An attic flooring and storage system for laying out a support floor in an attic or other framed structure, the system comprising a number of support brackets with a mounting saddle including at least one mounting guide for removably suspending the brackets over a joist type member while disposing the upper surface of at least one laterally projecting support wing to support and align a flooring panel with at least one angular brace constructed to transfer bending forces about a joint between the support wing and the adjacent mounting guide to the joist.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a flooring system for use in attics and the like, which have ceiling joists and attic trusses. More specifically, it relates to a storage system that may be quickly, effectively installed using the floor joists.
2. Background Art
Additional storage place in homes is in great demand worldwide. This is particularly evident with the substantial increase in home based businesses. The most used storage location in a home is the garage. Many, if not most, homes are built with a garage with unfinished attic space. This attic space typically is constructed of joists spaced 16″ or 24″ apart, measured on center. The angular truss system above the joists creates a rather substantial open space that goes unused, or that may be converted into a storage space.
Home owners who wish to use this unfinished attic space for storage typically use boards or sheets of plywood, cut or whole, which have been pushed up between the joists and then placed atop the ceiling joists in a more or less haphazard manner. Larger sheets of plywood are frequently difficult to push up inside the attic space due to interference with the network of trusses. Thus, smaller sheets, narrower sheets, and boards are used to create a floor space above the spaced joists.
Using the various pieces of assorted wood for a floor usually results in a hodge-podge of floors, some narrow, some wide, and almost always leaves large gaps and unused spaces. In such a configuration placing boxes upon the temporary flooring becomes a challenge whereas some cartons may rest atop two or more spaced boards or may be precariously balanced atop one. At times when a full sheet of plywood is used, boxes are liberally stored atop it, one behind the other, with no access to the rearward boxes. In addition, these makeshift floors are unattractive and unsafe. The removal of cartons, or accidental striking, can result from a fall from the attic.
Another approach to creating storage space in a garage attic is to employ a skilled carpenter to build a secure flooring network atop the joists. This option is therefore permanent and requires a well thought out scheme ahead of time in order to ensure adequate use of flooring space, and for desired accessibility to users. Once in place this flooring may not be adjusted to accommodate various box and article sizes.
Having a permanent storage flooring installed professionally would typical cost between $1,800-3,500.00 for an average 2 car size garage of 360 sq. ft. This cost includes the materials and labor to (some garage attics having already been enclosed with a sheet rocked ceiling are very difficult to install a permanent flooring system), measure and make cuts to the Plywood sheets to be used as flooring in order to fit around trusses, electrical wiring or any other protruding obstacles. It also includes the labor to secure the flooring to the joists using screws or nails. To properly cut around trusses requires substantial planning and skill and use of power tools. Once the flooring is cut and secured to the joists by nails or screws it is permanent and may not be modified or adjusted without substantial effort and additional cost.
One potential solution is the Attic Dek attic flooring plastic panel system available from Home Depot. According to the Home Depot website, the Attic Dek attic flooring panel system provides the user with additional attic storage space. The Attic Dek system is sold in 10 packs of 16 in.×16 in. plastic flooring panels that purport to support up to 250 lb. and are vented so insulation can breathe easily. The panels are installed by laying them on top of ceiling joists and securing them with the included screws. However, the user must verify their joist spacing to avoid ordering wrong size and the 10 pack covers only 26⅔ sq. ft. In addition, this system is relatively expensive, requires some basic carpentry skills, does not work around trusses since the panels are pre-formed and pre-sized and lay directly atop the joists, and is not eco-friendly.
Another solution is the Infinite Attic saddle storage system, also available from Home Depot. The saddle storage system is provided in 30-78 Pack assortments that provide approximately 32 sq. ft.-192 sq ft. of brackets for supporting sheets of plywood for storage space in the attic. The saddles are designed to be used with one or more sheets of plywood and must use additional 2×2×8 lumber. The metal bracket has an elongated rectangular central section with a raised flat topped peak that rests atop a joist between two laterally opposed upwardly facing channels with outermost perpendicularly projecting upwardly narrow supports and is roughly similar to a square waveform with an enlarged inverted middle section and two spaced apart shorter channels to support 2×2×8 lumber which a sheet of plywood would lay over. These saddles utilize the available space between the attic trusses for a continuous, platform between trusses. While there are some advantages to such a system, the Infinite Attic saddle storage system requires multiple purchases, is difficult to work around electrical wires and fixtures as well as roof trusses. It requires extra measuring and cutting of the 2×2×8 lumber, some basic carpentry skills, and does not work with most insulation because the system including the 2×2×8 lumber impedes or hangs well over half the joist height, creating an obstacle for the insulation and existing wiring or plumbing. In addition this solution still requires screwing of the 2×2 lumber base and makes the additional cost and purpose of the Infinite Bracket counter intuitive.
Reviewing the foregoing solutions, such a seemingly simple task of creating flooring for storage in its unused attic space is expensive, requires extensive carpentry skills or a contractor, is inefficient with respect to installation and space utilization, creates accessibility issues and creates additional problems when encountering existing trusses, insulation, wiring or plumbing. An attic flooring and storage system that overcomes the numerous problems associated with these prior art systems and methods would be valuable to the home trade and many others.


An optical multiplexer that extends a transmission bandwidth of light is achieved. The present invention provides an optical multiplexer constructed of a multimode waveguide to which two single mode input waveguides are connected at a distance and two single mode output waveguides connected at a distance to a surface opposite a surface to which the input waveguides of the multimode waveguide are connected, in which a width of the multimode waveguide is smaller than widths of the two input waveguides plus a distance between the input waveguides, and the input waveguides are connected to the multimode waveguide and the multimode waveguide is connected to the output waveguides via tapered waveguides, respectively.

Conventionally, RGB coupler modules using a quartz-based planar lightwave circuit (PLC) have been attracting attention as circuit elements that multiplex three primary color light beams of visible light for spectacle type terminals or projectors (e.g., see Non-Patent Literature 1). In the optical communication field, filters and switches for carrying out wavelength multiplex transmission using a single optical fiber are being implemented using a PLC (e.g., see Non-Patent Literatures 2 and 3).
The PLC creates a core on a planar substrate of Si or the like through patterning using photolithography or the like or through reactive ion etching processing, and fills the surrounding area with a clad having a lower refractive index than that of the core to form an optical waveguide. The PLC features a high transmittance and can implement a low loss optical functional circuit by combining a plurality of basic optical circuits such as a directional coupler or a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Since the PLC is also transparent to visible light (propagation loss is small), the PLC is used for an RGB coupler module for multiplexing red (R) light, green (G) light and blue (B) light, which are three primary colors of light (e.g., see Non-Patent Literatures 1 and 4), and the development of the PLC in the video field is under consideration.
The definition of R, G and B in the video field is standardized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and ITU-R Recommendation BT.709, which is a standard of high vision video and ITU-R Recommendation BT.2020 (hereinafter referred to as "BT.2020"), which is ultra-high definition television video are defined. In order to set an inclusion ratio of pointer color, which is colorimetric data representing a color gamut to 99.9%, BT.2020 defines wavelengths of RGB as R=630 nm, G=532 nm and B=467 nm respectively.
As red (R) and blue (B) light sources, semiconductor lasers corresponding to the aforementioned wavelengths are commercially available. On the other hand, as green (G) light sources, semiconductor lasers having a wavelength of 515 nm are commonly used. A small number of green lasers having a wavelength near 520 nm are also sold. In order to cover all green lasers, filter characteristics of an RGB coupler preferably cover a range from the shortest wavelength of 515 nm of currently commercially available green lasers to the wavelength of 532 nm defined in BT.2020. Considering that a central wavelength of an RGB coupler changes depending on manufacturing error and an oscillation wavelength of a laser changes depending on manufacturing conditions and temperature or the like, the RGB coupler preferably includes a margin in wavelength type on the order of ±5 nm in addition to the aforementioned wavelength region.
To summarize the above, propagation loss preferably falls within 1 dB at R=630±10 nm, G=523.5±18.5 nm and B=467±10 nm as filter characteristics of the RGB coupler.
FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of an RGB coupler using a conventional mode coupler (see Non-Patent Literature 4). Green (G) light propagating from an IN Port 1 to an OUT Port 1 is multiplexed in a waveguide from an IN Port 2 to the OUT Port 1 through which blue (B) light propagates via a mode coupler A and red (R) light propagating from an IN Port 3 to the OUT Port 1 is multiplexed in the above waveguide via a mode coupler B. A PLC constituting the RGB coupler has a core film thickness of 2.0 μm, a relative refractive index difference of 4=0.77%, and the three waveguides have a core width W is 1.5 μm. An interval G between the waveguide and the mode coupler is 1.5 μm, a width Wa of the mode coupler A is 6.55 μm, a length La is 1700 μm, a width Wb of the mode coupler B is 7.25 μm and a length Lb is 850 μm.

NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION


The present invention provides a photosensitive resin composition for laser scanning exposure, which satisfies the following formula (1):

Conventionally, in the field of production for a printed wiring board, as a resist material used for etching, plating, and the like, photosensitive elements obtained by using a photosensitive resin composition, a supporting member and a protection film have been used widely.
The printed wiring board is produced by a method of pattern exposure of a photosensitive element laminated on a copper substrate, eliminating a uncured part with a developing solution, applying an etching or plating for forming a pattern, and eliminating the uncured part from the substrate.
According to the recent trend in favor of a higher density of the printed wiring boards, a high resolution and a high adhesive property are more and more required for the photosensitive element as compared with the conventional photosensitive element.
Moreover, from the viewpoint of the throughput, a high sensitivity is also highly required for the resist.
In contrast, according to a quick generation change of the electronic appliances such as cellular phones, an increase in cost for a mask per one substrate is concerned if the method for forming a resist pattern using the conventional phototool (photomask) is employed. A method for directly imaging a circuit produced by a CAD with a laser beam without the need of a mask (Laser Direct Imaging) is now appreciated.
As mentioned above, it is a characteristic of the LDI to provide many advantages such as efficient production ability by a small number and various kinds, elimination of a positioning step owing to absence of a photomask so as to facilitate correction of scaling, and elimination of any caution for sticking of photomask to photoresist.
According to the conventional laser using a visible light, handling operations had to be done in a dark room or under a red light. The present inventors have found out, by utilizing a laser using an ultraviolet ray, a laser exposing method allowing operations under an yellow light like the ordinary exposure can be realized. However, since a photosensitive resin composition for the ultraviolet ray laser is highly sensitive, there arise a problem such that the photosensitive property is fluctuated due to the light and the heat of the safety light including the yellow light, etc. accompanying the operations, so that the processability is limited.
Further, while the throughput depends on the laser scanning speed, it is still insufficient in terms of the above-mentioned throughput, therefore, propagation thereof is slower than expected. It is found out that the present problem does not reside in equipments but resides in an insufficiency of the sensitivity of the photosensitive resin composition so that an improvement of the scanning speed is prevented.
Additionally, in order to cope with the UV (ultraviolet ray) laser scanning exposure, an extremely highly sensitive resist with an excellent resolution is required so that it cannot be dealt with by the present resist.
The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is to provide a photosensitive resin composition for the laser scanning exposure with a little exposure amount fluctuation under a specific condition after a long term storage, thereby providing an excellent long term storage property and processability, and having an excellent resolution and laser imaging compatibility, in particular, an excellent ultraviolet ray laser imaging compatibility and color change stability after a long term storage.
Further, the present invention is to provide a photosensitive resin composition, a photosensitive element, a method for producing a resist pattern and a method for producing a printed wiring board having an excellent sensitivity, resolution, developing property and mechanical strength, effective for achieving a high density in a printed wiring board and laser exposure, particularly, the ultraviolet ray laser imaging compatibility.
Furthermore, the present invention is to provide a method for producing a resist pattern having an excellent-sensitivity, resolution, productivity and processability, effective for achieving a high density in a printed wiring board, and workable under a yellow light in a conventional clean room.

Photosensitive resin composition, photosensitive element using the same, method for producing resist pattern and method for producing printed wiring board

Abstract: -          25                ≦                                                            E                1                            -                              E                0                                                    E              0                                ×          100                ≦        25                            (        1        )            wherein E0 represents an exposure amount in mJ/cm2 at which the photosensitive resin composition is cured at the 21st step of the density 1.00 of a 41-step step tablet having a density range from 0.00 to 2.00, a density step of 0.05, a tablet size of 20 mm×187 mm and a step size of 3 mm×12 mm, by irradiation with a full wavelength active light of a high pressure mercury lamp and E1 represents an exposure amount in mJ/cm2 at which the photosensitive resin composition after being left for 2 hours under 40 W non-ultraviolet white lamp is cured at the 21st step of the 41-step step tablet by irradiation with a full wavelength active light from a high pressure mercury lamp.


Methods, systems, and devices for endocrine and exocrine gland control, Neuro-electrical coded signals can be selected from a storage area that is representative of body organ function. The selected neuro-electrical coded signals are then transmitted to a treatment member, which is in direct contact with the body, and which then broadcasts the neuro-electrical coded signals to a specific endocrine and exocrine gland nerve or gland to modulate the gland functioning. A control module is provided for transmission to the treatment member. The control module contains the neuro-electrical coded signals which are selected and transmitted to the treatment member, and computer storage can be provided for greater storage capacity and manipulation of the neuro-electrical coded signals.

