of data, R[2] is output as a median value, which is not a desired median value. The desired median value is Rx[0] as shown in FIG. 2B. Thus, the existing median filter does not provide an appropriate median value with respect to data expressed as angles. PA1 a plurality of median cells in response to externally input data for deleting the firstly input data among a plurality of prestored data and sorting a plurality of data including the remaining prestored data and the newly input data after deletion of the firstly input data on the basis of a data magnitude; and a median determiner for receiving the sorted data output from the plurality of median cells, selecting particular data corresponding to a maximum distance from the received sorted data, and outputting the selected particular data as median data.


IQ mismatch correction for analog chain IQ mismatch impairments is based on a two-filter architecture. In either RX or TX, an IQmc mismatch corrector (digital chain) filters I and Q digital signals, and includes an I-path to receive the I signal, and a Q-path to receive the Q signal, and is configured with two filters: an in-path filter to filter either the I signal or the Q signal received in the same path; and a cross-path filter to filter either the I signal or the Q signal received in the other path. The IQmc mismatch corrector can include: an I-path delay element to provide a delay to the I signal corresponding to a delay through either the in-path filter or the cross-path filter; and a Q-path delay element to provide a delay to the Q signal corresponding to a delay through either the in-path filter or the cross-path filter.

Wireless infrastructure can employ zero-IF and low-intermediate frequency (zero/low-IF) architectures for TX and RX. An analog signal chain provides RF TX/RX, and a digital signal chain operates at baseband, commonly with DUC/DDC (digital upconversion/downconversion). The analog chain implements complex, quadrature (IQ) modulation/demodulation. The analog and digital signal chains are interfaced with a TX DAC or RX ADC.
The analog IQ chain includes a complex IQ modulator (TX), or demodulator (RX). Mismatches between the I and Q signal chains (IQ errors) include frequency independent gain/phase mismatch in the local oscillators, and frequency dependent mismatch errors in mixers and filter transfer functions, and delay errors through the I and Q signal paths. These I/Q mismatch errors lead to side-band leakage (I/Q imbalance).
TX/RX IQ mismatch in the analog chain can be corrected in the digital chain with digital TX/RX IQmc (IQ mismatch correction/compensation): at the TX end, the digital TX IQmc corrector essentially pre-distorts the baseband signal to compensate for IQ mismatch in the downstream analog IQ chain; at the RX end, the digital RX IQmc corrector corrects for IQ mismatch introduced by the upstream analog IQ chain.
IQmc corrector architectures commonly use filters to correct for IQ mismatch errors. The filter is a construct of a specified number of filter taps, with selectively assigned (estimated) coefficients, and associated MAC (multiply-accumulate) elements, and delay (Z transform) elements.

IQ mismatch correction for zero-IF/low-IF TX/RX


The present invention as disclosed and described herein, in one aspect thereof, comprises a method for multiple access communications over a communications link involves receiving a plurality of data streams from a plurality of data sources. The plurality of data streams are grouped into a plurality of groups. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) processing is applied to each of the plurality of groups. Each of the plurality of groups uses a same combination of frequency and time slot combinations in the OFDM processing. A different orthogonal function is applied to each of the OFDM processed groups to uniquely identify each of the OFDM processed group from each other and the orthogonal function processed groups are transmitted over the communications link.

The use of voice and data networks has greatly increased as the number of personal computing and communication devices, such as laptop computers, mobile telephones, Smartphones, tablets, et cetera, has grown. The astronomically increasing number of personal mobile communication devices has concurrently increased the amount of data being transmitted over the networks providing infrastructure for these mobile communication devices. As these mobile communication devices become more ubiquitous in business and personal lifestyles, the abilities of these networks to support all of the new users and user devices has been strained. Thus, a major concern of network infrastructure providers is the ability to increase their bandwidth in order to support the greater load of voice and data communications and particularly video that are occurring. Traditional manners for increasing the bandwidth in such systems have involved increasing the number of channels so that a greater number of communications may be transmitted, or increasing the speed at which information is transmitted over existing channels in order to provide greater throughput levels over the existing channel resources.
However, while each of these techniques have improved system bandwidths, existing technologies have taken the speed of communications to a level such that drastic additional speed increases are not possible, even though bandwidth requirements due to increased usage are continuing to grow exponentially. Additionally, the number of channels assigned for voice and data communications, while increasing somewhat, have not increased to a level to completely support the increasing demands of a voice and data intensive use society. Thus, there is a great need for some manner for increasing the bandwidth throughput within existing voice and data communication that increases the bandwidth on existing voice and data channels.
Another issue arising in communication systems is limited channel bandwidth providing only a set number of communication channels which may be established between a transmitting and receiving unit. The increased use of voice and data communications has created an increased need for greater channel availability in order to provide connections for a growing number of customers.

Modulation and multiple access technique using orbital angular momentum


The present invention provides compounds of Formula (I): or stereoisomers, tautomers, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts or solvates thereof, wherein all the variables are as defined herein. These compounds are antagonists to αv-containing integrins. This invention also relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising these compounds and methods of treating a disease, disorder, or condition associated with dysregulation of av-containing integrins, such as pathological fibrosis, transplant rejection, cancer, osteoporosis, and inflammatory disorders, by using the compounds and pharmaceutical compositions.

