An article includes a substrate; and a coating disposed on the substrate that includes a microporous layer; a gradient in a density of a volume of the microporous layer, and a plurality of dendritic veins that are anisotropically disposed in the coating. A process for forming a coating includes disposing an activating catalyst on a substrate; introducing an activatable etchant; introducing an etchant oxidizer, performing an oxidation-reduction reaction between the substrate, the activatable etchant, and the etchant oxidizer in a presence of the activating catalyst, the oxidation-reduction reaction occurring in a liquid medium including the activatable etchant; and the etchant oxidizer, forming an etchant product comprising atoms from the substrate; removing a portion of the etchant product from the substrate; and forming a dendritic vein in the substrate to form the coating, the dendritic vein being anisotropically disposed in the coating.

A density gradient in silicon can be made by deep reactive ion etching or dicing a silicon wafer with a dicing saw. These methods may provide a relatively course gradient and may not be suited for creating a density gradient in a curved surface.
The art is receptive to articles and processes that provide density gradients in a material.

Article with gradient property and processes for selective etching

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AS REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE


A method of encoding alphabetic characters and inputting electrical signals defining those characters to a computer includes the use of a keyboard having five individual alpha input keys, one alpha input key being operatively associated with an operator's thumb and the remaining keys each being dedicated for operation by one finger of the operator's hand. The keys are actuable either individually or in chord combinations for encoding the alphabetic characters and inputting electrical signals to the computer. Each of the alpha input keys are designated to represent one of the five vowels. Therefore, when these keys are actuated individually they generate electrical signals corresponding to the vowels. The consonants of the alphabet are designated to correspond to chord combinations of key actuations. Unique electrical signals are generated in response to the actuation of one or more of the alpha keys to selectively input the electrical signals defining the alphabetic characters to the computer.

The present invention relates to a method of encoding alphabetic characters for a chord keyboard. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of encoding alphabetic characters for a chord keyboard and generating electrical signals identifying the alphabetic characters to a word processor or the like.
Chord keyboards are known in the art and generally include at least five character keys, one for the thumb and each of the four fingers of a single hand of an operator. These chord keyboards are designed so that keys may be actuated either individually or in chord combinations to selectively generate the 26 letters of the English alphabet. In order to make these chord keyboards practical, the codes or conventions for generating the alpha characters should be easy to learn and remember. Chord keyboards of the type described are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,443,789 and 4,360,892 to Endfield. Another example of such a keyboard is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,408 to Heusinkveld.
Attempts have been made to simplify the encoding of a chord keyboard for ease of learning and memory. Endfield for example in the above-described patents discloses a visual method for facilitating ease of learning and memory whereby the various chord combinations of the alpha key actuations are intended to visually illustrate pictographs of the letters which the chords represent. While this method of learning the chord combinations may be a step in the right direction, it falls far short of providing a simple learning technique for the chords. Accordingly, a need in the art exists for an improved method for encoding the alphabetic characters of a chord keyboard which is learnable.

Method of encoding alphabetic characters for a chord keyboard


User experience of the performance of a computing device is improved through an operating system that processes inputs from a soft keyboard to provide information that can be used to accurately determine keys a user intended to strike while typing. For each detected tap, the operating system provides a probability that one or more keys were the intended target for the user. These probabilities may be computed from probability distribution functions that are dynamically determined based on user and/or system factors, such as typing rate and keyboard style or layout. Other components may use the probabilities to select a key corresponding to a detected keyboard tap as representing the intended user input. The selection may be made based on the probabilities alone or in combination with contextual factors that yield an overall probability that a detected tap arose from a user targeting a specific key.

Computing devices use various forms of human interface devices. Most computers include some form of display to present information visually to a user. In addition, most computers have one or more user input devices. Keyboards and mice are widely used input devices for desktop computers.
For computers that are more mobile, the functions of the output and input devices can be combined into a touch sensitive display. Such a display can render output as in a traditional computer. In addition, portions of the screen can be associated with control functions. When a user touches a designated portion of the screen, the computer interprets the touch as user input activating that control.
Many computers with touch sensitive displays, particularly those without separate keyboards for receiving user input, can be controlled to display a keyboard. When the user presses on the display screen where a key of the keyboard is pictured, the computer interprets that detected input in the same way that it would interpret a signal from a traditional keyboard when a key is pressed. A keyboard created in this fashion on a touch sensitive display is sometimes called a "soft keyboard."


An action for a firearm uses a rotating barrel on which are mounted lugs and a cam follower. The barrel is positioned coaxially within a tube fixed to the frame of the firearm. A cam, engaged by the cam follower, is also fixed to the frame. A gas space is defined between the tube and the barrel by a thrust surface on the barrel and a reaction surface on the tube. A gas port connects the gas space with the barrel's bore. A slide overlies the tube and defines longitudinally oriented grooves which receive the lugs when the barrel is rotated by interaction between the cam and the cam follower to align the lugs and the grooves. Motion of the barrel is arrested by interaction between the cam and cam follower, and motion of the slide relative to the barrel is permitted when the lugs align and engage the grooves.

Low recoil impulse cartridges such as the FN 5.7×28 mm, .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire and .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire generally do not work well in pistols using the Browning short recoil locked breech actions and require use of blowback, delayed blowback or locked breech gas operated systems for reliable operation. There is clearly an opportunity to improve on the reliability of such actions.

Gas operated rotary barrel action and pistol


An error handling routine of a processor, executing in response to a first detected unrecoverable error (DUE) of the processor, responding to an indication that a second DUE has occurred by evaluating the effect of the second DUE on the correctness of the error handling routine.

Energetic subatomic particles such as neutrons from cosmic rays and alpha particles from radioactive trace components in the packaging of a semiconductor device may generate electron-hole pairs as they pass through such a device. Transistor source and drain terminals in the device may collect these charges and eventually a sufficient accumulation of charge may cause a logic device incorporating such a transistor to invert state or flip, introducing a logic fault into the circuit's operation. These faults are transient, because they are not a permanent failure of the device, and are therefore termed soft or transient errors. A common form of soft error is an error in a transistor that forms part of a memory cell such as a cache cell or register cell, causing a bit represented by such a cell to be flipped from its intended value.
The likelihood of a soft error affecting a processor or other semiconductor device depends on the number of on-chip transistors. In the case of processors, particularly, the number of on-chip transistors has grown very rapidly and therefore the error rate due to soft errors has grown in proportion. Therefore the importance of reducing the impact of soft errors on processor operation has increased in importance.
FIG. 1 illustrates a classification of soft errors in a processor memory unit such as a register or cache, depicted as a flowchart for clarity. When a soft error occurs, 110, the fault may be considered benign if the affected bit has not been read, 120 and 140. If the bit was read, but the affected unit, such as a cache line or register bank, has error protection built in, 130, the error may be recoverable or at least, detectable. Such error correction is well known and includes for example, parity and ECC schemes. In the situation where a bit does not have error protection, and the bit affects the correctness of any computation underway in the processor, a silent data corruption 180 is said to have occurred. This is an undesirable state that processor designers attempt to minimize in terms of its likelihood.
If the error is detected and can be corrected, 150, then the bit is set or reset to its original value and processor operation continues normally, 190. If the error cannot be corrected, but has been detected, the processor may take additional action because such an error is considered unrecoverable, 170. This type of error is termed a detected unrecoverable error or DUE.
Generally, a DUE results in an error-caused termination of at least the executing process which attempted to read the erroneous bit and sometimes an error-caused termination of the entire operating system running on the processor causing a machine halt or restart. It is, of course, preferable to terminate one process as opposed to the entire system so as to minimize the overall impact of the DUE. In highly reliable systems such as critical use servers, designers attempt to ensure that the mean time between system-terminating DUEs is very high, e.g., 25 years.
When a DUE is detected, the processor generally enters a software error handling routine. Using register error logs, the routine determines whether the DUE warrants a process or a system termination and how to proceed. In one scenario, a second DUE may occur during the execution of the error handling routine for a first DUE. While such an occurrence is relatively unlikely, a designer of a high reliability processor may need to consider this scenario.


