Disclosed are a display panel, a manufacturing method thereof, and a display device. The display panel includes a base substrate, the base substrate including a display region and a border region surrounding the display region, wherein the border region includes a specially-shaped border region; a first barrier structure configured to be disposed in at least the specially-shaped border region; and at least one second barrier structure configured to be disposed only in the specially-shaped border region.

In the packaging process of a display device such as an active matrix organic light-emitting device (AMOLED), ink-jet printing is usually performed using a printing equipment to form an organic material layer in a packaging structure, and if overflow of printing ink occurs, normal display and/or display quality of the display device will be affected.

Display panel, manufacturing method thereof, and display device

CHENGDU BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A small position detection and positioning device detects relative displacement between two members with high precision. A moving medium-type memory device using such positioning device is also provided. The position detection device includes a linear array of first electrodes at equal pitches on one of the two members that have relative displacement in at least one dimension, and a linear array of at least one second electrode on the other member. The first electrodes are positioned opposite the second electrodes and separated from them by a minute gap. The first electrodes are divided into a first electrode set composed of alternate ones of the first electrodes, and a second electrode set composed of alternate ones of the first electrodes not in the first electrode set. A signal source which applies a first alternating signal to the first electrode set and a second alternating signal that differs in phase by 180.degree. from the first alternating signal to the second electrode set is connected to the first electrodes. A current detecting device that measures the current flowing in the at least one second electrode is connected to the at least one second electrode.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a position detection and positioning device that is capable of detecting and controlling very small relative displacements between two members. More particularly, the invention relates to a moving medium-type memory device that contains a controller that includes such a position detection and positioning device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to use an optical interferometer-type device or a variable capacitance-type device to detect and control very small relative displacements between two members. In the optical interferometer-type device, the range of movement can be large (for example, 1 cm or more), and the positioning accuracy can be relatively high (5 to 10 nm in a heterodyne interferometer). However, such devices require a light source, such as an He-Ne gas laser, to generate two slightly different frequencies of light, and an optical system to make these two light frequencies interfere. Accordingly, an optical interferometer-type device is large and cannot be used in the x-y stage positioning device installed on, for example, a moving medium-type memory chip.
In the variable capacitance-type device, electrodes are formed on each of the two members. Changes in the capacitance that accompany a change in the distance between the electrodes formed on one member and the electrodes formed on another member are measured, such that a very small relative displacement between the two members can be measured. In this device, as the size of the device decreases, the positioning accuracy decreases (in other words, the equipment must be made larger to increase the positioning accuracy).
An x-y stage positioning device, for example as may be installed in a moving medium-type memory chip, demands a positioning accuracy of several tens of nanometers in a range of movement of 1 mm. Increasing the size of a conventional variable capacitance-type device to improve its positioning accuracy makes such a device unsuitable for use in an x-y stage positioning device.
It would be advantageous to provide a small position detection device, especially a position detection device that can detect the relative displacement between two members with high accuracy. It would additionally be advantageous to provide a moving medium-type memory device that uses such a positioning device.

Position detection device positioning device and moving medium-type memory device


An LED printer which forms a printed image by driving an LED head comprises a smoothing circuit in the LED head driving circuit the smoothing circuit forms interpolation lines by matching the original lines of the input data signal having a vertical resolution of 200 dpi with a given pattern and produce a print data signal of 400 dpi so as to improve the resolution of the printed image. The LED head driving circuit comprises a circuit for detecting the printing condition related to the image to be printed and producing a printing condition signal comprised of a line counter for detecting whether the line to be printed is the original line or the interpolation line, a transition counter point for counting the transition points of the input data signal between black and white dots, a dot counter for detecting the print density of the input data signal and a resolution detecting portion for detecting the resolution of the input data signal. The LED head driving circuit comprises a strobe signal generator, which previously stores therein a plurality of strobe signals related to the energizing periods of respective LED elements provided in the LED head for driving the same and selectively produces the strobe signal according to the printing condition related to the image to be printed based on the input data signal. The LED head drives each LED element based on the strobe signal to form an image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving control circuit for an LED head in LED printers, particularly those for facsimile machines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional LED printer for printing a given character or figure on a recording paper using electrophotographic technology is equipped with an LED head comprising a plurality of LED elements arranged in a line, and each of the LED elements is energized corresponding to print data so as to emit light.
Dots each made by the light-emitting of each LED element form a print image.
The LED head comprises a plurality of register portions and a strobe generation circuit provided in the control portion of the printer supplies a strobe signal to each register portion to thereby restrain currents in each LED head.
Moreover, the LED printer comprises a smoothing circuit at the control portion thereof so as to form interpolation lines between original lines corresponding to the print data in order to enhance the resolution of print output.
That is, the smoothing circuit forms interpolation lines by interpolating black or white dots between original dots by matching an input data signal of M.times.N matrix with a previously set pattern.
For example, the smoothing circuit can perform A highly detailed printing, eliminating raggedness such as obliquely step-formed lines from a printed image by forming interpolation lines in the transferring direction of a recording paper so as to artificially supply print data of 200 dpi (dots per inch) to the LED head a pseudo print data of 400 dpi.
When printing is performed using the pseudo print data of 400 dpi formed by the smoothing circuit, the strobe generation circuit varies the strobe width for forming dots on interpolation lines from that for forming dots on original lines.
That is, the light-emitting of each LED element is reduced in intensity by shortening the strobe width for forming a dot on an interpolation line so as to form an electrostatic latent image corresponding to a small dot (i.e., a thin image).
Thus, it is possible to artificially improve resolution by interpolating input print data and making a printed image close to the original image the input data by forming the dots of original lines large and the dots of interpolation lines small.
However, when the smoothing circuit forms the interpolation line, white dots are liable to be formed in the interpolation line if black dots of the input data are not continuous to one another. As a result, when printing is performed after the interpolation lines are formed in the printed data, the printed image becomes thinner.
Whereas, when the black dots of the input print data are continuous to one another, black dots are liable to be formed in the interpolation line. As a result, when printing is performed after the interpolation lines are formed in the printed data, the printed image becomes darker.
Thus printer equipped with the smoothing circuit set forth above produces a thinner printed image from input data having a thin print image and a darker printed image from an input data having a dark print image so that the density of the printed image is varied from that of the original image.
When a printer used for a facsimile, a huge amount of print data has to be transferred in a short time so that the amount of each print data is reduced, resulting in the transference of print data of low resolution.
Such print data which vary in resolution causes different printed results and consequently the deteriorated quality of printed images.
Print data of low resolution can be interpolated by the smoothing means to be artificially improved in resolution. However, when print data of high resolution which has been received is interpolated similarly, the print data to be supplied to the LED head becomes too much and takes too much time in transference, so that the LED head cannot be driven in time.


A luminous decorative device with a melody generator is disclosed. The device includes a melody generator, a luminous source or member which is coupled to the melody generator and turned on and off or flickers in conjunction with the operation of the melody generator and a transparent decorative member which is formed with lots of reflecting recesses making the shape of a character and/or figure on the upper and/or lower surface thereof. The recess has at least one reflecting face which is oriented toward a direction in which the corresponding luminous member is disposed. The device can display the characters or figures so that they may look like flickering or twinkling.

The present invention relates to a luminous decorative device and more particularly to a luminous decorative device having one or more decorative member formed with recesses in various shapes of characters and figures so that light rays having reflected off the reflecting faces thereof may display the characters and figures. The device according to the present invention may be applied to cake knives, congratulatory cards, sports shoes, headgear, ornaments, etc.
There has been known a cake knife provided with a melody generator attached to the handle for reproducing a music with the handle grasped. Although the knife can reproduce pleasant melodies by means of the melody generator, it has nothing to do with the visual effects.
Some ornaments attached on the goods such as sports shoes and headgear have a part on which characters and figures are printed. However, such ornaments have limited appealing or advertising effects with the statically printed characters or figures.
The Korean Utility Model Publication No. 92-8758 discloses a melody card with a flickering plastic board having characters engraved uninterruptedly with a V (or an inverted V) shape cross section on its lower surface and illuminated by an LED lamp. In such a melody card, for example, the English alphabets or consonants and vowels of the Korean alphabets are engraved in the shape of a uninterrupted groove. Parallel light rays emitted from an LED lamp and incident on the wall or surface of the groove opposing the LED lamp reflect off the surface toward the upper surface of the flickering board so that the user may recognize the character engraved in the board. However, the light rays emitted from the LED lamp can hardly reach another wall or surface of the groove, resulting in displaying an indistinct or obscure image of the character. For example, when parallel light rays are incident upon a wall of the groove forming a circle shape .circleincircle. or the alphabet from the right side, the characters will be seen as or from the upper surface of the board, respectively.
To solve the problem of the indistinctiveness of the reflected image, all the surfaces of the board except the upper one are covered with silver foils in order for the scattered rays to be reflected toward the inside and the upper surface of the board. However, such an arrangement does not bring any satisfactory result for an improved visual effect, because the intensity of the rays reflected from the surfaces of the foil is lower than that of the directly incident rays from the lamp and the silver foils will increase production costs. In addition, it is very difficult to engrave complicated patterns or figures other than simple characters in the forms of uninterrupted grooves on a plastic board, which makes its application to be limited.

