A method for removing dissolved oxygen from alkaline water containing dissolved oxygen at a temperature greater than 250.degree. F. which comprises the step of: adding to said alkaline water containing dissolved oxygen an effective oxygen-scavenging amount of a water-soluble semicarbazide of the formula ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are selected from the group consisting of C.sub.1 -C.sub.10 alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, cycloalkyloxy and alkyloxy groups.. Preferred materials are 4-phenyl semicarbazide, 4-isopropyl semicarbazide, 4-4-diethyl semicarbazide and carbazoyl morpholine. Below 400.degree. F., a catalyst is also required.

Efficient operation of boilers and other steam-run equipment requires chemical treatment of feedwater to control corrosion. Corrosion in such systems generally arises as a result of oxygen attack of steel in water supply equipment, pre-boiler systems, boilers, and condensate return lines. Oxygen attack of steel is exacerbated by the unavoidable high temperatures found in boiler equipment. Since acidic conditions also accelerate corrosion, most boiler systems are run in an alkaline environment.
The action of dissolved gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide are two of the main factors that lead to feedwater system and boiler corrosion. In order to understand the role of dissolved gases in corrosion, one must understand the electrochemical nature of corrosion.
Corrosion processes involve reactions where one species is oxidized EQU M.fwdarw.M.sup.2+ +2e.sup.-
and another is reduced. EQU x+e.sup.- .fwdarw.x.sup.-
In boiler systems the two species involved in the redox chemistry are typically two different metals, a metal and oxygen, or a metal and water. Under most conditions, oxidation of iron occurs. EQU Fe.sup.0 .fwdarw.Fe.sup.2+ +2e.sup.-
A current of electrons then flows from this anodic region to a point where reduction takes place. If oxygen is present, the cathodic reaction is EQU O.sub.2 +H.sub.2 O+4e.sup.- .fwdarw.4OH.sup.-
In the absence of oxygen, water is reduced to hydrogen. EQU 2H.sub.2 O+2e.sup.-.fwdarw.H.sub.2 +2OH.sup.-
Any agent that inhibits either the anodic or cathodic reaction will stop corrosion from occurring. Metal passivation, the formation of a protective oxide film, is one common example of a process that inhibits corrosion by blocking one of the electrochemical reaction pathways.
The severity of oxygen corrosion will depend on the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water, water pH and temperature. As water temperature increases, corrosion in feed lines, heaters, boiler, steam and return lines made of iron and steel increases.
In most modern boiler systems, dissolved oxygen is handled by first mechanically removing most of the dissolved oxygen and then chemically scavenging the remainder. Mechanical degasification is typically carried out with deaerating heaters, which will reduce oxygen concentrations to the range of 0.005-0.050 mg/L.
Chemical scavenging of the remaining dissolved oxygen is widely accomplished by treating the water with an oxygen scavenger, such as hydrazine or sodium sulfite. See, for example, the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Third Edition, Interscience Publishers, Volume 12, pages 734-771 in reference to hydrazine. As explained in Kirk-Othmer, hydrazine efficiently eliminates the residual oxygen by reacting with the oxygen to give water and gaseous nitrogen. In addition, hydrazine is a good metal passivator since it forms and maintains an adherent protective layer of magnetite over iron surfaces.
It is, however, widely recognized that hydrazine is a toxic chemical. Kirk-Othmer reports that it is highly toxic and readily absorbed through the mouth, skin and respiratory system, and that permanent corneal damage may result from contact with the eye. Low doses may cause central nervous system depression and high doses may cause convulsions and other damaging side effects.
Among other approaches to the scavenging of oxygen in boiler systems include: carbohydrazones as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,258,125; gallic acid as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,438; hydrazones as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,050; carbohydrazide as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,269,717 and 1,3 dihydroxy acetone as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,734.
Semicarbazone derivatives have been disclosed as additives in lubricating oils in U.S. Pat. No. 2,322,184. However, there is no indication that they would be effective additives to water-based systems.
Semicarbazides have been disclosed for deoxygenating liquids in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,399,098 and 5,108,624. A "hydrocarbazide" containing urea derivative is proposed as a boiler water treating agent in U.K. Patent Application No. 2,279,347. The functional group is described as C(O)NH.dbd.NH.sub.2 in the specification and C(O)N.dbd.NH.sub.2 in the claims. However, none of these references teach the substituted semicarbazides of the instant invention.
There is still a need for more efficient and less toxic treatment chemicals. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide oxygen scavenging treatments which scavenge oxygen and reduce corrosion rates of steel surfaces under typical boiler use conditions while reducing the potential of exposure to hydrazine.

4-alkyl and aryl semicarbazides as oxygen scavengers


A sectional storm panel for covering an opening in a building is formed of a plurality of vertically elongated, narrow, corrugated panel sections that are manually assembled, in edge to edge relationship, from the interior of the building, from each side edge of the opening towards the opposite side edge to form a pair of co-planar panel portions that are spaced apart. The space between the panels is covered by a separate cover section that is inserted through the space, from the interior of the building to the outside of the building, and then positioned manually so that its vertical edges overlap the adjacent panel section vertical edges that define the space between the panel sections. The sections extend between a lower rail and an upper rail secured to the lower and upper edges of the opening, respectively. Removable mechanical fasteners are manually applied, from the interior of the building, to fasten the sections to the lower rail as they are assembled to form the panel portions and to secure the cover section in its place.