Systems and methods are provided for authorizing access to facilities. In connection therewith, a first request comprising data indicative of a card number is received at a first node. When the first request comprises a request for access to a facility, a set of rules associated with the card number are identified and access to the requested facility is authorized in accordance with the identified set of rules. In addition, a second request comprising data indicative of the card number is received at a second node. When the second request comprises a payment request, a payment provider associated with the card number is identified and the payment request is transmitted to the payment provider.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Systems for authorizing access to a resource or facility based on an identity or membership number are known. Such systems may, for example, be implemented over a network, in which case a request for access may be transmitted to a network node. Responsive to receiving the request, the network node may authorize or deny access to the facility. However, as the use of such systems increases, unnecessary repetition of processing steps may arise resulting in network congestion and delays in authorization of requests. Furthermore, individual processing of requests for access to each respective resource or facility makes it impossible to combine information across multiple resources to increase efficiency.
These problems may be exacerbated by a need for users to obtain an individual identity or membership number for each respective resource or facility to be entered, resulting in frequent inputting of incorrect identities which further adds to the processing requirements of the system, resulting in increased delays in authorization of requests.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an improved system for authorizing a request for access to a facility.

Systems and methods for authorizing access to facilities


An image editing apparatus reads a document image and obtains image data. Thus obtained image data is separately stored as data to be displayed on a display and data for recognizing a closed region in the image. In order to more readily recognize such a closed region, only the latter data is processed without changing the data to be displayed on the display. Thus, an image much easier to view can be displayed on the display.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to image editing devices, and more particularly, to an image editing device capable of displaying a read document for a user to edit the displayed content.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,355 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-223785 disclose methods of writing, in a memory, data to recognize closed regions read from a document, recognizing the closed regions by referring to the data and editing the regions.
According to these conventional methods, however, the result of editing the regions, in other words if the closed regions have been surely recognized is not available until a copy is output, and therefore copying errors frequently result.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-94311 discloses an editing device incorporating image data into a memory, displaying the data in the memory onto a display, and editing the data on the display.
The conventional editing device is however encountered with a disadvantage that read images are stored in the memory by a single method, and therefore it is very difficult to recognize regions or particular colors from the stored images for image processing.

Image editing device for processing image data


A composition useful as a die-attach adhesive, polymer bump or encapsulant comprises from about 5-100% by weight of a base resin and from zero to 95% by weight of a particulate filler such as silver, wherein the base resin contains (a) from 10-95 parts by weight of a cycloaliphatic epoxy-functional siloxane, (b) from about 5-90 parts by weight of a non-silicon-containing polyepoxy resin, .COPYRGT. from about 0.1-3 parts by weight of an iodonium salt, (d) from zero to about 3 parts by weight of a copper compound and, optionally, a silane adhesion promotor and/or an elastomeric toughener.

Epoxy resins are widely used in many industrial applications. They are known for their excellent chemical and thermal resistance, good electrical and mechanical properties and for their adhesion to a wide variety of substrates. However, polymers derived from epoxy resins commonly have higher coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE's) than the substrates on which they are placed. Consequently, when the formulations are used as bonding or encapsulation agents, the mismatch between the coefficients of thermal expansion of the polymer and the substrate results in stress, which may cause cracking and loss of adhesion between the epoxide and the substrates. When the substrate is an electronic device, circuit failure results. To circumvent this problem, epoxy resins are often filled with inorganic filler. Typical fillers include particulate silica, ground quartz, alumina and aluminum nitride. However, as the filler loading increases, the viscosity of the formulation increases correspondingly. This phenomenon presents severe restrictions on the potential use of resin formulations having high filler ratios since their high viscosities dramatically increase problems during applying and processing them.
If it were possible to avoid the high viscosities associated with high filler loadings, many additional applications would be immediately affected. High thermal and electrical conductivity, high hardness, high tensile strength and modulus, low shrinkage, and high density, which result from high filler loadings, would also render such materials attractive for four specific applications: die-attach adhesives, polymer bumps, underfill encapsulants, and glob-top encapsulants.
Polymer die-attach adhesives are used to bond a chip or die to a carrier or a circuit board. The die-attach adhesive provides mechanical, electrical and thermal contact between the die and the substrate. The substrate could be a leadframe, a package case, a single or multilayer ceramic, or an organic composite. Die-attach adhesives are sought to replace the expensive gold preform approach previously employed for plastic package applications. Known die-attach adhesives commonly consist of a conductive metal, usually flakes of silver or gold, together with a curable resin, commonly an epoxy or cyanate ester resin. These materials are applied as highly viscous pastes and cured in an oven.
Similarly, a polymer bump is a means of replacing conventional lead-tin solder used to attach dies to the chip carrier or lead frame. Usually, the solder is in the form of small balls placed at specific interconnects around the die. The die is inverted, placed on the substrate and heat is applied to melt the solder, thereby providing both electrical and mechanical connection to the substrate. Polymer-based replacements for solder balls are called "polymer bumps." On heating in an oven, the polymer bump must flow to wet the pads and cure, providing the desired adhesive, electrical and mechanical functions.
Underfill encapsulation is a technique used to reinforce conventional solder bumps connecting the dies to the substrate. A liquid encapsulant comprising a polymer is dispensed along the perimeter of the dies and drawn by capillary action along the surface of the solder bump connection to the substrate of the assembled package. Upon oven curing the encapsulant solidifies and reinforces the solder joints.
Glob-top encapsulation involves dispensing a liquid polymeric material atop a die or chip positioned in a packaging substrate. The polymer is subsequently solidified by thermal curing which provides a protective coating on the die. Generally, a coating between 0.15 and 3.75 mm is applied to the die, depending on the packaging application.
To succeed in these applications, a candidate material must meet the following requirements:
1. give full cure in 60 seconds or less at 200.degree. C. or below for adhesive applications, and in 60 minutes or less at 160.degree. C. or below for encapsulation applications; PA1 2. possess a pot life greater than 24 hours at 25.degree. C.; PA1 3. have a weight loss on cure of less than 2%; PA1 4. have a viscosity suitable for automated dispensing; PA1 5. exhibit no filler settling on storage at 25.degree. C. or at subzero temperatures; PA1 6. have minimal resin bleed (i.e. bleed should be less than 0.125 mm on a variety of substrates); PA1 7. possess low to moderate die and/or substrate warpage after cure; PA1 8. have a low moisture absorption (less than 0.5%) at room temperature (25.degree. C.) or at elevated temperatures (.gtoreq.85.degree. C.); and PA1 9. have excellent adhesion to various inorganic, organic, or metal substrates including solders, solder-masks, and fluxes. PA1 (a) from about 10 to 95 parts by weight of a cycloaliphatic epoxy functional siloxane selected from the group comprising ##STR1## (b) from about 5 to 90 parts by weight of a non-silicon-containing di-, tri-, or polyepoxy resin or mixture of such resins; PA1 (c) from about 0.1 to 3 parts by weight of an iodonium salt of formula ##STR2## wherein M is selected from the group comprising boron, phosphorus, and antimony; X is halogen; n is 4 or 6; and R is selected from the group comprising hydrogen, C.sub.1 to C.sub.20 alkyl, C.sub.1 to C.sub.20 alkoxyl, C.sub.1 to C.sub.20 hydroxyalkoxyl, halogen, and nitro; and PA1 (d) from zero to about 3 parts by weight of a copper compound selected from the group comprising copper stearate, copper naphthenate, copper acetate, copper acetylacetonate, and copper 1,3-pentadienoate.
Considerable effort has been expended by the electronics industry to produce a material that meets the above requirements for adhesive, polymer bump, and/or encapsulant applications. Epoxy resins, typically filled with 60-80% of an electrically conductive filler such as particulate silver or gold, have been proposed for die-attach adhesives. Likewise, epoxy resins, typically filled with 60-80% of an electrically nonconductive particulate filler such as silica, have been proposed for underfill and glob-top encapsulants. These epoxy-based materials appear to be suitable as adhesives or encapsulants because of their chemical resistance, electrical properties, thermal stability, and processability. However, from a polymeric materials standpoint, many of the aforementioned properties are interdependent, and one property of the system cannot be enhanced without altering another. In addition, epoxies tend to exhibit a poor shelf life, high modulus, and slow cure under normal curing conditions. Therefore, due to the aforementioned problems and disadvantages, no epoxy-based materials are currently available that meet all the above-listed requirements for die-attach adhesives, polymer bumps, underfill, and/or glob-top encapsulants.

Epoxy resin composition with cycloaliphatic epoxy-functional siloxane


A tunnel pasteurizer having a tunnel, through which the material to be pasteurized is conducted and sprayed or sprinkled with water, and with a trap region for the draining water arranged on the bottom of the tunnel, pasteurizer and a plurality of temperature zones arranged in the transport direction, and the trap region is divided into separate trap zones which correspond to the temperature zones, from which the water is re-supplied to the respective tunnel zones, and comprising a control means for controlling the water temperature in the temperature zones. To improve control of the temperature in the individual temperature zones, the control and the tubing of the trap zones is adapted such that water can selectively be taken from the individual trap zones for temperature control and can selectively be returned to other temperature zones, wherein water is buffered in the individual temperature zones separate from other temperature zones in a respective zone buffer.