Bodily homeostasis is the regulation of the milieu interieur (internal environment) of the living mammalian body. Homeostasis is the process through which organs, glands, and the central and peripheral nervous system harmoniously function to balance life equilibrium. The process includes, but is not limited to, glandular participation in the regulation of body temperature, heart rate, respiration, digestion, energy metabolism, immunity, and reproduction. Glandular secretions also are used to protect the human or animal body from invading microbes, environmental dust, and other wind carried or propelled chemicals, smoke products or odors.
The glandular flow of chemicals or hormones plays an important role in the homeostasis process. There are two principal classes of secretory glands. There are the "endocrine" glands that secrete directly into the blood stream and there are the "exocrine" glands that produce a secretion onto the surface of the body and to protect with secretions in the exterior orifices or into the interior of organs other than directly into the bloodstream.
The ability to electrically cause the endocrine or exocrine glands to secrete or to cease secreting or even to partially secrete would be a compelling medical technology for potentially controlling or adjusting body homeostasis. The control of the glands is by means of neuro-electrical coded signals that originate in the brain and brain stem. The ability to influence the amount of chemicals, hormones or aqueous/mucoid substances to influence the body's response to stress, sexual function, lactation, tears, digestive juices, salt & water balance and behavior. Puberty is evolved in male and female mammals because of the long-term influence of endocrine glands. If such system of glands is controlled by actual neuro-electrical coded signals (waveform) generated by a device that records, stores, and rebroadcasts it would greatly add to the clinical medicine tools. Such glandular control technology would provide a clinical neuro-electric method to fine-tune the function of many glandular based biological systems for the benefit of mankind.
The invention would use the actual neuro-electrical coded signals that send operational information to operate and regulate the wide variety of endocrine and exocrine glands of the human and animal body. These actual neuron signals travel along selected nerves to send the operational commands to the target gland.
The glands of the human and other mammals are operated by neuro-electrical coded signals from the brain which, in turn can excrete, in selected cases, chemical instructional signals. These chemical signals are transferred to target organs via the blood stream in the case of the endocrine glands.
The exocrine glands do not excrete into the blood stream as do the endocrine glands. These types of glands have a type of duct system to flow the secretions outward. The exocrine glands excrete or secrete largely onto surfaces exterior to the body such as the sweat glands which help cool the body as a contribution to body homeostasis. The sebaceous glands lubricate the surface of the skin with an oily substance. The lacrimal glands make tears to cleanse and lubricate the eyes. Important exocrine glands are the mammary glands, which provide babies milk. The class of species called "mammals" gets their name because they nurse their young from mammary glands.
Another type of exocrine glands are those that provide digestive chemicals such as saliva and digestive juices that affect the mouth, stomach, and intestines to begin as the first step to accomplish the digestion of food. There are wax producing glands in the external ear canal for protection from insects and microbes.
An example of an exocrine gland in a non-mammal species is the poison gland in snakes which is injected via fangs into a victim, which is usually a mammal, as an aid in catching food and to begin the digestive process.
This is a representative sampling of the endocrine glands which can be regulated by neuro-electrical coded signals. These glands are ductless and transfer their secretory hormone products directly into the blood stream. The blood stream carries the endocrine hormones to distant cells or target organs within the body to control short or long-term functions. The following list is not meant to be complete or all encompassing, but to provide a picture of the arena in which the invention operates.
Endocrine glands include the pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, parathyroid, ovary, testis, and part of the pancreas. There is also the placenta, thymus, and pineal gland. The prostate may be considered an exocrine gland. The lubricating vaginal canal mucous produced by the adult female in response to sexual stimulation can be considered an exocrine gland. The protective mucus produced in the bronchial tubes of the respiratory tract also qualifies as exocrine type.
The kidney is also an excretory gland plus a vital organ. It produces hormones involved in the control of blood pressure and for erythropoiesis which is the production of red blood cells. The kidney also functions as a vital organ filter to remove soluble waste products from the blood stream. Therefore the kidney is part a method to remove certain liquid waste and it is an endocrine gland too.
The endocrine and exocrine glandular operating signal(s) occur naturally as a burst or continuous pattern of signals followed by a pause and then another burst of neuron activity followed by a pause of short or long duration and so it is on and on throughout life. Such signal(s) amplitude or time of pause can be varied to accomplish the glandular activity required. Endocrine and exocrine glandular activity requires variable repetitive neuro-electrical coded signals as humans or animals live. Various glandular secretions operate in a symphonic pattern being conduced by the brain to accomplish the mission assigned, all aimed at maintaining the best body homeostasis. There is adequate but variable space between the signals produced by the neurons located both in the brain and the peripheral nervous system to allow synchronization of secretion production into smooth hormonal or chemical applications by the endocrine and exocrine glands.

Method and system for regulation of endocrine and exocrine glands by means of neuro-electrical coded signals


The present invention provides an apparatus for passively stabilizing the optical pathlength in tunable lasers. Lasers stabilized using the passive stabilization apparatus exhibit reduced mode hop and increased wavelength stability during temperature variations of the laser or surrounding environment. The stabilization makes the laser suitable for a broad range of applications including: optical signal generators and optical multimeters.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to optical multimeters and more particularly to signal generating portions thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
The telecommunications network serving the United States and the rest of the world is presently evolving from analog to digital transmission with ever increasing bandwidth requirements. Fiber optic cable has proved to be a valuable tool, replacing copper cable in nearly every application from large trunks to subscriber distribution plants. Fiber optic cable is capable of carrying much more information than copper with lower attenuation.
The T-1 standards committee ANSI has provided a draft document, xe2x80x9cANSI T1.105-1988xe2x80x9d, dated Mar. 10, 1988, which sets forth specifications for rate and format of signals which are to be used in optical interfaces. The provided specifications detail the Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) standard. SONET defines a hierarchy of multiplexing levels and standard protocols which allow efficient use of the wide bandwidth of fiber optic cable, while providing a means to merge lower level DSO and DS1 signals into a common medium. In essence, SONET established a uniform standardization transmission and signaling scheme, which provided a synchronous transmission format that is compatible with all current and anticipated signal hierarchies. Because of the nature of fiber optics, expansion of bandwidth is easily accomplished.
Currently this expansion of bandwidth is being accomplished by what is known as xe2x80x9cwavelength division multiplexingxe2x80x9d (WDM), in which separate subscriber/data sessions may be handled concurrently on a single optic fiber by means of modulation of each of those subscriber datastreams on different portions of the light spectrum. WDM is therefore the optical equivalent of frequency division multiplexing (FDM). Current implementations of WDM involve as many as 128 semiconductor lasers each lasing at a specific center frequency within the range of 1525-1575 nm. Each subscriber datastream is optically modulated onto the output beam of a corresponding semiconductor laser. The modulated information from each of the semiconductor lasers is combined onto a single optic fiber for transmission. The data structure of a basic SONET signal at a typical data rate of 51.84 Mbps, a.k.a. an STS-1 signal, has 9 rows of 90 columns of 8 bit bytes at 125 xcexcs frame period. The first three columns of bytes in the SONET signal are termed the transport overhead (TOH) bytes that are used for various control purposes. The remaining 87 columns of bytes constitute the STS-1 synchronous payload envelope (SPE). As this digital signal is passed across a SONET network, it will be subject at various intervals to amplification by, for example, Erbium doped amplifiers and coherency correction by, for example, optical circulators with coupled Bragg filters. At each node in the network, e.g. central office or remote terminal, optical transceivers mounted on fiber line cards are provided. On the transmit side, a framer permits SONET framing, pointer generation and scrambling for transmission of data from a bank of lasers and associated drivers, with each laser radiating at a different wavelength. On the receive side, the incoming signals are detected by photodetectors separated into channels, framed and decoded.
As more and more optical signal equipment (transmitting, receiving, amplification, coherence and switching) is being designed and utilized, a need has arisen for optical multimeters, e.g. signal generators and detectors, which can be used to test the various components of an optical, e.g. SONET, network. What is needed is a tunable optical signal generator that does not require the complex control systems relied on by prior art devices. Those control systems utilize closed loop feedback of wavelength or position to select the output wavelength of the optical signal generator. As a result they are expensive and exhibit a large form factor.
The present invention provides an apparatus for passively stabilizing the optical pathlength in tunable lasers. Lasers stabilized using the passive stabilization apparatus exhibit reduced mode hop and increased wavelength stability during temperature variations of the laser or surrounding environment. The stabilization makes the laser suitable for a broad range of applications including optical signal generators and optical multimeters.
In an embodiment of the invention, a tunable laser with a base, a gain medium, a tunable feedback device and a first compensating element is disclosed. The gain medium and the tunable feedback device are coupled to the base. The tunable feedback device provides feedback of a selected wavelength to the gain medium. The first compensating element provides coupling to the base for at lease one of the gain medium and the tunable feedback device such that thermal expansion of the compensating element maintains a substantially constant integer number of half-wavelengths within a resonant cavity defined by the gain medium and the tunable feedback device during temperature variations in the tunable laser.
In another embodiment of the invention, a tunable laser with a base, a gain medium, a first and second feedback device, a pivot arm and a first compensating element is disclosed. The gain medium, and first and second feedback devices are coupled to the base. The first feedback device provides feedback of a selected wavelength to the gain medium. The pivot arm has a proximal and distal end. At the proximal end the pivot arm pivotally attaches to the base at a first pivot axis. The second feedback device couples to the distal end of said pivot arm to provide feedback of the selected wavelength to said first feedback device. The second feedback device together with the first feedback device and the gain medium define a resonant cavity. The second feedback device responds to the arcuate displacement of the pivot arm to vary the selected wavelength. The first compensating element couples the second feedback device to the distal end of said pivot arm such that thermal expansion of the first compensating element maintains a substantially constant integer number of half-wavelengths within the resonant cavity.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.