This invention relates to a sectional storm panel which is assembled over the opening in a building to prevent penetration by objects that are propelled by high winds during storms.
In areas which are subject to severe wind storms, such as hurricanes and the like, it is common to cover window openings with storm panels when a storm warning is received so that when the storm actually arrives, the building is protected against the entry of objects that are carried by the wind. In addition, such storm panels can be used to protect a building from unauthorized entry through the building openings.
Sectional storm panels may be formed of a number of vertically elongated panel sections that are assembled over the building opening, in approximate edge to edge overlapping relationship, in a common plane to form a large panel. The panel is positioned over a window or doorway or porch entry or the like of a building. The individual sections may be made of corrugated steel sheets. The upper and lower edges of the panel sections may be abutted against, and secured to, a lower sash-type rail extending across the lower edge of the opening and an upper lintel-type rail extending across the upper edge of the opening. Thus, by forming a storm panel out of separate sections that are assembled together to form the composite panel, the storm panel may be more easily stored, when not in use, and may be manually lifted and positioned over the building opening, when necessary, by an individual workman or homeowner. An example of this type of sectional storm is disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,615, issued Dec. 3, 1996 and entitled "Sectional Storm Panel."
One problem that arises in assembling sectional storm panels is that the sections normally are applied from the outside of the building over the opening to be protected. Fasteners such as screws or bolts are normally applied from the exterior of the building by the person assembling the storm panel. Hence, where that person can stand on the ground, that is, where the opening is near the ground or near a floor-like surface, such as a porch, the assembly can be rapidly and conveniently performed. However, where the opening is high, relative to the ground or floor, the assembler can reach the opening and apply the sections only by standing upon a ladder or scaffold or the like. In such cases, the assembly is awkward and requires more time and care. In addition, it is relatively dangerous in that the assembler can accidently fall to the ground and become injured.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a sectional storm panel which may be assembled from the inside of the building. That is, it would be desirable to enable a person who is assembling the panel sections to stand inside of the building, facing outwardly of the opening, while assembling the sections, one by one, upon the outside of the building.
This present invention relates to a method and a sectional panel construction which can be assembled on the outside of a building opening by a single workman or by a homeowner standing inside the building.


A method of data compression and transmission include splitting a wave function representative of an input data set into an arbitrarily oriented elliptical polarization state and a comparator wave function state, the comparator wave function state being transmitted to a detector. A quantum Fourier transform is performed on the arbitrarily oriented elliptical polarization state to yield a quantum computational product. A quantum Hadamard transform is performed on the quantum computational product to yield one of two possible quantum particle outputs. The input data set is reconstructed based upon the coincident arrival of the comparator wave function state and one of the two quantum particle outputs. A method is performed on either a quantum computer or a digital computer. An optical bench with appropriate electronics is particularly well suited to function as a quantum computer for the compression and transmission of data corresponding to sound.

While quantum computing holds the prospect of rendering classically intractable computations feasible and open communication bandwidth to near-infinite levels, difficulties persist in preserving quantum coherence and the development of quantum computing algorithms. In spite of theoretical calculations showing enormous efficiency increases for quantum computers relative to classical computers, such improvements have not been forthcoming in practice. The societal implications of data compression and transmission based on quantum computing algorithms are considerable. Transmission of voice, image, video and holographic signals in a lossy, extremely highly compressed format would impact nearly every field of human endeavor.
Thus, there exists a need for a system and process for quantum computing algorithm manipulation of data.

Quantum Fourier transform based information transmission system and method

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


A touch panel including a first insulation substrate, a first conductive film, a first insulation film, first conductive wires, a second insulation substrate, a second conductive film, and second conductive wires is provided. The first conductive film is disposed on the first insulation substrate and the first insulation layer covers a portion of a periphery of the first conductive film so that the first conductive film has an exposed region. The first conductive wires are disposed on the periphery of the first conductive film and each of the first conductive wires includes an electrode segment and an extending segment. The electrode segment is electrically connected with the first conductive film and the extending segment is electrically isolated from the first conductive film. The second conductive film is disposed on the second insulation substrate. The second conductive wires are disposed on the periphery of the second conductive film.

Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates to a sensing apparatus, and more particularly, the disclosure relates to a touch panel.
Description of Related Art
Improvements in electronic and display technology allow significant enhancement of present operating interfaces. The most user-friendly and most popular operation method is touch operation, which means that a user directly touches or presses on images displayed on a screen to obtain the needed function or effect. The operation can be achieved by intuition so that it is convenient to children or elderly people.
The touch interface is commonly formed by a touch panel adhered on a display. The present touch panel can be divided into a resistive type, a capacitive type, an infrared type, and a surface acoustic type touch panels. A typical resistive touch panel includes two insulation substrates respectively having a conductive film and conductive wires, and one of the insulation substrates is adhered with a decorative substrate. The decorative substrate is directly touched by the user for performing an operation, which has characters, patterns, or a combination thereof for enhancing the beauty of the display.
However, the touch panel has at least three substrates (i.e. two insulation substrates and one decorative substrate), which results in the difficulty of reducing the thickness of the touch panel. In addition, because of the requirement for forming separate conductive blocks in the conductive film of the conventional touch panel, a wet etching process or a dry etching process (such as a laser etching process) is performed so as to increase the cost of manufacturing the touch panel. Furthermore, the wet etching process or the dry etching process can be harmful to the substrates.