Such tunnel pasteurizers for filled food containers, particularly filled bottles and tins, are already known from the prior art, as also shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 9 shows a channel pasteurizer with an integrated heating system (U.S. Pat. No. 5772,958, EP 95909657.9) in the tunnel construction. The tunnel pasteurizer basically comprises two components, namely the channel shown in FIG. 9 and a tunnel arranged above the channel, which is not shown, said tunnel having spraying means and sprinkling means, which heat and pasteurize the material to be pasteurized that moves through the tunnel. Such a pasteurizer for instance comprises three heating zones (zone 1-3), in this case four stop zones (zone 4-7) and three cooling zones (8-10). The tempered water is pumped from the channel out of the zone chambers upwardly into the respective tunnel module of the respective temperature zone so that the material to be pasteurized is sprinkled with water of the respective temperature. Water heated by the heat exchanger is conducted into the Chess buffer. Water that flows from above into the very small dimensioned zone chambers 1-10 enters the respective buffer when the filling level is too high, i.e. it flows from the zone chambers 1-3 into the cold water buffers, from the zone chambers 4-7 into the Chess buffer and from the zone chambers 8-10 into the pre-buffer.
From there it can be re-used for regulating the temperature in the individual zone chambers.
However, the known system has the disadvantage that the temperature in the individual zone chambers cannot be regulated very precisely and the addition of fresh cold water is frequently required for a sufficient control, which, however, is inefficient. Above that, a very high volume must be held on a high temperature by the heat exchanger. Particularly in the case of production gaps, e.g. when a filler stops, the temperature in the individual zones cannot be regulated in an efficient manner. Such a system can also hardly take a change of the cooling water temperature into consideration. A delay in the temperature control often takes place.
A system is also already known in which water is conducted in a cascade-like manner through respective overflows e.g. from zone 1 to 2, from 2 to 3 etc. A precise control of the water temperature in the individual zones is also not possible.
Taking this into consideration, the present disclosure is based on the object of providing a tunnel pasteurizer and a respective pasteurization method which enables an improved control of the water temperature in the individual zones, wherein the water and energy consumption can be reduced.


It is an object of the invention to provide a double cylinder body and a manufacturing method thereof which can connect the inside cylinder and the outside cylinder strongly. The stopper 45 is protrudely provided on the outer circumference of one end portion of the inside cylinder 43 which will be a base of the yoke 13 made from iron, the inside cylinder 43 is attached on the outer circumference of the punch 33 on which the swelling portion 34 is fitted. The punch 33 to which the inside cylinder 43 is fitted is press inserted in the void 42 of the outside cylinder 41 from the swelling portion 34 side. The outside cylinder 41 in which the punch 33 and the inside cylinder 43 are press inserted is press inserted in the die 31. The punch 33 is only ejected from the inside cylinder 43 during ironing the inside face of the inside cylinder 43. Since the inside cylinder 43 is elongated in the circumferential direction thereof by the ironing of the swelling portion 34, the inside cylinder 43 is press contacted on the inner circumferential face of the outside cylinder 41, it is possible to manufacture the motor housing 10 in which the casing 11 made from aluminum and the yoke 13 made from iron are connected to each other strongly.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a double cylinder body and a manufacturing method thereof, more particularly, to an inside and outside cylindrical body each of which may define differing inner and outer diameters, and wherein the inside cylindrical body is connected to an inner circumference defined by the outside cylindrical body. The present invention can be effectively employed, for example, in a housing of a fan motor mounted on a vehicle and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a housing of a fan motor mounted on an vehicle is required to be as light as possible from the point of view of improving fuel consumption and the like. A fan motor used on an engine radiator is required high to have radiating property.
A fan motor complying with the requirement is therefore proposed in the Japanese laying open of application No. 4-347548. In this fan motor, an iron-made yoke is connected to the inside of an aluminum-made housing, making it lightweight and the radiating property thereof is improved by using the aluminum-made casing.
When the iron-made yoke is connected to the inside of the aluminum-made housing, the connecting method is generally brazing, a rivet or the like is generally adopted.
However, in the case in which the housing is manufactured by brazing, a rivet or the like, the problems often occur.
(1) It is difficult to judge the connection between the yoke and the housing by a nondestructive inspection. PA1 (2) The connecting step(s) step is(are) necessary as a special step, so that quantity production is prevented. PA1 (3) A medium is necessary except for the connecting parts. PA1 (a) It is difficult to verify all connections. PA1 (b) It is difficult to determine the connecting strength. PA1 (c) It is difficult to simplify the connecting steps.
It has been considered to manufacture the housing by a connecting method such as caulking, or metal flow. However, the above problems (1) and the (2) remain in the connecting method of caulking, and the predetermination of the connecting strength is difficult. The above problems (1), (2) and (3) remain in a connecting method by metal flow.
That is to say, the problems as follows exist even using the above connecting method.

Double cylinder body and a manufacturing method thereof


An abdominal exercise bar accessory having a rigid bar that is placed against a user's chest and cradled within his underarm region, with two alternating upward and downward extending handles attached to the bar opposite the user so that the user's arms partially overlap while gripping the handles. A rigid side extension extends upward from the bar and is attached to an overhead resistance station, such as a cable-and-pulley weight system. The bar is preferably concave, but may be straight, and preferably includes cushioned pads. A method of use in which the user rotates and moves the bar downward from an upright sitting position towards the user's thighs, causing it to travel in a non-circular, non-uniform pathway that matches that of the user's natural body movements, then returns to an upright sitting position.

The field of this invention relates generally to exercise equipment and their methods of use, and more particularly to a concave-shaped abdominal exercise bar accessory that may be attached to an overhead cable-and-pulley apparatus, or similar device providing resistance, and the method of using the abdominal exercise bar.
A variety of abdominal exercise machines and devices have become a popular alternative to old-fashioned sit-ups and sit-ups on incline benches to better isolate the abdominal muscles while reducing strain on the neck and lower back.
Health clubs with a high volume of members often use large stand-alone variable-resistance abdominal weight exercise machines, which are large and expensive. These machines are quickly adjustable to the size of the user, which allows a high rate of users per hour. Typical configurations entail the user sitting upright and placing his chest or front of his shoulders against a pad or bar that pivots downward, placing resistance against the downward rotation motion using a cable and weight system. They usually include foot or knee restraints that prevent the user's legs and butt from rising up when heavy weights are employed. By allowing considerable weight resistance, the user can quickly isolate and exhaust the abdominal muscles.
These devices are sometimes awkward and uncomfortable to use, forcing the bar or shoulder pads to rotate downward along a fixed path. While the radius of the arc is generally adjustable, allowing for users of varying height, one's torso does not naturally bend or crunch downward along a circular arced path. This fails to maximize the isolation of the abdominal muscles, often causing the user to engage her hip flexors as the fixed pathway forces her to bend in an unnatural posture.
Another limitation of these machines caused by the bar or shoulder pads being fixed to a rotating cam is that the bar is forced to remain parallel to the ground. This requires the user to perform only symmetrical crunches, limiting the exercise to the abdominal muscle areas along the centerline of the body. These machines prevent the user from performing a twisting crunch that would enable the user to work out a larger area of the abdominal muscles.
Another category of abdominal exercise devices comprise pivoting benches or arm rails that essentially assist the user in performing sit-ups. Versions found in gyms typically include benches with a fixed bench portion and foot restraints. Those marketed for home use tend to comprise a rotating or rolling frame or arm rails only, with no bench, requiring the user to lie on the floor. These devices do not employ weights or other resistance means; instead, they are isometric exercise devices that rely on the weight of the user's torso and head. They are also single-exercise devices designed solely to work the abdominal muscles, but are far less expensive than the abdominal weight exercise machines.
One problem of this category of popular devices is that the user may need to perform hundreds of continuous repetitions to effectively work out the abdominal muscles. A single set may take 10 to 30 minutes, and sometimes results in the user reaching aerobic exhaustion prior to muscle exhaustion, or frankly, first exhausting one's patience, or that of another gym member waiting to use the apparatus. Such extensive repetitions may strain the user's neck and back. Furthermore, gym versions of this category of devices that have foot restraints often result in the user engaging his hip flexors more than the abdominal muscles.
Smaller gyms, such as in hotels or home that tend to have far less traffic, often utilize multiple-exercise apparatuses to which several different accessories may be attached to a single pulley-and-weight station. These enable the user to exercise a variety of different muscle groups depending upon which accessory is attached. Such multiple-station machines take up less space and are less expensive than supplying the equivalent array of stand-alone machines, but they accommodate substantially fewer users per hour. Such apparatuses typically have a pulley-and-weight station directed from the ground up, requiring the user to pull some form of handle or bar upward, and an overhead pulley-and-weight station in which the user pulls an attached handle or bar downward. Often a moveable seat or bench, sometimes with foot or knee restraints, may be situated beneath the overhead station. While a variety of accessory handles and bars currently available to isolate a number of muscle groups, none are particularly designed to be as easy, comfortable or effective for exercising the abdominal muscles.
There are a plethora of miscellaneous stand-alone designs that do not fit into the above categories, such as exercise balls and sliding benches. One particular miscellaneous design relevant to the present invention is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,118 issued Jun. 16, 1998 to Conner. It employs a padded bar that forms the lower, horizontal bar of a triangular shaped device in which the user places her arms and head through the triangular opening, and rests her arms over the padded bar, crossing them horizontally, generally parallel to and opposite the padded bar relative to her chest. The top of the triangular bar system is connected to an elastic band, which is attached to the top of a door. The user sits on a bench or chair, and rotates downward, pulling the bar towards her thighs or knees. The elastic band provides resistance during this rotation or crunch. This system is relatively inexpensive, compact and allegedly portable, requiring only a door and chair.
The Conner system, however, fails to provide readily adjustable resistance, requiring multiple elastic bands to be employed to increase the resistance, which is quite cumbersome compared to moving a pin on a stack of weights. The elastic bands also fail to provide consistent resistance throughout the range of motion of the crunch, thereby maximizing the force against the abdominal muscles over a limited range of motion despite its 90-degree range of motion. Furthermore, the device pulls the user forward, off the chair, because of the forward angle of the elastic bands due to its placement atop a door, instead of directly above the user.