Passive thermal stabilization of the optical path length in a tunable laser


An A/D converter system has an A/D converter element (10) which provides a first predetermined number of digital output bits for each input analog signal. An addition device (12,70) adds linear slope potential to the input analog signal. A calculator (14) provides an average of a plurality of digital output signals of the A/D converter element so that the average has larger number of bits than the first predetermined number. The addition device is implemented by a time constant circuit (70) which functions as an integral circuit for an input analog signal, and functions as a differential circuit for a slope potential.

Conventionally, an integral type converter and a successive comparison type converter have been known as an A/D converter.
An integral type converter counts a number of clock signals which have a predetermined period, and integrates the clock signal to generate a slope voltage so that the counting operation stops just when a slope voltage exceeds the input analog potential. The digital output is the content of the counter when the counting operation stops.
A successive comparison type converter counts a number of clock signals which have a predetermined period. The content of the counter is converted to analog form, which is compared with input signal. When the converted analog signal becomes equal to the input analog signal, the counter stops, and the output of the converted digital signal is the content of the counter just when the counter stops. This type of converter is used in an A/D converter included in a micro-computer chip.
The accuracy of an A/D converter depends upon a number of bit positions of a counter and a D/A converter. As for an A/D converter included in a 4-bits micro-computer chip, a counter and a D/A converter have 8 bit positions. The resolving power or the minimum spacing of measure in this case is 0.4% (=1/256). When temperature, and/or relative humidity is displayed in digital form with an accuracy of 0.1.degree. C. and/or 0.1%, an A/D converter must have the resolving power of at least 0.1% (=1/1000).
Therefore, a prior 8 bits A/D converter is not enough for displaying temperature and/or relative humidity with an accuracy of 0.1.degree. C. and/or 0.1%.
The increase of the bit of a counter and a D/A converter is not desirable for improving the resolving power, because it would increase the production cost of an apparatus.


Nanostructured coating materials, methods of their production, and methods of use in a variety of applications are described. The nanostructured materials described herein include one or more 2+ and/or 3+ metal ion(s), optionally in a ternary phase, on a substrate.

Surface modification technologies have been employed for use in a variety of fields for many years. Many of these applications employ an intermediate layer to improve the durability of the coating. A classic example is the use of primer to clean and treat the substrate prior to painting.
Modern coating systems, such as painting, powder coating, plating and the application of other coating materials, are designed for aesthetics, corrosion resistance, cleanability and many other features of interest. The application of these coatings can be carried out using a variety of methods including contact painting (brush), spray painting, dip coating, and roller coating, to name a few. The common trait among these is to ensure a good adhesion of the desired coating to the substrate. In order to do this, typically large loose debris is removed, surface dirt and grime are removed with a cleaning step, a surface treatment is applied, and a final coating is applied in one or more steps. Subsequent processing such as baking, curing, or other steps may be carried out (see, e.g., FIG. 2).
In addition, concern for the environment is leading to the development of benign processing steps and materials in order to reduce the presence of fluorocarbons and volatile organic compounds (VOC), both of which lead to poor indoor and environmental air quality. Further, environmental and human health concerns are pushing industry to adopt alternate technologies for the production of plastics and resins, coatings which are typically applied in dip-coat fashion to the exterior of packaging, air conditioning, automotive, and other surfaces.
There is often a desire for reduced weight, which favors high strength to weight materials such as aluminum for transportation and consumer device applications. Thinner, robust coatings that promote good adhesion and corrosion resistance are highly desirable. Further, conformal deposition and favorable resulting wetting properties are desirable for components with high aspect ratio or a design which includes features with small characteristic dimension.
Further, to reduce overall cost, it is desirable to have a simple and scalable process, such as is practiced in the surface treatment of automotive components. Lastly, a surface treatment process that may be carried out in batch or continuous processing steps at any scale is desirable.
The compositions and processes disclosed herein achieve the desirable properties noted above and are more fully described below.

Nanostructure coating materials and methods of use thereof


Methods and systems are provided for providing training on a vehicle. The method includes acquiring, using processing circuitry, one or more alert modes associated with a vehicle. Further, the method includes controlling one or more alert devices as a function of a first alert mode. The first alert mode is selected from the one or more alert modes. The method includes outputting information to a user associated with the first alert mode via one or more output devices.

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) generate a plurality of alerts to assist a driver in autonomous and/or semiautonomous vehicles. Drivers may be unfamiliar with the plurality of alerts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,179 entitled "Driving training system and method with performance data feedback" by Copperman et al. describes a driver training system that simulates a driving environment and provides performance data.
The foregoing "Background" description is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention. The foregoing paragraph has been provided by way of general introduction, and is not intended to limit the scope of the following claims. The described embodiments, together with further advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Systems and methodologies for providing training on warnings in a vehicle

TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, INC.


Disclosed is a holding frame for accommodating a circuit board, wherein the holding frame has a substantially rectangular basic shape and has two holding arms sticking out perpendicularly from the frame plane, each holding arm having a groove in which the circuit board can be held. A circuit board can thus be integrated in a heavy-duty plug connector in a mechanically stable yet low-wear manner.

The invention is based on a holding frame for a plug connector or a mounting flange.
Holding frames of this sort are employed in particular with heavy plug connectors. So-called converter electronics can be soldered to the circuit board. Light signals originating in glass fibers are, for example, converted into electrical signals here. A sensor system that monitors the operating state of the connected machine and/or of the plug connector can, however, also be mounted on the circuit board.

Holding frame for a plug connector or a mounting flange for holding a circuit board


A comparator may include: a first comparison unit suitable for generating a comparison voltage by performing a comparison operation between a pixel signal and a ramp signal; a time point detection unit suitable for detecting specific timing points of the comparison operation in response to the comparison voltage and a reference voltage, and generating a detection signal corresponding to the specific timing points; a period determination unit suitable for determining an additional supply period in response to the detection signal and a period determination control signal; and an additional current supply unit suitable for supplying an additional current to the first comparison unit during the additional supply period.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to an image sensor and, more particularly, to a comparator and an analog-to-digital converting system including the same.
The embodiments of the present invention may be applied to various systems such as a single-slope analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a multi-slope ADC. Thus, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments presented below.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image sensor converts a voltage corresponding to light intensity into a digital code using a comparator and a ramp signal generator. That is, a comparator and a counter, which are included in each column of the image sensor, compare an output voltage of a pixel array with a ramp signal generated from the ramp signal generator. This then generates a code corresponding to an image.
As the gain of the image sensor increases, the slope of the ramp signal generated from the ramp signal generator decreases. Thus, the slope of the output waveform of the comparator also decreases. In this case, the output waveforms of the comparators included in the columns of the image sensor may spread and noise may occur.

Comparator, analog-to-digital converting system and method of driving the same


The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner hose manufactured by continuously spirally winding one row or two rows of band-shaped materials extruded with an electric wire inserted therein. The vacuum cleaner hose is formed by spirally winding and sticking a band-shaped material having protrusions connected to each other in a line. In one embodiment, the vacuum cleaner hose is formed from one row of the band-shaped material 2 having a plurality of the hollow protrusions 4 inserted with the electric wire 5 and at least one hollow protrusion 4a inserted with no electric wire 5 is formed into the hose 1. In another embodiment, the vacuum cleaner hose is formed from two rows of the band-shaped materials 2 in which the protrusions of only one row of the band-shaped materials 2 are inserted with the electric wire 5. In still another embodiment, the hose 1 is formed from two rows of the band-shaped materials in which each of the two rows of the band-shaped materials 2 has the hollow protrusions 4 inserted with the electric wire 5, and the hollow protrusions 4a inserted with no electric wire 5. Thus, the amount of use of the electric wire 5 in the hose 1 is reduced.