A method and apparatus, of producing an alarm or ringing signal by providing a first pulse signal having a predetermined pulse width to define an alarm or ringing signal amplitude, and modulating the pulse signal with a second pulse signal having a pulse rate at least an order lower than the frequency of the first pulse signal to define the alarm or ringing signal frequency, averaging the modulated first pulse signal in a loudspeaker voice coil and reproducing the result in the loudspeaker to provide the alarm or ringing signal.

Until recently, most telephones contained a bell ringer operated by a 90 volt ringing signal transmitted along the telephone lines from a telephone switching office. More recently, many telephones have been made with local sound generators in which two alternating tones are reproduced in a local speaker to create a warble. Where these telephones are of digital type, for example, digitally generated signals are converted to analog, and the analog signals are reproduced in a loudspeaker. The volume of the sound is controlled in an amplifier of the analog signal.
Normally telephones provide only an alternating two tone signal which indicates to a user that there is an incoming call to the telephone. Such ringers make no provision for specialized alarm ringing at different ringing frequencies or at a different cadence than normal ringing, and cannot provide specialized ringing frequencies for calls directed to different members of the household.

Digitally controlled ringer signal generation


A process is disclosed to recycle and/or formulate expandable plastic materials using a system (1) comprising: an extruder unit (10), a mixer-heat exchanger unit (20), said process comprising the steps of: melting in the extruder unit (10), cooling in the mixer-heat exchanger unit (20), and controlling the melt pressure by means of a melt pump unit (50), followed by granulation, extrusion, or injection molding, wherein a first expansion agent (81) is not degassed during a melt processing in the system (1) such that it is substantially contained in the granulated expandable plastic material (130) or used to form either the extruded, formed and expanded plastic material (140) or the molded expanded plastic article (150). The present invention also relates to a granulated expandable plastic material (130), an extruded, formed and expanded plastic material (140), and a molded expanded plastic article (150) obtainable by said process.

The present invention relates to a process to recycle and/or formulate expandable plastic materials. The present invention also relates to a recycled and/or formulated expandable or expanded plastic material obtainable thereby.
Expanded plastics have been known for a long time and have proven useful in many fields. Such foams may be produced by foaming polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester or polystyrene granulates impregnated with expansion agents and the subsequent welding together of the foam granulates produced in this way to give moldings. Expandable Polystyrene is typically known as EPS. Important fields of use of EPS and other expandable plastics include thermal insulation in building and construction, containers, cups or packaging or reinforced panels or acoustic barriers in building and construction.
However an increasing concern in recent years is the efficient disposal or recycle of expandable or expanded plastic waste. The main problems associated with the recycling of post-consumer EPS waste are the high specific transport costs due to very low bulk density, and the low value-creation due to the poor effectiveness of the purification and the poor economic viability. For that reason, the main fraction of the waste is thermally recycled.
For EPS producers, as well as prefoamers and molders, it would be useful to have a process for the reprocessing of off-spec material (e.g. too small or too large impregnated pellets) or to upgrade EPS produced by the suspension method in order to readily upgrade an EPS stock to include value-added and/or functional additives.
Presently known or proposed methods to recycle waste impregnated thermoplastics only allow for partial recycling of waste expandable plastic materials and their components. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,310,109 B1 discloses dissolving up to 30% of recycled expanded PS material in styrene monomer prior to suspension polymerization; however, it is expected that the dissolved polystyrene and its various additives may interfere with the subsequent suspension polymerization. In addition, the presence of comonomers, especially crosslinking ones, may interfere with the dissolution of the recycled EPS in styrene monomer.
Similarly U.S. Pat. No. 8,173,714 B1 discloses a process for preparing EPS granulate containing athermanous particles and having a reduced thermal conductivity by suspension polymerization in which about 13% of oversize and undersize fractions of EPS (expandable micropellets or granulate containing substantial amounts of expansion agent) were dissolved in styrene prior to its suspension polymerization. It is expected that the expansion agent is lost during the dissolution process and the dissolved polystyrene and its various additives may interfere with the subsequent suspension polymerization. Therefore there is a need for methods to recycle waste expandable plastic materials more completely and more efficiently than is possible by means of dissolving small amounts of the waste expandable plastic material in its monomer prior to carrying out a suspension polymerization step.
WO 03/053651 A1 generically discloses and claims an extrusion process for the production of granulates of expandable thermoplastic polymers that allegedly may contain up to 30% of recycled product or waste products of previous processings; however, no specific disclosure of how this may be done, especially without loss of expansion agent, or examples of such processes are actually provided.
EP1925418A1 discloses a process for the continuous melt impregnation of a thermoplastic to produce foamed or foamable granulates from a polymer melt and a recycled polymer melt, wherein at least one part of the recycled polymer melt is produced from recycled, propellant-containing polymer granulates. The recycled, propellant-containing polymer granulates are melted in an extruder, and propellant contained in the recycled, propellant-containing polymer granulates is removed from the recycled polymer melt in a degasification apparatus. At least one additive is added in metered form to the recycled polymer melt downstream of the degasification apparatus. The polymer melt is either produced directly in a polymerisation plant, which includes a reactor and a degasification apparatus, or by the melting of polymer granulate in a melting apparatus. The polymer melt is loaded with a fluid propellant, so that a propellant-containing polymer melt is obtained, with the propellant being dispersed in a following mixing apparatus and homogenized. The propellant-containing polymer melt and the additive-containing recycled polymer melt are then mixed and homogenised in a following mixing apparatus to form a homogeneous polymer melt that is then subjected to a granulating step, which is carried out by means of a granulator. Although useful, the melt method and plant of EP '418A1 allows only for a partial recycling of propellant-containing granulates, as a conventional "virgin" melt is also required as a feed stream, and the propellant of the recycled, propellant-containing polymer granulates is lost in the degasification step.
In conclusion, it would be desirable to have an improved process to recycle expandable plastic materials. For example, it would be desirable to be able to process an entire feedstock consisting essentially of only recycled expandable plastic material. Also desirable would be to have a simple and direct melt process for preparing formulated and/or upgraded expandable plastic material grades from a feedstock of expandable plastic granulates, such as that obtainable from the conventional suspension polymerization or melt impregnation processes. It would also be desirable to have a granulated expandable plastic material, an extruded, formed and expanded plastic material, or a molded expanded plastic article obtainable or obtained by such processes.