Abdominal exercise bar accessory and method use


Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for shutting down a host, such as a computer, server, and the like, to enable power savings. In one aspect, there is provided a computer-implemented method. The computer-implemented method includes determining whether to shutdown an application at a virtual machine. The determination is made using information from the application. The virtual machine and application operate on a host. A power management mechanism of the host may be initiated to enable a power savings when compared to not shutting down the host. Related apparatus, systems, methods, and articles are also described.

Computers have now become an integral part of our society both in business and in residential settings. Almost every business of sufficient size in Germany, the United States, and other developed countries has one or more computers to assist them in running their businesses. Similarly, many families in those countries now have computers at home that are used to run various applications including games.
Some attribute the popularity of the computers to the Internet. The Internet provides people with a ready access to vast amounts of data. Many people now get their news, sports, stock, entertainment, and other information primarily from the Internet. Businesses have also embraced the Internet. The Internet provides the opportunity for computers to communicate instantly with other computers or individuals. Business processes that were once restricted to intranets and their users are now moving to the Internet. Accordingly, companies are moving more and more of their data to electronic forms. In addition, companies have amassed huge amounts of data in an effort to understand their business, improve performance, and build stronger employee, customer, and partner relationships.
Virtualization is a technology for optimizing processing at a computer. Virtualization provides a software layer that when executed allows one or more virtual machines with, in some cases, different operating systems to run side-by-side with other virtual machines running on the same host (e.g., a physical machine, such as a node, a computer, a processor, a server, a blade, and the like). A virtual machine is a machine that is defined and implemented in software rather than hardware. The virtualization software provides a so-called "container" that wraps and isolates the virtual machine from other virtual machines. For example, in a server complex including fifty physical servers, each of which hosts its own application server, virtualization permits the server complex to instead operate with, for example, twenty-five physical servers, each of which includes virtualization software providing two virtual machines as application servers. In both cases, fifty application servers are deployed, but with virtualization, the number of physical servers is reduced to twenty-five. Virtualization software may also control one or more of the following functions: running multiple virtual machines with different operating systems at the same time on the same physical machine; generating fully configured isolated virtual machines with a set of virtual hardware including an operating system and applications; saving, copying, and provisioning of virtual machines; and moving virtual machines from one physical machine to another physical machine for workload management.
An example of virtualization software is a hypervisor (also referred to as a virtual machine controller or, more simply, a controller). VMWare ESX and VMware Server are examples of hypervisor software for virtualizing an operating environment (including operating system, IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, registries, and other aspects normally found in a computer system) to provide a virtual machine. The hypervisor software may control (or manage) the physical machine's processor, memory, storage, network bandwidth, and other resources enabling the virtual operating environments (i.e., systems).

Automated electrical power savings in virtualization environments


An image processing device performs: calculating a degree of similarity between a reference region in a first image and a candidate region in a second image; identifying a corresponding region in the second image; determining whether a first variance condition is met; and generating combined image data representing a combined image in which the first image is combined with the second image by overlapping the reference region with the corresponding region. In a first case where the first variance condition is met, once the calculating finds the degree of similarity greater than or equal to a reference value, the candidate region corresponding to the degree of similarity is identified with the corresponding region. In a second case where the first condition is not met, the identifying identifies a candidate region having a maximum degree of similarity with the corresponding region.

There are known technologies for generating image data representing a combined image formed by joining a first image with a second image. For example, one image processing device known in the art uses a scanner to perform two passes over an original that is too large to read in one pass, acquiring scan data representing a first image and scan data representing a second image. On the basis of two sets of scan data, the conventional image processing device generates image data representing a combined image formed by combining the first and second images. In this case, a pattern matching is used to determine a joining position at which the first and second images are combined.

Image processing device generating combined image data by calculating degree of similarity between two images


An electrode comprises an inorganic composite layer of a mixture of at least one insulating inorganic material and at least one at least partially conducting inorganic material. In an application of such an electrode, an organic electroluminescent device comprises a first and second conductor layers. An organic layer is disposed between the first and second conductor layers. The aforementioned composite layer is disposed between the organic layer and the first conductor layer. Methods of fabricating such an electrode and such a device are also described.

There is continuing interest in developing electroluminescent devices, such as light emitting diodes, based on organic materials. The primary motivation for this continuing interest is that many organic materials have high fluorescence quantum efficiencies in the visible spectrum, an thus have significant potential for colour display applications. U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,287 describes an example of a typical organic light emitting diode (OLED). Such a device usually comprises a first electrode layer disposed on a substrate, at least one organic layer disposed on the first electrode layer, and a second electrode layer disposed on the organic layer. In operation, a voltage is applied across the organic layer via the electrodes. One of the electrodes (the cathode) injects electrons into the organic layer. The other electrode (the anode) injects holes into the organic layer. Radiative recombination of the oppositely charged carriers produces photon emissions from the device.
The anode is preferably fabricated from a material with a relatively high work function in the interests of providing effective hole injection. Because light has to be transferred out of the device efficiently, it is desirable for at least one of the electrodes to be transparent. In most conventional applications, light is transferred through a transparent anode. Such anodes typically consist of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) having a work function in the range of 4.2 to 4.8 eV, Zinc Oxide, or Aluminium doped Zinc Oxide. To optimise device performance, the cathode is preferably formed from a material having a relatively low work function preferably aligned to the electron affinity of the organic layer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,677,572 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,623 describe multi-layer electrode structures in which different functional layers are stacked to provide a collective effect.