Usung A.P.T. 101-1407, 57, Kaeqeum3-dong


The present invention is directed at systems and methods for gathering wireless communication data within a target geographic area. More specifically, selected fleet vehicles are equipped to gather wireless communication data from transmission towers while simultaneously performing other tasks. A signal testing device gathers the signal data while temporarily positioned in a selected fleet vehicle that passes within a target geographic area. The signal testing device is then transferred to other fleet vehicles that also traverse the target geographic area until the desired data from the identified area is collected.

With the dramatic rise in wireless communication usage among the consuming public, wireless communication providers have become increasingly competitive on both price and quality of service. A primary technique used by wireless providers to gage the quality of their wireless networks is to send vehicles into the field with signal testing devices to gather signal performance data. In many cases, the data gathering process is initiated in response to customer complaints. This technique however, has several disadvantages. First, waiting for customer complaints before initiating data gathering does not instill customer confidence in a wireless provider's service. Second, customers may simply change service providers rather than promptly reporting a dropped call or inadequate service quality.
Furthermore, monitoring a wireless communication network can be very expensive. Typically, a wireless provider will dispatch captive vehicles equipped with signal testing devices for the sole purpose of gathering signal data in a geographic region. A description of the type of signal testing device that can be used to gather the signal data is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,622 to Henry, Jr. To monitor signal coverage for a wireless network, a major capital investment is required for the vehicles and the testing equipment. The wireless provider will also incur the ongoing maintenance and labor expenses for operating the vehicles. Due to this high cost, wireless providers may be forced to forego routine testing of their communication networks and rely on customer complaints to target the testing.
Therefore, an unsatisfied need exists for improved systems and methods for gathering wireless communication data that overcome the deficiencies in the prior art, some of which are discussed above.


A method for automatically associating contextual input data with available multimedia resources includes capturing the contextual input data and processing the contextual input data and formulating a query based on processed contextual input data. The processed contextual input data is associated with the multimedia resources to generate association matches.

The World Wide Web (WWW) is comprised of an expansive network of interconnected computers upon which businesses, governments, groups, and individuals throughout the world maintain inter-linked computer files known as web pages. Users navigate these pages by means of computer software programs commonly known as Internet browsers. The vastness of the unstructured WWW causes users to rely primarily on Internet search engines to retrieve information or to locate businesses. These search engines use various means to determine the relevance of a user-defined search to the information retrieved.
The authors of web pages provide information known as metadata, within the body of the hypertext markup language (HTML) document that defines the web pages. A computer software product known as a web crawler systematically accesses web pages by sequentially following hypertext links from page to page. The crawler indexes the pages for use by the search engines using information about a web page as provided by its address or Universal Resource Locator (URL), metadata, and other criteria found within the page. The crawler is run periodically to update previously stored data and to append information about newly created web pages. The information compiled by the crawler is stored in a metadata repository or database. The search engines search this repository to identify matches for the user-defined search rather than attempt to find matches in real time.
Typically, each search result rendered by the search engine includes a list of individual entries that have been identified by the search engine as satisfying the user's search expression. Each entry or "hit" includes a hyperlink that points to a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) location or web page. In addition to the hyperlink, certain search result pages include a short summary or abstract that describes the content of the web page.
A common technique for accessing textual materials on the Internet is by means of a "keyword" combination, generally with Boolean operators between the words or terms, where the user enters a query comprised of an alphanumeric search expression or keywords. In response to the query, the search engine sifts through available web sites to match the words of the search query to words in a metadata repository, in order to locate the requested information.
This word match based search engine parses the metadata repository to locate a match by comparing the words of the query to indexed words of documents in the repository. If there is a word match between the query and words of one or more documents, the search engine identifies those documents and returns the search results in the form of HTML pages.
This type of search engine is thus very sensitive to the words selected for the query. The terminology used in a query reflects each individual user's view of the topic for which information is sought. In other terms, the content of the query and the resulting response from word based search engine, is highly dependent upon individual users' expression of the query terms, and different users may obtain different search results when searching for the same or similar information. For example, to locate information about medical services, a first user may compose the query "doctors and services", and a second user may compose the query "hospital and medical and research".
Furthermore, not only is the quantity of the WWW material increasing, but the types of digitized material are also increasing. For example, it is possible to store alphanumeric texts, data, audio recordings, pictures, photographs, drawings, images, video and prints as various types of digitized data. However, such large quantities of materials is of little value unless it the desired information is readily retrievable. While certain techniques have been developed for accessing specific types of textual materials, these techniques are at best moderately adequate for accessing graphic, audio or other specialized materials. Consequently, there are large bodies of published materials that still remain inaccessible and thus unusable or significantly underutilized.
Attempts have been made to construct a search and retrieval system that is not highly dependent upon the exact words chosen for the query, and that generates a similar response for different queries that have similar meanings. An exemplary attempt is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,718 to Wical, titled "Research Mode for a Knowledge Base Search and Retrieval System".
The Wical patent describes a search and retrieval system that generates a research document which infers an answer to a query from multiple documents. The search and retrieval system includes point of view gists for documents to provide a synopsis for a corresponding document with a slant toward a topic. To generate a research document, the search and retrieval system processes a query to identify one or more topics related to the query, selects document themes relevant to the query, and then selects the point of view gists, based on the document themes, that have a slant towards the topics related to the query. A knowledge base, which includes categories arranged hierarchically, is configured as a directed graph to links those categories having a lexical, semantic or usage association. Through use of the knowledge base, an expanded set of query terms are generated, and research documents are compiled that include the point of view gists relevant to the expanded set of query terms. A content processing system identifies the themes for a document, and classifies the document themes in categories of the knowledge base.
However, this search and retrieval system and similar other conventional systems rely on the user entering alphanumeric keyword queries, and are thus still prone to rendering ineffective and inaccurate results that might not fully satisfy the user's need. For example, if a user is searching for a leather purse with a specific design, and a peculiar color she is incapable to express in terms of an alphanumeric query, the user will endure the aggravation of successive compound searches to locate the desired purse. Even then, the user desiring to obtain a comparative price report will face a tedious task collecting the desired information.
Attempts have been proposed to facilitate purchases over the Internet. One such attempt is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,504 to Arnold et al., titled "Method and System for Tracking the Purchase of a Product and Services over the Internet".
The Arnold et al. patent describes a method for establishing and maintaining a virtual outlet ("VO") relationship on the Internet between an entity that controls and manages a web site constituting a VO and a merchant that controls and manages a different web site. The VO presents a series of VO web pages to customers that contain descriptive information about products from one or more merchants. Customers can link through the VO web pages directly to a merchant web page provided to the customer computer by the merchant computer for the purpose of obtaining more detailed information about the product and for ordering the product. When the customer has finished ordering a product, the customer computer returns to a VO web page. To the customer, it appears that the entire ordering process is conducted entirely within the VO web pages. The merchant then credits the VO for the sale of the product to the customer, charges the purchase to the customer, and sends the ordered product to the customer.
However, these attempted solutions still rely on conventional keyword searching with limited input from the users. Further, these solutions do not allow for the automatic formulation of queries to improve the users' search capability. There is therefore a still unsatisfied need for a system and method that address the concerns with conventional search and marketing strategies, and that significantly increase the users' input choices and improve the search efficiency.

Method for automatically associating contextual input data with available multimedia resources

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention provides a baseball glove to absorb the impact force received by the thumb from the ball when catching, and the force received by the thumb from a runner when a touch playing, in a state in which the user experiences no strange sensation. A baseball glove, having a thumb pocket disposed inside the glove main body, and a thumb catching member disposed in the interior of the abovementioned thumb pocket, wherein a soft member which is constructed in a substantially tubular shape so as to cover the thumb that is inserted into this thumb pocket is disposed in the space in which the abovementioned thumb catching member is disposed within the internal space of the abovementioned thumb pocket with the dimension of this soft member in the longitudinal direction being set equal to or longer than the length dimension of this thumb catching member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a baseball glove that can reliably absorb the impact force received by the thumb from the ball when the ball is caught, as well as the force received from the runner during a touch play made on such a runner, and which can be used without any strange feeling.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the abovementioned baseball glove, finger pockets constituting an inner skin are generally disposed inside a glove main body that constitutes an outer skin, and are devised so that the impact force from the ball during catching and the force received from the runner during a touch play can be absorbed to some extent by the finger pockets; however, depending on the speed of the ball and the magnitude of the force from the runner, it may not be possible to achieve sufficient absorption of these forces. Accordingly, a design is used in which flat sheet form cushioning materials are disposed in the finger pockets other than the thumb pocket so that the impact force from the ball during catching and the reaction force from the runner in the case of a touch play can be absorbed (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-113416, FIGS. 1, 2 and 7).


