The invention relates to a valve device comprising a valve housing (2) with a first and a second flow channel (3a, 3b) and a first and second damper shaft (8a, 8b) that is rotatable relative to the valve housing (2). A first damper (7a) is arranged in the first flow channel (3a) fixed to the first damper shaft (8a) and a second damper (7b) is arranged in the second flow channel (3b) fixed to the second damper shaft (8b). A regulating member (11a) is arranged to act on said first and second damper shafts (8a, 8b) so as to achieve a rotation of either damper (7a, 7b) by rotation of one damper shaft at a time.

Field of the Invention and Prior Art
The present invention relates to a valve device according to the description herein.
A valve device of the type here in question is previously known from the patent publication WO 00/28203 A1. This known valve device is intended to be included in an EGR system (EGR=Exhaust Gas Recirculation) of a combustion engine so as to regulate the relation between the amount of fresh air supplied to the combustion engine from the inlet air channel of the combustion engine and the amount of recirculated exhaust gases supplied to the combustion engine from the recirculation conduit of the EGR system. This mixture set by the valve device is supplied to the air intake of the engine. The valve device is in this case controlled by means of an EGR control device in dependence on inter alia the rotational speed and the load of the combustion engine. The valve device known from WO 00/28203 A1 comprises a first inlet channel intended to be connected to the recirculation conduit of the EGR system and a second inlet channel intended to be connected to the air inlet channel of the combustion engine. These inlet channels are in the valve device brought together into a common outlet channel. A first damper, here denominated EGR damper, is arranged in the first inlet channel and a second damper, here denominated air damper, is arranged in the second inlet channel. The flow of recirculated exhaust gases and fresh air, respectively, in the inlet channels is regulated by means of these dampers. In the known valve device, the dampers are spring-loaded into an open position and a regulating member in the form of a regulating pin, which is common to the dampers and rotatable by an adjustment motor, is arranged to act upon either damper for adjusting this damper between an open position and a closed position, while the other damper is kept in an open position by said spring-loading. In this known valve device, the dampers are consequently individually adjustable independently of each other by means of a common adjustment motor, which enables an adequate control of the valve device using only adjustment motor.


A generally hollow three element boxed mounting bracket adapted to hold a carrier bearing assembly within it's central cavity and be mechanically affixed to a frame member of a vehicle. The three elements forming the boxed structure each have slotted orifices that align to allow the passage of mechanical fasteners. The relative positioning of the individual bracket elements allows for adjustment of the carrier bearing assembly in the X, Y and Z axes. The bracket also has two slotted orifices for the attachment of the carrier bearing assembly and allows for the attachment of all models of driveshaft carrier bearings.

Many vehicles, mostly trucks, have aftermarket speciality suspension systems that raise the vehicle's body, frame, engine and transmission from the axles. This extra spacing allows larger tires to be utilized thereby increasing the vehicle's ground clearance. These tires and suspension offer distinct advantages for vehicles traversing off road terrains such as sand dunes, swamps, bogs, bush and the like. As the vertical distance between the transmission and the rear axle increases, so does the horizontal angle of the connecting driveshaft. The stock bracket that houses the driveshaft carrier bearing and stabilizes the driveshaft with respect to the vehicle's frame, is not adjustable and will not work with these "lifted" vehicles. A need for a low profile, three axis adjustable bracket that is adapted to house a stock carrier bearing and which may be may be affixed in a range of positions to the frame, would be a welcome fix to a well known industry problem.
Currently, the replacement and proper alignment of a driveline bracket is time consuming and at best only accurate. It usually entails fairly precise measurements and repeated modifications of the existing bracket. Finding a new location to mount the bracket on the frame is also often a challenge. Since the driveshaft's horizontal angle has increased, the height of the bracket may be increased or decreased depending if the bracket is relocated forward or rearward, if the bracket is angled, or a combination of these. Each vehicle has its own physical obstacles with bracket relocation and due to the plethora of lift heights available, numerous different proper relocation positions. Often precise bracket location requires a unique three axis adjustment of the bracket from its stock location. An improperly aligned bracket results in premature U joint wear and can lead to catastrophic failure. The adjustable driveline mount allows the original factory carrier bearing to be used, has a low height profile that allows for upward relocation of the carrier bearing, and has limited adjustment in all three axes. This new invention utilizes and combines both known and new technologies in a unique and novel configuration to fulfill an industry need and overcome the aforementioned problems of the prior art.


A silver halide light sensitive photographic material is disclosed, comprising a support having thereon a silver halide emulsion layer containing tabular grains having an aspect ratio of not less than 5 and an even number of parallel twin planes, the tabular grains further satisfying the following requirements:. (A) a coefficient of variation of grain size being 20% or less, PA1 (B) 0.7.ltoreq.y/x.ltoreq.2.0, where x represent a coefficient of variation of twin plane spacing and y represents a coefficient of variation of grain thickness, and (C) the grains having, in the interior of the grain, an internal layer having an iodide content higher than that of the grain surface, and the iodide content of the grain surface being higher than an average overall iodide content of the grains.

Recently, with the spread of compact cameras, autofocus single-lens reflex cameras and film-incorporated cameras, there has been a strong demand for a silver halide color photographic material with high sensitivity and superior image quality. Consequently, need for improvement of photographic performance of silver halide emulsions has also become severe, and further higher level requirements for photographic performance including high speed, superior graininess and sharpness have also been made.
In response to these demands, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,434,226; 4,439,520; 4,414,310; 4,433,048; 4,414,306 and 4,459,353 disclose techniques of using tabular silver halide grains, which is known to bring about advantages such as enhancement of sensitivity including enhanced spectral sensitization efficiency with a sensitizing dye, improved sensitivity/graininess, improved sharpness and covering power due to specific optical property of the tabular silver halide grains.
JP-A 7-191425 (herein, the term "JP-A" is referred to as unexamined, published Japanese Patent Application) describes tabular silver halide grains with an aspect ratio of less than 5 and being internally reduction-sensitized, in which a variation coefficient of twin plane spacing (x) and a variation coefficient of grain thickness(y) meet the relationship, 0.7.ltoreq.y/x.ltoreq.2.0. These tabular grains, however, were found to provide insufficient response to recent high level requirements, and still further enhanced photographic performance is desired.
Relating to this trend of higher speed and higher image quality, the demand for improvement in pressure characteristics of silver halide light sensitive photographic materials continuously increases. There have been attempts for improving pressure characteristics by various means, in which techniques of enhancing resistance to stress of silver halide grains is generally thought to be preferable and valid in practice, rather than techniques of incorporating additives such as a plasticizer. In response to this demand, there have been extensively studied photographic emulsions comprised of core/shell type silver halide grains having a high iodide silver iodobromide stratum. In particular, there is paid attention on a silver iodobromide emulsion comprised of core/shell type grains internally having a high iodide phase containing 10 mol % or more iodide.
Techniques of improving pressure characteristics of core/shell type grains are disclosed in JP-A 59-99433, 60-35726, and 60-147727. JP-A 63-220238 and 1-201649 also disclose techniques of improving graininess, pressure characteristics and exposure intensity dependence as well as sensitivity by introducing dislocation lines within the grain. Further, JP-A 6-235988 discloses multilayered structure type, monodisperse tabular silver halide grains having a high iodide intermediate layer. These techniques, however, are still insufficient to meet recent high level requirements as a silver halide emulsion with high sensitivity, superior graininess and improved pressure characteristics.
As a technique of controlling the charge carrier within the silver halide grain, such as a free electron and positive hole, is known a metal-doping technique. For example, Leubner reported that doping of an iridium complex into the silver halide exhibited an electron-trap property The Journal of Photographic Science Vol.31, 93 (1983)!. JP-A 3-15040 discloses an iridium ion-containing silver halide emulsion, in which iridium ions are not present on the surface of silver halide grains and also a preparation method thereof. JP-A 6-175251 discloses a technique of improving both sensitivity and reciprocity law failure characteristics at 1/100 sec. exposure with in-plane epitaxial grains, in which an iridium compound is incorporated during the course of preparing the grains. JP-A 8-160559 discloses a technique of improving high intensity reciprocity failure characteristics with tabular silver halide grains in which less than 1/20 of the total content of a polyvalent metal compound (mol/mol of AgX) is contained in the outermost surface layer. However, any of these techniques is still insufficient in providing a photographic material with the sensitivity, image quality and high intensity reciprocity failure characteristics required in the market.

Silver halide light sensitive photographic material


A wide-viewing angle LCD comprises a first substrate and a second substrate disposed opposite each other with a liquid crystal layer disposed therebetween. A first electrode is disposed on the interior of the first substrate. A first protrusion or slit structure with a first pattern is formed on the first electrode. A second electrode is disposed on the interior of the second substrate. A second protrusion or slit structure with a second pattern is formed on the second electrode. The first and second patterns constitute a third pattern with at least one intersection.