Inorganic electrode for organic electroluminescent devices

International Business Machines Corporation


A wireless device first successfully completes an Inter-RAT procedure, which is either an Inter-RAT handover, Inter-RAT cell reselection or Inter-RAT cell change order from UTRAN procedure. The wireless device then determines if a USIM is present. If the USIM is present, the wireless device determines if a new security key set was received and unused for ciphering and integrity functions during a current RRC connection. If a new key set was present and unused, the wireless device stores a value of zero into the USIM as a security START value for the CN domain associated with the RRC connection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless communications device. More particularly, the present invention relates to the storing of a security START value in non-volatile memory of a wireless communications device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specifications 3GPP TS 25.331 V3.12.0 (2002–09) "Radio Resource Control (RRC) Protocol Specification" and 3GPP TS 33.102 V3.12.0 (2002–06) "Security architecture", both of which are included herein by reference, provide technical description of a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and related security protocols thereof. The UMTS discloses a device (typically a mobile device), termed user equipment (UE), in wireless communications with one or more base stations. These base stations (so-called Node Bs), with their corresponding Radio Network Controllers (RNCs), are collectively termed the UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network, or UTRAN for short. In general, from the standpoint of security, peer entity radio resource control (RRC) layers on the UE and UTRAN sides establish one or more radio access links with each other to exchange signaling and user data by way of RRC protocol data units (PDUs). In the following brief background, which is taken from the above-indicated document 3GPP TS 33.102, familiarity with 3GPP protocols is assumed.
Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 illustrates the use of integrity algorithm f9 to authenticate the data integrity of a signaling message. Input parameters into the f9 algorithm include an Integrity Key (IK), an integrity sequence number (COUNT-I), a random value generated on the network side (FRESH), a direction bit DIRECTION, and finally the signaling message data MESSAGE held within the RRC PDU. Based upon these input parameters, the wireless equipment computes an authentication code MAC-I for data integrity verification, by way of the integrity algorithm The MAC-I code is then appended to the corresponding signaling message when sent over the radio access link. A receiver computes XMAC-I from the received signaling message in the same manner as the sender computed the equivalent MAC-I on the sent signaling message, and verifies the data integrity of the received signaling message by comparing the receiver-side computed XMAC-I code to the received MAC-I code.
Please refer to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the data structure of the COUNT-I value depicted in FIG. 1. The integrity sequence number COUNT-I is 32 bits long. COUNT-I is composed of two parts: a "short" sequence number and a "long" sequence number. The "short" sequence number forms the least significant bits of COUNT-I, while the "long" sequence number forms the most significant bits of COUNT-I. The "short" sequence number is a 4-bit RRC sequence number RRC SN that is present in each RRC PDU. The "long" sequence number is a 28-bit RRC hyper frame number RRC HFN, which is incremented at each RRC SN cycle. That is, upon detection of rollover of the RRC SN within a RRC PDU, the RRC HFN is incremented by the RRC layer. Whereas the RRC SN is transmitted with the RRC PDU, the RRC HFN is not transmitted and is instead maintained by the peer entity RRC layers of the wireless device and the UTRAN.
The RRC HFN is initialised by means of a parameter START, which is described in section of the above-indicated document 3GPP TS 33.102. The UE, and the RNC to which the UE is assigned, then initialise the 20 most significant bits of the RRC HFN to the START value; the remaining bits of the RRC HFN are initialised to 0.
Please refer to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 illustrates the ciphering of user and signalling data over a radio access link. As with integrity checking, the input parameters into the ciphering algorithm f8 are the cipher key CK, a time dependent input COUNT-C, the bearer identity BEARER, the direction of transmission DIRECTION, and a value LENGTH, which is the length of the keystream required. Based on these input parameters the f8 algorithm generates an output keystream KEYSTREAM BLOCK, which is used to encrypt an input plaintext block PLAINTEXT to produce the output ciphertext block CIPHERTEXT. The input parameter LENGTH affects only the length of KEYSTREAM BLOCK, and not the actual bits in KEYSTREAM BLOCK.
The ciphering sequence number COUNT-C is 32 bits long. There is one COUNT-C value per up-link radio bearer and one COUNT-C value per down-link radio bearer in radio link control (RLC) acknowledged mode (AM) or RLC unacknowledged mode (UM) connections. The RLC layer lies below the RRC layer, and may be thought of as a layer-2 interface. For all transparent mode (TM) RLC radio bearers of the same core network (CN) domain, COUNT-C is the same, and COUNT-C is also the same for both the uplink and downlink TM connections.
Please refer to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the COUNT-C value of FIG. 3 for all connection modes. COUNT-C is composed of two parts: a "short" sequence number and a "long" sequence number. The "short" sequence number forms the least significant bits of COUNT-C, while the "long" sequence number forms the most significant bits of COUNT-C. The update of COUNT-C depends on the transmission mode as described below:                For RLC TM on a dedicated channel (DCH), the "short" sequence number is the 8 -bit connection frame number (CFN) of COUNTIt is independently maintained in the UE MACentity and the serving RNC (SRNC) MAC-d entity. The SRNC is the RNC to which the UE is assigned, and through which the UE communicates with the network. The "long" sequence number is the 24-bit MACHFN, which is incremented at each CFN cycle.        For RLC UM mode, the "short" sequence number is a 7-bit RLC sequence number (RLC SN), which is obtained from the RLC UM PDU header. The "long" sequence number is a 25-bit RLC UM HFN, which is incremented at each RLC SN cycle. RLC HFNs are analogous, in this respect, to RRC HFNs, but are maintained by the RLC layer in the wireless device (both on the UE side and the RNC side).        For RLC AM mode, the "short" sequence number is the 12-bit RLC sequence number (RLC SN) obtained from the RLC AM PDU header. The "long" sequence number is the 20-bit RLC AM HFN, which is incremented at each RLC SN cycle.
The hyperframe numbers (HFNs) above are initialized by means of the parameter START, which is described in section of 3GPP TS 33.102. The UE and the RNC initialize the 20 most significant bits of the RLC AM HFN, RLC UM HFN and MACHFN to START. The remaining bits of the RLC AM HFN, RLC UM HFN and MACHFN are initialized to zero.
Authentication and key agreement, which generates cipher/integrity keys, is not mandatory at call set-up, and there is therefore the possibility of unlimited and malicious re-use of compromised keys. A mechanism is needed to ensure that a particular cipher/integrity key set is not used for an unlimited period of time, to avoid attacks using compromised keys. The USIM, which is nonvolatile memory within the UE, therefore contains a mechanism to limit the amount of data that is protected by an access link key set.
The CN is divided into two distinct and separate domains: a circuit switched (CS) domain, and a packet switched (PS) domain. Each time an RRC connection is released, the values STARTCS and STARTPS of the bearers that were protected in that RRC connection are compared with the maximum value, THRESHOLD. STARTCS is the START value used for the CS domain. STARTPS is the START value used for the PS domain. If STARTCS and/or STARTPS have reached the maximum value THRESHOLD, the UE marks the START value in the USIM for the corresponding CN domain(s) as invalid by setting the STARTCS and/or STARTPS to THRESHOLD. The UE then deletes the cipher key and the integrity key stored on the USIM, and sets the key set identifier (KSI) to invalid (refer to section of 3GPP TS 33.102). Otherwise, the STARTCS and STARTPS are stored in the USIM. START value calculation is indicated in section 8.5.9 of 3GPP TS 25.331, and is typically obtained from the most significant bits of the greatest COUNT-C or COUNT-I value within the domain. The maximum value THRESHOLD is set by the operator and stored in the USIM.
When the next RRC connection is established, START values are read from the USIM for the appropriate domain(s). Then, the UE triggers the generation of a new access link key set (a cipher key and an integrity key) if STARTCS and/or STARTPS has reached the maximum value, THRESHOLD, for the corresponding core network domain(s).
At radio connection establishment for a particular serving network domain (CS or PS) the UE sends the STARTCS and the STARTPS value to the RNC in the RRC connection setup complete message. The UE then marks the START values in the USIM as invalid by setting STARTCS and STARTPS to THRESHOLD. The purpose of doing this is to prevent unintentional reuse of START values if the UE should be turned off or otherwise incapacitated before new START values can be written back to the USIM.
In addition to the above, sections 8.3.7, 8.3.9, 8.3.11 and 8.5.2 of 3GPP TS 25.331 also indicate when to store START values in the USIM.
The 3GPP protocol enables a UE to switch over to another wireless protocol, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, which is performed by one of various so-called Inter-Radio access technology (Inter-RAT) procedures. Please refer to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a simple block diagram of an Inter-RAT procedure taking place. Initially, a UE 20 has an established RRC connection 21 with a 3GPP UTRAN 10. The RRC connection 21 may be in either the CS domain 12 or the PS domain 14, though typically in any Inter-RAT procedure the RRC connection 21 will be in the CS domain 12, and so this is assumed in the following. As the UE 20 moves closer to the range of a GSM network 30, a decision may be made by the UTRAN 10 to switch the UE 20 over to the GSM network 30. When the Inter-RAT procedure completes successfully, the UE 20 will have established a connection 23 with the GSM network 30. The connection 21 with the UTRAN is subsequently dropped. Consequently, the START value within the UE 20 USIM must be updated. In this example, the STARTCS value would need to be updated within the USIM.
The START value should reflect how long a particular cipher/integrity key has been used between the UE 20 and the UTRAN 10. However, the current 3GPP protocol incorrectly handles START values during Inter-RAT handover, Inter-RAT cell reselection and Inter-RAT cell change order from UTRAN procedures. Consider, for example, the steps that the UE is to perform upon successful completion of an Inter-RAT handover, as specified by section 22.214.171.124 of 3GPP TS 25.331. These steps indicate that, regarding handling of START values, upon successfully completing the Inter-RAT handover, the UE should:
1>if the USIM is present:
2>store the current START value for every CN domain in the USIM [50];
2>if the "START" stored in the USIM [50] for a CN domain is greater than or equal to the value "THRESHOLD" of the variable START_THRESHOLD:
3>delete the ciphering and integrity keys that are stored in the USIM for that CN domain;
3>inform the deletion of these keys to upper layers.
1>if the SIM is present:
2>store the current START value for every CN domain in the UE;
2>if the "START" stored in the UE for a CN domain is greater than or equal to the value "THRESHOLD" of the variable START_THRESHOLD:
3>delete the ciphering and integrity keys that are stored in the SIM for that CN domain;
3>inform the deletion of these keys to upper layers.
As previously each time the START value is read from the USIM, the UE marks the START value in the USIM as invalid by setting that START value to the THRESHOLD value, so as to prevent unintentional reuse of the same security configuration. At radio connection establishment for a particular serving network domain (CS or PS) the UE sends the START value (CS or PS) to the RNC in the RRC connection setup complete message. If the START value is equal to THRESHOLD, the network assigns a new key set (CS or PS). Due to the manner in which the security protocols handle key synchronization, it is possible for the UE to have a new key set, while continuing to use the old key set for the RRC connection. Under this condition, the current START value will be quite high, exceeding the THRESHOLD value, despite the fact that a new key set is available. This is not accounted for by the Inter-RAT handover, Inter-RAT cell reselection or Inter-RAT cell change order from UTRAN procedures. Under these three procedures, when a new key set has been assigned, but currently unused, the UE will:
1) Determine the USIM is present,
2) Store the START value in the USIM,
3) Determine that the stored START value exceeds the THRESHOLD value,
4) Delete the ciphering and integrity keys, and
5) Inform the upper layers of this deletion.
In the above, the new key set is removed, which is wholly unnecessary. Key sets are radio resources that should be conserved, and used as efficiently as possible. Further, the above forces new key sets to be constructed. The key sets are transmitted over the radio interface, and hence unnecessary assignment of key sets is also a waste of radio resources.