Process to recycle expandable plastic materials and an expandable or expanded plastic material obtainable thereby


Provided is a reception device including a first acquisition unit configured to acquire station information regarding a station transmitting a broadcasting wave of broadcasting on an arbitrary segment, a storage unit configured to store the station information, a selection unit configured to select a station transmitting a broadcasting wave that is receivable at a predetermined position as a tunable station to be tuned to using the station information, a specifying unit configured to specify a transmission frequency used at a transmission point of a broadcasting wave of the broadcasting performed by the tunable station using the station information, and a tuning control unit configured to perform tuning control such that a service of the broadcasting performed by the tunable station is tuned to according to the transmission frequency.

In terrestrial digital broadcasting, a frequency band of about 6 MHz in an ultra-high frequency (UHF) band (which will also be referred to hereinafter as a physical channel) is divided into 13 segments, and broadcasting toward fixed terminals such as television receiver sets is performed with 12 of these segments. In addition, broadcasting toward mobile terminals, i.e., one-segment broadcasting (which will also be referred to hereinafter as one-seg broadcasting), is performed with the one remaining segment.
Currently, in the one-seg broadcasting performed as broadcasting toward mobile terminals, the same content as broadcasts toward fixed terminals is broadcast, for which the segment at the center of the 13 segments of the physical channel (the 7th segment in ascending order of frequency) is used.
Here, one-seg broadcasting that is currently performed with the segment at the center (which will also be referred to hereinafter as a central segment) is also referred to as normal one-seg broadcasting.
After a transition from analog terrestrial broadcasting to terrestrial digital broadcasting has been completed, the terrestrial digital broadcasting is performed using physical channels that are called channels 13 to 52 channels of the UHF band.
However, in practice, not all of the channels 13 to 52 are used in terrestrial digital broadcasting in respective regions, and thus there is an idle channel that is a physical channel not used in terrestrial digital broadcasting.
Methods for effectively using such an idle channel have been discussed, and as one of them, performing one-seg broadcasting using an arbitrary segment of an idle channel has been discussed.
Here, since each physical channel of terrestrial digital broadcasting has 13 segments, a maximum of 13 broadcasting services can be performed with one physical channel. A plurality of one-seg broadcasting services that are performed using a respective plurality of 13 segments of one physical channel are referred to as a multi-segment broadcasting service.
Note that one-seg broadcasting that is performed using one or more respective arbitrary segments out of 13 segments is also referred to as arbitrary one-seg broadcasting, and arbitrary one-seg broadcasting also includes multi-segment broadcasting.
In a reception terminal of the related art that receives normal one-seg broadcasts (which will also be referred to hereinafter as a normal one-seg terminal), users perform channel scanning to acquire tuning information that is information relating to tuning to a frequency or the like to perform tuning to a normal one-seg broadcast, and thus a table of tuning information (which will also be referred to hereinafter as a tuning table) is created (for example, refer to Patent Literatures 1 and 2).
In channel scanning of a normal one-seg terminal, a channel of the central segment of each physical channel of terrestrial digital broadcasting is selected (tuned), and when a transport stream (TS) can be received with the central segment, a network information table (NIT) which is a table that includes frequency information of each service for being tuned to carriers on which services are transported and information regarding corresponding services, and a service description table (SDT) which is a table that includes meta information of each service (such as a service name) are extracted from the TS, and then a tuning table is created from the NIT and the SDT.
When a reception terminal that receives arbitrary one-seg broadcasts has been realized, it is also necessary to create a tuning table likewise for a normal one-seg terminal.
Arbitrary one-seg broadcasting, however, is performed with an arbitrary segment among 13 segments of a physical channel, and thus it is necessary to perform tuning to all of the 13 segments of each physical channel, rather than simply to the central segment, which takes an enormous amount of time in comparison to channel scanning of a normal one-seg terminal.
For this reason, a proposal for a method for performing channel scanning in arbitrary one-seg broadcasting quickly (in a short period of time) has been demanded.