The invention relates to a wide-viewing angle liquid crystal display, and more particularly to a wide-viewing angle liquid crystal display providing omnidirectional viewing angle characteristics.
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have many advantages over other conventional types of displays including exceptional picture quality, small volume, light weight and lower power consumption. LCDs, for example, have been used for several years as displays in, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, mobile phones, and the like. Nevertheless, LCDs suffer from poor viewing angle characteristics.
In order to improve the viewing angle characteristics, various proposals have been made. Recently, an MVA (Multi-domain Vertical Alignment) type LCD was proposed by Fujitsu Co. Ltd. of Japan. FIGS. 1A and 1B are cross-section views showing the operation of a conventional MVA-LCD. FIG. 1A shows the state of liquid crystal molecules inside the LCD when no external electric field is present or the electric field presence is lower than a threshold value. The color filter (CF) glass substrate 100 and the thin film transistor (TFT) glass substrate 102 are parallel to each other. Protrusions 104 and 106 are formed on the inner surface of both the CF glass substrate 100 and the TFT glass substrate 102. Liquid crystal molecules 108 having negative dielectric anisotropy (referred to in the following as negative type liquid crystal molecules 108) are vertically aligned between the CF glass substrate 100 and the TFT glass substrate 102, constituting a liquid crystal layer 110. Liquid crystal molecules 108 close to the protrusions 104 and 106 tilt in specific direction due to local elects and resulting in pre-tilts.
FIG. 1B shows the state of liquid crystal molecules inside the LCD when an electric field above a threshold value is present. Due to the strong electric field, orientation of the negative type liquid crystal molecules 108 is changed such that directors of the liquid crystal molecules 108 are aligned in a direction vertical to the electric field. Hence, within the same pixel, liquid crystal molecules 108 on each side of the protrusion will tilt oppositely and have different molecular alignment. The protrusions 104 and 106 within a pixel divide the pixel into two or more domains. In other words, a multi-domain pixel is formed improving the viewing angle of LCD.
FIG. 2 is a schematic top view showing a conventional MVA-LCD with a W-shaped protrusion structure. The conventional MVA-LCD comprises a plurality of pixel units 210 defined by crossing bus lines. The protrusions 104 with a first W-shaped pattern are formed on the CF substrate 100. The protrusions 106 with a second W-shaped pattern are formed on the TFT substrate 102. The first and second W-shaped patterns are alternately positioned. A common line 220, serving as an electrode for the storage capacitor Cs, passes through the middle portion of each pixel unit 210. Through the alternately positioned protrusions 104 and 106 on the inner surfaces of different glass substrates of a pixel unit 210, each pixel unit 210 is divided into four different domains. The liquid crystal molecules 108 inside the conventional MVA-LCD tilt in four specific directions, providing viewing angle characteristics that are not omnidirectional and are thus inferior, particularly in the direction which is about ±45° and ±135° to the bus lines.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,054 to Ohmuro et al., the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes a liquid crystal display having excellent display characteristics. FIGS. 16 and 17 of the reference show protrusion patterns are not extended in one direction, whereby alignment directions of the liquid crystal molecules are approximately omnidirectional.

Wide-viewing angle liquid crystal display


A method for cleaning etch residues that may include treating an etched surface with an aqueous lanthanoid solution, wherein the aqueous lanthanoid solution removes an etch residue that includes a majority of hydrocarbons and at least one element selected from the group consisting of carbon, oxygen, fluorine, nitrogen and silicon. In one example, the aqueous solution may be cerium ammonium nitrate (Ce(NH4)(NO3)),(CAN).

Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to microelectronic fabrication, and more particularly to methods of removing etch residues that can be formed during microelectronic fabrication.
Description of the Related Art
With the continuing trend towards miniaturization of integrated circuits (ICs), there is a need for transistors to have higher drive currents with increasingly smaller dimensions. Part of processing advancements to provide smaller dimensions in microelectronic devices includes advancements in etch processing. The spacer module can be considered most challenging, as all materials exposed to plasma etch remain on device. The spacer module refers to the formation of the gate sidewall spacer adjacent to the gate structure of a semiconductors devices, such as field effect transistors (FETs). Processing at the spacer module becomes even more challenging for novel device geometries, such as Fin FETs, trigate semiconductor devices, and nanowire semiconductor devices.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An augmented air data and inertial reference system (AADIRS) serving as a standby instrument on an aircraft is provided. A secondary air data and inertial reference system (ADIRS) includes a secondary air data module coupled to a secondary inertial reference module. The secondary air data and inertial reference system is configured to derive secondary air data and inertial reference data using the secondary air data module and the secondary inertial reference module. The secondary inertial reference system is further configured to provide the second air data and inertial reference data to a flight control system for use as a backup source of data for control of the aircraft. A graphics module is coupled to the secondary air data and inertial reference system and a display. The graphics module is configured to receive the secondary air data and inertial reference data and process the secondary air and inertial reference data.

Many types of aircraft use standby instruments visible to the flight crew for situations that result when the main instrumentation fails or is disabled. This traditionally requires that the standby instrument(s) consist of a distinct system of electronics, sensors, and displays. In some cases two systems are required to allow viewing by multiple crew members or to show different data. These standby systems are much simpler than the main instrumentation as they provide only a minimal amount of data, yet they add significant cost and complexity to the aircraft. A solution is needed to obtain the same or better standby instrument functionality without the need to add complete systems comprised of dedicated equipment.


A density measuring device includes a moving member that can be moved in a liquid, a light emitting member and a light receiving member that receives light emitted by the light emitting member. A gap part in which the moving member is disposed in a path of light emitted from the light emitting member can be moved. A density measuring unit measures the density of the liquid based on the result of output of the light receiving member for a case where the moving member is located in the path of light emitted from the light emitting member and a case where the moving member is not located in the path of light emitted from the light emitting member.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a density measuring device, a liquid developer storing apparatus, and an image forming apparatus capable of measuring the density of liquid toner acquired from dispersing toner into a carrier liquid.
2. Related Art
A liquid density detecting method is known that detects the density of a liquid in a broad range. In the method, a liquid as a target for density measurement is filled in concave parts that are formed in multi-level parts between an eccentric disc part and two disc parts in the circumferential direction by using a liquid carrying roller formed by integrally forming the eccentric disc part and two disc parts that have a same diameter larger than that of the eccentric disc and have the eccentric disc part interposed there between. Then, the liquid is formed to have a plurality of film thicknesses different from each other corresponding to the multi-levels, and the density of the liquid is detected based on the output of an optical sensor for the plurality of the film thicknesses (see JP-A-2000-249653).
However, in JP-A-2000-249653, at least two shafts of the disc parts and the eccentric disc part are needed, and a large space is required. In addition, a gap in the circumference is detected, thus an electrical process cannot be easily performed. In addition, the developer needs to be pumped from a storage unit by using a pump or the like, the number of constituent components is increased. In addition, since the density of the pumped developer is detected, the density is not identical to that of the developer inside the storage unit.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Density measuring device, liquid developer storing apparatus, and image forming apparatus


A data storage library system with a plurality of data storage libraries and at least one director accesses a redundant copy of an identifiable data volume, employing the idle time status of each library to balance the workload. The data volumes may be stored in cache storage and backing storage which have different levels of access speed. A director requests a data volume, and the library controller of each library determines its current idle time status, providing the idle time status to the requesting director when it provides a synchronization token directly associated with the requested data volume. The token indicates the update level and the access level of the data volume in the library. The director, upon determining from the tokens that at least two of the copies of the data volume are at the same fastest available access level, compares the provided idle time status of the libraries storing those copies, and accesses the data volume from the library having the greater idle time status.

Commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/283,223 K. F. Day III et al. is incorporated for its showing of a data storage library system having directors for storing and tracking multiple copies of data in system data storage libraries.
Commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/391,186, T. W. Bish et al., is incorporated for its showing of a data storage library system for tracking and accessing data volumes from multiple data storage libraries having cache storage and backing storage.
This invention relates to storage of redundant copies of data volumes in a plurality of data storage libraries which have storage with different levels of access speed to the data volumes, such as cache storage and backing storage, and, more particularly, to accessing copies of data volumes from the data storage libraries.
Data processing systems comprising at least one host typically require a large amount of data storage. If the data, typically stored as a data volume, is not immediately required by the hosts, for example, if the data volume is infrequently accessed, the storage of the data volume may be on removable rewritable data storage media, such as magnetic tape or optical disk, and the data volumes may be written and or read by means of a data storage drive.
The data storage drive is typically coupled to the host, or processing unit, by means of a peripheral interface in which commands are directed only from the processing unit to the data storage drive, and the data storage drive responds to those commands, performing the commanded functions. No commands can be sent by the data storage drive to the coupled processing unit. Typically, the commands are performed by a device controller.
If a large amount of data is to be stored and accessed on occasion, data storage libraries are employed. Such data storage libraries provide efficient access to large quantities of data volumes stored in a backing storage of removable data storage media, the media stored in storage shelves which are accessed by robots under the control of robot controllers. Due to the large amount of stored data, typically, a plurality of hosts make use of the same data storage library, and a plurality of data storage drives are included in the library to allow access by the hosts. A library manager, which may comprise one or more processors or which may comprise the same processor as the robot controller, typically tracks each data volume and the data storage media on which it is stored, and tracks the storage shelf location of each data storage media.
Herein, a library manager, either with or without the robot controller, is defined as a xe2x80x9ccontrollerxe2x80x9d or a xe2x80x9clibrary controllerxe2x80x9d for the data storage library.
If the data storage media, subsequent to being accessed, may be reaccessed, it is advantageous to employ data storage libraries having both cache storage and backing storage. The data storage library will access the data volume of the removable media from the backing storage and will temporarily store the data volume in the cache storage so that it can be immediately reaccessed. The removable media may then be returned to a storage shelf, and the data volume updated while it is in cache storage without the need to reaccess the removable media. The cache storage is typically limited in capacity, requiring that the data volumes be migrated to backing storage so as to free space in the cache storage. Typically, a least recently used (LRU) algorithm is employed to migrate data volumes out of cache storage to backing storage.
It is also desirable to provide a level of redundancy of the data to provide constant access to data volumes, even should a data storage library or a communication path to a data storage library be unavailable.
An example of a data storage library system for redundantly storing and accessing data volumes stored on removable data storage media in a plurality of data storage libraries is described in the incorporated coassigned K. F. Day III et al. application. The library controller of each library provides an updatable synchronization token directly associated with each data volume. A plurality of directors are provided, each separate from and coupled to the hosts and each separate from and coupled to each data storage library. Each director responds to separate, partitioned data storage drive addresses addressed by the hosts. The responding director supplies each data volume supplied from a host to all of the data storage libraries, and updates each synchronization token directly associated with the supplied data volume. Thus, the directors store duplicate copies of the data volume in the data storage libraries without involvement by the host. In most data processing applications, it is critical to access the most current data. Hence, the currency of the data volumes are each tracked by means of the directly associated synchronization token, and the synchronization token is not tracked by the host.
The time to access a data volume in the cache storage may be faster than the time to access a data volume in the backing storage by at least an order of magnitude. This is because access to data volumes in cache storage is accomplished at electronic speeds, or at speeds of hard disk drives, while the robot must fetch the data storage media containing the data volume from its storage shelf, and move the data storage to a data storage drive, then load the data storage media and locate the requested data volume. It is thus advantageous to access data volumes in cache storage, a xe2x80x9ccache hitxe2x80x9d rather than to have to wait for the extra time to access data volumes in the backing storage, a xe2x80x9ccache missxe2x80x9d.
In the incorporated K. F. Day III et al. application, the director responds to a recall request for an identifiable data volume by requesting all of the synchronization tokens from the coupled data storage libraries pertaining to that data volume. The director employs the synchronization token to determine a currently updated synchronization token for the identifiable data volume, and accesses the identifiable data volume at the data storage library having a currently updated synchronization token. In the incorporated coassigned T. W. Bish et al. application, if more than one data storage library has the most current synchronization token, the copy of the data volume stored in cache storage of a library is accessed rather than the copy stored in the backing storage of the other library.
If the synchronization tokens indicate that two copies are the most current, and both copies are stored in cache storage and at the same access level of cache storage, the incorporated Bish et al. application employs a xe2x80x9cnormalxe2x80x9d algorithm to select the library for accessing the data volume, such as a rotating round robin basis.
However, such xe2x80x9cnormalxe2x80x9d algorithms may result in attempting to access the data from a data storage library that is fully occupied handling existing jobs, such that the relative job load between the libraries is unbalanced.
An object of the present invention is to select the data storage library to access a redundant copy of an identifiable data volume so as to balance the workload between the data storage libraries.
A data storage library system with a plurality of automated data storage libraries, and at least one host or director, accesses a redundant copy of an identifiable data volume employing a method, which may be computer implemented, that utilizes the idle time status of each library to balance the workload.
Each data storage library has a library controller, and at least two access levels of storing and accessing the identifiable data volumes at different access speeds. The access levels may be a cache storage which operates at electronic speeds, and a backing storage such as tape cartridges which must be accessed from storage shelves at mechanical speeds. The library controller provides a synchronization token directly associated with each data volume which identifies the update level of the data volume. Additionally, the token provides a flag which indicates the access level of the identifiable data volume in the data storage library.
A director requests a data volume, and the library controller of each library determines its current idle time status and provides the encoded idle time status to a requesting director when it provides the synchronization token directly associated with the requested data volume.
The director reads the synchronization tokens directly associated with the data volume from the data storage libraries; the director determining from the read tokens whether a plurality of the redundant copies of the data volume are at the most current update level and at the same access level and none of the copies of the data volume is at a faster access level, such that the copies of the data volume are stored in the data storage libraries at the same fastest available access level.
The director, upon the determination indicating that at least two of the copies of the data volume are at the same fastest available access level, compares the provided idle time status of the data storage libraries storing those copies, and indicates which library provides the greater idle time status. The director then accesses the data volume from the indicated data storage library.
The idle time status may comprise the percentage of available operating time that the library is idle, and may be a combination of the percentage of available operating time the library is idle and the percentage of available operating time the library is in I/O wait state, or other indicators relating to the loading of the library.

Balanced access to data volumes with redundant copies stored in data storage libraries

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention makes it possible to suitably create additional information on the basis of backup target data and then store the additional information in a data storage medium. In one embodiment, a system comprises a backup destination storage device (7A) that constitutes a backup destination of backup target data to be a target for backup; a backup source device (1), comprising a backup execution module (11) that backs up the backup target data by transferring the backup target data to the backup destination storage device (7A); an additional information storage medium (7P), which is capable of storing additional information created on the basis of the backup target data; and an additional information creation module (21), which creates additional information on the basis of the backup target data and stores the additional information in the additional information storage medium (7P) after a backup of the backup target data has been completed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for backing up backup target data to be a target for backup.
2. Description of the Related Art
As one example of this type of technology, a technology, whereby a normal server and a failed server cooperate, a substitute server is determined from among a plurality of servers, and the same data saved by the normal server and failed server is then transferred to the substitute server, is known (Japanese Patent Publication Laid Open No. 2002-215474 (paragraph 6), for example).
Further, when backup target data is backed up, parity data for this backup target data is sometimes created as additional information on the basis of the backup target data and the parity data is stored together with the backup target data in a data storage device. With technology for backing up data, the manner in which additional information for this data is stored is sometimes important. For example, when the backup source device performs a backup by transferring backup target data to the data storage device constituting the backup destination, processing to compute and store parity data can be performed in parallel with this backup. However, in cases where the data size of the backup target data is huge, the burden on the backup source device is great.

System and method for backup which synchronously or asynchronously stores additional information depending on the target backup data


A computing system for generating a list of possessions associated with a user may be provided. The computing system may include a processor in communication with a memory device, and the processor may be configured to receive image data, analyze the image data to identify at least one possession, update a user profile to include the identified at least one possession, determine additional information is needed to accurately estimate a value associated with the at least one possession, generate and transmit an additional information prompt to a user computing device, receive, from the user computing device, the additional information, estimate, using the additional information, the value associated with the at least one possession, and update the user profile to include the estimated value associated with the at least one possession stored in association with the at least one possession.

Some insurance policies (e.g., renter's insurance, rental insurance, homeowner's insurance, and/or property insurance) provide coverage for loss or damage to the personal possessions of a policyholder during a policy claim (e.g., a formal request by the policyholder to an insurance provider for reimbursement for one or more personal possessions covered under an insurance policy). Loss events may include residential fires, theft, vandalism and/or other events that cause partial or complete loss of the personal possessions of the policyholder. Policy coverage is associated with the amount of risk or liability that is covered by the insurance provider for the policyholder's possessions during these loss events. Insurance providers set policy premiums based at least in part upon a number of factors including the amount of coverage that the policy provides (e.g., policy coverage or insurance coverage). In other words, the policy coverage is related to the amount of funds an insurance provider may have to pay a policyholder for damaged or lost possessions. As such, a policy coverage amount should aim to cover the amount it would cost to replace or repair each of the policyholder's personal possessions.
During a policy claim, the policyholder may submit an insurance claim request to the insurance provider, requesting reimbursement for lost or destroyed possessions. The insurance claim request may include a list of the personal possessions and values associated with the cost of replacing the personal possessions.
In some cases, the policyholder may not have created an inventory list of their personal possessions prior to the loss event. Consequentially, the policyholder may be unable to remember or identify all personal possessions that were destroyed, lost, and/or damaged. It may be particularly challenging for a policyholder to recall personal possessions in the case of a total loss, when there may be limited evidence of the policyholder's possessions (e.g. after a residential fire). As such, the policyholder may be unable to create a complete and/or accurate list of possessions for the policy claim. In other cases, a policyholder may have created an inventory list prior to the loss event, but failed to update or maintain the list such that the inventory list does not accurately reflect the most current personal possessions of the policyholder.
Further, upon receiving the policy claim request, the insurance provider may subsequently request documentation or proof from the policyholder for one or more items in the list of possessions in order to confirm that the policyholder owned the item and/or to verify the cost or value associated with the item. Requested documentation may include images of the items, receipts, or authentication documentations such as titles, certifications of authenticity, or any other documentation that can be used to verify the value associated with the possessions. In some cases, the policyholder may be unable to provide documentation supporting the claimed lost items. For example, in some cases, the policyholder's documents may have been lost or destroyed during the loss event. In other cases, the policyholder may not have kept or recorded documentation for every personal possession.
Insurance premiums, coverage rates, and insurance claims may depend on the list of policyholder's possessions owned by the policyholder. It would be advantageous for both the policyholder and the insurance provider to generate and update a complete and accurate list of personal possessions. The inventory of personal possessions should further include a cost or value assigned to each possession in the inventory of personal possessions, and documentation of the ownership and/or the value associated with the possessions. More specifically, the inventory of personal possessions may aid the insurance provider in determining policy rates and additionally aid the policyholder in determining the amount of coverage they will need. Further, during a policy claim, the inventory list may be used to determine reimbursement amounts for each possession.