Method for storing a security start value in a wireless communications system


A fabric used as outerwear having a stabilized substrate, an adhesive and flock adhered to the substrate with the adhesive. The adhesive is dried and cured, preferably aerated. A waterproof film may be applied either to the substrate or to a lining adjacent the substrate. The flock may be flattened into a laid down condition.

The present invention relates to a flocked fabric that retains characteristics typically attributed to fabrics used in upholstery and yet is suitable for outdoor use as a worn garment. When used as hunter's outerwear, the fabric is quiet, camouflaged by its colorful pattern, wind-resistant, water-resistant, abrasion-resistant, drapeable, burr retention resistant and preferably treated with a scent-inhibiting chemical. As a result, the fabric serves as a washable apparel item, which will neither be seen, heard nor smelled by prey. By flattening the flock directionally into a laid down condition and thermally setting the flock in that condition, the laid down flock provides a natural water repellent and substantially flat surface onto which may be printed a colorful pattern or solid color. Solid color may be achieved by stock dyeing flock and/or piece dyeing. The colorful pattern or solid color appears crisp and well-defined without distortion.
Transfer printing onto flattened flocked surfaces is known in the upholstery trade where the flocked surfaces are atop a woven backing. The relatively harsh backing is unsuitable for apparel because it is not particularly drapeable. Further, the harsh backing is rough to the touch and therefore noisy in that it rustles appreciably if rubbed against itself or other objects. If outerwear contained such backing and were worn by hunters trying to elude anisemal prey, such a rustling noise would be detrimental to the hunter's effort at being evasive. It would therefore be desirable to soften such backing or select one less noisy.
Transfer printing onto flocked surfaces for blankets and apparel has been revealed by earlier patents of one of the present inventors, that is, U.S. pat. Nos. 4,895,748 and 5,059,452, both of whose contents are incorporated herein by reference. However, those patents teach about foamed knitted fabrics, such as those which include a flocked polyurethane foam with flattened fibers which are color printed. Such foamed knitted fabrics have excellent insulating properties but have relatively poor abrasion resistance. The present inventors have made some observations.
In general, foam has a low abrasion point and has been known to crumble when exposed to extremes of humidity and heat over extended periods of time. Further, foam may break down when subjected to strong caustic chemicals or dry cleaning.
When used in outerwear, the foam should be secured to a stretchable backing, such as a knitted substrate, to improve the stretch of the fabric to make use of its comfort characteristics. Foam is somewhat permeable and therefore limited in its ability to provide wind-resistance. Foam retains water that renders a fabric somewhat bulky and less drapeable than is the case without it.
A hunter's outerwear plays an important role in the success or failure of the hunt. Hunters do not want to be seen, heard or smelled by their prey. Hunters prefer their outerwear to blend in with their surroundings rather than stand out.
If the appearance of hunter's outerwear contrasts markedly with the environment, the prey may notice the contrast and become startled and dart away. For this reason, a camouflage pattern is preferred to blend in with the surroundings. Depending upon the.type of fabric to which the pattern is applied, the realism, coloring and crispness in definition of the pattern will vary. Ideally, the surface of the fabric should not distort the pattern or otherwise take away from the realism of the camouflage.
For instance, if the fabric is knitted or woven, the texture of its surface structure will distort the camouflage pattern or otherwise take away from the realism, crispness or definition. A fabric composed of plastic, on the other hand, has a surface structure which would not distort the pattern.
Unfortunately, many fabrics whose surface structure will not distort color patterns are noisy in that as the hunter moves about or approaches prey, the fabric makes noises which may scare away the nearby prey within earshot.
For instance, the conventional bright orange plastic raincoat poncho may satisfy the visibility level for orange color required for safety purposes outdoors and further is waterproof. Nevertheless, such a poncho is too noisy for most hunters. It does a hunter little good to appear invisible to prey if the outerwear is so noisy as the hunter approaches that the prey scares off. Indeed, prey may frighten based on what they hear rather than on what they actually see.
Knitted or brushed woven fabrics, on the other hand, are more quiet as the hunter moves about. This is attributed to their surface structure being soft to the touch, rather than rough, so that when rubbed against itself, little if any noise is heard. Nevertheless, the surface structure of the knitted or brush woven fabric, as mentioned previously, distorts the realism of the pattern printed on it.
A nuisance associated with the wearing of conventional outerwear is that the fabric material may pick up burrs, leaves, sticktights, thistles, plant-life originated "hitchhikers", etc. in the outdoors which cling or stick to the fabric (the matter picked up will collectively be referred to hereafter as "burr(s)"). As a consequence, the fabric becomes noisy; removing the burrs from the fabric is a time-consuming task, because each burr must be pulled off the outerwear individually. The task becomes more difficult to accomplish while in the outdoors because the outerwear is being worn at the time and, while the wearer could take time out to clean the outerwear of the burrs if so motivated, inevitably more burrs will be picked up again. Thus, pulling out the burrs individually is a never ending, time consuming and frustrating process to perform. To a hunter, burr retention is more than just a nuisance; any additional noise generated by the outerwear, such as that attributed to the retention of burrs, increases the risk of frightening prey that are within earshot.
Untreated outerwear, when worn, eventually picks up the smell or body odor of its wearer. If downwind of the hunter, prey, which has a keen sense of smell, may pick up the scent given off by such outerwear. Thus, even if the outerwear is quiet and camouflaged, such precautions against being noticed by the prey are defeated if the hunter's scent is picked up by the prey from the outerwear.
Scent inhibiting chemicals for fabrics are available commercially, such as that sold under the trademark ULTRAFRESH.TM.. Therefore, the fabric of the outerwear should be treated with such scent inhibiting chemicals. In this manner, the scent retention problem in outerwear goes away. When a quiet fabric is so treated and camouflaged, the wearer is neither seen, heard or smelled downwind by the prey.
Of course, the outerwear should also be made for comfort. In this connection, the outerwear fabric preferably should be drapable, washable, water resistant, wind resistant, abrasion resistant and burr retention resistant. Further, the fabric should be pleasant to the touch and not be bulky. Also, the fabric should not shrink excessively when subjected to a commercial dyeing process or home wash and dry, but the outerwear should be moisture permeable and breathable.
Tests have been developed to determine the extent to which a fabric is deemed water resistant, water repellant, abrasion resistant and stiff. The American National Standard AATCC test method 35-1994, as set forth on pages 89-90 of the AATCC Technical Manual, exemplifies a water resistance test. Basically, a fabric test specimen, backed by a weighed blotter, is sprayed with water for five minutes under controlled conditions. The blotter is reweighed to determine the amount of water which has leaked through the specimen during the test. This test is an accepted indicator of the resistance of fabrics to the penetration of water by impact, and thus can be used to predict the probable rain penetration resistance of fabrics.
Also AATCC Test Method 42-1989 is used as an impact penetration test to measure water resistance. Basically, 500 milliliters of water is poured from a height of 2 feet through an impact penetration tester against the surface of the test specimen, which had a blotter behind it that had been weighed prior to testing. The blotter is then removed and reweighed. The increase in the weight of the blotter is calculated. The lower the numerical weight calculation of the increase, the better the water resistance. The best result is 0.0, which signifies no penetration of the water to the blotter.
A hydrostatic pressure test is also used to measure water resistance according to AATCC Test Method 127-1989. An 8".times.8" fabric test specimen is placed in a hydrostatic pressure tester. Water at about 80 degrees Fahrenheit is placed on top of the specimen and the height of the water is raised 1 centimeter per second until three droplets of water can be seen on the underside of the specimen. The height of the water is measured; the higher the height, the better the water resistance.
A suitable measure of water repellency is a spray test according to AATCC Test Method 22-1989. Basically, 250 milliliters of distilled water is poured through an AATCC spray tester over each fabric sample. An AATCC spray tester is a 6" glass lab funnel with a spray head attached by a 3/8" rubber tubing. The funnel is held by a metal ring on a ring support six inches above the sample, which is mounted at a 45 degree angle with the use of a metal embroidered hoop. Results are obtained by observing an AATCC spray test rating chart against the tested sample. The higher the rating number, the better the water repellency.
Accepted abrasion tests are the taber test according to ASTM D-3884-92, which tests the abrasion resistance when the fabric is dry and when the fabric is wet, and the dry scuff test. These tests provide an indication as to the likelihood of the fabric abrading during normal wear and tear and during washing. The scuff test employs an apparatus having a weighted arm that presses a metal disc into the face side of fabric. The face side of a fabric, which is supported over a pad of latex foam rubber is rubbed under controlled conditions, by the edge of the metal disc. The test is intended to assess the tendency of all types of cut or non-loop pile upholstery to lose substantially complete lengths of pile from the surface of the fabric. To the extent that this tendency generally requires a harsh abrasive force from a relatively keen edged object, it often relates to minor unspecified abuse of the upholstery.
The taber test according to ASTM D 3884-92 involves abrading a fabric specimen using rotary rubbing action under controlled conditions of pressure and abrasive action. The test specimen, mounted on a platform, turns on a vertical axis, against the sliding rotation of two abrading wheels. One abrading wheel rubs the specimen outward toward the periphery and the other inward toward the center. The resulting abrasion marks form a pattern of crossed arcs over an area of approximately 30 Cm.sup.2. Resistance to abrasion is evaluated by various means.
A suitable fabric stiffness test is done pursuant to Method 5206 (Jul. 20, 1978) according to the Federal Test Method Standard No. 191 A. A one inch wide sample of fabric is slid toward the edge of the testing apparatus until one end drops to a 41/2 degree angle. The distance of the hanging portion over the edge is measured. The longer the distance measured, the stiffer the sample.
Another suitable stiffness test is done in accordance with a deflection test, in which a 11/2" strip in the warp direction is cut on the strip cutter from a random area of the coated or uncoated material, avoiding a cut too close to either edge. The test sample should be on 0" to 10" full width strip from the mill or master roll. Using a 2" platform on a test bench or desk, place a ruler on the desk top touching the base of the platform on one end. Take the 8".times.11/2" strip and place it coated or uncoated side up on the top of the platform. If coated, peel the release liner from the adhesive, being careful not to bend or distort the coated substrate. For either coated or uncoated material, slide the strip over the ruler end of the platform. Pressing it flat insures that the deflection distance is at its maximum and that the test is accurate. When the leading edge of the strip touches the ruler, read and record the number of inches. This is the deflection distance. The result should be compared to a standard or the historical specimen material.
The outerwear may be exposed to extremes of outdoor temperatures such as temperatures below the freezing point of water. Such frigid temperature conditions may occur unexpectedly and rapidly in some wilderness areas either during the night or from sudden wind chill in mountainous areas. Preferably, the constituents of the flocked outerwear should withstand such temperature extremes without becoming stiff or otherwise causing discomfort to the wearer while moving about.
Many conventional thin fabrics, with color printed upon, normally bleed the colors through, making it commercially impractical to print on the bled through side. Examples of such fabrics include woven polycotton, which is used in outerwear for the hunting trade. Thicker fabrics can be used that allow printing on both sides without bleeding the colors through, but such fabrics are obviously heavier, bulkier and generally less cost competitive to use in the mass production of outerwear than thinner fabrics.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a lightweight outerwear fabric which helps the hunter from being seen, heard or smelled by prey. It would also be desirable to provide an outerwear fabric useful for other applications, such as rainwear or for use at outdoor sporting events and activities, and which provides the outward appearance of distortion-free color crispness and yet is abrasion resistant and washable. It would further be desirable to employ a fabric that lends itself to color printing on both the front and back without the color bleeding through, and yet allows the fabric substrate to be relatively thin.