The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner hose manufactured by spirally winding and sticking a band-shaped material itself extruded with an electric wire inserted therein.
Generally, vacuum cleaner hoses are manufactured by inserting an electric wire into hollow protrusions of a band-shaped material extruded from dies to have concave cross-sections spaced at a given interval, and spirally winding the band-shaped material having the electric wire inserted in the hollow protrusions. This vacuum cleaner hose functions to apply an electric current to a motor.
Such vacuum cleaner hoses are broadly classified into two categories: a hose in which a two-strand electric wire is inserted in such a manner to operate only one motor to perform the fundamental function of sucking dust, foreign materials and the like; and a hose in which a four-strand electric wire is inserted in such a manner to operate two motors to perform water cleaning functions in addition to the fundamental function of sucking dust and foreign materials.
FIGS. 1 to 8 illustrate vacuum cleaner hoses according to the prior art.
FIG. 1 shows an illustrative process of forming a hose by spirally winding the band-shaped material 2 inserted with the four-strand electric wire 5.
As illustrated in various forms in FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5, the band-shaped material 2 for forming the hose 1 comprises one elevated hook 1, and two to four hollow protrusions connected to the hook 1. One or two electric wires 5 are inserted into each of the hollow protrusions 4, and in this state, the hollow protrusions 4 are connected to each other by the cover 3a having a similar shape to the hook 3.
Namely, FIG. 2 shows that the two-strand electric wire 5 is inserted into each of the hollow protrusions 4, FIG. 3 shows that the four-strand electric wire 5 is inserted into each of the hollow protrusions 4, and FIG. 4 shows that both two-strand electric wire 5 and the four-strand electric wire 5 are inserted into any one of the hollow protrusions 4.
And, FIG. 5 shows that two four-strand electric wires 5 are inserted into each of the hollow protrusions 4.
Each of the band-shaped materials 2 having the above described configurations is spirally wound so that the hook 3 located at one side of each of the band-shaped materials 2 covers the upper surface of the hollow protrusion 4 located at the other side while it is stuck to itself. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, the vacuum cleaner hose 1 is manufactured in which one or two electric wires 5 is inserted in each of the hollow protrusions 4.
Namely, FIG. 6 shows the case where one electric wire 5 is inserted into each of the hollow protrusions 4, like the cases of FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 7 shows the case where two four-strand electric wires 5 are inserted into one of three hollow protrusions 4, and one four-strand electric wire 5 is inserted into each of the remaining two hollow protrusions 4, like the case of FIG. 4. FIG. 8 shows the case where two four-strand electric wires are inserted into each of two hollow protrusions 4, like the case of FIG. 4.
Accordingly, in the prior vacuum cleaner hoses as shown in FIGS. 1 to 8, one or two electric wires 5 are inserted into each of the protrusions wound over the full length, and thus, there is a problem in that they form an excessively dense and wasteful structure in view of the fact that the main function of the electric wires 5 is only to apply power to a motor.
Furthermore, since the electric wires 5 are made of expensive copper wires, the larger the amount of use of the electric wires 5, the higher the production cost of the resulting product. Thus, the prior vacuum cleaner hoses having an excessively dense structure have the problem of a reduction in economic efficiency above all things. Another problem is that the prior electric wires have a relatively high unit weight which makes their transport or handling inconvenient.


A composition for the oxidation dyeing of keratin fibers, such as human keratin fibers and further such as the hair, comprising, in a medium that is suitable for dyeing and that is free of glycerol and of cationic synthetic thickening polymer comprising at least one fatty chain, at least one oxidation dye, at least one fatty alcohol chosen from mono- and polyglycerolated fatty alcohols, and at least one particular polyol. The invention also relates to the dyeing processes and devices using the said composition.

It is known practice to dye keratin fibers, such as human hair, with dye compositions containing oxidation dye precursors, generally known as "oxidation bases." Representative "oxidation bases" are ortho- or para-phenylenediamines, ortho- or para-aminophenols and heterocyclic bases.
Oxidation dye precursors are compounds which are initially uncoloured or only weakly coloured and which develop their dyeing power on the hair in the presence of oxidizing agents leading to the formation of coloured compounds. The formation of these coloured compounds results either from an oxidative condensation of the "oxidation bases" with themselves or from an oxidative condensation of the "oxidation bases" with coloration modifiers, or "couplers", which are generally present in the dye compositions used in oxidation dyeing and are represented by meta-phenylenediamines, meta-aminophenols and meta-diphenols, and certain heterocyclic compounds.
The variety of molecules used, which comprise on the one hand the "oxidation bases" and on the other hand, the "couplers", allows a very wide range of colours to be obtained.
These oxidation bases and these couplers are formulated in vehicles that allow them to be applied to keratin fibers after mixing with an oxidizing agent.
These vehicles are generally aqueous and can comprise one or more surfactants, such as nonionic surfactants, that may be optionally combined with one or more solvents.

Composition for the oxidation dyeing of keratin fibres, comprising at least one fatty alcohol chosen from mono- and polyglycerolated fatty alcohols and a particular polyol


Systems and methods for creating a playable video game, or playable video game levels, from a three-dimensional model comprising a plurality of various-colored blocks disposed on a grid. A set of software modules processes a digital image of the static model to translate its component elements into video game elements in a level file, which may then be played using a game driver.

1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure is related to the field of interactive video games, specifically to user-based creating or generating of a playable interactive video game.
2. Description of the Related Art
The video game boom of the 1980s spawned a generation of fans who dreamed of designing their own video games. However, early video game platforms, including the Nintendo® Entertainment System, were primarily developed in eight-bit processor assembly languages, which were generally considered difficult to work with, even for experienced programmers. For young fans, learning to develop an actual game was effectively impossible, and aspiring young game designers instead drew their designs on paper, but have never been able to translate those designs directly into a playable video game.
Current game editors do not fill this void. Although some video game products include level editors, they only allow for software-based editing and do not interpret hand-drawn art. For example, in a typical game level editor, a graphical user interface ("GUI") allows the user to select a terrain brush, draw terrain using that brush, and place other game elements onto the terrain, but this is all done on a literal basis. That is, the elements manipulated by the player in the GUI are game literals, having a one-to-one correspondence to the resulting game element in the game level data. However, there is no way for the user to draw the level outside of a level editor.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for creating a playable video game from a three-dimensional model


A magnetic thrust compensator for a mechanical thrust bearing includes a parallel operating axial magnetic bearing including a stator including two parallel stator extensions, a rotor disk situated between the two stator extensions, and first and second electromagnets each situated on a respective stator extension and facing the rotor disk. A controller selectively energizes one of the electromagnets. Additional stator extensions and rotor disks can be used to provide fault tolerance. The electromagnets can each include dual annular windings. The compensator can include an additional stator extension, an additional rotor disk, and bias magnet situated on the additional stator extension and facing the additional rotor disk with the controller being adapted to selectively supply current to the bias magnet. In a closed loop embodiment, the mechanical thrust bearing can be spring mounted and, to determine the appropriate energization level of one of the electromagnets, the controller can determine a magnetic air gap length between the rotor disk and one of the stator extensions.

High power turbo-machinery can generate substantial load requirements for axial thrust bearings. These load requirements are especially high in fanless stationary aero-derivative engines and in gas turbine engines which typically use compressor bleed gas to push against a thrust piston and thus offload a mechanical rolling element thrust bearing. The compressor bleed gas approach is subject to large variations in leakage which cannot be actively controlled and produce a substantial reduction in operating efficiency. Gas turbine engines can generate bi-directional thrust with a large maximum aft thrust force generated during steady state operation and a smaller forward transient thrust force generated during shutdown. The maximum aft thrust force generated by a gas-turbine can exceed the transient load capability of a mechanical thrust bearing.