Systems and methods for generating an inventory of personal possessions of a user for insurance purposes


A substrate with a conductive film for manufacturing a reflective mask which has a rear-surface conductive film with high mechanical strength and is capable of correcting positional deviation of the reflective mask from the rear surface side by a laser beam or the like. A substrate with a conductive film has a conductive film formed on one surface of a main surface of a mask blank substrate used for lithography, wherein the conductive film includes a transparent conductive layer provided on a substrate side and an upper layer provided on the transparent conductive layer, the conductive film has a transmittance of 10% or more for light of wavelength 532 nm, the upper layer is made of a material including tantalum (Ta) and boron (B), and the upper layer has a film thickness of 0.5 nm or more and less than 10 nm.

In the semiconductor industry, semiconductor devices have become more highly integrated in recent years, and fine patterns that exceed the transfer limit of conventional ultraviolet photolithography have been required accordingly. For achieving the formation of such fine patterns, extreme ultraviolet (hereinafter referred to as "EUV") lithography, which is an exposure technique using EUV light, is considered promising. Here, EUV light refers to light in the soft X-ray or vacuum ultraviolet band, and specifically refers to light having a wavelength of about 0.2 to 100 nm. Reflective masks have been proposed as transfer masks for use in this EUV lithography. Such reflective masks have a multilayer reflective film formed on a substrate to reflect exposure light, and also have a patterned absorber film that absorbs exposure light on the multilayer reflective film.
A reflective mask is manufactured by forming an absorber film pattern using photolithography or the like from a reflective mask blank having a substrate, a multilayer reflective film formed on the substrate, and an absorber film formed on the multilayer reflective film.
In general, a multilayer reflective film and an absorber film are formed using a film forming method such as sputtering. During the film formation, a reflective mask blank substrate is supported by a support means in a film forming device. An electrostatic chuck is used as a support means for the substrate. Therefore, on the back surface of the insulating reflective mask blank substrate such as a glass substrate (on the surface opposite to the front surface on which the multilayer reflective film and the like are formed), a conductive film (conductive back film) is formed to promote the fixing of the substrate by the electrostatic chuck.
As an example of a substrate with a conductive film, Patent Literature 1 discloses a substrate with a conductive film used for manufacturing a reflective mask blank for EUV lithography. Specifically, Patent Literature 1 describes a substrate with a conductive film characterized in that the conductive film contains chromium (Cr) and nitrogen (N), the average concentration of N in the conductive film is 0.1 at % or more and less than 40 at %, the crystal state of at least a surface of the conductive film is amorphous, the surface roughness (rms) of the conductive film is 0.5 nm or less, and the conductive film is a gradient composite film in which the N concentration in the conductive film changes in the thickness direction of the conductive film so that the N concentration on the substrate side is low and the N concentration on the surface side is high.
Patent Literature 2 describes a substrate with a conductive film used for manufacturing a reflective mask blank for EUV lithography. Specifically, Patent Literature 2 describes a substrate with a conductive film characterized in that the main material for the conductive film is at least one member selected from the group consisting of Cr, Ti, Zr, Nb, Ni, and V, the conductive film contains boron (B) at an average concentration of 1 to 70 at %, and the conductive film is a gradient composite film in which the concentration of B in the conductive film changes in the thickness direction of the conductive film so that the B average concentration on the substrate side is low and the B average concentration on the surface side is high.
Patent Literature 3 discloses a method for correcting an error of a transfer mask for photolithography. Specifically, Patent Literature 3 discloses a technique of locally irradiating the substrate of a transfer mask with femtosecond laser pulses, thereby modifying the surface or inside of the substrate to correct an error of the transfer mask. In Patent Literature 3, a laser for generating femtosecond laser pulses is exemplified by a sapphire laser (wavelength: 800 nm), an Nd-YAG laser (532 nm), and the like.
Patent Literature 4 describes a substrate for a photolithography mask that includes a coating deposited on the rear surface of the substrate. Patent Literature 4 discloses that the coating includes at least one first layer containing at least one metal and at least one second layer containing at least one metal nitride, and at least one first layer includes at least one conductive layer containing nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), or titanium (Ti).

Substrate with conductive film, substrate with multilayer reflective film, reflective mask blank, reflective mask, and semiconductor device manufacturing method


Described are examples for providing service level monitoring for a network hosting applications as a cloud service. A service level monitoring device may receive end-to-end measurements of service usage collected at user devices for a plurality of applications hosted as a cloud services. The service level monitoring device may determine degraded applications of the plurality of applications based on anomalies in the measurements. The service level monitoring device may determine a service level metric based on an aggregation of the degraded applications. In some examples, the service level monitoring device may detect a network outage affecting the service.

A cloud provider may host cloud applications for its clients. The cloud provider offers various methods and services to accelerate development of the application development time. For example, a cloud provider may provide infrastructure as a service (IaaS) services such as virtual machines (VM), platform as a service (PaaS) services such as databases and serverless computing, and software as a service (SaaS) services such as authentication platforms.
A cloud service provider may make a measurable service level agreement (SLA) with the client during service onboarding. The SLA may provide for service level monitoring by the service provider and reporting of any degradation in the service quality to the client.
A cloud service provider may face difficulties in measuring the performance characteristics for compliance with the SLA. Generally, the cloud service provider may measure service level based on the requests that reach its resources. An end user, however, may experience performance based on end-to-end communications from a user device to one or more devices in the cloud system that provide the service. For example, each request for a service in the cloud system may travel through multiple services such as a virtual machine, a virtual private network, a traffic manager, a firewall, or an application gateway before reaching the monitored service. Accordingly, from the perspective of the user, a poor experience may be attributed to the cloud service.

End-to-end service level metric approximation


A low voltage, high-gain current/voltage sense amplifier (ISA/VSA) circuit with improved read access time is provided herein. According to one embodiment, the ISA/VSA described herein includes a pair of current reference branches for generating a pair of reference currents in response to a pair of differential input signals supplied thereto. The differential input signals are differential voltages which are converted to differential currents by the current reference branches. In some cases, the current reference branches may be used for amplifying and mirroring the reference currents onto output nodes of the ISA/VSA. In doing so, the current reference branches may increase the amplification and improve the performance of the sense amp circuit, even under extreme mismatch conditions. In addition, positive feedback may be used within the ISA/VSA design to further increase the amplification and speed of the sense operation. The improvements described herein may, therefore, be used to obtain the fast read access times typically associated with high-speed memory devices.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electronic circuits and, more particularly, to low voltage, high gain current/voltage sense amplifier circuits with improved read access time.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following descriptions and examples are given as background only.
Many modern semiconductor memories employ differential bit lines and some sort of differential amplifier or sensing circuit in their design. These differential amplifiers and sense circuits are commonly known as sense amplifiers (or "sense amps"). In addition to memory devices, sense amplifiers may be used in programmable arrays and many other applications. A wide variety of sense amps are known in the art, including current sensing and voltage sensing variations.
For example, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices often employ voltage sense amplifiers (VSAs) for detecting the state of a DRAM memory cell. In voltage sensing, the bitline is precharged before the memory cell is activated. When the memory cell is activated, the memory cell charges or discharges the bitline to maintain or change the voltage of the bitline. However, the bitline may be quite long in some memory devices (e.g., in large memory arrays), resulting in a large capacitive load for the memory cell. In some cases, the memory cell may not be able to provide enough cell current to quickly charge or discharge a large bitline, and an excessive amount of time (i.e., read access time) may be needed to read the memory cells. For this reason, voltage sensing may not be preferred in all memory devices.
Current sense amplifiers (ISAs) are also commonly used for detecting the state of a memory cell. For example, current sense amplifiers are well suited for measuring signals on heavily loaded capacitive lines, such as those found in large memory devices or programmable array devices, where it would be slow to measure voltage. Located in a sense amplifier circuit (SA), the current sense amplifier measures a current and turns this into a small differential voltage output. In some cases, the output of a current sense amplifier (ISA) may be passed to a voltage sense amplifier (VSA), which is also located in the sense amplifier circuit for amplifying the low voltage signal into a higher voltage signal. The output of the voltage sense amplifier may then be passed as the output of the sense amplifier circuit.
FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a sense amplifier circuit that may be used for detecting a current (or voltage) differential between complementary bitlines of a memory array (such as memory array 100). In the embodiment shown, current sense amplifier (ISA) 130 is coupled for receiving a pair of differential currents (IBL, IBLB) from one or more complementary bitlines (BL, BLB) of memory array 100. In some cases, ISA 130 may be coupled for receiving the pair of differential currents from only one column of memory cells (e.g., column 0 via COLMUX 110). In other cases, ISA 130 may be coupled for receiving the pair of differential currents from more than one column of memory cells (e.g., columns 0-N via COLMUX 110 to 120). The column multiplexers (COLMUX) are generally used to switch between the pairs of bitlines, depending on the particular column of memory cells selected.
Although not illustrated herein, a voltage sense amplifier (VSA) may also be used for receiving a pair of differential voltages—instead of currents—from the complementary bitlines (BL, BLB) of memory array 100. As noted above, the choice between ISAs and VSAs may depend on several factors including, but not limited to, speed, memory array architecture and technology constraints (e.g., threshold voltages, saturation currents, etc.).
In many cases, ISA 130 may be implemented in three-stages, as shown in FIG. 1. For example, ISA 130 may include a sensing stage (140) for reading the memory cell data by sensing a current (or voltage) differential between a pair of complementary bitlines (BL, BLB), an amplifying stage (150) for amplifying the small differential output signal generated by the sensing stage, and an optional buffering stage (160). If included, the optional buffering stage may be used for supplying the sense amp output signal (SAOUT) with full rails (i.e., for outputting the sense amp signal with a voltage swing that extends between a power supply voltage and a ground supply voltage).
Unfortunately, many conventional sense amp designs fail to meet important design specifications as technological trends progress toward higher speeds, smaller geometries and lower power supply voltages. For example, conventional sense amp designs often fail to meet the fast read access times (e.g., about 4 ns to about 6 ns) specified for high-speed, low voltage (e.g., about 1 volt) memory devices, such as high density Asynchronous SRAM's (among others). In addition, many conventional sense amp designs fail to operate (i.e., fail to sense the correct data) under moderate to extreme mismatch conditions. These mismatch conditions (and therefore, the ability for conventional designs to operate) only worsen as circuit geometries continue to scale to smaller and smaller sizes.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved sense amp design with improved read access times and reduced sensitivities to device mismatch. Such an improved sense amp design would be particularly useful in high-speed, low voltage memory applications.