A quaternary (iso)quinolinediyl polymer having a degree of polymerization of at least 5 is produced from an (iso)quinoline polymer by reacting with an alkyl halide and quaternizing the nitrogen atom in ring. Since it is soluble in water and organic solvents, this polymer can be shaped by a dry-process into fibers, films or the like, and had clear change of its color by chemical and electrochemical oxidation reduction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to quaternary poly(quinolinediyl)s or quaternary poly(iso-quinolinediyl)s [hereinafter collectively referred to as "(iso)quinolinediyl polymers"] soluble in organic solvents, and excellent in electrochemical activity, comprising, as a recurring structural unit, a divalent residue of a condensed heterocyclic compound in which nitrogen atom in ring is alkylated, "quaternary quinoline or isoquinoline [hereinafter collectively referred to as "quaternary (iso)quinoline"], derived by eliminating two hydrogen atoms bonded to the rings therefrom, and manufacturing processes and uses thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Polyarylenes having a structure comprising continuous linkages of aromatic rings, such as poly-p-phenylene, poly-2,5-thienylene and poly-1,4-naphthylene, generally have an excellent heat-resistivity. Besides, it has been known that adducts of these polyarylenes with an electron acceptor such as AsF.sub.5 or the like or an electron donor such as lithium, sodium or the like have an electroconductivity and properties utilizable as active materials for primary cells or secondary batteries [for example, "High Molecules", vol.34, p.848 (1985)]. Alternatively, there are proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 1-210,420 electroconductive materials produced by reducing a polymer comprising, as a recurring structural unit, a group comprising a 6-membered heterocyclic unit containing a .pi.-conjugation system extending continuously along the polymer main chain, for example, 2,5-pyridinediyl group.
However, since most of the hitherto proposed polyarylenes have a low solubility in organic solvents and are infusible, their use is limited and, moreover, problems are posed in drawing out their characteristic functions. Further, it has been desired to develop novel polymers with physical properties the aforementioned conventional polyarylenes have never possessed, by modifying the molecular structures thereof. For example, if polyarylenes different in oxidation-reduction potential from the conventional polyarylenes can be obtained, electrochromic display differing in characteristics from the conventional electrochromic display [for example, described in "Applied Physics" vol.56, p.1433 (1987)] will be able to be provided by using these novel polyarylenes as a component of electrochromic display material such as an electrode material.

Quaternary poly(iso) quinolinediyl and preparation thereof


Apparatus and methods for multiplexing data received from a plurality of sources to a communication channel. Each of the sources is assigned to one of at least two scheduling layers based in part upon one or more bit rate characteristics of the sources.

The invention relates to apparatus and methods of multiplexing data to a communication channel.
In a typical data network, a plurality of data sources deliver their respective data streams to various receivers over the same fixed bandwidth communication channel. A multiplexer receives the data streams from the sources and choreographs the injection of data into the communication channel. The multiplexer is typically designed to efficiently inject as much data into communication channel as possible, without exceeding the capacity of the channel. The data sources typically include encoders for compressing data before delivery to the multiplexer; the receivers decompress and reconstruct the original data signals from the compressed data streams. A data source may be characterized as either a constant bit rate (CBR) source or a variable bit rate (VBR) source: a fixed rate source injects data (bits) into a communication channel at a constant rate, whereas a variable rate source injects bits into a communication channel at a variable rate.
Transfer of information from the data sources is typically in the form of information packets. The multiplexer schedules data for output to the communication channel one packet at a time, and delivers the scheduled data packets to the channel as an output multiplex. Packet scheduling involves the assignment of a particular source to a timeslot in the output multiplex. A high-performance scheduling algorithm allows each of the sources to be assigned an arbitrary fraction of channel bandwidth, subject to the constraint that the sum of all source bit rates is less than or equal to the bit rate multiplex that they share. Real-time scheduling is desirable because it allows sources to change their bit rates frequently and on-the-fly. High-performance real-time scheduling of multiple sources often requires substantial hardware resources, with the computational complexity increasing with the output bit rate, the number of sources and the resolution with which the route of each source is specified.
The invention features apparatus and methods for multiplexing data received from a plurality of sources to a communication channel. In accordance with the invention, each of the sources is assigned to one of at least two scheduling layers, including a first layer and a second layer, based at least in part upon one or more bit rate characteristics of the sources.
Embodiments may include one or more of the following features.
Each of the sources may be assigned based at least in part on data transmission rates of the sources, bit rate precision levels of the sources or both. The sources may be assigned to the scheduling layers based upon a fixed assignment method that operates independently of changes in data transmission rates of the sources, or based upon a dynamic assignment method that responds to changes in data transmission rates of the sources. The number of sources assigned to the first layer may be fixed or variable.
In one embodiment, the first layer comprises an entry for each source assigned to the first layer and an entry representative of a source assigned to the second layer, and the second layer comprises an entry for each source assigned to the second layer. The sources represented by entries in the first layer are scheduled for output to the communication channel. The sources represented by entries in the first layer may be scheduled for output based upon a variable bit rate scheduling method. Sources with relatively high bit rates (with relatively high bit rate precision levels) preferably are assigned to the first layer. The sources represented by entries in the second layer are scheduled for assignment to the representative entry of the first layer. The sources represented by entries in the second layer preferably are scheduled sources for assignment to the representative entry of the first layer based upon a variable bit rate scheduling method.
In another embodiment, each of the sources is assigned to one of three or more scheduling layers, including the first layer, the second layer and a sequence of one or more lower layers, based at least in part on one or more bit rate characteristics of the sources. The second layer preferably comprises, in addition to an entry for each source assigned to the second layer, an entry representative of a source assigned to a first of the one or more lower layers, and each lower layer preferably comprises an entry for each source assigned to that lower layer and an entry representative of a source assigned to the next lower layer in the sequence of one or more lower layers. The sources represented by entries in that first lower layer preferably are scheduled for assignment to the representative entry of the second layer. In some embodiments, the first layer preferably comprises, in addition to the entry for each source assigned to the first layer and the entry representative of a source assigned to the second layer, a representative entry for each of the lower layers, and each lower layer preferably comprises an entry for each source assigned to that lower layer. Lower layer sources preferably are scheduled for assignment to the representative entries of the first layer.
In another embodiment, each of the sources is assigned to one of three or more scheduling layers, including the first layer, the second layer and a third layer, based at least in part on one or more bit rate characteristics of the sources. The first layer comprises an entry for each source assigned to the first layer. The second layer comprises an entry for each source assigned to the second layer. The third layer comprises an entry representative of a source assigned to the first layer and an entry representative of a source assigned to the second layer. Each of the sources preferably is assigned based at least in part on the data transmission rates of the sources, or on the bit rate precision levels of the sources. Sources with relatively high bit rates (or with relatively high bit rate precision levels) preferably are assigned to the first layer.
Each source preferably is assigned a data transmission rate and a bit rate precision level. In some embodiments, the same bit rate precision level is assigned to each source. In other embodiments, different bit rate precision levels are assigned to the sources. In a preferred embodiment, relatively high bit rate precision levels are assigned to audio sources, intermediate bit rate precision levels are assigned to video sources, and relatively low bit rate precision levels are assigned to data sources.
Among the advantages of the invention are the following.
The invention allows real-time scheduling using high performance scheduling methods, but with reduced computational requirements. Because each of the sources assigned to the first layer has a relatively high bit rate (or high bit rate precision level), the first layer sources typically may be scheduled with a course bit rate granularity. This reduces the computational load at the first layer without degrading the performance of the first layer sources (i.e., source performance is typically not degraded if it operates at 15.000 Mb/s rather than at 14.999 Mb/s, but its performance may be degraded if it operates at 1 kb/s).
The computational load at the lower (e.g., second) layer is reduced in several ways. The lower layer scheduler only need operate at the rate at which the first layer scheduler selects packets from the lower layer for output to the communication channelxe2x80x94a rate which may be a small fraction of the first layer packet rate. Further, the lower layer may only contain sources with a much smaller maximum bit rate than the first layer. This allows the use of scheduling methods characterized by a relatively fine bit rate granularity without increasing computational complexity. Sources may be assigned to layers depending on their bit rates and on their bit rate resolution requirements.
In addition, because the outputs of higher bit rate sources tend to be more regular than the outputs of lower bit rate sources, the invention might improve the overall multiplexer output regularity by separately scheduling the higher and lower bit rate sources.
The invention also reduces implementation complexity by separately scheduling high rate sources and low rate sources, or by separately scheduling fine rate granularity and coarse rate granularity sources, or both.
Other features and advantages will become apparent from the following description, including the drawings and the claims.