Integrins belong to a large family of α/β heterodimeric transmembrane proteins that are involved in cell adhesion to a wide variety of extracellular matrix proteins, cell-cell interactions, cell migration, proliferation, survival, and in maintenance of tissue integrity (Barczyk et al. Cell and Tissue Research 2010, 339, 269; Srichai, M. B.; Zent, R. in Cell-Extracellular Matrix Intereactions in Cancer, 2010). In mammals, there are 24α/β integrin heterodimers known from various combinations of 18 alpha and 8 beta subunits. Transforming Growth Factor-β (TGF-β) has a central role in driving a number of pathological processes underlying fibrosis, cell growth, and autoimmune diseases. Alpha V (αV) Integrins, that include αVβ1, αVβ3, αVβ5, αVβ6, and αVβ8, are involved in a critical pathway that leads to the conversion of latent TGF-β to its active form (Henderson, N. C.; Sheppard, D. Biochim, Biophys. Acta 2013, 1832, 891). Thus, antagonism of such αV integrin-mediated activation of latent TGF-β provides a viable therapeutic approach to intervene in TGF-β-driven pathological states (Sheppard, D. Eur. Resp. Rev. 2008, 17, 157; Goodman, S. L.; Picard, M. Trends Pharmacol. Sciences 2012, 33(7), 405; Hinz, B. Nature Medicine 2013, 19(12), 1567; Pozzi, A.; Zent, R. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 2013, 24(7), 1034). All five αV integrins belong to a small subset (8 out of 24) of integrins that recognize the Arginine-Glycine-Aspartic acid (RGD) motif present in their native ligands such as fibronectin, vitronectin, and Latency-Associated Peptide (LAP).
The expression of αV integrin subtypes varies significantly. For example, αVβ6 is expressed on epithelial cells at very low levels in healthy tissue but is significantly upregulated during inflammation and wound healing. αVβ3 and αVβ5 are expressed on osteoclasts, endothelial, smooth muscle, and solid tumor cells, as well as on pericytes and podocytes, while αVβ1 is expressed on activated fibroblasts and mesangial cells.
Fibrotic conditions that represent major unmet medical needs are Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), liver and kidney fibrosis, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), Non-Alcoholic Steato-Hepatitis (NASH), as well as systemic sclerosis. Two drugs, pirfenidone an nintedanib, that act by non-integrin-mediated mechanisms, have recently been approved for treatment of IPF. The present invention relates to compounds that inhibit or antagonize the action of one or more of the αV integrins in the treatment of pathological conditions, such as fibrosis and cancer, mediated by these integrins.
A number of selective or nonselective small molecule, peptidic, and antibody-based antagonists of αV integrins have been reported in the literature (Kapp, T. G. et al. Expert Opin. Ther. Patents 2013, 23(10), 1273; O'Day, S. et al. Brit. J. Cancer 2011, 105(3), 346; Pickarski, M. et al. Oncol. Rep. 2015, 33, 2737; Wirth, M. et al. Eur. Urol. 2014, 897; Henderson, N. C. et al. Nature Medicine 2012, 19(12), 1617; Horan, G. S. et al. Am. J. Resp. Crit. Care Med. 2008, 177, 56; Puthawala, K. et al. Am. J. Resp. Crit. Care Med. 2008, 177, 82; Reed, N. I. et al. Sci. Transl. Med. 2015, 7(288), 288ra79; Anderson, N. A. et al. WO 2014/154725 A1, WO 2016/046225 A1, WO 2016/046226 A1, WO 2016/046230 A1, WO 2016/046241 A1).

Cyclobutane- and azetidine-containing mono and spirocyclic compounds as αV integrin inhibitors


In certain aspects, the invention provides isolated SLC5A8 (also referred to as Hui1) nucleic acid molecules, which encode novel sodium solute symporter members. The invention also provides antisense nucleic acid molecules, recombinant expression vectors containing SLC5A8 nucleic acid molecules, host cells into which the expression vectors have been introduced, and nonhuman transgenic animals in which a SLC5A8 gene has been introduced or disrupted. The invention still further provides isolated SLC5A8 proteins, fusion proteins, antigenic peptides, and anti-SLC5A8 antibodies. Diagnostic methods utilizing compositions of the invention are also provided. In other aspects, the invention provides methods and compositions for detecting and treating SLC5A8-associated cancer. Differential methylation of the SLC5A8 nucleotide sequences has been observed in SLC5A8-associated cancer, such as colon cancer, breast cancer, thyroid cancer, or stomach cancer.

In 2001, over 1.2 million new cases of human cancer will be diagnosed and over 0.5 million people will die from cancer (American Cancer Society estimate). Despite this, more people than ever are living with and surviving cancer. In 1997, for example, approximately 8.9 million living Americans had a history of cancer (National Cancer Institute estimate). People are more likely to survive cancer if the disease is diagnosed at an early stage of development, since treatment at that time is more likely to be successful. Early detection depends upon availability of high-quality methods. Such methods are also useful for determining patient prognosis, selecting therapy, monitoring response to therapy and selecting patients for additional therapy. Consequently, there is a need for cancer diagnostic methods that are specific, accurate, minimally invasive, technically simple and inexpensive.
Colorectal cancer (cancer of the colon or rectum) is one particularly important type of human cancer. Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer mortality in adult Americans (Landis, et al., 1999, CA Cancer J Clin, 49:8-31). Approximately 40% of individuals with colorectal cancer die. In 2001, it is estimated that there will be 135,400 new cases of colorectal cancer (98,200 cases of colon and 37,200 cases of rectal cancer) and 56,700 deaths (48,000 colon cancer and 8,800 rectal cancer deaths) from the disease (American Cancer Society). As with other cancers, these rates can be decreased by improved methods for diagnosis. Although methods for detecting colon cancer exist, the methods are not ideal. Digital rectal exams (i.e., manual probing of rectum by a physician), for example, although relatively inexpensive, are unpleasant and can be inaccurate. Fecal occult blood testing (i.e., detection of blood in stool) is nonspecific because blood in the stool has multiple causes. Colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy (i.e., direct examination of the colon with a flexible viewing instrument) are both uncomfortable for the patient and expensive. Double-contrast barium enema (i.e., taking X-rays of barium-filled colon) is also an expensive procedure, usually performed by a radiologist.
Other cancers such as breast cancer, thyroid cancer and stomach cancer, cause significant public health problem as well. For example, thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy. In the United States, there are approximately 14,000 new patients and 1,100 deaths per year (Shah et al., 1995, CA Cancer J Clin 45:352-68). Because of the disadvantages of existing methods for detecting and treating cancer, new methods and tools in cancer diagnosis and cancer therapy are needed.

Methods and compositions for detecting cancers


Disclosed are an aromatic heterocyclic compound, an intermediate thereof, a preparation method therefor, and a pharmaceutical composition and use thereof. The aromatic heterocyclic compound of the present invention is a new ALK5 inhibitor, and is used for treating and/or preventing various ALK5-mediated diseases.

Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is a multifunctional cytokine that participates in the regulation of cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis through complex receptor signaling pathways on the cell surface in manners of autocrine, paracrine and endocrin. TGF-β and activins, inhibitors, bone morphogenetic proteins, Mullerian-inhibiting substance and other related proteins belong to the transforming growth factor β superfamily (TGF-β superfamily, TGF-βs).
TGF-β has three main cell receptors: type I, type II and type III receptors. Type I and type II receptors are transmembrane serine/threonine kinases, both of which transmit information at the same time, type III receptors do not transmit information, the function of which is mainly to transmit TGF-β to type II receptors, so as to indirectly affect signal transduction through providing ligands for the receptor II.
The signal transduction pathway of TGF-β is mainly the TGF-β-Smad signaling pathway. The Smad protein family is an intracellular signal transduction protein discovered in recent years. It is known that there are 8 kinds of Smad protein molecules in the human body. After activating TGF-β in the form of an inactive protein complex, TGF-β interacts with type II receptor (TGFβR II) and type I receptor (TGFβR I, also known as ALK5 (activin-like kinase 5)) on the cell surface to form a double dimer receptor complex. Type II receptor phosphorylates and activates type I receptor, and then the Smad protein molecule (Smad2/3) is phosphorylated by type I receptor to which it is attached and releases into the cytoplasm, and forms a complex with the Smad4 protein which then transfers to the nucleus, thereby combining different transcription factors and transcription co-activators or transcription co-inhibitors to regulate the transcription of TGF-β target genes and produce biological effects. The TGF-β-Smad signaling pathway has important regulatory effects on cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, attachment, migration, synthesis of extracellular matrix, wound repair, immune function and so on (Nature 2003, 425, 577). Studies have shown that abnormal TGF-β signaling is associated with many diseases, such as cancer, renal fibrosis, liver fibrosis, lung fibrosis, viral infections, chronic nephritis, acute nephritis, diabetic nephropathy, osteoporosis, arthritis, wound healing, ulcers, corneal trauma, cardiac valve stenosis, congestive cardiac necrosis, neurological impairment, Alzheimer's syndrome, peritoneal or subcutaneous adhesions, arteriosclerosis tumor, metastasis growth and so on. An important node TGFβR I (ALK5) in the TGF-β signaling pathway is an ideal target for the treatment of these diseases, by inhibiting ALK5 phosphorylation of its downstream signal Smad2 or Smad3, blocking or partially blocking the propagation of TGF-β signal into the cell, thereby correcting the abnormal TGF-β signaling, which can treat and prevent various ALK5-mediated diseases (Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2012 October, 11(10): 790-811; Pharmacology & Therapeutics 147 (2015) 22-31).
The prior art has disclosed some compounds as ALK5 inhibitors, for example: WO2012002680, WO2009022171, WO2009133070, WO2004048383, WO2004013135, WO2002094833 and so on.
The inventors have discovered through research that a class of aromatic heterocyclic compounds can be used as ALK5 inhibitors and are useful for treating and/or preventing various diseases mediated by ALK5.

Aromatic heterocyclic compound, intermediate thereof, preparation method therefor, and pharmaceutical composition and use thereof


A method of analyzing a presence in a space (5), the method comprising the steps of:                projecting at least one light beam (10) into the space towards a screen in such a manner that at least a portion of a body, if present in the space, casts a shadow onto the screen; and        analyzing the shadow cast on the screen.

In premises to which access is controlled, such as premises containing sensitive information or housing materials or articles that are dangerous or precious, it is becoming more and more frequent to make use of automatic systems for authorizing access, e.g. comprising an identification device that recognizes fingerprints or irises in order to verify whether people attempting to access the premises are entitled to have such access authorized. Such devices provide relatively reliable identification of people submitting themselves to inspection. Nevertheless, on their own such devices cannot prevent a fraudulent person who does not submit to identify checking from penetrating into the controlled-access premises together with some other person whose identity has been checked successfully.
To avoid that drawback, it is common practice to use turnstile-type barriers. Nevertheless, a fraudulent person can jump the barrier so the risk of that person gaining access is still quite high. In addition, that type of barrier restricts the flow of people and is not very practical for users carrying baggage or for people of reduced mobility such as elderly people or people with motor handicaps.
Access monitoring systems are known that use a camera and image processing software for automatically detecting the number of people attempting to access the monitored premises. Such image processing is complex, greedy in computer resources, and relatively lengthy. Furthermore, it is effective only if the person or people attempting to access the premises can be distinguished clearly from the background of the image for processing.
Proposals have been to use identification devices and monitoring systems in airports for monitoring passenger access to departure lounges. To do this, proposals have been made to place lock chambers at the entrances to departure lounges through which passengers are channeled, and that house the identification device and the monitoring device. In order to avoid passengers feeling oppressed in the lock chamber, the lock chamber is defined for the most part by walls that are transparent. Nevertheless, in such an application, the background and the lighting of the lock chamber are not under control, so monitoring devices of the above-mentioned type are difficult to use. In addition, the time taken to process the image is found to be relatively long.

Method of analyzing a presence in a space


A packaging substrate structure includes a dielectric layer with a plurality of dielectric pillars disposed on a portion of a large-dimension opening area of the dielectric layer; and a first circuit layer with a plurality of first circuits disposed on a portion of the dielectric layer, and a conductive block disposed in the large-dimension opening area of the dielectric layer having the dielectric pillars. The dielectric pillars reduce the difference of the electrical current density distribution between the large-dimension opening area and small-dimension opening areas during electroplating, thereby overcoming the conventional drawback of insufficient thickness or a hollow center of the conductive block that results in an uneven thickness of the circuit layer. The invention further provides a method of manufacturing the packaging substrate structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a packaging substrate structure and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to a packaging substrate structure, circuit layer of which has a large-dimension conductive block, and a manufacturing method of the packaging substrate structure.
2. Description of Related Art
Owing to the flourishing development of the electronics industry, the research and development of electronic products have a trend toward multi-function, high-performance products. To satisfy the packaging requirements of high integration and miniaturization for semiconductor packages, multi-layer packaging substrates are developed, wherein dielectric layers and circuit layers are formed on the surface of a core substrate, and conductive vias are formed in the dielectric layers for electrical connection between the circuit layers.
Besides general circuits, circuits of a multi-layer packaging substrate can further comprise a large-dimension conductive block for power connection or ground connection. FIGS. 1A to 1F show a manufacturing method of such a multi-layer packaging substrate.
As shown in FIG. 1A, a carrier layer 10 having a plurality of circuits 101 and electrical connection terminals 102, 102′ disposed on the surface thereof is provided. The carrier layer 10 is one of a core board and a dielectric layer of a multi-layer packaging substrate.
As shown in FIG. 1B, a dielectric layer 11 is formed on the surfaces of the carrier layer 10, the circuit layer 101 and the electrical connection terminals 102, 102′. A plurality of first vias 110, 110′ are formed in the dielectric layer 11 to expose surfaces of the electrical connection terminals 102, 102′.
As shown in FIG. 1C, a conductive seed layer 13 is formed on the dielectric layer 11.
As shown in FIG. 1D, a resist layer 14 is formed on the conductive seed layer 13, and a plurality of small-dimension opening areas 140 and a large-dimension opening area 140′ are formed in the resist layer 14 to expose a portion of the conductive seed layer 13 on the dielectric layer 11 and to expose the electrical connection terminals 102, 102′.
As shown in FIG. 1E, a first circuit layer 15 is formed through an electroplating process that uses the conductive seed layer 13 as a current conductive path, wherein the first circuit layer 15 comprises first conductive vias 151, 151′ formed in the first vias 110, 110′, first circuits 152 and a large-dimension conductive block 152′ formed in the areas 140, 140′ of the resist layer 14.
As shown in FIGS. 1F and 1F′, the resist layer 14 and the conductive seed layer 13 are removed to expose the first circuits 152 and the conductive block 152′.
However, during formation of the large-dimension conductive block 152′ by electroplating, as the electrical current density of the large-dimension conductive block 152′ is smaller than that of the small-dimension first circuits 152, thickness of the conductive block 152′ can be insufficient and there is a difference e between the thickness of the first circuits 152 and that of the conductive block 152′, and even a hollow center 153 can be formed. Thus, the entire thickness of the first circuit layer 15 becomes uneven. As a result, the dielectric layer of the subsequent formed built-up circuit can have an uneven thickness, which makes the via processing rather difficult and accordingly leads to poor electrical connection and poor impedance control.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a manufacturing method of a circuit layer with a large-dimension conductive block so as to prevent uneven thickness or a hollow center of conductive block caused by the difference of electrical current density distribution between large-dimension and small-dimension opening areas during electroplating.