Low voltage, high gain current/voltage sense amplifier with improved read access time


A zoom lens includes, in an order from an object side, four groups of a positive group, a negative group, a positive group, and a negative group. For varying magnification from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end, the first group is configured to be moved toward the object side, the second group is configured to be moved toward an image side, the third group is configured to be moved toward the object side, and the fourth group is configured to be moved toward the object side, and conditional equations of −0.63<f2/f1<−0.25, −10<f2/y′max <−3, and 6<f1/y′max<20 (f1: the focal distance of the first group; f2: the focal distance of the second group; y′max: the maximum image height) are satisfied.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to zoom lenses, imaging optical apparatuses, and digital devices. For example, the embodiments relate to, of imaging optical systems having variable power, a zoom lens that is optimal for a telephotographing system with a viewing angle (2ω) at a telephoto end of less than 15°. The embodiments also relate to an imaging optical apparatus that is configured to output a picture of a photographing subject captured by the zoom lens and an image sensor in the form of electrical signals, and a digital device with an image input function, such as a digital camera, installed with the imaging optical apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
JP 08-086962 A, JP 2012-027261 A, and JP 2013-037105 A have been proposed for a telephotographing zoom lens suitable for an imaging optical system.
Recently, demand for compact and lightweight lenses including an interchangeable lens has become stronger with respect to digital single lens reflex cameras, especially in the mirrorless field. Generally, of a zoom lens with a viewing angle at a telephoto end of less than 15°, the entire length tends to be longer. In addition, forcibly shortening the entire length involves increasing of the powers of lens groups, and this could magnify deterioration in performance due to manufacturing error.
The zoom lens described in JP 08-086962 A is not fully responsive to today's demand for compact and lightweight lenses. JP 2012-027261 A and JP 2013-037105 A disclose zoom lenses for a compact design. However, as a result of reduction in size, the powers of first and second groups are increased, which enhances deterioration in performance in case where the lens groups are decentered from the designed conditions.

Zoom lens, imaging optical apparatus, and digital device


A semiconductor device is provided, which includes a first semiconductor structure, a second semiconductor structure, and an active region. The first semiconductor structure includes a first dopant. The second semiconductor structure is located on the first semiconductor structure and includes a second dopant different from the first dopant. The active region includes a plurality of semiconductor pairs and is located between the first semiconductor structure and the second semiconductor structure. One of the plurality of semiconductor pairs has a barrier layer and a well layer and includes the first dopant. The barrier layer has a first thickness and a first Al content, and the well layer has a second thickness and a second Al content, the second thickness is less than the first thickness, and the second Al content is less than the first Al content.

Semiconductor devices are widely used in many applications. Various researches and developments of related material used in the semiconductor devices have been conducted. For example, a group III-V semiconductor material containing a group III element and a group V element may be applied to various optoelectronic devices, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), laser diodes (LDs), photoelectric detectors, solar cells or power devices, such as switches or rectifiers. In recent years, the optoelectronic devices have been widely applied in fields including lighting, medical, display, communication, and sensing systems. The light-emitting diode, which is one of the semiconductor light-emitting devices, has low energy consumption and long operating lifetime, and is therefore widely used in various fields.

Semiconductor device and semiconductor component including ihe same


A thin film transistor comprises a zinc-oxide-containing semiconductor material. Such transistors can further comprise spaced apart first and second contact means or electrodes in contact with said material. Further disclosed is a process for fabricating a thin film transistor device, wherein the substrate temperature is no more than 300° C. during fabrication.