Reception device, reception method, and program


There are provided systems and methods for a payment information autofill mechanism that links a browser application with a user account such that a payment page at the browser application can be automatically filled based on the link. Specifically, the autofill mechanism establishes a link between a browser application running on a user device and a user account associated with the user that is stored at the server. When the user engages with the browser application to conduct a transaction on a merchant website, an application programming interface (API) call can be made to retrieve user virtual card information for automatically populating the payment data fields at the transaction page.

Electronic commerce allows a commercial transaction to occur electronically over the Internet. For example, a merchant may provide a merchant website that lists a list of shopping items, and a user may access and browse the shopping items on the website and select one or more items to purchase. During the transaction, the user often needs to provide payment information in order to make the purchase. The payment information can be credit card information, bank card information, an Internet payment account information such as the Internet payment service provided by PAYPAL®, Inc. of San Jose, Calif., USA, and/or the like. The user usually needs to re-enter the payment information at the transaction page whenever the user is in the process of finalizing a purchase on the merchant website.
To reduce the amount of manual efforts the user need to provide card information during an electronic transaction, some merchant websites offer to save the payment information with the user profile with the merchant. In this way, when a user is logged into the merchant website to make a purchase, the merchant website may retrieve the previously stored user payment information to complete the transaction. However, the security risk of storing payment information at a merchant website can be significant. Once the merchant website is under malicious attack and the use profile database is compromised, the user payment information may be stolen.
Embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages are best understood by referring to the detailed description that follows. It should be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identify like elements illustrated in one or more of the figures, wherein showings therein are for purposes of illustrating embodiments of the present disclosure and not for purposes of limiting the same.

Systems and methods for configuration information autofill at a browser linked with user accounts


An integrated circuit for controlling a boost converter. The integrated circuit includes a gate pin, a source pin, a feedback pin, a current mirror sub-circuit, and a control sub-circuit. The current mirror sub-circuit is connected to the source pin to produce an output current from a reference current flowing between the source pin and ground, the reference current being larger than the output current. The control sub-circuit is connected to the current mirror sub-circuit, the gate pin and the feedback pin to control a gate voltage provided to the gate pin based on the output current and a feedback voltage at the feedback pin.

One method used in modern, inductor based DC/DC boost converters to control the switching of power through the inductor utilizes a high current, low resistance, precision resistor. The resistor, shown in FIG. 1 as Rsense, is used to measure the current flowing through the inductor as the inductor is charging. The inclusion of this off-chip resistor as part of the DC/DC boost converter can be a significant part of the cost of the boost converter circuitry, and increases system complexity by imposing off-chip requirements on the manufacturer of the appliance rather than the more knowledgeable fabricator of the boost converter itself.
Generally, this precision resistor is not included as part of the integrated circuit that controls the converter. The low impedance of the resistor (in the neighborhood of 50 milliohms) makes its inclusion in such a chip problematic, as chip fabricators have difficulty fabricating a low resistance device with a high degree of required precision. The same requirement for precision also makes the installation of Rsense into the enclosing appliance difficult, as careful traces are required in order to avoid instability in the DC/DC converter. As a result of these factors, the cost of both the resistor itself and assembling the resistor into the final product (the television that contains the DC/DC converter, for example) is high.
In addition, this topology often requires the appliance manufacturer to make use of a low pass filter to screen out the noise produced by the MOSFET (shown in FIG. 1 as S1) as S1 opens and closes. Without such filtering, the noise from the MOSFET can make it difficult to accurately read (and then process) the voltage across Rsense. With the added requirement of such filtering, there is additional cost in both the elements of the low pass filter and the careful assembly of these elements onto the circuit board of the appliance.
In addition, the use of the off-chip resistor requires the chip fabricator to execute modifications to compensate for any remaining noise within the PWM control loop. This becomes more problematic when it is understood that the in-circuit compensation is for an external element of the DC/DC converter circuitry, said element installed by the appliance manufacturer rather than the chip fabricator. These additional frequency components add design complexity and design cost to the boost converter circuitry.
While it is technically possible to put S1 on the same substrate as the rest of the components, this is generally impractical because of its high voltage requirement and low resistance rating. The inclusion of this resultantly large switch within the same substrate as the remaining boost converter components would result in a higher cost per unit that can outweigh all of the other costs outlined previously. It is possible to package S1 and the remaining components—manufactured on different substrates—in the same package, but this too is of negligible added benefit and would impose otherwise absent restrictions on the appliance manufacturer.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Integrated circuit for controlling an inductive boost converter