Apparatus and methods of multiplexing data to a communication channel


This disclosure is directed to compound of formula (1):

This disclosure relates to carboxy ester ketal compounds and a variety of compositions, including water-borne coating compositions, cleaning compositions, fragrance, and personal care compositions comprising the carboxy ester ketal compounds, methods for the manufacture of the compounds and compositions, and uses of the compositions.
Solvent selection for the foregoing and other uses is guided by considerations such as solubility, reactivity, volatility, toxicity, environmental profile, stability, and cost. While a number of solvents are available and in commercial use, there remains a need in the art for new solvents that offer a favorable combination of these characteristics. There particularly remains a need for renewably-sourced solvents that offer an advantageous combination of one or more attributes such as solubility with one or more components, reactivity, volatility, toxicity, environmental profile, and cost for water-borne coating compositions, cleaning compositions, fragrance, or personal care compositions are continuously sought.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Carboxy ester ketals, methods of manufacture, and uses thereof

Abstract: wherein R1 is a C7-18 alkyl, R2 is hydrogen or a C1-3 alkyl, each R3, R4, R5, R6, and R7 is independently hydrogen or a C1-6 alkyl, a is 2-3, and b is 0-1, its method of preparation and uses thereof in water-borne coating compositions, cleaning compositions, fragrance, and personal care compositions.


A circuit arrangement with a voltage link converter includes a link capacitor and circuit branches arranged parallel thereto. The circuit branches each include circuit elements, connected in series. A short circuit thyristor is provided to protect against short circuit currents. A short circuit protection arrangement is provided for connection to the link circuit capacitor and the circuit branches. The above includes a parallel connection of the short circuit thyristors with opposed conducting pairs of protective diodes connected in series. The short circuit protection arrangement is connected parallel to the link circuit capacitor and each connection point between two circuit elements of a circuit branch which are connected in series, is connected to a connection point between two protection diodes of the short circuit protection arrangement which are connected in series.

A circuit arrangement is disclosed in the offprint from ZEV-DET Glasers Annalen, Issue 2/3 1994: Rudolf Wagner "Drehstrom-Antriebstechnik für Diesellokomotiven in Nordamerika" [Three-phase drive technology for diesel locomotives in North America]. The three-phase drive technology described therein requires the use of a voltage link converter between the voltage supply and the three-phase motor. During braking, the traction motors become generators, such that current is fed back to the voltage link converter. In this case, it would be possible for GTO thyristors provided in the converter to be damaged by overcurrents and overvoltages.
It is known from the work mentioned, to use a hardware protection system for the purpose of preventing such damage. In the same work it is also proposed to use a simple short-circuit thyristor for the purpose of reducing an overvoltage, since this does not require much space and is also more cost-effective than a protection system.
The protection systems described can only be used if the converter has GTO thyristors, since in this case the current-carrying capacity is high.

Circuit arrangement with a voltage link converter


Systems, methods, and storage media for creating an interface between a smart contract to be executed on a decentralized architecture and a user component, the method comprising: receiving code corresponding to the smart contract at an interface server; the interface server parsing an application binary interface (ABI) corresponding to the smart contract; the interface server constructing an enhanced application binary interface (EABI) based on the ABI; and the interface server creating a REST API interface specific to the smart contract based on the EABI.

Decentralized computing architectures, such as blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies, are becoming very popular for a variety of applications where a group of participants share critical data without the need for a central trusted party. For example, decentralized computing architectures have applications in a variety of financial services applications, land records maintenance, supply-chain tracking, and online market places for various goods and services.
Decentralized architectures store a shared ledger on each of multiple nodes associated with various users and thus store data in a manner that is effectively immutable. In other words, information stored on a decentralized architecture, in a practical sense, cannot be changed without detection. A "consensus" mechanism is utilized to ensure that new data added to the ledger of the decentralized architecture is accepted as accurate by the community of users. "Smart contracts" are made up of executable computer code that is stored on a ledger of a decentralized architecture. It follows that smart contracts are tamperproof, in the sense that no party (even their creator) can alter their code or interfere with their execution once they have been stored on the decentralized infrastructure.
Historically, code has run in a centralized manner that leaves the code subject to alteration, termination, and even deletion, by a privileged party. In contrast, the execution of a smart contract is guaranteed, thereby effectively binding all parties to an "agreement" as expressed in the code. For example, a simple smart contract may express an agreement that any value in cryptocurrency sent to a designated cryptographic wallet address on the decentralized infrastructure will be invested in a specific manner. One common blockchain protocol is Ethereum. Ethereum smart contracts, the most common type of smart contract, are typically written in the Solidity programming language and compiled to bytecode and run on Ethereum blockchain nodes. Other programming languages suitable for smart contracts include C++, Simplicity, JavaScript, Python, Vyper and Rholang (for the Rchain environment).
"Decentralized applications" (DApps) are, as the name suggests, applications that run in a decentralized environment. Many DApps consist of an off-chain web or mobile user interface coupled to an on-chain smart contract. As illustrated in FIG. 1, in a typical Ethereum implementation, DApp 112 on user device 110 communicates with one or more of smart contracts 124 on nodes 122 of blockchain 120 via an application programming interface (API), such as the JSON RPC API service 126 running on nodes 122. JSON-RPC is well known and works by sending a method call request to a server implementing the protocol. Multiple input parameters can be passed to the remote method as an array or object, whereas the method itself can return multiple output data. All transfer types are single objects, serialized using JSON.
The web3.js JavaScript library has become the de facto standard for web applications interfacing with Ethereum blockchains using the JSON RPC API. Other decentralized environments utilize a similar API that defines a direct protocol to interface with smart contracts. Any authentication, caching, mixing off-chain and on-chain data, and interfacing with external systems is left up to the application developer and must be included in the web/mobile code of the DApp. This requires each developer to create custom modules for these services. It follows that the modules from various developers may not be compatible. The current state of interface mechanisms between DApp client modules and nodes of distributed architectures is not flexible, easily scalable, or suited for efficient development.

Systems, methods, and storage media for interfacing a user device with a decentralized architecture


A die block assembly includes a sliding block (50) and a die plate (70). The sliding block has a base (53) from which a pair of slanted rails (58) extends. A protrusion (61) with a vertical outer wall (62) extends from an end of the base, between the rails. The die plate defines an opening (72) for movably receiving the block. A pair of slanted guiding grooves (74) is defined in the plate, for slidably receiving the rails of the sliding block. A recess (76) bounded by a vertical inner wall (78) is defined in the plate, for movably receiving the protrusion of the block. Upon assembly, in a first position, a clearance exists between the outer wall of the block and the inner wall of the recess. In a second position, the outer wall abuts the inner wall. Thus movement of the block is limited to a predetermined range.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a die block assembly, and particularly to a die block assembly having a sliding block.
2. Related Art
A sliding block is one of the most important parts used in the die industry. A conventional punch of a die can only move vertically, not horizontally. To enable dies to be fully adjustable, a variety of movable sliding blocks have been developed. A typical sliding block can be moved horizontally and vertically according to a pair of slanted rails formed on its sides. For convenient operation, the range of movement of the sliding block needs to be limited.
FIG. 6 shows a conventional die block assembly. A protrusion 32 is formed on a sliding block 30, for engaging with a groove 36 defined in a die plate 34. Upward movement of the sliding block 30 is limited when the protrusion 32 abuts a top face 38 of a groove 36 of the die plate 34. FIG. 7 shows another conventional die block assembly. A cutout 42 isdefined in an upper portion of a rear wall of a sliding block 40, and a stopper tab 48 is fixed on the die plate 44 by a screw 46. Upward movement of the sliding block 40 is limited when the stopper plate 48 abuts a bottom face of the cutout 42 of the sliding block 40.
However, manufacture and assembly of the above-mentioned die block assemblies is unduly complicated. Furthermore, components such as the protrusion 32 and the stopper tab 48 are prone to wear out after repeated use.
A die block assembly which overcomes the above problems is strongly desired.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a die block assembly which is easily manufactured and assembled.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a die block assembly which is durable and reliable.
To achieve the above-mentioned objects, a die block assembly of the present invention comprises a sliding block and a die plate. The sliding block has a base from which a pair of opposite slanted rails extends. A protrusion with a vertical outer wall extends from one end of the base, between the rails. The die plate has an opening for movably receiving the sliding block therein. A pair of slanted guiding grooves is defined in the plate on respective opposite sides of the opening, for slidably receiving the rails of the sliding block therein. A recess bounded by a vertical inner wall is defined in the plate, for movably receiving the protrusion of the block therein. Upon assembly, in a first position, a clearance exists between the outer wall of the block and the inner wall of the recess. In a second position, the outer wall of the block abuts the inner wall of the recess. Thus movement of the block is limited to a predetermined range.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings, in which:


A Hg-based superconducting cuprate film on a substrate is disclosed, which comprises a compound having the formula Hg.sub.1-x M.sub.x Ba.sub.2 Ca.sub.n-1 Cu.sub.n O.sub.y, M is a metal cation, x ranges from 0 to 1, n is an integer greater than 0, and y is an oxygen sufficiency factor having a value less than about 10.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is broadly concerned with Hg-based superconducting cuprate films, and methods and apparatus for preparing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to the "Fast Temperature Ramping Hg-Vapor Annealing" (FRTA) method for fabricating Hg-based superconducting cuprate films, an apparatus for transforming a superconducting film precursor into a superconductor by contacting the precursor with a metal cation-containing vapor, and resultant superconducting films.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Superconductivity, a phenomenon occurring at very low temperatures in many electrical conductors, occurs when electrons responsible for conduction undergo a collective transition to an ordered state. Many unique and remarkable properties result from this transition, including the vanishing of resistance to the flow of electric current, the appearance of a large diamagnetism and other unusual magnetic effects, substantial alteration of many thermal properties, and the occurrence of quantum effects otherwise observable only at the atomic and subatomic levels.
Superconductivity was discovered in 1911 by H. Kamerlingh Onnes while studying the variation with temperature of the electrical resistance of mercury within a few degrees of absolute zero. He observed that the resistance dropped sharply to an unmeasurably small value at a temperature of 4.2.degree.K. The temperature at which this transition occurs is called the critical temperature (T.sub.c).
Until recently, all known superconducting materials attained superconductivity at very low temperatures on the order of 4.degree.-20.degree. K. Such low temperatures had to be reached by evaporating liquid helium, the only substance that remains liquid at temperatures approaching absolute zero. The few sources of helium in nature and its expensive processing make it a costly cryogenic fluid. Thus, there is a need for materials which are superconductive at temperatures much higher than absolute zero.
Recently, superconductivity has been discovered in Hg-based cuprates (HgBa.sub.2 Ca.sub.n-1 Cu.sub.n-1 O.sub.2n+2+.delta. ; n=1, 2, or 3), which raised the record for T.sub.c to 135.degree. K. Consequently, many efforts have been devoted to the synthesis of high-quality Hg-based cuprate thin films. However, due to the high volatility and high toxicity of Hg and Hg-based compounds, the synthesis of such films is extremely difficult. In spite of these difficulties, advances have been achieved recently in growth of epitaxial Hg-based cuprate thin films.
Only (100) SrTiO.sub.3 substrates have been used previously in the growth of the Hg-based cuprate thin films. However, while SrTiO.sub.3 substrates have many superior properties including chemical stability in Hg vapor, they are expensive, are available only in small size, and have poor microwave properties such as high dielectric constant and high microwave tangent loss. It is thus necessary to find other lower-cost, large-size, and microwave-compatible substrates that can be used in the growth of Hg-based cuprate thin films.
One such substrate, LaAlO.sub.3, is available in large size (e.g., a wafer having a diameter greater than 3 inches) at much lower cost than SrTiO.sub.3, and has excellent microwave properties. Hg-based cuprate films on LaAlO.sub.3 substrates have T.sub.c 's nearly 20.degree. K. lower than T.sub.c 's obtained with Hg-based cuprate films on SrTiO.sub.3 substrates, and have critical current densities (J.sub.c 's) more than two orders of magnitude lower than J.sub.c 's obtained with Hg-based cuprate films on SrTiO.sub.3 substrates. Since the chemical stability of LaAlO.sub.3 is not as good as that of SrTiO.sub.3 at high temperatures in the presence of Hg vapor, chemical reactions and interdiffusion near the film/substrate interface seriously degrade the superconducting properties of the films. Thus, until now, only poor-quality Hg-based cuprate thin films have been obtained on LaAlO.sub.3 substrates.
In the conventional annealing method previously used for Hg-based cuprates, the sample temperature is increased slowly (e.g., 4-6 hours) to the annealing temperature (e.g., 780.degree.-860.degree. C.) in order to maintain phase equilibrium between a precursor film and an unreacted HgO+Ba.sub.2 Ca.sub.n-1 Cu.sub.n O.sub.y pellet which are sealed together in an evacuated quartz tube. Since HgO decomposes at around 500.degree. C., two problems arise using this slow-heating cycle. First, at temperatures above 500.degree. C., Hg.sup.+2 begins to react with Ca to form CaHgO.sub.2, a compound which seriously degrades the superconducting properties of the sample. Second, the high-temperature processing time (e.g., 500.degree. C. to annealing temperature) increases the problem of film/substrate interface chemical reaction and interdiffusion. Consequently, only HgBa.sub.2 CaCu.sub.2 O.sub.6+.delta. (i.e., Hg-1212) thin films have been obtained with the conventional method. No success has been reported with HgBa.sub.2 Ca.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.8+.delta. (i.e., Hg-1223) thin films because a relatively high annealing temperature is needed, making interfacing and CaHgO.sub.2 problems more severe. Furthermore, only a SrTiO.sub.3 substrate has been used in the conventional annealing method, with the resultant films having poor surface morphology.
Moreover, the conventional annealing method has not been successful in generating a high-quality double-sided superconducting film (a double-sided superconducting film is a composite comprised of a double-sided substrate having a superconducting film on each side thereof). Such double-sided superconducting films have many applications in microelectronics (e.g., superconducting quantum interference devices and microwave resonators). A double-sided superconducting film is conventionally prepared by depositing and annealing the first side of the film, and subsequently depositing and annealing the second side of the film.
Since most in-situ deposition methods utilize high deposition temperatures of approximately 750.degree.-800.degree. C., the superconducting properties of the first side of the film degrade when the first side is again heated during annealing of the second side of the film. Therefore, it is difficult to produce double-sided superconducting films with sides having identical physical properties. Differences between the first and second sides in double-sided superconducting films have hindered the application of high-temperature superconductors in the microelectronics industry.


Methods and apparatus for machining a pipe in a reactor pressure vessel (RPV) of a nuclear reactor are described. In one embodiment of the apparatus, a EDM tool facilitates machining an opening in a pipe from within the bore of the pipe. More particularly, and in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the EDM tool includes a housing, a linear motion guide, a cam, and an electrode. The housing is sized to fit within the pipe bore and includes a first end and a second end, and an electrode bore extends longitudinally through the housing and is sized to receive the electrode. The cam is slidably coupled to the housing so that the cam moves between the respective housing first and second ends. The electrode is positioned within the electrode bore of the housing and is coupled to the cam so that the electrode may move relative to the electrode bore. The linear motion guide drives the cam so that the cam moves between the housing first and second ends, and so that the electrode extends and retracts from the housing electrode bore.

A reactor pressure vessel (RPV) of a boiling water reactor (BWR) typically has a generally cylindrical shape and is closed at both ends, e.g., by a bottom head and a removable top head. A top guide typically is spaced above a core plate within the RPV. A core shroud, or shroud, typically surrounds the core plate and is supported by a shroud support structure. Particularly, the shroud has a generally cylindrical shape and surrounds the both the core plate and the top guide. The top guide includes several openings, and fuel bundles are inserted through the openings and are supported by the core plate.
A plurality of openings are formed in the bottom head so that components, such as in core monitor assemblies and control rod drive assemblies, can extend within the RPV. Typically, a substantially cylindrical stub tube, or guide tube, having a bore extending therethrough is welded to the bottom head and the tube bore aligns with an opening in the bottom head. The cylindrical stub tube typically is fabricated from a corrosion resistant material such as stainless steel or Ni--Cr--Fe.
With an in core monitor assembly, for example, the in core monitor housing, e.g., a tube, is inserted through the bottom head opening and stub tube bore, and the housing extends into the RPV. The in core monitor housing (ICMH) is welded to the stub tube to maintain the housing in the desired position. The stub tube thus serves as a transition piece between the bottom head dome, which typically is fabricated from low alloy steel, and the CRD housing, which typically is fabricated from stainless steel.
When performing maintenance or repairs in an RPV, it often is desirable to acquire electrochemical corrosion potential (ECP) measurements for RPV components such as pipes and in core monitor housings. To obtain ECP measurements for an in core monitor housing, for example, it is desirable to machine an opening in the in core monitor housing (ICMH) sidewall. One known method of machining an opening in the ICMH requires positioning a machining tool, i.e., an electrical discharge machine, adjacent an exterior surface of the sidewall, and activating the apparatus to machine an opening through the ICMH sidewall. This approach, however, is time consuming and often impractical. Particularly, depending on the size and location of the ICMH or pipe to be machined, it often is difficult to position the tool adjacent the exterior surface of the ICMH or pipe.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus for machining pipes and valves in a nuclear reactor more easily than by known methods. It also would be desirable to provide such an apparatus which is inexpensive and easy to operate.

Methods and apparatus for machining a pipe in a nuclear reactor


Apparatus, and an associated method, for automatically reporting on the occurrence of a vehicular emergency. A vehicular-positioned transceiver searches for the presence of a paired transceiver positioned in proximity to the vehicular-positioned transceiver. The paired transceiver, forming part of a mobile station operable in a cellular communication system, is identified and used upon the occurrence of the vehicular emergency automatically to generate a report message that is routed to a public safety access point.