Thin film transistors (TFTs) are widely used as switching elements in electronics, for example, in active-matrix liquid-crystal displays, smart cards, and a variety of other electronic devices and components thereof. The thin film transistor (TFT) is an example of a field effect transistor (FET). The best-known example of an FET is the MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor-FET), today's conventional switching element for high-speed applications. For applications in which a transistor needs to be applied to a substrate, a thin film transistor is typically used. A critical step in fabricating the thin film transistor involves the deposition of a semiconductor onto the substrate. Presently, most thin film devices are made using vacuum deposited amorphous silicon as the semiconductor.
Amorphous silicon as a semiconductor for use in TFTs still has its drawbacks. The deposition of amorphous silicon, during the manufacture of transistors, requires relatively difficult or complicated processes such as plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition and high temperatures (about 360° C.) to achieve the electrical characteristics sufficient for display applications. Such high processing temperatures disallow deposition on substrates made of certain plastics that might otherwise be desirable for use in applications such as flexible displays. Furthermore, vacuum deposition of semiconductors typically continuously cover a substrate, requiring subsequent subtractive patterning steps. These patterning steps are time consuming and waste materials.
There is a growing interest in depositing thin film semiconductors on plastic or flexible substrates, particularly because these supports would be more mechanically robust, lighter weight, and potentially lead to cheaper manufacturing by allowing roll-to-roll processing. A useful example of a flexible substrate is polyethylene terephthalate. Such plastics, however, limit device processing to below 200° C.
In the past decade, various materials have received attention as a potential alternative to amorphous silicon for use in semiconductor channels of thin film transistors. Semiconductor materials are desirable that are simpler to process, especially those that are soluble in organic or aqueous solvents and, therefore, capable of being applied to large areas by relatively simple processes, such as spin coating, dip coating, microcontact printing, or ink jet application. Semiconductor materials that can be deposited at lower temperatures would open up a wider range of substrate materials, including plastics, for flexible electronic devices. Furthermore, additive solution processes have the opportunity to reduce materials cost by only applying semiconductor materials where they are needed.
Thus, thin film transistors made of coatable semiconductor materials can be viewed as a potential key technology for circuitry in various electronic devices or components such as display backplanes, portable computers, pagers, memory elements in transaction cards, and identification tags, where ease of fabrication, mechanical flexibility, and/or moderate operating temperatures are important considerations.
This, in turn, has fueled an interest in discovering new semiconductor materials. Organic semiconductors comprise one broad class of low-temperature alternative semiconductor materials that have been the subject of considerable research efforts. However, most organic semiconductors generally have inferior or problematic electronic properties compared to amorphous silicon for use in transistor devices. For example, organic materials may tend to degrade in normal atmospheric conditions. In contrast, inorganic semiconductors tend to be more stable. Consequently, an inorganic semiconductor that is compatible with temperature-sensitive substrates and that has electronic properties equivalent to amorphous silicon would enable electronics for a variety of flexible substrates.
The discovery of new inorganic semiconductors has also been the subject of considerable research efforts. For example, metal oxide semiconductors are known that constitute zinc oxide, indium oxide, tin oxide, or cadmium oxide deposited with or without additional doping elements including transition metals such as aluminum. Such semiconductor materials, which are transparent, can have an additional advantage for certain applications, as discussed below.
Various processes for making zinc oxide films have been disclosed, both high temperature and low temperature processes, including radio-frequency magnetron sputtering or modified reactive planar magnetron sputtering.
Ohya et al (Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Part 1, January 2001, vol. 40, no. 1, pages 297-8 disclose a thin film transistor of ZnO fabricated by chemical solution deposition.
Transparent conducting oxides are reviewed in the August 2000 issue of the Materials Research Bulletin, Volume 25 (8) 2000, devoted to materials and properties of transparent conducting oxide compounds.
One low temperature process for deposition of such oxide semiconductors is disclosed in US 2004/0127038 A1 to Carcia et al. This patent discloses a semiconductor deposition process that uses magnetron sputtering of a metal oxide (ZnO, In2O3, SnO2, CdO) or metal (Zn, In, Sn, Cd) target in an atmosphere with a controlled partial pressure of oxygen in an inert gas. This is a low temperature process that is compatible with temperature sensitive substrates and components, for example, drive circuits for displays on flexible, polymer substrates. The field effect transistors of Carcia et al. are based on a nominally undoped metal oxide semiconductor that must be deposited using physical vapor deposition or chemical vapor deposition, preferably rf (radio frequency) magnetron sputtering.
Japanese Kokai JP2004349583 A1 discloses a method of producing a thin film transistor in which a dispersion of zinc-oxide nanoparticles is ink-jetted to form the semiconducting channel. No actual examples, however, are described relating to the preparation of the dispersion.
US 2004/0127038 discloses a method to produce high quality zinc-oxide thin film transistors using sputtering as a vacuum deposition method.
Steven K. Volkman et al., "A novel transparent air-stable printable n-type semiconductor technology using ZnO nanoparticles," 2004 IEEE International Electron Device meeting Technical Digest, pp. 769, 2004, discloses a method for producing thin film transistors using organically stabilized zinc-oxide nanoparticles. The disclosed process involves an exposure to a temperature of 400° C. or plasma hydrogenation.
Transparent oxide semiconductors are especially useful in the fabrication of transparent thin film transistors. Such transparent transistors can be used to control pixels in a display. By being transparent, the active area of the transistor can be significantly increased.
For example, thin film transistors are employed in active-matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCD), which are extensively used in laptop computers and other information display products. The operation of an AMLCD display requires that each picture or display element (pixel) have a corresponding thin film transistor associated with it for selecting or addressing the pixel to be on or off ("pixel driver"). Presently, AMLCD displays employ transistor materials that may be deposited onto glass substrates but are not transparent (typically amorphous, polycrystalline, or continuous-grain silicon deposited on glass). The portion of the display glass occupied by the addressing electronics is not available for transmission of light through the display. Transparent transistors for AMLCD addressing would allow greater light transmission through the display, thereby improving display performance.
Semiconductor materials for use in thin film transistors in various electronic devices may require significant mobilities, well above 0.01 cm2/Vs, and current on/off ratios (hereinafter referred to as "on/off ratios") greater than 1000.
Semiconductor materials include "p-type" or "p-channel" semiconductors, meaning that negative gate voltages, relative to the source voltage, are applied to induce positive charges (holes) in the channel region of the device. An alternative to p-type semiconductor materials are "n-type" or "n-channel" semiconductor materials, which terminology indicates that positive gate voltages, relative to the source voltage, are applied to induce negative charges in the channel region of the device. Thus, in an n-type TFT, the device can be turned on, by applying a more positive voltage.

Methods of making thin film transistors comprising zinc-oxide-based semiconductor materials and transistors made thereby


The present invention provides an emulsion polymerization synthetic isoprene-styrene/butadiene rubber for use in improved tire tread compositions is provided. The improved composition is a blend of a 1,4 cis-polyisoprene such as natural rubber and a synthetic rubber produced by emulsion polymerization which synthetic rubber includes isoprene and either styrene or butadiene or both styrene and butadiene. The tire tread composition has an excellent balance of good wear resistance and low rolling resistance as well as a low T.sub.g and good traction. These improved qualities for tire tread compositions have heretofore been unavailable in rubbers utilizing emulsion polymers, and have been achievable only with tire compositions including synthetic rubbers that are produced by solution polymerization.

There are many different properties which are desirable in automotive tires, and the designers and builders of tires utilize many different rubber blends for different tire components, such as treads, side walls, etc. in an attempt to optimize the various properties of the tire. One of the components of a tire is the tire tread component and this component itself requires many different properties which designers attempt to optimize. For example, lower energy consumption of vehicles is a continuing goal and one factor in the energy consumption of vehicles is the rolling resistance of the tire which is a function primarily of the tire tread composition. Additionally, it is desirable to have a high wear resistance of the tread to avoid early or premature wear of the tire which takes place due to normal operating and certain abnormal conditions. Additionally, it is not only desirable but essential to have a reasonably good traction of the tire so that it provides the necessary skid resistance to the vehicle. Moreover it is also desirable to have a relatively low T.sub.g (i.e. glass transition temperature) of the tire in order that the tires will not fail in extremely cold weather. Moreover, various ingredients of the rubber compositions while improving one property may adversely affect one or more of the other properties. Thus, a primary goal of the tire designers and makers is to provide a rubber composition for the tread component of the tire which seeks to optimize these various properties by balancing the selection of relative amounts of these ingredients without causing any one of desired properties to be unduly unfavorable.
In the blending of the compositions for use as a tire tread component, it is conventional to blend natural rubber with different synthetic rubbers formed by various polymerization processes. Some of the original work done in this field provided polymer blends of various butadiene rubbers with emulsion SBR. Emulsion polymerization was developed extensively and there is extensive use of emulsion polymerization because of certain technological advantages as well as economic advantages in using existing equipment. However, emulsion polymerization has some draw backs and limitations as to the type of products it can produce. Specifically, emulsion polymerization generally is not capable of clearly controlling the diene microstructure of the produced rubbers such as the percent of vinyl in the polymerized product. This in turn has posed limitations as to the properties which could be achieved since various microstructures such as the amount of vinyl groups and other microstructure configurations affect certain properties of the end product.
These draw backs, which are limitations in emulsion polymerization, were overcome by the development of solution polymerization of synthetic rubbers. In solution polymerization there is the possibility of using different catalysts and modifiers, different solvents, different temperatures and varying other types of ingredients and conditions to more closely control the resulting microstructure over a much broader range of polydiene microstructures, especially the ability to control the vinyl content over a much broader range than with emulsion polymerization which generally is limited to the range of about 18-24% vinyl. However, solution polymerization requires new facilities and cannot be accomplished in those facilities which are constructed and utilized for emulsion polymerization without extensive reconstruction. Further, solution polymerization requires the use of organic solvents and expensive materials as well as requiring complex recovery systems for the waste products. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide synthetic rubbers which would provide compounds for tire treads which can be made by emulsion polymerization and which would have improved properties matching those achieved with synthetic rubbers produced by solution polymerization.

Tire tread compositions of isoprene-styrene/butadiene emulsion polymers with 1,4 cis-polyisoprene rubber


An information processing apparatus includes an image acquisition unit that acquires an initial image to be output by an image output apparatus; an image determining unit that determines, based on an output condition to be implemented by the image output apparatus upon outputting the initial image and image data of the initial image, whether to change the initial image to a substitute image having a higher image quality than the initial image; an image searching unit that searches for the substitute image in a case where a determination is made by the image determining unit to change the initial image to the substitute image; an output data generating unit that generates output data including image data of the substitute image found by the image searching unit; and a transmitting unit configured to transmit the output data to the image output apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Techniques are known for printing a web page, viewed using an application of a smart device, such as a smartphone at an image forming apparatus such as an MFP (multifunction peripheral).
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H11-143670 describes a technique for printing an image of a web page according to the resolution of the printer by generating a PDL (page description language) file that includes a high-resolution bitmap image compatible with the printer resolution.
The pixel density of the display of an information processing apparatus is typically within a range of approximately 200 dpi (dots per inch) to 400 dpi. On the other hand, the print resolution of an image forming apparatus may be within a range of 600 dpi to 4800 dpi. When there is a large difference between the pixel density (dpi or ppi (pixels per inch)) of the display of an information processing apparatus, such as a smart device, and the print resolution (dpi) of an image forming apparatus, there may be cases where an image may look fine when viewed on the display of the smart device but look rather rough and grainy when printed. That is, there is a substantial difference between the size of the image displayed on a display of a smart device and the size of the image when printed on paper. As such, when the image is printed at a low resolution, even if the image may look fine when viewed on the small display of the smart device, the image may look rough and grainy when it is enlarged and printed on a paper size much larger than the display. In this case, a user may notice that the printed image has become rough and grainy.
Also, when printing an image displayed by an information processing apparatus such as a PC at an image forming apparatus, the pixel density of the display of a PC is about 100 dpi, and there is a large difference between the pixel density of the display of the PC and the print resolution of the image forming apparatus. As such, even if the image to be printed by the image forming apparatus may be displayed on the display of the PC in a size comparable to the image to be printed by the image forming apparatus, the capability of the PC display to accurately display the image to be printed may be limited due to the difference in the pixel density of the PC display and the print resolution of the image forming apparatus. Thus, even if the image forming apparatus is capable of printing an image at a high resolution, the user may not be able to determine, through visual inspection, an image that could effectively utilize the functions of the image forming apparatus, for example. Such a problem also applies to the case of using a smart device to print an image with the image forming apparatus.