ADVANCED ANALOGIC TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATED


A operation program of a robot is simply changed by using a workpiece body without using a master body. The operation program of the robot is corrected by correction data obtained from cameras. When a point of the operation program is desired to be changed to another point, a point on the workpiece body is changed to a changed point. A robot control unit reads the changed point as the coordinate values of the respective axes and changes the same to space coordinate values. Further, the space coordinate values are converted to reference space coordinate values on the master body by an inverse conversion matrix of the correction data. The reference space coordinate values are inversely converted to the coordinate values of respective reference axes. Since the operation program is commanded by the coordinate values of the respective reference axes, the point of the operation program is converted to the another point by using the coordinate values of the respective reference axes. With this method, the operation program can be simply changed without using the master body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a robot teaching method for changing an operation program for a robot, and more specifically, to a method of teaching a robot by which the teaching points of an operation program can be simply changed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Robots have been widely used in welding lines and assembly lines for automobiles. In these manufacturing lines for automobiles, even if an operation program for a robot is created, each automobile is not always stopped at a given position. To cope with this problem, a position of an object is confirmed by using a visual sensor or the like and the operation program is corrected, based on data obtained therefrom, so that each object can be accurately processed.
More specifically, positions of the operation program for the robot are taught by using a master body. Next, a visual sensor recognizes the position of the master body and stores it as a reference position. Next, an actual workpiece body is placed in position, the visual sensor recognizes the position of the workpiece body, notifies a robot control unit of an amount of dislocation between the master body and the workpiece body as correction data, and the robot control unit adds the correction data to the operation program in order to correctly process the workpiece body.
Nevertheless, a problem arises in that when teaching positions and the like of an operation program are changed, a master body must again be placed in position to change the operation program. This job of placing the master body is time consuming. Further, the master body must be kept in the vicinity of a manufacturing line at all times.
Conversely, since the tool center point (TCP) of the robot moves on a locus corrected by the correction data on the workpiece body, it is actually difficult to change the operation program by using only the workpiece body.


In some embodiments, a given frame or picture may have different shading rates. In one embodiment in some areas of the frame or picture the shading rate may be less than once per pixel and in other places it may be once per pixel. Examples where the shading rate may be reduced include areas where there is motion and camera defocus, areas of peripheral blur, and in general, any case where the visibility is reduced anyway. The shading rate may be changed in a region, such as a shading quad, by changing the size of the region.

This relates generally to graphics processing.
Graphics processors are used to develop images for display on computer displays. A graphics pipeline includes a plurality of stages that develop the finished depiction. An image is rendered using rasterization by sampling different functions and shading. A visibility function is a sample point inside a triangle. Shading determines what is the color at a certain sample point. Thus, the terms "visibility samples" or "shading samples" are used hereinafter.
In super-sampling anti-aliasing (SSAA), visibility samples are the same as the shading samples. In multi-sampling anti-aliasing (MSAA), there is a single shading sample per pixel and many visibility samples per pixel. Graphics processors generally support these two anti-aliasing solutions.


Embodiments of the present invention relate to systems for converged service creation and execution. In an embodiment, a system includes an application server and service session manager logic, where the service session manager logic is in communication with the application server. A converged service creation and execution environment messaging bus is in communication with the service session manager logic, and a plurality of service servers are in communication with the converged service creation and execution environment messaging bus.