Advancements in communication technologies have permitted the development and deployment of many new types of communication devices and the introduction of many new types of communication services. For instance, the networks of cellular communication systems have been deployed over significant portions of the populated areas of the world. A subscriber to a cellular communication system communicates with the network part of the system through use of a cellular mobile station positioned within a coverage area defined by the network. A radio air interface is defined between the mobile station and the network and radio signals are communicated therebetween by way of the radio air interface.
The network of the cellular communication system is connected to other communication networks, such as a packet data network and a conventional, telephonic network. Communications are thereby effectual between the mobile station and an endpoint of the data network or telephonic network. Because the mobile station communicates by way of radio signals communicated on the radio air interface, the mobile station need not be positioned at a location at which wireline connections are available to interconnect the mobile station with a communication network. Communication mobility is also permitted of the mobile station as the mobile station is operable free of any fixed connection to a communication network.
Many millions of subscribers make use of cellular communication systems through which to communicate telephonically and to communicate data. Many cellular mobile stations also provide for communications by hearing-impaired users. Such mobile stations include TTY (Text Telephony) elements, typically including TTY modems, that provide for textual entry of data by a user at the mobile station as well as reception of TTY data displayable in visual form for the user of the mobile station.
Use of a cellular communication system through which to communicate provides many conveniences, e.g., permitting subscribers to communicate even when positioned at locations at which wireline connections are unavailable. A subscriber is able to communicate, for instance, when traveling in a motor vehicle. Moreover, cellular communication systems not only provide for convenience, but also are advantageously utilized for purposes of personal and public safety. A subscriber is able to communicate, using a cellular communication system, with emergency personnel, such as those of an emergency dispatch center to request emergency assistance and to report emergency conditions. Emergency dispatch centers, herein referred to, at times, as public safety access points (PSAPs), have equipment and personnel for communicating with those requesting assistance. Such PSAPs also typically include TTY devices to communicate with requesters that utilize TTY devices.
Recent attention has been directed towards manners by which automatically to report vehicular emergencies, e.g., accidents in which airbags are deployed or in which a vehicle is overturned. Automatic reporting ensures that emergency personnel shall be informed of the vehicular emergency, thereby to be able to respond to the emergency. Various problems have heretofore limited the deployment of automated mechanisms in vehicles for the reporting of the vehicular emergencies. While every vehicle can be outfitted with a cellular mobile station that permanently forms part of the vehicle, mobile stations require SIM cards that uniquely identify each mobile station. Outfitting each vehicle with a separate SIM card is impractical due to reasons of cost, lack of availability of IMSI values, and issues regarding recovery of SIM cards when the vehicle is no longer operated.
A need remains, therefore, to provide a manner by which automatically to report a vehicular emergency.
It is in light of this background information related to emergency reporting of vehicular emergencies making use of a radio communication system that the significant improvements of the present invention have evolved.

Apparatus, and associated method, for generating an alert to notify emergency personnel of a vehicular emergency


A video conferencing system and method that uses a central multimedia bridge to combine multimedia signals from a plurality of conference participants into a single composite signal for each participant. The system gives each conference participant the ability to customize their individual display of other participants, including keying in and out selected portions of the display and overlapping displayed images, and the ability to identify individual images in a composed video stream by click and drag operations or the like. The system uses a chain of video composing modules that can be extended as necessary to combine video signal streams from any number of conference participants in real time. Multimedia association software is provided for associating different media types to enhance display and manipulation capabilities for multimedia uses. The system also allows each user to dynamically change who can receive the information they provide to the conference.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to multimedia object association. More specifically, the invention relates to a system and method for associating multimedia objects for enhancing display and manipulation capabilities for multimedia uses, such as, for example, real-time video conferencing.
2. Description of Related Art
Video teleconferencing occurs when people in different locations send voice and video data to each other in order to simulate having all of the participants present in a single room. Each person in a multi-point conference wants to see all or most of the other participants. Accordingly, the various video streams are presented to each participant in a spatially separate manner, either on separate screens or in separate areas of a single video display. Each of the video conferencing terminals sends a locally generated video image to each of the other participant terminals and receives a video image from each of the other participants. In the prior art, this meant that for a three-way conference, six video streams must be transmitted; for a five-way conference, twenty video streams must be transmitted; for an eight participant conference, fifty-six video streams must be transmitted, and so on. Generally, if N people are holding a televideo conference, then N.times.(N-1) transmission channels must be used. Accordingly, the relatively large number of channels used for a video teleconference involving multiple participants becomes prohibitive with the prior art systems.
Furthermore, participants must have a sufficient number of input channels, decoders, and translators (if transmitting different video formats) to receive and display multiple images from different participants. Accordingly, the required number of channels, decoders, and/or translators also becomes prohibitive.
With the prior art systems, video conferencing participants were unable to customize their video display by keying in or out portions of the displayed image, or by making the various images of participants overlap in a natural-looking manner, or place and size images as they like. The participants were also unable to associate video images with other multimedia objects to enhance the variety of conferencing functions that can be enjoyed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a flexible real-time video conferencing system for use by a plurality of users in which the required transmission bandwidth to each user is minimized.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a video conferencing system in which each participant receives just one video (and audio) stream of the bandwidth, encoding and video standard that they desire from a central multimedia bridge.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a video conferencing service that gives each participant the ability to compose video images of other participants into a fully customized display.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an infinitely expandable priority driven video composing unit to combine any number of video signals into a single prioritized video stream.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of associating images of a video display in a hierarchal fashion, and of associating multimedia objects together to enhance video conferencing and other multimedia applications.
It is a further object of the present invention to allow each user to dynamically change who can receive the information they provide to the conference.
If is a further object of the present invention to provide the ability to users to identify individual images in a composed video stream by click and drag operations or the like.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading this description or practicing the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the appended claims.

System and method for associating multimedia objects for use in a video conferencing system


A process for manufacturing a lithographic printing plate support made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, in which the surface of the support is mechanically roughened by graining it with a brush comprising bristles which have a bending elastic modulus of 10,000 to 40,000 kg/cm.sup.2 and a nerve of 500 g or less per bristle, whereby generation of defective products due to defects such as scratching which aluminum itself has can be prevented and a lithographic printing plate support having scumming reduction even on squeezing water out can be provided.

Printing plate supports, particularly, lithographic printing plate supports are made of aluminum or aluminum alloys.
In general, aluminum plates used as lithographic printing plate supports are required to have moderate adhesion to photosensitive materials and moderate water receptivity, and further, uniformly roughened surfaces. The uniformly roughened surfaces mean that the surfaces possess pits which are moderately uniform in size and such pits are uniformly formed throughout the surfaces. The pits have a marked effect on printability of plate materials such as scumming reduction and printing durability, and the conditions of the pits are an important element in the manufacture of the plate materials.
A process for manufacturing lithographic printing plate supports which comprises graining a plate material with a brush having large stiffness to form a rough surface with directional properties followed by roughening mechanically the surface is proposned in JP-A-7-137474 (The term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application").
Although the proposal made by JP-A-7-137474 excellently prevents generating defective products owing to defects such as scratching which aluminum itself has, the proposal however requires an additional step for forming a rough surface with the directional properties to incur very high cost, and in addition, the plate material thus obtained has the disadvantage of having poor scumming reduction especially on squeezing water out, because of the directional properties.

Process for manufacturing lithographic printing plate support


A fabrication method for forming a semiconductor device having a capacitor is provided. A capacitor dielectric layer is formed by depositing a first layer and a second layer. The second layer is a major portion of the capacitor dielectric layer. The first layer acts as a seed layer, while the second layer is expitaxially grown. The material of the second layer as deposited is partially crystal. Nuclear generation and crystal growth occur separately so that the crystalline characteristic of the capacitor dielectric layer and the capacitance characteristic of the capacitor are enhanced. Moreover, the capacitor dielectric layer is crystallized at a relatively low temperature or for a relatively short time, thereby reducing leakage current as well as reducing deformation in the lower electrode. Optionally, The material of the second layer as deposited is not partially crystal but amorphous.