Current-controlled magnetic thrust compensators for mechanical thrust bearings


A network-enabled user interface device, for example a VoIP telephony device, includes a display, a user input interface, an interface controller, and an application controller. The display is logically defined to include multiple distinct display areas. The interface controller is configured for generating display elements for the respective display areas based on received display requests, and controlling the user input interface based on received commands, and outputting responses to the application controller. The application controller is configured for supplying the commands to the interface controller and display requests based on execution of application operations. The application operations may be executed locally (i.e., within the user interface device), or remotely (e.g., by a server in communication with the user interface device). Remote application operations may include communications between the application controller and the remote server. The interface controller includes an arbitrator configured for selecting, for each display area, a corresponding display element to be displayed based on the received display requests, and based on determined conditions such as application state based on user input. Hence, multiple display elements for different application services may be selected for simultaneous display in respective display areas on the network-enabled user interface device based on prescribed conditions; moreover, the display may be dynamically changed by the arbitrator based on prescribed conditions, for example user input, an application state change, or a prescribed detected event.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to control of display data on network enabled user devices, for example Voice over IP Telephones, configured for displaying data for multiple service operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telephony devices have advanced to provide enhanced features for business consumers. For example, a business premises deploying a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) for intraoffice or interoffice communications utilizes telephony devices capable of receiving messages from the PBX, including a time of day string or a calling party identity string. However, proprietary PBX systems limit the availability of features that can be added to the telephony device. In addition, proprietary PBX systems typically provide voice-only services, such that text, data, or images cannot be transferred to the telephony device.
Voice over IP (VoIP) technology has evolved to provide network enabled telephony devices, for example Voice over IP telephony devices, configured for performing multiple operations that emulate a telephony device. VoIP telephony devices often include large display screens or other display capabilities, enabling new service features to be provided for a user. For example, the VoIP telephones, such as the commercially-available Cisco Telecaster 7960 IP Telephone from Cisco Systems, San Jose, Calif., includes user input and display operations. These user input and display operations enable a user to access multiple windows displaying respective applications based on soft key or hard key inputs, such as accessing a central telephone directory for retrieval of an employee's telephone number using a search query or selection from the displayed list. A user of the VoIP telephone can access one window configured for displaying call status (e.g., duration of call, called party identity), or access another window configured for displaying the central telephone directory.
The executable software resident in the VoIP telephone, however, tends to be device-specific. Hence, the executable software needs to be rewritten for newer VoIP telephones having different hardware configurations (e.g., different sets of hard buttons, color display vs. greyscale display, different-sized display, etc.), although compatability issues may be reduced using hardware abstraction layers and input abstraction layers between the telephone display controller, the display portion, and the input portion. Moreover, the device-specific nature of the VoIP telephone software limits the manner in which different application services can be added to the VoIP telephone device for the device user: the VoIP telephone software needs to be modified to add the different application services. In addition, the VoIP telephone typically is configured for communication with a single call server, resulting in additional resource requirements imposed on the call server as services are added.
Browser-based telephony device technology is being implemented in wireless telephones using Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). In particular, WAP uses Extensible Markup Language (XML) technology to communicate interface changes to wireless devices such as digital wireless telephones and pagers, enabling applications and services to be provided to the digital wireless telephones. The use of XML tags enables the data to be displayed on the digital wireless telephone display in a prescribed manner.
The WAP-based approach to displaying data on the digital wireless telephone still suffers from the disadvantage that the input and display controllers of the digital wireless telephone interact with a single WAP portal (i.e., server), limiting the flexibility of the telephony device operations. In particular, a user is unable to send or receive a wireless telephone call on his or her web-enabled digital wireless telephone while using the digital wireless telephone to access the Internet.
Hence, the WAP-based systems still limit flexibility in delivering user interface applications to a telephony user.
Existing display technology for personal computers utilizes an application resource to control at least a portion of a display. Hence, a computer executing a Microsoft Windows operating system opens up a new window for each application instance, where the application instance controls the contents of the display area within the window. The user may initiate multiple application instances and control the size and location of each corresponding window using a mouse, such that there may be overlapping windows, however each application instance still retains control of the corresponding nonoverlapping area.
Use of a user pointing device, such as a mouse, however, is not practical on certain user devices, such as the Voice over IP telephony device, hence overlapping windows cannot be easily controlled on the display of the user device. Moreover, the limited size of the display on the user device renders impractical the use of overlapping windows. Hence, the Microsoft Windows type system is not practical for use for controlling the display of multiple application services on a Voice over IP telephony device.

Arrangement for arbitration of display information from multiple applications for a network enabled display device


A method of making a branched polyester resin with a target glass transition temperature. Particularly, the target glass transition temperature can be achieved by adjusting the molar ratio of the first cyclic alkylene carbonate to the second cyclic alkylene carbonate; adjusting the molar ratio of the first alkoxylated BPA monomer to the second alkoxylated BPA monomers; adjusting the molar ratio of the first diacid to the second diacid; or any combination thereof.

The present disclosure relates to, in various exemplary embodiments, processes in synthesizing a branched amorphous polyester resin with a target glass transition temperature (Tg). The branched amorphous polyester resin of the present embodiments may be used in toners, such as Emulsion Aggregation (EA) toners, which are prepared using an emulsion aggregation process. Emulsion aggregation processes for the preparation of toners are illustrated in a number of Xerox patents, the disclosures of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,290,654, 5,278,020, 5,308,734, 5,346,797, 5,370,963, 5,344,738, 5,403,693, 5,418,108, and 5,364,729.
Toners must not aggregate or block during manufacturing, transport or storage periods before use in electrographic systems, and must exhibit low fusing temperature properties in order to minimize fuser energy requirements. Accordingly, to satisfy blocking requirements, toner resins should exhibit a Tg of from about 40° C. to about 80° C. If the Tg exceeds 60° C., then it may lead to issues of long aggregation time in the toner producing process, and elevated minimum fix temperature for the toner to adhere properly to the substrate. The minimum fixed temperature is the minimum temperature needed for the toner particles to adhere to the substrate.
Fixing performance of toners can be characterized as a function of temperature and pressure. The temperature at which the toner adheres to the fuser roll is called the hot offset temperature (HOT). When the fuser temperature exceeds HOT, some of the molten toner adheres to the fuser roll during fixing and is transferred to subsequent substrates containing developed images, resulting for example in blurred images. This undesirable phenomenon is called offsetting. Less than the HOT of the toner is the minimum fixing temperature (MFT) of the toner, which is the minimum temperature at which acceptable adhesion of the toner to the support medium occurs. Toner resins should exhibit a MFT of 60° C. or above (e.g., from about 60° C. to about 140° C.) to adhere properly to the substrate, and a HOT of 190° C. or above (e.g., from about 190 to about 230) to avoid print defects and fuser contamination.
One major difficulty in producing branched amorphous polyester resins is to properly control the degree of branching which is the fraction of the resin that is not completely soluble in solvent. The controlled amount of branching is necessary to optimize the fusing performance. In general, typical concerns with the synthesis of branched amorphous polyester resins include the uses of dangerous materials, such as, ethylene oxide, and propylene oxide, which are dangerous flammable toxic gases that require special costly equipment for safe handling. Another concern with the existing process for producing branched amorphous polyesters is the isolation of the alkoxylated intermediates prior to use in the polyesterification step, which leads to additional cost and complexity in synthesizing the final branched amorphous polyester resins.
Thus, there exists a need to improve the current process of producing branched amorphous polyester resins while maintaining the desired target glass transition temperature of the resin.

Method of making branched polyester resin with a target glass transition temperature


An HVAC assembly including an HVAC case disposed in a passenger compartment of the vehicle includes a heater core having an upstream side and a downstream side. The heater core accepts air from the upstream side and exhausts air to the downstream side. The exhausted air defines a temperature gradient along a plane of the heater core. An air diverting member is positioned on the downstream side proximate the heater core. The air diverting member includes a first portion aligned for accepting air from a first region of the temperature gradient and a second portion for delivering the accepted air toward a second region of the temperature gradient. The first region has a higher air temperature than the second region.