A known communications system architecture is described in the Telecommunications Information Networking Architecture Consortium ("TINA-C") document entitled "Overall Concepts and Principles of TINA," version 1.0, issued Feb. 17, 1995 (hereinafter the "TINA overview"). The overall TINA architecture can include a service architecture having a session model, a network architecture related to transport networks, and a computing architecture having a distributed processing environment (DPE) architecture.
The TINA overview describes a service session concept, where the "session" is defined as representing "a temporal period during which activities are carried out with the purpose of achieving a goal." Four types of sessions are identified: (i) a service session that represents a single activation of a service, (ii) a user session that represents a single user's interaction with a service session; (iii) a communications session that represents the connections associated with a service session; and (iv) an access session that represents a user's attachment to a system and the user's involvement in services.
A service session, as described by the TINA overview, is a single activation of a service that relates users of the service together so that they can interact. The TINA service session can be controlled at least in part by a TINA service session manager, which offers two types of operational interfaces: (a) a generic session control interface that allows users to join and leave a service session; and (b) service specific operations that are dictated by the capabilities offered by service logic of the service session.
FIG. 1 is an illustration of a known system described in the TINA overview. In particular, FIG. 1 depicts a view of the access and the session concepts. User agents 21 and 22 and terminal agents 31 and 32 represent service independent objects, and the remaining system objects (e.g., TINA service session manager 100, TINA communications session manager 110, user sessions 11 and 12, and end user application 51 and 52) depict service specific objects. When a first user is to engage in a document editing session with another user, the first user can select a terminal on which he will access the network (e.g., a workstation with windowing capabilities). As part of a login procedure, the terminal agent 31 and user agent 21 are found (e.g., using trading services of the DPE) and associated with each other. The user can then be presented with a menu of capabilities and can select a document editing option. A request is passed to the user agent 21 to establish a document editing service session. The user agent 21 creates a document editing TINA service session manager 100, and joins the user to the session, causing a user session 11 to be created. Another menu is presented to the user requesting the identification of the other user to be called. After the user agent receives the identification, the user agent 21 requests that the TINA service session manager 100 join the other user in the session. The TINA service session manager 100 uses the identification to locate (e.g., again via trading) the other user agent 22, and a request to join is sent to the user agent 22. After determining which terminal to alert, the user agent 22 alerts the terminal agent 32 of the incoming session request. The terminal agent 32 then alerts the terminal (e.g., by presenting a window on the user's terminal when the user is already logged on). The other user accepts the request, and the acceptance is sent back to the TINA service session manager 100. After receiving the acceptance, the TINA service session manager 100 creates a user session 12 for the other user. The first user then requests the TINA service session manager 100 to set-up an audio-visual connection to the other user, so that the two users can discuss edits to be made before carrying them out. The TINA service session manager 100 requests the TINA communication session manager 110 to establish a stream 111 between end-user applications 51 and 52 (computational objects) residing on the users' terminals (the interface identities of which were passed over in an earlier request or acceptance). When the stream 111 is established, a response is passed back to the first user. The two users can then engage in an audio-video conversation, where they discuss the changes to be made to the document. The first user can direct the TINA service session manager 100 to open the document, and the document appears on the users' screens. Commands to edit the document are sent to the TINA service session manager 100, and the changes are reflected back on the users' screens. At any time, either party may leave the session, which will result in the other party being notified and the deletion of the service session. During the service session, subject to permission, each user may request another user to join.
FIG. 2 shows an illustration of another known system. In particular, FIG. 2 shows a system based on the Reference Service Architecture of the International Softswitch Consortium. Softswitch 220 and signaling gateway 230 can be coupled to an Advanced Intelligent Network ("AIN")/Signaling System 7 ("SS7") signaling network 270 of the public switched telephone network ("PSTN") 260 to perform call control operations of calls placed over the PSTN 260. In an embodiment, the term PSTN encompasses the interconnected collection of local and long distance phone companies in the United States. A media gateway 240 can receive voice data (e.g., PSTN format data) from a telephone via PSTN 260 and convert the voice data into Internet Protocol ("IP") data. Data network 250 can be coupled to softswitches 220 and can carry data from one media gateway 240 to second media gateway 240. In an embodiment, data network 250 can be an Asynchronous Transfer Mode ("ATM") network, an IP network, a MultiProtocol Label Switching ("MPLS") network, a combination thereof, and so forth. For example, a long-distance call can originate from a first telephone. Softswitch 220 can communicate with second softswitch 220 to set-up the long-distance call across network 250 to a second telephone, where media gateways 240 convert the voice communications between the PSTN format and the IP format.
Application server 200 can be coupled to softswitches 220 to provide a service creation platform. Examples of services that can be created and managed by application server 200 include Internet call waiting, a multimedia conferencing, click-to-dial, and so forth. A media server 210 can also be coupled to application server 200 and to network 250 to provide audio announcements with respect to service applications. For example, a media server 210 can provide announcements to users in setting up a conference bridge for a conference call. Media server 210 can also send audio and/or video streams to one or more users and/or IP endpoints. In an embodiment, the signaling between softswitch 220 and signaling gateway 230 can be ISUP (integrated services digital network user part) signaling, TALI (transport adaptive layer interface) signaling, SIGTRAN (signaling transport) signaling, and so on. Media gateway 240 can be a Media Gateway Control Protocol ("MGCP" or "Megaco") compliant gateway, and signaling between softswitch 220 and media gateway 240 can be MGCP/Megaco signaling. Communications between data network 250 and media server 210 or media gateways 240 can be RTP (realtime transport protocol) communications. Communications between application server 240 and softswitches 220 can be according to the Session Initiation Protocol ("SIP").
The AIN/SS7 service creation and execution environment ("SCE") illustrated in FIG. 2, however, is not adequate for broadband and hybrid messaging services. A softswitch 220 is a voice-oriented call processing engine. Softswitch 220 can behave as a PSTN/IP service creation bridge that allows narrowband service creation (e.g., with IP connectivity via the protocol adaption layer). For converged broadband and/or hybrid messaging services, a softswitch call model is not adequate. Also, converged services with flexible billing (e.g., bill by the minute, bill based on throughput, etc.) and/or user-specified Quality of Service ("QoS") can not be adequately provided by the softswitch call model. Moreover, a softswitch does not provide session control at the service level, and softswitch vendors typically have different architectures and proprietary Application Programming Interfaces ("APIs").
A large base of hybrid services exist in the IP domain currently, and that base is increasing. Converged service creation, user-specified QoS, and flexible billing can become key service differentiators for communications service providers (e.g., regional communications service providers, data communications service providers, long-distance communications service providers, and so on). In view of the foregoing, it can be appreciated that a substantial need exists for systems that can advantageously provide for a converged service creation and execution environment for integrated data networks.