Generally, a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) device includes a plurality of unit cells, each of which comprises a MOS transistor and a storage capacitor. In continuing the trend of higher memory capacity, the size of the unit cell has been continuously decreased in order to increase the packing density of the DRAM device. The reduced cell size results in a decrease in capacitor area of the unit cell. The decreased capacitor area means low cell capacitance, which often induces problems like as low read-out capability and soft error.
One proposal to solve the above-mentioned problems is to use high dielectric constant material as a capacitor dielectric layer, which constitute a capacitor together with a lower electrode and an upper electrode. Typical examples of the high dielectric constant material are tantalum oxide (Ta2O5) and BST ((Ba,Sr)TiO3). The material of the lower electrode or the upper electrode is required to have a high work function value and not to be reactive with the capacitor dielectric layer. A typical example of the material of the lower and the upper electrodes is a noble metal, which includes platinum, ruthenium, iridium, rhodium and osmium.
FIG. 1 is cross-sectional views illustrating a conventional method for forming a capacitor using tantalum oxide layer as a capacitor dialectic layer. Referring to FIG. 1, a lower electrode 20 is formed on a substrate 10. The material of the lower electrode 20 is ruthenium. A capacitor dielectric layer 25 is deposited on the lower electrode 20. The material of the dielectric layer 25 is tantalum oxide. The thickness of the dielectric layer 25 is 140˜160 Å. The dielectric layer 25 is crystallized by a thermal treatment at 700° C. or more. Subsequently, an upper electrode 30 is formed on the crystallized dielectric layer 25, thereby completing a capacitor 30 on the substrate 10. The material of the upper electrode 30 is ruthenium.
FIG. 2 is a graph showing a change in equivalent oxide thickness value by the crystallization process. The equivalent oxide thickness value represents an effective thickness of a capacitor dielectric layer of a capacitor on the assumption that the capacitor dielectric layer was made of silicon oxide. Therefore, in general, higher equivalent oxide thickness value means lower capacitance per unit capacitor area. Referring to FIG. 2, the vertical axis represents equivalent oxide thickness value. On the horizontal axis of the graph, the reference "NO" means that the crystallization is not performed, and the reference "700° C." means that the crystallization is performed at 700° C. As shown in the graph, the equivalent oxide thickness value is favorably decreased by performing the crystallization process.
However, the crystallization process has also problems. That is to say, the crystallization process is usually performed at relatively high temperature, thereby generating a lot of grain boundary in the tantalum oxide layer. The grain boundary often acts as a path of leakage current and may induce unfavorable leakage current in the capacitor. Moreover, the crystallization process under relatively high temperature may induce unfavorable deformation of the lower electrode and damage on the tantalum oxide layer.
Meanwhile, it is thought to be difficult to decrease the equivalent oxide thickness value into 10 Å or less in the conventional method, because both nuclear generation and crystal growth occur simultaneously during the crystallization process.
Accordingly, the need remains for a method for forming a capacitor having low leakage current as well as low equivalent oxide thickness.

Method for forming dielectric layer of capacitor


A new and distinct flowering Pelargonium plant with abundant apricot colored flowers.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Pelargonium peltatum known by the varietal name 'Pacapri'. The new variety was discovered in a selected breeding program in Dresden, Germany. The new variety is the result of a cross between two unnamed and unpatented selections from a collection of proprietary breeding plants. The purpose of the breeding program was to find a new variety with double flowering and an appealing color. The double flowering and growth characteristics of the new variety are similar to its parents but with different flower color. The leaf texture and numerous flowers are similar to 'Pennea' (U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 09/733,016). The new variety differs from 'Pennea' in flower color and growth habit. The new variety was first asexually reproduced in 2002 by cuttings and in-vitro culture in Dresden, Germany. The new variety has been trial and field tested in Dresden and has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics and remain true to type through successive propagations. Characteristics distinguishable from other varieties include:                Unique apricot flower color        Suitable for hanging baskets

Variety of Pelargonium plant named ‘Pacapri’


A wind turbine generator system is provided with a nacelle supporting a wind turbine rotor, a nacelle rotation mechanism, an anemometer, and a control apparatus controlling the nacelle rotation mechanism. Said control apparatus calculates the wind direction deviation from the wind direction measured by the anemometer and the direction of the wind turbine rotor. Said control apparatus performs a yaw rotation of the nacelle by the nacelle rotation mechanism when any of conditions (1) and (2) is satisfied; the condition (1) is a condition under which a state where the absolute value of said wind direction deviation is equal to or more than a first threshold value continues for a first duration predetermined, and the condition (2) is a condition under which a state where the absolute value of said wind direction deviation is equal to or more than a second threshold value larger than said first threshold value continues for a second duration shorter than said first duration.

One important control for improving the efficiency of a wind turbine generator system is yaw control in which the direction of the wind turbine rotor is controlled in accordance with the wind direction. The wind turbine generator system, which provides highest efficiency when the wind turbine rotor faces the front with respect to the wind, requires direction control of the wind turbine rotor by performing a yaw rotation of the nacelle which supports the wind turbine rotor in accordance with the wind direction. Various approaches have been made for yaw rotation mechanisms and yaw control techniques; for example, Japanese Laid Open Patent Application No. P2004-285858A discloses a technique in which the wind direction and wind power are detected with the use of a laser anemovane and yaw control is performed based on the detected wind direction and wind speed. Additionally, Japanese Laid Open Patent Applications Nos. P2005-113899A and P2001-289149A disclose a configuration of a drive mechanism for the yaw rotation of the nacelle.
One important issue of the yaw control of the wind turbine generator system is to minimize the number of times of yaw rotations of the nacelle. Due to the large weight of the nacelle, a large number of times of yaw rotations of the nacelle cause increased mechanical loads of the rotation mechanism which rotates the nacelle and the braking mechanism which stops the rotations of the nacelle, increasing mechanical wear of these mechanisms. In order to reduce the wear of the rotation mechanism and braking mechanism, it is desirable that the number of times of yaw rotations be reduced.
The most general control logic of the yaw control used to satisfy such need is a control logic in which, when a state in which the absolute value of the wind direction deviation, that is, the deviation between the wind turbine direction (i.e. the direction of a wind turbine rotor) and the actual wind direction, is greater than a predetermined threshold value continues for a predetermined duration time (e.g. 20 seconds), a yaw rotation of the nacelle is performed such that the wind direction deviation is zero (i.e. such that the wind turbine direction agrees with the most recent wind direction), as shown in FIG. 1. Such a control logic, in which a yaw rotation is not performed unless the absolute value of the wind direction deviation exceeds a threshold value, reduces the number of times of yaw rotations by setting an appropriate threshold value.
One problem of such control logic is that the value of the wind direction deviation is not reduced averagely under a condition where the wind direction gradually changes over a long time (over several hours under some wind conditions), as shown in FIG. 2. Depending on locations of mountains, valleys and seas, there is a case where a wind condition at a certain point shows random changes in the wind direction with high degree of randomness during the daytime but does not show random changes in the wind direction at nighttime. In other words, the wind condition at nighttime often exhibits wind direction changes over a long time. The use of the above-mentioned control logic averagely reduces the value of the wind direction deviation close to zero under a condition where the wind direction randomly changes with high degree of randomness. However, when the wind direction gradually changes over a long time (over several hours under some wind conditions) (indicated by "A" at the top of FIG. 2) as shown in FIG. 2, the wind direction deviation becomes zero only for a moment (C at the bottom of FIG. 2) even if yaw rotations are repeated (indicated by "B" at the middle of FIG. 2) in the case of the above-mentioned control logic. Therefore, the average value of wind direction deviations is not reduced. This is not preferable in terms of improvement of the efficiency of a wind turbine generator system.


An endotracheal tube according to the present invention is used by being installed into a patient so as to use it together with a device having an insertion section which is inserted into the body. A portion overlapping with the device inserted into the patient is formed as a flat shape; and furthermore, an outer face portion formed along a longitudinal direction of a cross-section, of the portion formed in the flat shape contacts the device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endotracheal tube, a device for use in a medical procedure through a natural opening, and a medical procedure through a natural opening.
2. Description of the Related Art
Laparoscopy is known in which, instead of making a wide incision in the abdominal wall, a plurality of openings are formed in the abdominal wall and manual procedures are performed by inserting a rigid laparoscope, forceps, and a surgical knife, into the separate openings, in the case in which medical procedures (including observation, procedure, or the like; the same goes in the following) are performed on internal organs of a human body. Laparoscopy has an advantage in that early recovery of a patient can be expected since it requires only forming small openings in the abdomen.
However, in recent years, as for manual procedures which further reduce the burden on the patient, performing manual procedures by inserting a flexible endoscope through natural openings such as the mouth, the nose, or the anus, of the patient has been proposed. One example of such a medical procedure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,131. This medical procedure will be explained. A flexible endoscope is inserted through the mouth of a patient; and the endoscope is fed into the abdominal cavity through an opening formed in the stomach wall. Observation of the abdominal cavity is performed by observation device provided on a distal end of the endoscope. Furthermore, procedure of an organ is performed by using: a treatment tool which passes through the endoscope; or a treatment tool which is inserted into the abdominal cavity through another opening formed in the stomach, or which is inserted from the anus into the abdominal cavity through an opening formed in the lower digestive tract. When the manual procedures within the abdominal cavity are completed, the treatment tool for an endoscope is removed; and the opening is closed. When closing the opening, the organs around the opening are drawn together and closed such that the organs are bound together by an O-ring.

Endotracheal tube, device for use in medical procedure through natural opening and medical procedure through natural opening


A circuit for a direct current electric motor system for reducing contamination in contactor tips includes a semiconductor element in a parallel circuit arrangement with the contactor. The motor system includes a direct current power source coupled to an electric motor through the contactor. A capacitor is coupled in a parallel circuit arrangement with the motor. When the contactor is open, the capacitor is charged by the direct current power source through the semiconductor element. The capacitor will not charge to the same voltage as the direct current power source because of the semiconductor element, creating a voltage differential across the open contactor tips, which is equivalent to the voltage drop across the semiconductor element. Accordingly, the surge of current flowing across the contactor when its is closed cleans the contactor tips.