Packaging substrate structure and manufacturing method thereof


A multi-layered sheet product is provided which is useful as a release backing for pressure sensitive adhesive labels or as a liner for foodstuff containers and trays. The sheet product has a polymeric layer and a cellulosic layer laminated together and having an adhesive layer therebetween. A substantially uniform silicone coating is provided on a surface of the polymeric layer opposite the surface adhered to the cellulosic layer. The polymeric layer surface having the silicone coating thereon constitutes a smooth surface which, when the product is used as a release backing, minimizes distortion of the adhesive surface of an adhesive label upon separation of the label from the sheet product, an important feature for use with transparent labels. When used as a release liner for foodstuff containers and trays, the polymeric layer prevents absorption by the cellulosic layer of water from the foodstuff. Use of an oriented polyester as the polymeric layer, provides excellent tear resistance, dimensional stability and stiffness in an extremely thin laminated sheet product.

Pressure sensitive adhesive labels are generally provided with a releasable backing known as a backing layer, release layer or release liner. The backing protects the adhesive surface of the label from contamination by dust, debris, moisture and other contaminants until the label is ready for use. It is important that the backing is easily releasable from the label so that the label does not tear when separated from the backing. Easy release is also needed so that the adhesive layer of the label remains intact during separation, enabling maximum adhesion of the label when applied to a subsequent surface.
Silicone coatings on paper products are well known as suitable materials for release liners, release backings and other low surface energy surfaces. Unfortunately, such materials are not suitable as moisture and water barrier materials, and are relatively expensive due to the thickness required for such materials to be commercially durable. Furthermore, silicone-coated paper products have a rough topography due to the fibrous and porous nature of the paper. The topography of the paper tends to be transferred to and adversely affects the smoothness of the label adhered to it. This is particularly troublesome when paper release backings are used for transparent labels having adhesive layers which tend to pick up the topography of the backing. When the rough topography of the backing is transferred to the adhesive layer of a transparent label, clarity of the adhesive layer and thus the label is diminished. A need therefor exists for an extremely smooth backing material which will not cause the transfer of a rough topography to the adhesive layer of a transparent label.
Other problems with the use of silicone-coated paper backing and liner materials is the tendency of such materials to rip or tear during a diecutting operation. A need exists for a backing and liner material which can be neatly cut by a diecutting press so as to achieve a finished form having smooth edges.
Release-coated surfaces are also desirable for containers, trays and support sheets which contact foodstuffs, and for drums, tubes and containers for tacky or sticky industrial compounds. Complete release of foodstuffs and industrial compounds from such surfaces is essential to minimizing waste of such products. Complete release of foodstuffs from container surfaces also preserves the appearance of the foodstuff and thus provides an aesthetically pleasing presentation of the product. For example, it would be desirable to provide a release-coated surface on a pizza box or pizza tray insert so that melted cheese overflowing from a slice of pizza will not stick to the box or tray. When melted cheese from a slice of pizza flows onto the surface of existing cardboard pizza boxes, the cheese sticks to the box and pulls more toppings off the slice as it is lifted from the box. A need therefore exists for food containers, support sheets and trays provided with release coatings which prevent sticking of foodstuffs to the surfaces thereof.
Likewise, a need exists for an industrial composition or compound container such as a drum or tube having a release coating thereon which prevents sticky or tacky industrial compounds from sticking to the container.
Coated paper liners are also known for food containers and industrial compound containers, and are desirable in that they offer good printability and stiffness. Unfortunately, coated paper liners require sufficient thickness to provide satisfactory tear resistance and they suffer from the undesirable properties of moisture scavenging and curling. Moisture scavenging results in the absorption of water content from foodstuffs and industrial compounds in contact with the liner, thereby adversely affecting the quality of the contained foodstuff or industrial compound and the structural stability of the container.
Certain polymeric compositions provide good moisture barrier properties and tear resistance, but offer poor printability and stiffness. Polymeric liners may also be dimensionally unstable for many applications. U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,702 discloses a paper-plastic laminate sheeting which can be used for manufacturing grocery bags and envelopes. The patent does not suggest, however, that the laminate could be used as a release backing. The plastic layer may comprise a film of polypropylene, polyethylene, nylon or polyester. To avoid diminishing the reinforcing characteristics of the film, the patent teaches using a water-based adhesive, and not a hot melt adhesive, for laminating the film to a paper layer. To render the inner surface of the film more receptive to the water-based adhesive, the patent teaches first subjecting the film surface to an ionizing treatment to increase the surface energy of the film surface.
It has been found that ionization treatments, unless conducted at extremely low power, can deleteriously affect and even destroy silicone coatings on a thin polymeric film. Destruction of silicone coatings on thin polymeric films may occur even when the opposite surface of the film is the only surface exposed to the ionization treatment.
The present invention provides a backing and liner material having a silicone release surface. The multi-layered products of the present invention exhibit excellent release, printability, stiffness, tear resistance, and dimensional stability together with moisture barrier properties. The present invention provides a method of producing such backing and liner materials in a thin structure and at a continuous high production rate without deleteriously affecting the silicone release surface. The printability and stiffness of a coated paper release structure and the tear resistance and moisture barrier properties of a polymeric liner are achieved while avoiding curling problems and swelling due to absorption of water into a paper layer.
The highly smooth silicone-coated polymeric surface eliminates problematic transfer of a rough topography to label adhesives. The present backing and liner materials may be substantially thinner, e.g., thinner than about 60% as thick, yet at least as strong as silicone-coated paper materials. In addition, the materials of the present invention possess a smooth surface for diecutting which leads to precise cutting of forms with a minimal risk of material ripping or tearing.