In automotive vehicles, it is common to have a climate control system located within an instrument panel which provides heated or cooled air to occupants through dash panel defrost air outlets, instrument panel venting air outlets and floor directed air outlets. These traditional climate control systems often include a heater core that performs heat exchange between the engine coolant, which is heated by the engine, and the cool air in the cabin/outside environment, in order to provide warm air to the passenger compartment. Some vehicles include an air conditioning system that cooperates with an evaporator for absorbing heat from the air in the vehicle. The heater core and evaporator are typically provided in an HVAC case located in the passenger compartment of the vehicle.
In some vehicles, the climate control system is adapted to control three zones of the cabin space. Generally, the three zones include the driver's side, the passenger's side and the rear occupant zone. The HVAC case typically includes ducting to accommodate air distribution to these appropriate zones as desired. The heater core is generally disposed downstream of a fan for communicating warmed air into the passenger compartment.
A heater core typically does not produce uniform temperature distribution across its plane due, in part, to placement of the water inlet. As a result, a temperature gradient is observed along the heater core. With a three zone HVAC configuration, sometimes an undesirable temperature imbalance is observed between the driver and the passenger sides of the case. Conventional methods to compensate for the temperature imbalance are to increase tank depth of the heater core, increase thickness of the heater core, or shift the entire heater core to one side of the case. All of these options involve costly tooling changes and can have a negative impact in terms of airflow volume and noise.

HVAC center plate scoop for improved temperature distribution


A system is provided that monitors a first and second virtual server on a first physical server containing a physical processor, monitors physical processor usage wherein capacity is allocated to a first entitlement comprising a first percentage of the capacity guaranteed to the first virtual server, to a second entitlement comprising a second percentage guaranteed to the second virtual server, and to a third percentage one of unallocated and partially and totally allocated to a virtual server based on need, and wherein the percentages total to one hundred percent. The system monitors usage of a first virtual processor associated with the first virtual server, receives a request for first virtual processor utilization by percentage, determines utilization comprising first virtual processor usage divided by a first allocated processing capacity comprising the first entitlement and a portion of the third percentage currently allocated to the first virtual server, and reports the utilization.

Virtual servers allow the sharing of underlying physical machine resources by two or more instances of server software. The practice of partitioning a single server so that it appears as multiple servers has become commonplace in recent years in enterprise networks. The software layer providing the virtualization may be called a virtual machine monitor or hypervisor. Virtualization of servers permits multiple operating system environments to co-exist on the same computer in isolation from each other. Virtualization promotes ease of application provisioning, more flexible maintenance, high availability and disaster recovery. Virtualization may be used for database servers, application servers, file servers, web servers, and other applications. Virtual web servers may be a way of providing low-cost web hosting services. Instead of requiring a separate computer for each server, a plurality of virtual servers may execute on the same physical computer. Web site performance may not be affected and each web site may behave as if it is hosted by a dedicated physical server computer.

Virtual server resource monitoring and management


A computer-implemented method and system for authenticating identification of a customer during interaction with a company representative. Data is received and stored relating to the customer at a computer. The data includes one or more identification attributes associated with the customer and one or more authentication data attributes associated with the customer. An interaction is commenced between the customer and the company representative. Captured is one or more identification attributes and authentication data attributes relating to customer from the interaction between the customer and the company representative. The customer is identified by matching a captured identification attribute with a stored identification attribute. The customer is authenticated by matching a captured authentication data attribute with a like stored authentication data attribute associated with the identified customer.

Customer service representatives are often responsible for a wide variety of tasks. In addition to being proficient in accomplishing particular tasks like updating addresses or other status changes, providing new or updated quotes, responding to billing inquiries, cancelling and renewing services, and entering data related to the customer, the customer service representative is expected to be more than cordial, pleasant, engaging and generally charming.
To support customer service representatives, each has a workstation. The customer service representative relies on their workstation to provide them with information quickly in order to maintain conversational flow with the customer. Despite tremendous computing power and the latest technology, delays are inevitably introduced by the support technology. Additional delays are also created by the customer service representative, whether it be the customer service representative's natural speech cadence, thought process, deliberation over a selection, or simple consideration of what to say or type next.
When dealing with financial products and services, further delay is also introduced because the customer service representative must authenticate the customer. It is often important to conduct advanced authentication to prevent fraud and theft. In addition to taking the necessary information to identify the customer, commonly a series of predetermined questions is used to affirmatively authenticate the customer. Even asking fairly simple questions such as one's social security number or mother's maiden name, introduces significant delay and impedes the customer service representatives ability to quickly and efficiently assist the customer. Efficiency is very important to establishing the desired rapport.
Still further, customer service representatives are expected to mine the customer database for opportunities to make new and additional sales of products and services, often referred to as "upselling." Upselling is critical because it expands revenue with a targeted group, which is predisposed to using the company for goods and services (e.g., existing customers or potential customers who have already reached out to the company).
It is understandable that with all that a customer service representative is expected to juggle, that presenting a warm, confident, informed face to the customer is challenging. Yet, this is exactly what is expected. Thus, a need exists to provide support to the customer service representatives to allow them to represent the company as well as possible.
In response to these challenges, several approaches have been developed to improve customer service. U.S. Pat. No. 8,588,395, issued on Nov. 19, 2013, collects data from a plurality of calls to generate reports. Upon review of the reports, alerts are generated to identify poorly performing units. Other attempts at improvement look to remove, or at least minimize, the role of the customer service representative herself. For example, U.S. PG Pub. No. 2012/0076283, published on Mar. 29, 2012, creates a smart chat room in which customers can be directed to an appropriate Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) or particular display that may assist the customer without interaction with a customer service representative.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 6,601,762, issued on Aug. 5, 2003, creates a point-of-sale (POS) voice authentication transaction system. The POS system, however, must have a pre-recorded voice message from the customer for comparison to the live speech. This is very similar to the security questions noted above in that the customer must complete a preliminary set up in order for the system to work. Additionally, during authentication, the customer must be asked to repeat the pre-recorded message and then repeat it, which interrupts the customer interaction flow. U.S. Pat. No. 8,483,365, issued on Jul. 9, 2013, similarly tediously requires multiple repetitions of voiced phrases. Still other attempts utilize a central authority that register customers and provides authentication certificates, which must then be passed from the customer to the provider of goods and services (see U.S. PG Pub. No. 2008/0181379 published on Jul. 31, 2008).
Referral from one customer service representative to another for specialized services is often desirable. In such a case, traditional call centers have no ability to facilitate hand-off between customer service representatives beyond placing the customer on hold while the first representative tries to fill in the second representative. This not only yields often poor and inconsistent results, but creates dissatisfaction among the customers on hold and after reconnection when details and information already presented must be discussed again.
In view of the above, there is an unmet need to provide companies, such as insurance companies, the ability to streamline interactions with their customers even when performing advanced authentication of the customer is helpful to establishing rapport. The authentication remains valid or is re-performed as necessary when more than one customer service representative speak with a customer during a single or multiple calls.

Systems and methods for authentication of customers


Provided is a leading-edge protector for a wind turbine rotor blade, including a curved body shaped for attachment to the rotor blade along at least a section of its leading edge; a plurality of fins, each fin extending radially outward from the curved body and terminating in a blunt outer face; and a plurality of reinforcement bands, wherein a reinforcement band is attached to the blunt outer face of a fin. Also provided is a method of manufacturing such a leading-edge protector.