Information processing apparatus and information processing system


There is provided a magnetic field generator which is capable of generating a uniform magnetic field of a desired intensity easily and stably without increasing running cost. The magnetic field generator includes a pair of plate yokes. The plate yokes have opposed surfaces provided with magnetic pole respectively. The magnetic pole includes a permanent magnet group whereas the magnetic pole includes a permanent magnet group. Each of the permanent magnet groups is formed substantially in a disc like shape, as an integral body made of a plurality of permanent magnets and a plurality of heat conducting members. Tubular heaters, buried in the plate yokes, generate heat, which is conducted via the plate yokes to each permanent magnet and each heat conducting member which constitute the permanent magnet groups.

Conventionally, MRI apparatuses, etc. are known as an apparatus in which a specimen is placed in a magnetic field (static magnetic field) generated by a magnetic field generator and tomographic images of the specimen is obtained.
FIG. 28 shows a magnetic field generator 1 as an example of the magnetic field generator used in an MRI apparatus. The magnetic field generator 1 includes a pair of plate yokes 3 which are connected with each other by four column yokes 2, to face each other with a space in between. The opposed surfaces of the plate yokes 3 are each provided with a magnetic pole 4. Each magnetic pole 4 includes a permanent magnet group 4a fixed on the opposed surface of the plate yoke 3 and a pole piece 4b fixed on an opposed surface of the permanent magnet group 4a. The permanent magnet group 4a is made of a plurality of unillustrated permanent magnets. Using the permanent magnet group 4a in this way as the source of magnetic field generation enables to reduce running cost as compared to cases in which the magnetic field is generated by supplying electric power to electric magnets. It is also possible to reduce the size of the apparatus since there is no need for an electric power supply apparatus, etc. for driving the electric magnets.
In order to obtain clear tomographic images, the magnetic field generator 1 must be able to generate, within a magnetic field space 5 in its space, a magnetic field which has a uniformity accuracy within 1×10−4 (within 100 PPM) in a range of 0.02 T through 3.0 T. However, the permanent magnet group 4a recently is often made of Nd—Fe—B sintered magnets, which has a residual magnetic flux density temperature coefficient of −0.1%/° C. approx: Magnetic characteristics change with temperature change, so it is difficult to create a uniform magnetic field of a desired intensity. In an attempt to overcome this problem, there is prevailed a technique as shown in FIG. 29, of covering the four column yokes 2 and the pair of plate yokes 3 where the magnetic poles 4 are provided, with a heat insulation member 6 thereby reducing the temperature change caused by changes in ambient temperature in each element (particularly the permanent magnet group 4a) of the magnetic field generator 1.
Also, there is prevailed a technique of employing a heater in addition to the heat insulation member 6 to maintain the permanent magnet group 4a at a constant temperature. As an example, Patent Document 1 for example discloses a technique of providing a surface heater on an inner surface of the heat insulation member 6 and moving the warmed air in the heat insulation member 6 by a fan. Also, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique of providing a surface heater on a surface facing away from the opposed surface in each of the pair of plate yokes 3. Further, Patent Document 3 discloses a technique of providing a surface heater on each side surface of the plate yokes 3. However, the technique according to Patent Document 1 poses a problem of complication in apparatuses related to temperature control since the air must be forced to move by the fan. In addition, use of air as a heat transfer medium poses another problem that the heat generated by the surface heater is not transferred efficiently to the permanent magnet group 4a. The techniques according to Patent Documents 2 and 3 also have the problem of inefficient transfer of heat generated by the surface heater, to the permanent magnet group 4a because the heat diffuses from a surface of the surface heater facing away from the surface that makes contact with the plate yoke 3.
In an attempt to solve these kinds of problems, Patent Document 4 discloses a technique of providing a heater inside the permanent magnet group 4a or the plate yokes 3, etc. The technique according to Patent Document 4 enables to reduce diffusion of heat from the heater to outside.
Patent Document 1: JP-A 63-43649
Patent Document 2: JP-A 63-278310
Patent Document 3: JP-A 8-266506
Patent Document 4: WO 99/65392


The invention relates to a method for determining the distance of a target in difficult industrial conditions, method in which (i) one of the gamma quanta produced from a radioactive source in annihilation and traveling in opposite directions is aimed at the target and the other one at a detector, which detects it, and time measuring starts; (ii) the quantum Compton-scattered from the target is detected by the same or a separate detector, and time measuring stops; (iii) the distance of the target is calculated from the time difference between (i) and (ii). The invention also relates to a device for carrying out the method, the device comprising a radioactive source, a scintillation crystal counter/counters, a time-amplitude converter (TAC) and a pulse height analyzer (PHA).

The present invention relates to a method and device for determining a distance on the basis of measuring the time of travel of gamma radiation.
In the metal industry there are problems of range-finding related to the surface level in ore reduction furnaces; these problems are complicated by the corroding and hot flue gases present in the range-finding space. The object of the present invention is to eliminate these problems.
Among the range-finding methods currently used in industry, the method according to the present invention is in principle similar to pulsed time-of-flight laser range-finding, in which the time of travel of light is used for range-finding. Owing to the limitations associated with the use of the laser, it cannot be used in all range-finding applications. The most significant of the limitations is perhaps the requirement of visual contact with the target to be measured by the laser beam. For this reason, for example, smoke, gases, dust, etc., prevent range-finding or hamper it. Another difficulty in the use of the laser appears in the measuring of targets having a high temperature, which increases noise in the measuring receiver and thereby increases imprecision in the measurement. On the other hand, imprecision increases because the propagation speed of light changes when the temperature of the medium changes. However, in industry there are numerous range-finding targets of the type mentioned above, and therefore it is necessary to develop other possible range-finding methods.


The present invention provides a GOA (Gate-Driver-on-Array) circuit, which includes multiple GOA units connected in cascade. An nth stage GOA unit of the GOA circuit includes a first (n−1)th stage signal input terminal (21), a second (n−1)th stage signal input terminal (22), a (n+1)th stage signal input terminal (23), a first clock signal input terminal (24), a first low level input terminal (25), a second low level input terminal (26), a first output terminal (27), and a second output terminal (28). The nth stage GOA unit further includes: a pull-up control unit (42), a pull-up unit (44), a first pull-down holding unit (46), a second pull-down holding unit (47), and a pull-down unit (48). The GOA circuit of the present invention overcomes the problems of poor performance of the conventional the GOA circuit caused by introduction of two low level signals into the GOA circuit and short operation service life and can enhance the quality of displayed images.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of liquid crystal displaying, and in particular to a gate-driver-on-array (GOA) circuit.
2. The Related Arts
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have a variety of advantages, such as thin device body, low power consumption, and being free of radiation, and are thus widely used. The development of the liquid crystal display industry brings in increasingly severer performance requirements, such as performance related to high resolution, high brightness, wide view angle, and low power consumption, and associated techniques have been developed. Most of the liquid crystal displays that are currently available in the market are backlighting liquid crystal displays, which comprise a liquid crystal display panel and a backlight module. The operation principle of the liquid crystal display panel is that, with liquid crystal molecules interposed between two parallel glass substrates, application of a drive voltage is selectively carried out by means of a driver circuit to the two glass substrates to control the liquid crystal molecules to change direction in order to refract out light emitting from the backlight module for generating images.
The recent development of the LCDs is toward high integration and low cost of which an important technique is the realization of mass production of gate driver on array (GOA) technique. The GOA technique uses the front-stage array process of TFT-LCD (Thin-Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) to make a gate line scan drive signal circuit on an array substrate of a liquid crystal display panel in order to achieve progressive gate scanning. Using the GOA technique to integrate the gate line scan drive signal circuit on the array substrate of the liquid crystal display panel allows for omission of a gate driver integrated circuit so as to reduce the cost of product in both material cost and manufacturing operation. Such a gate line scan drive signal circuit that is integrated on an array substrate by means of the GOA technique is also referred to as a GOA circuit. The GOA circuit comprises a plurality of GOA units and as show in FIG. 1, a circuit diagram of a GOA unit of a conventional GOA circuit is shown, comprising: a pull-up circuit 100, a pull-up control circuit 200, a pull-down circuit 300, a first pull-down holding circuit 400, and a second pull-down holding circuit 500, wherein the pull-up circuit 100 functions to output a clock signal CKn as a gate signal Gn. The pull-up control circuit 200 controls the activation time of the pull-up circuit 100 and is generally connected to a transfer signal STn−1 transmitted from a previous stage GOA unit and the gate signal Gn−1 thereof. The first pull-down holding circuit 400 pulls the gate line down to a low voltage at first time, namely shutting off the gate signal. The second pull-down holding circuit 500 functions to maintain the gate signal Gn and a control signal Qn of the pull-up circuit 100 at a shut-off condition (namely a negative potential). The GOA circuit is commonly provided with two low level signal lines and the two low level signal lines respectively supply a first low level signal Vss1 and a second low level signal Vss2, whereby the second low level Vss2 is used to reduce the voltage difference Vgs between the gate terminal and the source terminal of the pull-up circuit 100 when the scan circuit is at a closed (holding) time so as to reduce the leakage currents of the pull-up circuit 100 and the second pull-down holding circuit 500. A capacitor Cboost provides secondary boost of the control signal Qn of the pull-up circuit 100 to facilitate the output of the gate signal Gn.
However, the conventional GOA circuit suffers the following two shortcomings:
(1) A conductive path exists between two different negative potentials. Referring to FIG. 2, which is an equivalent circuit diagram of FIG. 1, L100 indicates a loop of the leakage current induced by the connection of a thin-film transistor T110 to the previous stage GOA unit and L200 indicates a loop of the leakage current induced by the connection of a thin-film transistor T410 to the instant stage GOA unit. The conventional GOA circuit would cause an effect of a great current between the leakage current loops L100 and L200. The magnitude of the current is directly related to the potentials of pull-down points Pn and Kn. Further, the current conducted therethrough is proportional to the number of the stages of the GOA circuit. This leads to an increase of the loading of the signal sources of Vss1 and Vss2 and in the worst case, abnormality of image displaying may result.
(2) The diode design of thin-film transistors T510 and T610 makes it is not possible for the high voltage of the pull-down points Pn and Kn to be quickly released and the voltage variations at the points of Pn and Kn are illustrated in FIG. 3. This increases the influence of stress on four primary thin-film transistors T320, T420, T330, T430 of the first and second pull-down holding circuits 400, 500, eventually affecting the operation service life of the GOA circuit.