In-line method for laminating silicone-coated polyester film to paper, and laminate produced thereby


A decorative bar, configured to be mounted on a surface (wall or floor) of a room or building, comprises (a) an elongate rod formed of natural stone and having a substantially constant cross-sectional shape from a first end to an opposite, second end and a longitudinal groove extending along one side, and (b) an elongate metal armature or brace having a portion thereof inserted in and substantially filling the longitudinal groove in the stone rod. The metal brace has a flange or bracket at each end configured to be attached to the surface (wall or floor) of a building to affix and retain the stone rod in a mounted relationship to this surface with its longitudinal groove on a side which is not readily visible to a casual observer.

The present invention relates to a decorative bar or rail formed of a natural stone rod combined with a metal armature or bracketed structure which is configured to be mounted on a wall surface of a room or a floor surface of a building to provide an attractive and useful holder or railing.
For example, the stone and metal bar may be installed on the wall of a bathroom for use as a towel holder or a hand support; it may be installed on a door as a door pull; it may be installed in a closet for use as a rod on which to hang clothes; or it may be mounted on vertical supports on the side of a staircase to serve as a hand or guard rail or as the cap on a railing at a balcony edge. In general, the present invention is intended to add an attractive architectural accent in any situation where a bar or railing is provided in a building.
The use of stone for architectural purposes is known throughout history. Large vertical columns have graced the facades of buildings since early Greco-Roman times. Natural stone is a durable and attractive building material but its use has been limited by its lack of tensile strength. When used in compression, as in vertical stone columns for example, the stone is capable of bearing enormous loads. However, when a lateral force is applied that causes internal tension, for example when weight is applied to the center of a horizontal stone beam, the stone has a tendency to crack. For this reason metals and plastics have long since replaced stone as the materials of choice for architectural purposes where a tensile force is present or expected.
It is known from the Chinese Patent No. 2857765Y to reinforce a bar made of stone by means of an internal metal rod. The disclosed bar is intended for use in a bathroom, for example as a towel bar or shower curtain rod. A cylindrical metal rod is somehow embedded in the center of a stone bar, which may be round or square in cross-section, presumably by drilling a round hole along the longitudinal central axis of the stone. Once reinforced in this way, the bar can be placed in use horizontally presumably by supporting it at both ends in a manner that is not defined or explained.
The Chinese Patent No. 201284914Y discloses an improvement in this prior art stone bar which avoids drilling a long hole through the center of the bar. This reference teaches the reinforcement of stone curtain rods, towel racks and the like by inserting a metal rod in a longitudinal notch or groove on one or more sides of the bar and affixing the rod(s) to the stone by means of an adhesive. The metal rod can be round, square or even triangular in cross-section. It can fill a groove in the stone bar or be covered by a separate, filler material that fills the remainder of the groove. Once inserted, however, the metal rod fulfills no other purpose than to reinforce the stone bar. As in the case with the Chinese Patent No. 2857765Y, this metal rod is substantially hidden from view.
These two prior art references, taken together, teach how natural stone bars may be reinforced. However, the reinforced stone bars, so constructed, must be held by some type of supporting fixture when installed in a bathroom or the like. This supporting fixture must presumably grip or clamp the outer surface of the stone which, being brittle, is subject to damage, either upon installation or during use. Because this configuration as not robust, such stone bars may be considered impractical for architectural use. Furthermore, these references teach making substantial cuts or openings in the stone bars for insertion of the reinforcing metal rods.
The Chinese Patent No. 2857765Y shows that the diameter of the metal rod is approximately one-third the diameter or width of the stone bar. It would be exceedingly difficult to drill a longitudinal hole through a stone rod from one end to the other. The Chinese Patent No. 201284914Y discloses various types of stone bars with various configurations of longitudinal grooves for insertion of the metal rods. In each embodiment shown, the groove is approximately one quarter of the width of the stone bar. In all cases where a round or square metal rod is embedded in a stone bar for reinforcement, this rod must have sufficient thickness to withstand any bending stresses that are anticipated. The substantial cuts in the stone, for the purposed of reinforcement, result in a weakened stone structure which is naturally fragile and brittle and therefore subject to breakage.

Decorative stone and metal bar for architectural use


Techniques are described for mitigating adverse effects of port scanning within a network device. For example, an apparatus, such as a router, responds to all network connection request packets received from a client for all ports on an attached server as if all of the server's ports are open. Once a network connection is established between the router and the client, a network connection request is transmitted to the server for a requested port. Using the router to establish a full network connection with the client eliminates a unscrupulous client from sending numerous decoy network connection request messages in an effort to hide the identity of the client. By responding to all network connection requests by establishing a TCP full connection before a network connection request is forwarded to a server, a client receives no useful information regarding the state of a port on the server before providing a valid and detectable IP address. Stealth port scanning is rendered ineffective. Only connect scan-type port scanning, which is both detectible and defendable, may be used to identify open ports on a server.