Flocked fabric with water resistant film


The invention relates to a method for spatially manipulating a microscopic object including providing a cantilever (12) having a tip with an opening (19) and a microchannel (15) extending through the cantilever (12) in its longitudinal direction. A suspension means is provided for holding the cantilever (12) and spatially moving the cantilever along a predetermined spatial path. A pressurizing means is provided for applying a predetermined pressure to the microchannel (15) and the cantilever (12) is moved with its tip to the microscopic object to be spatially manipulated. At least a part of the microscopic object is picked up with said cantilever (12) by reducing the pressure within the microchannel (15) relative to the pressure outside the tip of the cantilever (12). The microscopic object is then moved along a predetermined spatial path by means of the cantilever (12).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the field of manipulating microscopic objects such as bacteria, biological cells, neurons, or submicron objects such as virus or nanoparticles, or the like.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The ability to obtain information at the single-cell level is becoming of central importance for numerous biological questions and represents a major challenge. There is an increasing awareness that individual cells, although genetically identical to sister cells, show different phenotypes and expression profiles of genes (transcripts) and in consequence levels of proteins and metabolites. New innovative technologies are required to address individual cells, whereby "to address" has a broad meaning ranging from displacement, injection up to analysis. For the following the focus shall be on the controlled spatial displacement of single cells.
Several years ago A. Ashkin and co-workers pioneered the development of the optical tweezers as mean to manipulate biological objects (see for example EP 307 940). Exploiting the trapping forces due to the radiation pressure through intense and collimated lasers, they showed that one could handle viruses, bacteria, cells up to cellular organellae. Yet, it is still debated at which extent optical tweezers damage the trapped organisms.
Glass micropipettes, the oldest instrument to manipulate single organisms, are not truly apt for displacement experiments. Operated by means of micromanipulators combined with a pressure controller for the suction of the biological objects, their positioning is still followed with optical microscopy which is limited by its intrinsic resolution of the order of 1μ. Consequently, the approach toward an organism without damaging it is a hit-and-miss procedure, while if successfully sucked, it is practically impossible to safely reposition it onto another location of the substrate surface.
The atomic force microscope AFM (G. Binnig, C. F. Quate, and C. Gerber, Phys Rev Lett 56 (9), 930 (1986)) has the required force feedback in the pN range. With respect of organism manipulation, it is employed for a bright spectrum of adhesion experiments but it is not conceived for displacement experiments because organisms are stably attached to the underside of the cantilever preventing their release on another position of the substrate.

Method for spatially manipulating a microscopic object and device for conducting said method


A storage system and method for optimized surveillance search are provided. In one embodiment, a storage system is provided comprising a memory and a controller. The controller is configured to: receive, from a host, an image of an object and a logical block address range of video data stored in the memory; search for the image of the object in video data in the logical block address range; and provide the host with possible hits from the search. Other embodiments are provided.

A storage system can be used to store a data stream sent to it by a host. In a surveillance or digital video recorder (DVR) environment, the data can be stored in memory in the Moving Picture Experts Group Transport Stream (MPEG-TS) format. Searching for an object or a person of interest in the stored video is a major requirement of surveillance systems. Typically, the host retrieves the entire stored video from the storage system and performs its own search to find the object or a person of interest.

Storage system and method for optimized surveillance search


An object of the present invention is to raise a player's interest in an operation of a mission screen in a social game. A server device configured to be connected over a network to a user terminal, the server device configured to control a game that progresses as a player accomplishes given missions, the server device includes: a screen data generation unit configured to generate data of a mission screen in response to a request from the user terminal operated by the player, the mission screen having displayed thereon a plurality of mission progress buttons for causing the missions to progress; and a response process unit configured to perform a process of causing a predetermined event to occur in response to an input from the player through any of the plurality of mission progress buttons.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a server device and a non-transitory computer-readable record medium.
2. Related Art
A social game is known that progresses as a player accomplishes missions (which are referred to differently depending on games, such as quests and searches).
In a common social game, a mission screen is displayed on a user terminal operated by the player, and a progress button for the mission to progress is displayed on the mission screen. Then, the player presses the progress button, thereby the mission progresses.
However, the operation directly performed by the player when causing the mission to progress is only pressing the single progress button displayed on the screen. Thus, the game operation becomes monotonous, resulting in difficulty in raising the player's interest in the operation of the mission screen.