There are numerous applications in which electrical contactors are used to isolate an electrical circuit from an electrical power source. In many of these applications, the contactor is operated in what is sometimes referred to as a "dry-switching" mode, i.e. in a mode in which no current is drawn through the contactor tips at the time of opening or closing. For example, it is common to use a key switch controlled contactor in electrical vehicles to isolate the battery from the electric traction motor and the associated control when the key switch is turned to an off position.
While there are advantages to operating a contactor in a dry switching mode, such as, for example, to extend contactor tip life by eliminating arcing, there is also a significant disadvantage. In particular, contactor tips are typically produced from a silver based metal and will form a surface oxide or sulfide, which have poor electrical conductivity and act as an electrical insulator at the tips. In some instances, the oxide or sulfide build-up may accumulate sufficiently to block current flow to the electrical system while a lesser accumulation may reduce available power to the system.
One method of avoiding oxide and sulfide build-up is to construct contactors in which the tips exhibit a wiping action during operation, i.e., a moving tip that rubs across a surface of a stationary tip to wipe the oxide from the tip. A disadvantage of such contactors is their relatively high cost in comparison to conventional contactors.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,609, an electrical circuit for preventing contactor tip contamination is shown. The circuit shown utilizes an electromagnetic coil to actuate the contactor by drawing current from a capacitor bank which is in parallel connection to the voltage source. The voltage difference between the contactor tips when closing is related to the amount of current which has been discharged by the capacitor. This circuit relies directly on the capacitor discharge to create a voltage difference between the contactor tips. Due to the reliance on capacitors, the voltage difference between the contactor tips will vary with parameters, such as the temperature of the circuit components, the discharge rate, the capacitance, and the resistance of the actuating coil through which the capacitor discharges.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a means for preventing oxide and sulfide build-up on contactor tips which does not require special contactors, and which provides a relatively constant and predictable voltage difference across the contactor tips.


The present invention relates to a casing brake assembly for applying a frictional force to a tubular or bag-shaped packaging casing being arranged on a filling tube of an apparatus for filling and closing said tubular or bag-shaped packaging casing, like a clipping machine, for limiting the movement of said tubular or bag-shaped packaging casing at least while being filled, the filling tube has a longitudinal axis. The casing brake assembly comprises at least one braking body which is reversibly movable between a release position, in which the braking body is at least partially moved away from the filling tube and a brake position in which the braking body at least approximately completely surrounds the filling tube, and which comprises at least two free ends. The casing brake assembly further comprises at least two support elements for supporting and reversibly moving the at least one braking body.

In practice, it is known that, for example in the production of sausage-shaped products, like sausages, filling material is fed by a filling machine through a filling tube of a clipping machine into a tubular packaging casing which is stored on the filling tube and which is closed at its front end, i.e. the end pointing in the feeding direction of the filling material by a closure means, like a closure clip. The tubular packaging casing is pulled-off from the filling tube while being filled by the feeding pressure. At least during the filling process, a casing brake applies a frictional force to the tubular packaging casing while being pulled-off from the filling tube, in order to control the pull-off speed and to ensure an at least approximately constant filling degree. After a predetermined volume of filling material has been filled into said tubular packaging casing, a displacer arrangement with a first and a second displacer unit which can each be formed by a pair of reversibly moveable displacement elements, a plait-like portion of the tubular packaging casing is formed. The clipping machine then places and closes at least one closure clip at the plait-like portion forming the rear end of the sausage shaped product, i.e. the end pointing against the feeding direction by respective closing tools which are reversibly movable towards the plait-like portion.
From EP patent application 1 428 437, a clipping machine is known including a casing brake assembly. The casing brake assembly is attached to a frame element of the clipping machine. The casing brake itself is of a closed circular construction and has a closed circular lip which surrounds completely the filling tube. A fork-shaped holding element including two rakes, accommodates and supports the casing brake in its operation position. For removing the casing brake from the clipping machine, the casing brake assembly has to be shifted from the filling tube by moving the casing brake assembly along the filling tube in the filling direction. Thereafter, the casing brake may be removed out of the fork-shaped holder in a direction vertically to the longitudinal axis of the filling tube.
A further known casing brake assembly is disclosed in EP patent application 1 987 719. This casing brake assembly includes two brake rings. A first brake ring is mounted on the filling tube and has a brake surface arranged at its outer circumference. A second brake ring coaxially surrounds the first brake ring on the filling tube. The outer or second brake ring has a circular lip acting on the inner or first brake ring for applying a frictional force on the tubular packaging casing material guided between the two brake rings. For adjusting the brake force, the outer brake ring is shifted along the filling tube relative to the inner, brake ring. For removing at least the outer brake ring from the filling tube, e.g. in order to refill tubular packaging casing material to the filling tube, the outer brake ring has to be shifted in the filling direction and has to be removed from the filling tube.
For these known assemblies, additional space has to be provided in the region of the outflow end of the filling tube for removing the casing brake assembly or parts therefrom, respectively, to provide the required space, the filling tube and/or the clipping machine which is positioned downstream the filling tube, have to be arranged such that it or they can be reversibly moved in the filling direction, which requires an additional effort in their construction and additional space at the installation site.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a casing brake assembly which overcomes the above mentioned drawbacks and which allows a simplified and compact construction of a clipping machine.


A biochemical processing apparatus is provided having a stage receiving a biochemical reaction cartridge which includes chambers and flow paths communicating therebetween, a moving system for moving liquid via the flow paths, and a detector for detecting the presence of the liquid in a chamber and/or the amount of the liquid. In addition, a determining device determines a result of the movement of the liquid from the information of the liquid in the chamber detected by the detector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a biological technique for analyzing, for example, cell, microorganism, chromosome, nucleic acid and the like in a sample by utilizing a biochemical reaction, such as an antigen-antibody reaction or a nucleic acid hybridization reaction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most of analyzers for analyzing samples such as blood use an immunological procedure utilizing an antigen-antibody reaction or a procedure utilizing nuclei acid hybridization. For example, protein such as an antibody or antigen, or a single-stranded nucleic acid, which specifically connects with a target substance, is used as a probe and is fixed on a surface of a solid material, such as fine particles, beads or a glass plate, and an antigen-antibody reaction or nucleic acid hybridization is then performed with the target substance. Subsequently, an antigen-antibody compound or double-stranded nucleic acid is detected using a labeled substance supporting a labeling material, so that determination of the presence or absence of the target substance or quantitative determination thereof is performed, the target substance having a specific interaction with the probe. As the labeled substance, for example, there may be mentioned a labeled antigen, a labeled antibody, or a labeled nucleic acid. The labeling material has a high detection sensitivity, and for example, there may be mentioned an enzyme, a fluorescent material or a luminescent material.
As an extension of these techniques, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,934 has disclosed a so-called DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) array in which a great number of DNA probes having mutually different base sequences are arranged on a substrate in array form.
In addition, Anal. Biochem., 270(1), pp. 103-111 (1999) has disclosed a process for preparing a protein array, like the DNA array, such that many types of proteins are arranged on a membrane filter. By using the DNA array, the protein array and the like, it has become possible to carry out a test including a considerably great number of items at the same time.
Furthermore, in various methods of sample analysis, in order to realize reduction of contamination by sample, promotion of reaction efficiency, reduction in apparatus size, simplification of operation and the like, there have also been proposed a disposable biochemical reaction cartridge in which a necessary reaction is performed therein. In addition, a system in which flow paths, reaction chambers, detectors, and the like are integrated by a micro-fabrication technique so that analysis, synthesis and/or the like is performed for a substance introduced therein is called μ-TAS (micro total analysis system), and research thereof has been aggressively performed. For example, PCT Japanese Translation Patent Publication No. 11-509094 has disclosed a biochemical reaction cartridge, which is a μ-TAS including a DNA array, in which a plurality of chambers is disposed and a solution is moved by a differential pressure so as to allow reaction, such as extraction, amplification or hybridization of DNA in a sample, to proceed within the cartridge.
In addition, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,100,541, a μ-TAS in which an optical detection member is embedded adjacent to one of flow paths has been disclosed. In addition, although the following are not μ-TASs, a liquid measurement device has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-131763 which outputs an alarm in the case in which when a sample is recovered, the pressure does not reach a predetermined level after a predetermined time passes, and in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-304817, a dispenser device has been disclosed in which a suction amount and the number of suction and ejection during agitation are calculated based on a remaining amount of a sample which is determined from the liquid level thereof using a probe.
As a method for detecting the abnormality of movement of a liquid, a method for detecting a liquid in a flow path is generally performed; however, this method is not sufficient to detect leakage and clogging, and in addition, in the case of a μ-TAS, since the flow path thereof is very narrow, the structure becomes complicated and expensive. In addition, various methods for detecting the volume of liquid remaining in chambers or the like have also been proposed; however, in all the methods, the detection results obtained from individual chambers are independently used, and the normality of a process is not determined using a plurality of measurement results. Furthermore, there has been a method in which the abnormality is determined when the pressure is abnormal; however, since a fluid is not directly detected in this method, the detection result is not so much reliable.