A computer network is a collection of interconnected computing devices that exchange data and share resources. In a packet-based network, such as the Internet, the computing devices communicate data by dividing the data into small blocks called packets, which are individually routed across the network from a source device to a destination device. The destination device extracts the data from the packets and assembles the data into its original form.
Computing devices that provide data and resources, such as servers attached to a network, provide this data and these computing resources to clients through the use of network ports associated with the servers. A network port is a logical connection to the server that is associated with a particular source of data or with a particular service provided by the server. For example, port 80 is a well known port for the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and is typically used to provide a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) connection to a client requesting an HTTP connection with the server. As such, any HTTP connection request initiated between any client and the server will attempt to establish the communications connection using port 80 on the server. Many other well known ports are used to provide similar services, such as domain name resolution (port 43), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) electronic mail transfer (port 25), Post Office Protocol (POP3) electronic mail retrieval service (port 110), and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service (port 547), among others. Port numbers may range between 0 and 65536 under the TCP communications protocol, where well known ports associated with standard networking services use ports 0 to 1024.
This use of ports on servers to provide access to data and other resources enables any client attached to a network the ability to determine whether a particular server provides a particular service by simply attempting to establish a session with the server over the corresponding well known port. More specifically, the client transmits a service request to the network address for the server and specifies the particular port of interest. If the server provides the service associated with the specified port, the server establishes a connection between the server and the client. If the server does not provide the service associated with the particular port of interest, the server does not establish the connection. When the connection is not established, the server either may transmit a reset message to the client indicating that the particular port of interest in not open or may not transmit any response at all. If there is an intermediate firewall, the firewall may block messages depending upon configuration setting for the firewall at the particular port of interest.
Consequently, clients may issues service requests to all well known ports of a server to identify all of the services provided by the server. This process is generally referred to as "port scanning." Unfortunately, port scanning is utilized by some unscrupulous clients to identify servers that are vulnerable to attack through an open port. Because of this use of port scanning, servers may attempt to identify when a port scan is occurring, identify the source, e.g., network address, of the client performing the port scan, and block further scanning if the client is believed to be unscrupulous. Port scanning activities generally fall into two categories of scanning. A first type of port scanning, referred to as a "connect scan-type," is the easiest to detect and prevent. In the connect scan-type of port scan, a client initiates and ultimately establishes a full connection with the server for each service provided by the server. As a result, the network address for the client is provided to the server, thereby providing the server with the identity of the client performing the scan. Therefore, many well-known procedures for detecting and hindering clients from attacking a server using the connect scan-type port scan.
A second type of port scan, typically referred to as a "half open" scan or a "stealth" scan, may also be used. In a stealth scan, a port scanning client initiates but does not complete the establishment of a connection for each of the services. As with the connect-type port scan, the port scanning client receives a response from the server when an open port is found; however, the port scanning client does not complete the message exchange necessary to fully establish the connection. Because of this fact, the unscrupulous client may transmit a large number of messages initiating establishment of a connection where each of these messages possess a different network address. The server will respond to each of these TCP request messages, but only one such response actually reaches the unscrupulous client. Consequently, the server possesses no information to identify the actual request from the unscrupulous client from all of the other decoy service requests. As such, a server may realize that a stealth port scan is occurring while not being able to identify the client, or its IP address, that is initiating the port scan. The server may be unable to prevent the stealth port scan without rejecting service requests from legitimate clients. As a result, many servers providing data and related services to clients remain vulnerable to potential attack by unscrupulous clients through successful use of a stealth port scan.

Port scanning mitigation within a network through establishment of an a prior network connection


The charger mounts a printed circuit board into a case and charging contact points are fixed on this printed circuit board. The charging contact points are connected to the electrodes of the batteries attached to the attachment section. The separating ribs in which the charging contact points mount and which are in contact with the upper face of the printed circuit board, are provided in the case. The charging contact points mounted in the inner side of these separating ribs, are exposed in the attachment section from the electrode windows of the case. The fluid which penetrated inside the case via the electrode windows is separated by the separating ribs and prevented from spreading at the surface of the printed circuit board and is drained outside the case through the drain canals provided in the case.

The present invention relates to a charger to charge batteries, and especially relates to a charger preventing the failure of the electronic parts inserted into the case, due to the electrolyte leak from the battery or to water infiltration from the outside.
The charger has an attachment section provided in the case to allow the easy setting in at a fixed position and the easy taking out of the batteries or of the charging devices of electric apparatuses or the like mounted with a battery. Electrode windows are provided at a position facing the electrodes of the battery, charging contact points are exposed in these electrode windows. The charging contact points are connected to the electrodes of the batteries and charge the batteries.
When charging the batteries inserted into the attachment section of the case, some electrolyte leaks from the battery. For example, it happens that the electrolyte leaks when the battery is over charged. The reason is that when the battery is over charged, the inner pressure of the battery gets extremely high opening the safety valve. The leaking electrolyte penetrates inside the charger case through the electrode windows. The electrolyte that has penetrated into the battery case does not only cause a leakage of electricity or the like, but also provokes short circuits in the electronic parts or the corrosion of the electrical parts leading to a failure. The electronic parts are in a state easily leading to short circuits because the electrolyte that has penetrated inside the case, is a particularly conductive fluid. This drawback can be reduced by narrowing the space between the electrode windows and the charging contact points. But because the charging contact points are elastically deformable and are pushed by the charging terminals of the batteries or the like to be set to the attachment section, it is necessary to leave a space between the contacts points and the electrode windows which allows an elastically sufficient movement of the charging contact points. If the contact of the charging contact points with the electrode windows is made by rubbing, a smooth movement is no more realized and is the cause of the misconnection between the charger terminals and the charging contact points. For this reason, it is necessary to avoid the contact of the contact point with the electrode window, to surely allow the flexible pressing in of the charging contact point by the charger terminals of the battery or the like. It is therefore not possible to reduce the size of the electrode windows to avoid the penetration of the electrolyte.
Furthermore, not only electrolyte penetrates into the charger, but also water or the like via the electrode windows. Like the electrolyte, because water is also conductive, it causes leakage of electricity, and also causes electronic short circuits, or the corrosion of the electrical parts leading to a failure.
The present invention has been developed to avoid the drawback of the penetration of water or electrolyte into the case. The important scope of the present invention is to provide a charger which efficiently prevents the drawback of the electrolyte penetration inside the case through the electrode windows, and also surely prevents the internal short circuits and the corrosion.
The above and further objects and features of the invention will more fully be apparent from the following detailed description with accompanying drawings.


A heat dissipation structure is provided and includes a plurality of heat conduction bases and at least one flexible fin. Each of the heat conduction bases includes a first surface and a second surface. A positioning groove is formed in the first surface of each of the heat conduction bases, and the second surface of each of the heat conduction bases is assembled to a backlight surface of a solar module. The fin is coupled to the positioning grooves and connected between the heat conduction bases.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a heat dissipation structure, and more particularly to a heat dissipation structure of a solar module.
2. Description of Related Art
Solar modules can convert light energy, particularly sunlight, into electrical energy without producing any greenhouse gases during the conversion process. Therefore, solar modules are an environmentally friendly way to generate electrical energy. Recently, along with the progress and development in photovoltaic technology, the cost of solar modules has gone down considerably while the conversion efficiency of solar modules has increased. As a result, solar modules are being widely used, particularly in the consumer market. For example, solar modules can now be found on the rooftops of homes and on buildings, as well as in various electronic products.
However, the efficiency of a solar module is reduced when the temperature increases. In general, the power output of a solar module will reduce by 1 W when the temperature increases by 1° C. Moreover, when the working temperature of a solar module is too high, the efficiency thereof will be very poor, and also, the material lifespan and product reliability of the solar module will be reduced.
A conventional solar module having a heat dissipation device often includes a plurality of solar cells and metal fins in contact with the solar cells. However, the thermal contraction ratio of the solar cells in such a conventional solar module is different from the thermal contraction ratio of the fins. When the temperature is changed, since the fins are directly adhered to the back surface of the solar module, the fins may undergo extreme deformation (i.e., thermal expansion and contraction) which may damage the solar cells. Furthermore, when the solar module is located outdoors, the solar module may be easily bent when subjected to strong winds, such that the fins may lose some of their adhesivity to the back surface of the solar module. In serious situations, the fins may be completely removed from the back surface of the solar module. Hence, the lifespan and efficiency of the solar module may be significantly reduced.