Server device and non-transitory computer-readable record medium


A liquid crystal display device includes an array substrate having reflective and transmissive regions in a pixel region, wherein the array substrate includes a reflective electrode corresponding to the reflective region and a pixel electrode on a first substrate. A color filter substrate defines the reflective region and the transmissive region in the pixel region. The color filter substrate includes a color filter with first and second portions that correspond to the respective transmissive and reflective regions on a second substrate. The thickness of the second portion is less than a thickness of the first portion. The combined thickness of the scatter and the thickness of the second portion is greater than the thickness of the first portion; and a liquid crystal layer between the array and color filter substrates.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, relates to a liquid crystal display device and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Many types of flat panel displays have been developed to serve as substitutes for cathode-ray tubes (CRTs), such as liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, plasma display panels (PDPs), field emission displays, and electro-luminescence displays (ELDs). LCD devices have many advantages over CRTs, including higher resolution, thinner profile, more compact size, and lower power usage during operation.
LCD devices generally include two substrates that are spaced apart and face each other and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the two substrates. The two substrates also include electrodes that face each other such that a voltage applied between the electrodes induces an electric field across the liquid crystal layer. Alignment of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer changes in relation to the intensity of the induced electric field which alters the light transmissivity of the LCD device. Thus, the LCD device displays images by varying the intensity of the induced electric field within respective pixel regions that are provided with the LCD device.
LCD devices may be categorized into transmissive type, reflective type, and transflective type. Transmissive type LCDs require a backlight and consumes a relatively large amount of power during operation. Reflective type LCDs are operated with the aid of external light, and the brightness of the display is proportional to the amount of external light available. Transflective type LCDs are selectively operated in either transmissive or reflective modes. Transflective type LCD devices improve upon the disadvantages of the transmissive type and reflective type LCD devices.
Referring to FIG. 1, in an array substrate 1, a gate electrode 6, and a gate line (not shown) are formed on a first substrate 2. A gate insulating layer 10 is formed on the gate electrode 6. A semiconductor layer that is formed from an active layer 13 and an ohmic contact layer 16 is provided on the gate insulating layer 10 over the gate electrode 6. Source and drain electrodes 23, 26 are formed on the ohmic contact layer 16. Each of the gate electrode 6, the semiconductor layer, and the source and drain electrodes 23, 26 combine to form a thin film transistor Tr. A data line 20 is provided on the gate insulating layer 10. The data line 20 crosses the gate line to define a pixel region P. A first passivation layer 30 is formed on the data line 20 and the source and drain electrodes 23, 26. A reflective electrode 40 is formed on the first passivation layer 30 in a reflective region RA. A second passivation layer 45 is formed on the reflective electrode 40. A pixel electrode 50 is formed on the second passivation layer 45 in the pixel region P. The pixel electrode 50 contacts the drain electrode 26 through a drain contact hole 55.
In a color filter substrate 70, a black matrix 75 is formed on a second substrate 71. Red (R), green (G) and blue (B) color filters 80a, 80b, and 80c are formed in the corresponding pixel regions P. An overcoat layer 85 is formed on the color filters 80a, 80b and 80c. A common electrode 90 is formed on the overcoat layer 85.
A liquid crystal layer 60 is provided between the array substrate 1 and the color filter substrate 70. When voltages are applied to both the pixel and common electrodes 50, 90, an electric field is induced within the liquid layer 60, and the liquid crystal molecules therein are reoriented in proportion to the electric field. Although not shown in the drawings, an alignment layer is formed on each of the transparent and common electrodes 50, 90. Additionally, first and second retardation films 97, 95 may be formed on outer surfaces of the first and second substrates 2 and 71.
As best shown in FIG. 1, a cell gap d1 (i.e. the thickness of the liquid crystal layer 60) of the reflective region RA is substantially the same as a cell gap d2 of the transmissive region TA. In a reflective mode, an external light passes through the liquid crystal layer 60, then reflects on the reflective electrode 40, and then passes through the liquid crystal layer 60 again. Light in the reflective mode substantially travels as far through liquid crystal layer 60 as in the transmissive mode. Accordingly, there is a phase difference of light between the reflective and the transmissive modes.
To minimize or eliminate the phase difference, the transflective type LCD device of FIG. 2 provided. In the transflective type LCD device, a cell gap d4 (i.e. the thickness of the liquid crystal layer 60) within the transmissive region TA is substantially twice the cell gap d3 within the reflective region RA. Accordingly, the phase difference of FIG. 1 is substantially prevented because light travels through the same thickness of liquid crystal in both modes.
However, the transflective type LCD devices of FIGS. 1 and 2 have some problems. Light in the reflective mode passes through the color filter twice, and light in the transmissive mode passes through the color filter only once. Accordingly, color property differences between the reflective mode and the transmissive mode may occur. Also, the brightness in the reflective mode may be less than in the transmissive mode. Further, the reflectivity is reduced because the reflective electrode is flat.
Referring to FIG. 3, a through hole TH is formed in the color filters 80a, 80b and 80c in the reflective region RA. Light passing through the through hole TH in the reflective mode has substantially the same properties as light passing through the device in the transmissive mode, and brightness in the reflective mode is increased. Further, a first passivation layer 30 formed from two sub layers 30a, 30b has an uneven surface, which provides the reflective electrode 40 with a similar uneven surface. The uneven surface of the reflective electrode 40 increases the overall reflectivity. However, at least two mask processes are required to form the uneven surface. The additional mast process increase the fabrication time and product cost of an LCD device. Also, the processes of forming the uneven surface, makes it difficult to form a dual cell gap structure within the LDC panel.

Liquid crystal display device and method of fabricating the same


A method of detecting and correcting errors that occurs while digital signals are transmitted in series. In this method, in a processing unit of a transmitter, n addresses (ad) are allocated to respective n digital signals. Using these addresses (ad), bits of the digital signals are picked out, a plurality of bit strings (g) are created by combining information bits and check bits of the selected bits, and the plurality of bit strings (g) thus created are subjected to parity checks to determine the value of the check bits of the digital signals. A transmission code (1) thus created are transmitted to a receiver.. In the processing unit of the receiver, the plurality of bit strings (g) are created from the signal received. The plurality of bit strings (g) thus created are subjected to parity checks to detect and correct errors in the transmission code (1).

Binary digital signals transmitted through a transmission line suffer bit reversal at a certain rate that depends upon the characteristics of the transmission line.
In order to detect and correct transmission errors due to bit reversal, redundant characters or check bits are added to information bits that represent information to be transmitted.
A hamming code V shown in FIG. 38 has its respective characters spaced a predetermined distance not less than three (hamming distance) from adjacent ones. If there is an error in one bit or character, such an error can be easily detected because in such a case, the hamming distance between the bit in error and the original bit changes from zero to one and the hamming distance between the bit in error and any adjacent bit changes from three to two.
Specifically, in the transmitter (see FIG. 38A), data a.sub.k (k=1, 2 . . . ) and redundant bits c.sub.1 (1=1, 2 . . . ) are mixed together using a coding matrix B to create e.g. a hamming code "c.sub.1 c.sub.2 a.sub.1 c.sub.3 a.sub.2 a.sub.3 ".
Upon receiving the hamming code, the receiver checks it by multiplying the code by a check matrix M as shown in FIG. 38B.
If an error E=1000000! occurs during transmission, results of check operations will be (100) as shown in FIG. 38C. Thus, it is possible to detect and specify the bit in error. FIG. 38D show the results of operations on bits in error.
One problem with such a hamming code is that such a code needs a relatively large number of redundant bits c.sub.k (in the above example, the ratio of information bits to the entire transmission bits is 4/7=57.2%), and thus the transmission efficiency is low. Also, in this arrangement, only one error can be detected and corrected at one time. That is, if errors occur in two bits, it is impossible to detect and correct such errors.
Now therefore, it is a first object of this invention to provide a method for detecting multiple transmission errors with high reliability while maintaining high transmission efficiency. A second object of the invention is to provide a method for correcting multiple transmission errors with high reliability while maintaining high transmission efficiency.

Method of detecting and correcting transmission error of digital signals