The force of impact by airborne particles of ice, sand, etc. travelling at a high relative velocity can lead to damage, particularly along the leading edge of the rotor blade. Damage by such particles may manifest as scratches, gouges, pits or dents in the surface of the rotor blade. Any such damage at the outer surface or skin of the rotor blade can be compounded later on, for example water may collect in the pits or scratches at the surface, and cracks may develop when the water expands as it freezes. Such faults in turn can lead to catastrophic damage in the event of a lightning strike to the rotor blade. The structural damage may be so severe that the rotor blade needs to be repaired. Such maintenance work results in downtime of the wind turbine and further reduces the annual energy output.
Furthermore, pits or scratches in the otherwise smooth rotor blade will reduce the aerodynamic performance of the rotor blade, and may have a noticeable negative effect on the annual energy output of the wind turbine.
To protect the leading edge of a wind turbine rotor blade from impact and erosion damage, it is known to attach a protective cover along the leading edge. The protective cover can be shaped to lie over the leading edge and to extend some distance into the suction side and pressure side of the rotor blade. Such a protective cover can be made of a polymer and may be formed directly on the rotor blade (for example by pouring a liquid polymer into place and allowing this to cure). Alternatively a protective cover may be formed as a separate body that is mounted onto the rotor blade.
However, such a protective cover essentially suffers the damage that would otherwise have been inflicted on the rotor blade. This means that while a protective cover can help to avoid maintenance downtime by preventing structural damage to the rotor blade, it cannot prevent the reduction or worsening of aerodynamic performance. This is because any pits or cracks in the protective cover will have the same negative effect on the aerodynamic performance of the rotor blade.

Wind turbine rotor blade leading-edge protector


Systems and methods are provided for trapping and electrically monitoring molecules in a nanopore sensor. The nanopore sensor comprises a support structure with a first and a second fluidic chamber, at least one nanopore fluidically connected to the two chambers, and a protein shuttle. The protein shuttle comprises an electrically charged protein molecule, such as Avidin. The nanopore can be a Clytosolin A. A method can comprise applying a voltage across the nanopores to draw protein shuttles towards the nanopores. The ionic current through each or all of the nanopores can be concurrently measured. Based on the measured ionic current, blockage events can be detected. Each blockage event indicates a capture of a protein shuttle by at least one nanopore. Each blockage event can be detected through a change of the total ionic current flow or a change in the ionic current flow for a particular nanopore.

Molecules can be trapped and electrically monitored via a nanopore. In particular, protein shuttles, typically including a protein molecule and other molecules of interest attached to the protein molecule, can be induced to bind with a voltage-biased nanopore. The protein shuttle can enable monitoring of the molecules of interest. However, nanopore-based study of molecules is challenging due to the complex geometrical and electrical charge structures of protein molecules in protein shuttles. The complex structures make it difficult to stably trap a protein molecule in a nanopore. Additionally, artificially reproduced nanopores and nanopore-holding structures typically encounter difficulties with the sizing of the nanopore, a stability of the bond between the nanopore and the protein molecule, noise characteristics, and other chemical, mechanical, electrical, and thermal constraints.
Therefore, what is needed is a system and method for stably trapping a protein shuttle with a voltage-biased nanopore.

Nanopore-matched protein shuttle for molecular characterization

PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE


A golf club with decreased air resistance in swinging to improve a head speed. A number of depressions 26 are formed on a back 4, a crown 6 and the side surfaces of a heel 7 and toe 8 of a head 1 of a wood club for example. Each depression 26 has a first side narrower than a second side thereof so that it is egg-shaped. The section of each depression 26 is formed smooth such that a slope at the first side is more gentle than that at the second side. Each depression 26 is desirably so oriented that its comparatively gentle slope is positioned at the face 3 side. Owing to these gentle slopes, the generation of a dead air region is suppressed at the inflow side of each depression 26, thus further decreasing an air resistance in swinging.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a golf club, particularly to the structure of its head.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, whilst the outside surface of a golf club such as a wood or an iron club was formed with a plurality of concave grooves called score lines on a ball-striking face, or with a cavity on a back side for an iron head, such conventional golf club had its outside surface formed comparatively smooth, without providing noticeable irregularities thereon. With such smooth outside surface, however, a greater air resistance is resulted, preventing the improvement of so-called a head speed.
Whereas, as described in Japanese Patent Un-Examined Publication No.9-38248, it is a known art to form a hollow metallic golf club head. The head, for example, is constructed by joining a plurality of forged metallic shells together. However, with the head whose outside and inside surfaces are formed smooth as described above, the strength of its outer shell is relatively made weak. Therefore, according to the conventional head, the thickness of the outer shell was formed thick to a certain extent, which in turn made it difficult to enlarge the head without increasing the weight of the head. With a large-sized head, even a beginner player can strike balls without failures, which advantage comes to nothing if the weight of the head is increased.


A material for optical recording by utilizing the photochemical hole burning is disclosed. The optical recording material is a composition comprising a watersoluble deuterated polymer as a host component and a water-soluble organic pigment dispersed in the host component as a guest component. By virtue of the deuteration of the host component, the tunnel effect of the hydrogen atoms in the host component is prevented, so that the hole width is narrowed. Thus, the wavelength multiplicity is increased.

I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a material for optical recording utilizing photochemical hole burning.
II. Description of the Related Art
Materials for optical recording utilizing the photochemical hole burning (PHB) phenomenon are known. These optical recording materials comprise a matrix component called a host component and a photoreactive compound called a guest component which undergoes photochemical reaction upon absorbing photoenergy. By irradiating the recording material with light having high monochromaticity at an extremely low temperature (about the temperature of liquid helium), only the guest component molecules which absorb the light are selectively excited, so that a sharp hole is formed in the absorption spectrum. Thus, based on the presence or absence of such a hole, optical recording can be accomplished under photon mode. Further, by sequentially recording information changing the wavelength of the irradiating light, multiple recording can be made on the same place of the same recording material. Therefore, a high recording density of about as much as 1000 times that attained by the conventional optical digital recording such as compact disk (CD) or laser disk (LD) may potentially be attained.
To increase the wavelength multiplicity for increasing the recording density, it is preferable to employ an amorphous medium as the host component in order to give diversity of the state of dispersion of the guest component. Therefore, organic polymers and silicate glass have been employed as the host component. The conventional PHB materials include a material containing tetraphenylporphine as the guest component and polymethyl methacrylate as the host component (Japanese Journal of Optics, 14(4)263-269, 1985), a material containing quinizarin as the guest component and silicate glass as the host component (Journal of Applied Physics, 58(9)3559-3565, 1985), a material containing free base porphine as the guest component and an aliphatic hydrocarbon as the host component, a material containing Cresyl Violet as the guest component and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as the host component, and a material containing phthalocyanine as the guest component and an aliphatic hydrocarbon as the host component.
However, the PHB phenomenon with these conventional PHB materials is unstable at a temperature higher than the temperature of liquid helium, so that recording, storing and reading information are unreliable at such a high temperature. This is due to the fact that an irreversible change in the structure of the PHB material occurs, so that the microscopic structure in the vicinity of the guest component is changed. To overcome this problem of thermal unstableness, a PHB material containing an ionic porphine derivative as the guest component and an organic polymer as the host component was provided (U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,337, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application (Kokai) No. 2-45). Especially, with the PHB material employing polyvinyl alcohol as the host component, since the structural change of the material is inhibited by the hydrogen bonds formed among the host component molecules, holes can be formed at a temperature as high as the temperature of liquid nitrogen.
However, such PHB materials containing a porphine derivative as the guest and a polymer as the host have a drawback in that the hole width is large, so that the wavelength multiplicity which is the most advantageous feature of the PHB materials is reduced.
As for the temperature characteristics of the PHB materials, Thijssen et al reported the formation of holes at a temperature lower than 30K (Chemical Physics Letters, 92(1), 7-12, 1982), Tani et al reported storage of holes at a temperature lower than 60K (Journal of Applied Physics, 58(9), 3559-3565, 1985), and Sakoda et al reported the PHB phenomenon at temperatures not lower than the temperature of liquid nitrogen of the above-mentioned material containing a porphine derivative having an ionic substituent as the guest and PVA as the host (Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 28 Supplement 28-3, 229-233, 1989). On the other hand, Friedrich et al al reported the PHB of the material containing quinizarin as the guest dispersed in deuterated ethanol. However, they found no significant differences between the PHB phenomena when the deuterated ethanol and ordinary ethanol are used, respectively.