A shut height adjustment device is provided for a press having press and tooling rams coupled in spaced relationship during a forward stroke of the press ram. The adjustment device includes a carrier defining a rotation axis and a plurality of apertures concentric with the rotation axis. A plurality of spacers are removably held in the plurality of apertures. Each of the spacers extends parallel to the rotation axis between a pair of opposite end surfaces which accurately define a length of each of the spacers. Different ones of the spacers have different lengths. The carrier is rotatably mountable on a post coupled between the press and tooling rams such that the different ones of the spacers may be selectively disposed between the press and tooling rams for engagement by opposed contact portions of the rams during the forward stroke of the press ram. The length of an engaged spacer defines the spaced relationship between the rams, and the spaced relationship is adjustable by engagement of the different ones of the spacers between the contact portions of the rams.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of crimping or other press machines having a ram which is movable into proximity with a base for engaging a workpiece therebetween, and more particularly, to a device for adjusting the closest proximity of the ram with respect to the base in a press machine.
2. Prior Art
Numerous types of press machines are used in industry for performing operations on a workpiece. The press machines typically have a ram which reciprocates toward and away from a base for engaging the workpiece therebetween. One type of press machine is an automatic crimping machine for crimping terminals to electrical conductors.
Various types of terminals may be deformed, or crimped, around electrical conductors to provide an electrical connection therewith. A terminal crimping machine typically comprises a tooling ram carrying a crimping die which reciprocates toward and away from a base of the machine. The crimping die cooperates with an anvil die attached to the base to deform a terminal disposed therebetween when the crimping die is in proximity with the anvil die.
Height of the terminal after deformation is referred to as the crimp height. The crimp height is a valuable indicator of quality of the crimped connection. A crimp height that is too large will not provide a secure and reliable connection, while a crimp height that is too small results in excessive deformation which will weaken or break the terminal and/or conductor, and in addition wastes energy in driving the machine.
The crimp height is a function of shut height of the machine, i.e., a dimension between the crimping die and the anvil die when the crimping die is in its closest proximity with respect to the anvil die. The shut height may need to be changed to accommodate different sizes and types of terminals and/or conductors which require different crimp heights. Also, the shut height may need adjustment to compensate for such things as tooling wear, dimensional tolerances of replacement parts, and dimensional changes due to temperature variations.
Devices for adjusting the shut height of automatic crimping machines are known. U.S. Pat. No. 3,184,950 to Sitz discloses a shut height adjusting device for an automatic crimping machine having a power, or press, ram which drives a tooling ram carrying the crimping die toward the anvil die. The adjusting device comprises a rotary disc interposed between the press and tooling rams. A side of the disc facing the press ram has a plurality of pairs of bosses of different heights. Contact arms of the press ram bear against selected pairs of the bosses during a crimping stroke of the press ram, thereby governing a spaced relationship between the press and tooling rams. The disc is rotatable to selectively position different pairs of the bosses for engagement by the contact arms, thereby changing the spaced relationship between the rams and thus the shut height of the machine. A detent mechanism is provided to ensure that the selected bosses are aligned with the contact arms and are maintained in position until a different selection is made. Although the Sitz device performs adequately, the disc is expensive to manufacture because it is an integral metal unit and the bosses must be machined to close dimensional tolerances. If one of the bosses is machined incorrectly the entire disc may be ruined, and when a boss becomes worn or damaged in use, the entire disc must be replaced with a new disc having bosses machined to correct dimensions. Furthermore, a single disc has only four pairs of bosses which provide four different crimp heights, and a plurality of discs must be stocked to cover a broad range of different crimp heights.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,173 to Boutcher, Jr., discloses a shut height adjustment device comprising a mounting block fixed to the press ram and a dial rotatably secured between the mounting block and the tooling ram. Facing surfaces of the mounting block and the dial define opposed helical ramps. A change in angular position of the dial causes the ramps to ride over each other, whereby the dial is axially displaced with respect to the press ram and shut height of the machine is changed. The device of Boutcher, Jr., enables infinite adjustment of crimp height between upper and lower limits. However, the device does not enable a particular crimp height to be quickly and easily selected because the angled ramps do not provide natural zones associated with discretely different crimp heights. Production of a desired crimp height is attainable primarily after making a series of adjustments while zeroing in on the desired crimp height through trial and error.
The present invention overcomes the problems of the prior art shut height adjustment devices by providing a carrier which removably holds a plurality of spacers for selective interposition between the press and tooling rams. The spacers are simple and inexpensive to produce so that a large inventory of the spacers precisely machined to different heights can be stocked. The spacers are easily interchangeable in the carrier so that a large number of discrete crimp heights is obtainable.

Shut height adjustment device having replaceable spacers


Techniques for defragmenting at least one time division multiplexed link in a communication system, wherein provisioned circuits corresponding to traffic demands are assigned to particular time slots of the link. An optimum layout of free space for the link is computed, subject to an interface rate constraint that may be specified as a minimum cross-connect rate and a maximum cross-connect rate. Particular free slots from the optimum layout of free space are selected, and a hitless migration sequence is determined for migrating one or more of the circuits to one or more of the selected free slots. The time slot assignments of one or more of the circuits are adjusted in accordance with the determined migration, sequence in order to defragment the link.