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd


A system and method allows input/output to and from a computer system via the memory bus of a computer system. Input is accepted directly into shared memory or other memory and assigned to a processor or other entity. A processor or other entity may retrieve the input assigned to it and process the input. Output is written by the system processors to private memory, then retrieved from private memory by the system and method and output, for example to a network. Inputs and outputs are written to and from memory without using the I/O buses of the computer system and without generating interrupts to the system processors.

Computer systems use conventional input/output subsystems to allow a computer system containing one or more processors to communicate with external systems. However, there are several problems with conventional input/output subsystems.
One problem of conventional input/output subsystems is the use of interrupts. Because conventional input/output subsystems must communicate with external systems operating independently of the computer system in which they operate, some conventional input/output subsystems employ interrupts to notify the processor of the computer system when an input has arrived or when an output has been sent. When a conventional input/output subsystem receives a communication from the external system, the conventional input/output subsystem generates an interrupt to inform a processor that a communication has been received and is waiting to be serviced. If the processor provides output it may also receive an interrupt by the input/output system to let the processor know that the output has been sent. Interrupts decrease the efficiency of a conventional computer system because the computer system must save its state to handle the interrupt, then restore the state after the interrupt has been handled. Conventional computer systems used interrupts because they allowed a processor to perform other work in between handling the interrupts. Because the I/O used only a small portion of the processor's throughput, interrupts offered a more efficient mechanism for processing I/O than conventional polling techniques. However, in modern multiprocessor systems in which the I/O consumes a more significant portion of processor resources, the benefits of using interrupts can be outweighed by the overhead required.
Another problem with conventional I/O subsystems is the lack of speed of conventional I/O busses. I/O bus speeds in conventional computer systems have not kept pace with the increases in modern processor speeds, and thus, many computer systems are constrained by the speed of the I/O bus. If the computer system is operating as a server, such as a web server or a file server, the bottleneck at the I/O bus may leave the processors idle while the I/O is being sent or received.
To avoid the bottleneck of the I/O subsystem, some computer systems have employed direct memory access techniques. Direct memory access allows the I/O subsystem to access the same memory facilities being used by the one or more processors of the computer system. The processor or processors place the data to be transferred into the memory, and instruct the DMA subsystem to transfer the data to an external system. Data received by an external system is sent by the DMA subsystem to the memory. Interrupts are used to inform the processor that the DMA subsystem has received data from the external system and also to inform the processor that the data has been sent to the external system. Although the use of DMA reduces the number of interrupts, interrupts are still used with DMA subsystems. Furthermore, data transfers are made from the external system to the DMA subsystem using the I/O bus. In addition, the memory bus throughput is reduced because all data transfers require two uses of the memory bus: once to put the data into memory and once to remove it. Furthermore, DMA circuitry requires memory data bus contention control systems because both the processor and the DMA subsystem can access the memory data bus at the same time.
Another problem associated with using the memory facilities of a computer system for I/O processing is that the responses to the I/O requests in modern server systems could simply overwhelm any one memory bus. While many I/O requests such as disk I/O requests or requests for web pages are relatively small, the response to the request is often large compared to the request: it may contain an entire file or a web page. Using the memory facilities of the computer system to process I/O could overwhelm the memory bus while the response to the request is being transmitted.
Because many computer systems utilize several processors, and because certain requests for information may be distributed across several messages, it can be most efficient to provide all of the messages in a request to the same processor that handled any prior message in a request. Some I/O subsystems employ complicated interprocess communication techniques in order to route such messages to the proper processor. The overhead required for these techniques can reduce the throughput of the processors handling the messages.
What is needed is a system and method that has a data rate exceeding conventional I/O bus speeds, does not employ interrupts, will not overwhelm the memory facilities of a computer system in which it is employed, and can efficiently route messages to an appropriate processor in a multiple processor computer system.

System and method for efficient input/output of a computer system


Method for manufacturing a tubular hosiery item with a closed end, with a single-cylinder circular knitting machine having a pivoting semicircular plate having radially sliding hooks, including alternately rotating the needle cylinder for moving the needles of a first half of the needle cylinder and the hooks of the overlying semicircular plate to pass in front of a feed of the machine; the extracted hooks forming a support for a thread dispensed at the feed, actuated needles being actuated so as to take up the thread and be alternated with inactive needles, subsequently swapping the actuated needles with the inactive needle when the motion of the needle cylinder is reversed; a first needle of the needles of a second half of the needle cylinder is also made to pass in front of the feed to take up the thread, in order to allow both end hooks of the hooks of the semicircular plate to engage the thread; retracting the hooks of the semicircular plate so as to retain the engaged thread; forming heel knitting with the needles of the first half of the needle cylinder that have taken up the thread; folding over the semicircular plate so that the hooks which have retained the thread face the needles of the second half of the needle cylinder; extracting the hooks from the semicircular plate and actuating the needles of the second half of the needle cylinder while the cylinder is rotated continuously about its own axis so as to form loops of knitting by the needles of the second half of the needle cylinder, the loops meshing with the thread carried by the hooks of the semicircular plate, which are then retracted into the semicircular plate in order to release the previously held and transferred thread; and actuating the machine in order to complete the item.

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing tubular items having a closed end, such as hosiery items or the like, with a single-cylinder circular machine.
Hosiery items are currently manufactured by means of circular hosiery-making machines which form the item usually starting from the upper end of the leg and ending the manufacturing process at the toe, leaving said toe open.
The hosiery items must therefore be subjected to a subsequent sewing or looping operation to close the toe in order to form the finished product.
In view of the fact that the toe closure operation significantly affects the production cost of hosiery items, in recent years methods have been proposed, and machines have been studied, which are meant to manufacture hosiery items with a closed toe, i.e., which obtain, at the output of the circular machine that manufactures them, hosiery items in which the toe is already closed.
The methods proposed so far, however, are unable to obtain a hosiery item with a closed toe which has a degree of finish and/or a production quality which is comparable with that which can be obtained with the conventional looping operation.
The processes that have been tested have clearly pointed out the problem of a considerable increase in the production times of hosiery items or in any case a time increase which makes it economically disadvantageous to manufacture them.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,400 discloses a method for producing closed toe hosiery with a single-cylinder circular knitting machine which has a fold-over half-platen carrying radially sliding thread engagement elements. The method includes rotating the knitting machine cylinder about the cylinder axis with 180 degree oscillations to pass a first half of the needle cylinder and the half-platen arranged thereabove in front of a thread feed, whereupon the fed thread is supported upon extracted hook ends of the thread engagement elements, and engaging the supported thread with selected needles of the cylinder for each oscillation. The thread engagement elements are then retracted into the half-platen while retaining the thread or threads supported thereon, and heel knitting takes place with the needles of the first half of the needle cylinder. The half-platen is then folded over so as to face a second half of the needle cylinder to whose needles the thread or threads retained by the engagement elements of the half-platen are passed in the toe-closing operation, whereupon subsequently the remaining portion of the hosiery is knit. While this method for producing closed toe hosiery performs admirably, there is still the need to provide improvements in the toe-closing operation of a tubular knit item.

Closed toe method on a single-cylinder knitting machine