Bandwidth fragmentation is an important issue in the context of well-known optical networking standards, such as synchronous optical network (SONET) and synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH). These standards generally specify that bandwidth is provisioned as contiguous time slots on a given time division multiplexed link. For example, an STS-3c circuit and an STS-12c circuit require three and 12 contiguous time slots of STS-1 level granularity, respectively, where STS-1 denotes the lowest level granularity, and corresponds to the SONET basic transmission rate of 51.84 Mbps.
The provisioning of contiguous time slots is typically referred to as "contiguous concatenation," and can result in fragmentation of a link. Such link fragmentation can cause a new traffic demand to be denied, even though a sufficient total number of slots exists, if there are insufficient contiguous slots to accommodate the demand.
Defragmentation refers generally to the process of reconfiguring the provisioned circuits so as to group the available time slots in a manner which better allows accommodation of additional demands.
Recently, virtual concatenation (VC) and link capacity adjustment scheme (LCAS) protocols have been developed which allow more efficient use of the existing fixed-bandwidth connections associated with circuit-switched SONET/SDH networks. The VC and LCAS protocols are described in greater detail in, for example, ITU-T standards documents G.707 and G.7042, respectively, both of which are incorporated by reference herein. These protocols avoid the fragmentation problem by eliminating the contiguous slot requirement. However, until all edge network elements support the new protocols, fragmentation will remain a serious issue for SONET/SDH networks.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0165540, cited above, discloses improved defragmentation techniques particularly well-suited for use in the SONET/SDH context. An illustrative embodiment comprises a defragmentation calculator, a candidate slot selector and a circuit mover. The defragmentation calculator calculates a defragmentation of a communication link, the defragmentation containing at least one granularity. The candidate slot selector finds reduced cost candidate slots for the at least one granularity. The circuit mover identifies target slots into which circuits occupying the candidate slots can be moved.
One particular example of a defragmentation algorithm of the type disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0165540 is commonly known as "MöbiPack," and is described in S. Acharya et al., "MöbiPack: Optimal Hitless SONET Defragmentation in Near-Optimal Cost," IEEE Infocom, 2004, which is incorporated by reference herein. Such an algorithm may be implemented using the defragmentation calculator, candidate slot selector and circuit mover of the illustrative embodiment previously mentioned.
Despite the considerable advances provided by the defragmentation techniques disclosed in the above-cited references, a need remains for further improvements. For example, the MöbiPack algorithm performs defragmentation subject to granularity and alignment constraints imposed by the SONET/SDH standards, without requiring that any circuit be "torn down" and thus without causing any service disruption. This is referred to as "hitless" defragmentation, because the link is defragmented without any impact on live traffic. But an operational SONET/SDH network may impose additional constraints, which can make it difficult to determine if a link has been optimally defragmented. One such additional constraint is the constraint on allowable SONET/SDH rates on an interface, also referred to herein as the interface rate constraint. Thus, a defragmentation algorithm specifically designed to provide optimal hitless SONET/SDH defragmentation in the presence of an interface rate constraint would be highly desirable.

Method and apparatus for performing link defragmentation subject to an interface rate constraint


A device for aligning and leveling tiles as they are laid in floors, walls, countertops, or the like. The device has a locking assembly and a bottom plate combined with a shaft that extends from the bottom plate through the locking assembly so that the locking assembly is movable along the length of the shaft. In use, the device is placed between adjacent tiles so that the locking assembly and bottom plate hold adjacent tiles at a desired height as the setting bed dries. The locking assembly has flexible members adapted to exert a constant compressive force against the tiles during the tile leveling process.

This invention is directed to the field of laying and leveling tile and slabs. More particularly, the invention is directed to a device for aligning and leveling adjacent tiles as they are laid in floors, walls, countertops, or the like.
Tile has become a popular decorative and functional article for use in floors, walls, countertops, and the like. Both professional tile installers and do-it-yourselfers spend a great deal of time aligning and leveling tiles as the tiles are being placed on a substrate's surface. Proper alignment and leveling of each tile is important for a number of reasons. One reason is that if one tile is improperly placed, the error will continue in adjacent tiles such that the installation will be unacceptable and the tiles will have to be replaced and/or ground and polished until the tiles are level or flat. In addition to aesthetic reasons for properly laying tile, a level surface is essential in tile floors so that people do not trip and fall on unevenly laid tiles. "Lippage" occurs when the edge of one tile is higher than the adjacent tile to a degree where someone could trip. Replacing or otherwise correcting errors in tile installation (such as lippage or improper tile alignment) takes time that adds to the total cost of the tile installation.
Laying and leveling tile can be difficult because many substrates are uneven, such as the ground when laying tile for an outdoor patio. In this case, it can be difficult to raise the low areas of the substrate with mortar or other objects so that all the tiles are level. Further, tiles can shift and sink into mortar as the mortar dries. It has traditionally been necessary to continually monitor newly laid tiles as the mortar dries to ensure that the tiles remain level. Tile installers have used a variety of devices and methods to maintain quality tile installation while completing the installation process as fast as possible. One basic method uses markings on the substrate surface. Marking the installation surface requires the mortar to be carefully applied such that the marks remain visible. Although this technique aids in the alignment of the tiles, it does not keep the tiles level as they are laid in the mortar. Further, the use of this marking technique increases the amount of time required for the installation which results in increased cost.
Another device used for laying and leveling tile is a frame designed to space tiles an appropriate distance. This type of frame is typically a fixed grid which is designed for a specific tile size. One disadvantage of this type of device is that it is a fixed size which requires a professional installer to carry multiple frames in order to be capable of installing various tile sizes. A further disadvantage of this type of frame is that it is only capable of installing one type of tile at a time.
Another device used to lay and align adjacent tiles is a spacer such as the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,625,951 (McCarthy). These types of spacers typically provides a square edge for properly aligning adjacent tiles at right angles, and a height adjustment means for adjusting the height of the tiles relative to the mortar surface. One problem with these types of devices is the difficulty of setting multiple spacers to the same height which often results in an uneven tile surface. A related problem with these types of devices is that the adjustment means does not allow the height of the tiles to be adjusted after the tile is laid because the height adjustment means is located under the tile after the tile is laid.
Another problem occurs even when a tile leveling system is used during an installation. As the mortar cures or dries there tends to be shrinkage, which can cause the tile leveling system being employed to loosen, which could result in lippage.
Therefore, there is a need for an efficient and inexpensive tile leveling and alignment device that allows for the vertical alignment of tiles relative to each other after the tiles have been laid in the mortar.


The invention provides an electronic device including a display unit, a touch sensing module and a processing unit. The display unit displays a user interface. The user interface includes a function-enabled area and a cursor. The touch sensing module is arranged to sense a touching object corresponding to the touch event of the cursor. The processing unit is arranged to implement the user interface. The processing unit further enables a function of the function-enabled area when the touch event corresponds to an event in which the cursor is dragged into the function-enabled area and remains in the function-enabled area by pressing for a first predetermined period.

Field of the Invention
The application relates in general to an electronic device and a method for controlling a user-interface, and in particular to an electronic device and a user-interface controlling method for enabling a drag function by pressing a cursor in a specific area.
Description of the Related Art
These days, due to the rapid development electronic devices, the user can browse files and run applications with electronic devices used in daily life. When a user wants to enable some specific function of the operating system, such as changing the layout of the user interface, selecting a plurality of objects, or dragging objects, this function can only be achieved through complex input controls, like repeatedly pressing the touch screen or using multi-touch techniques. That might be inconvenient for the user. Thus, how to provide a better operation for the user in that situation is a problem which needs to be solved immediately.

Electronic devices and method for controlling user interface with function-enabled area and cursor