Systems for an integrated data network voice-oriented service and non-voice-oriented service converged creation and execution environment


The present application relates to the technical field of floor surface decoration materials, and particularly provides a multi-coating radiation-cured pre-coating film and a preparation method therefor. The first aspect of the present application provides the multi-coating radiation-cured pre-coating film, which sequentially comprises a flexible transparent film layer and a radiation-cured coating from bottom to top, wherein the radiation-cured coating sequentially comprises a radiation-cured elastic primer layer and a radiation-cured wear-resistant finish paint layer from bottom to top, the at least one radiation-cured elastic primer layer and the at least one radiation-cured wear-resistant finish paint layer are arranged, and the radiation-cured elastic primer layer equentially comprises a radiation-cured elastic wear-resistant primer layer and a radiation-cured elastic matte/bright primer layer from bottom to top.

Along with increasingly strict environmental protection laws and regulations and increasingly louder environmental protection calls, consumers have higher requirements on repeated coating and mounting modes of floors, and development of novel construction modes is extremely urgent. Conventional film coating (also called laminating) has the characteristics of construction simplicity and environmental friendliness, a film-coated product has certain waterproof, fading-proof and stain-resistant effects, the texture and the grade of a base material are improved, but the strength is poor, and the film-coated product does not have wear-resistant and scratch-resistant effects, so that at present, the film coating is only used in printed matter markets and various packaging product markets without high requirements on wear resistance, scratch resistance, strength and other properties, and has not yet been applied to the coating fields of floors, furniture and the like.
Besides, in the actual use process, in order to meet the requirements of the consumers for the different properties such as the wear resistance, the scratch resistance and the strength of the surfaces of the floors, various functional coatings are often added to the surfaces of the floors to meet the requirements of the different consumers for the different types of floors, but various problems are likely to occur to the prepared floors while diversified floor production is achieved, for example, binding force between the floors and coatings is poor, and the coatings are nondurable and are prone to shedding, which results in shortening of the service life of the floors. In addition, for part of PVC floors with lines, the produced PVC floors are sometimes prone to uneven gloss, and the difference between the floors is large.

Multi-coating radiation-cured pre-coating film and preparation method thereof


An entertainment system for a vehicle has a display configured such that it may be pivoted with respect to a seat. The display may be configured to be pivoted in either a forward direction or a direction opposite the forward direction. The display may be configured to face both the forward direction of travel and a different direction. The display may also be configured to be pivoted in a direction by generating a first torque, and pivoted farther in that direction by generating a second torque of greater force than the first torque. This may be accomplished by using a damper and a spring. The system may include a braking mechanism, may include a frame where the display is visible through a first side and protected by a second side, and may be pivotable along more than one axis.

In order to offer passengers in a motor vehicle the ability to work or to entertain or inform themselves, it is known to install a display screen device in the region of the headrest of the seatback of a vehicle seat. The display screen device can be, for example, a TV receiver, a video device, or a computer.
Known vehicle seats that fulfill this purpose are described in German Utility Model Applications DE 295 18 369 U1 and DE 296 00 783 U1, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,265. Utility Model DE 296 00 783 U1, for example, discloses a headrest for motor vehicles in which entertainment-sector devices can be integrated into a cavity. The vehicle seat having the headrest described is one of the type described initially.
In the case of the headrest for vehicle seats known from Utility Model DE 295 18 369 U1, there is arranged on the back side of the headrest a display screen that is integrated into a shaped element, removable from the headrest, having a space that is intended for reception of the headrest.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,265 describes a vehicle seat in which the integrated display screen device is mounted pivotably in a receiving space of the headrest, although the headrest is not fastened detachably to the seatback of the seat but rather forms a physical unit therewith.
It is the object of the invention to configure a vehicle seat having an integrated display screen device of the kind described initially, using means of simple design, so as to improve its ease of assembly while ensuring maximum comfort and a high level of safety for the vehicle's passengers.
The teachings hereinbelow extend to those embodiments which fall within the scope of the appended claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the above-mentioned needs.


An MPEG decoder system and method for decoding frames of a video sequence. The MPEG decoder includes motion compensation logic which analyzes motion vectors in an encoded frame of the MPEG stream and uses prior decoded reference blocks to recreate the data encoded by the motion vector. The MPEG decoder stores reference block data according to a novel skewed tile arrangement to minimize the maximum number of page crossings required in retrieving this data from the memory.

A compression standard referred to as MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) compression is a set of methods for compression and decompression of full motion video images which uses the interframe and intraframe compression techniques described above. MPEG compression uses both motion compensation and discrete cosine transform (DCT) processes, among others, and can yield compression ratios of more than 200:1.
The two predominant MPEG standards are referred to as MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. The MPEG-1 standard generally concerns inter-field data reduction using block-based motion compensation prediction (MCP), which generally uses temporal differential pulse code modulation (DPCM). The MPEG-2 standard is similar to the MPEG-1 standard, but includes extensions to cover a wider range of applications, including interlaced digital video such as high definition television (HDTV).
Interframe compression methods such as MPEG are based on the fact that, in most video sequences, the background remains relatively stable while action takes place in the foreground. The background may move, but large portions of successive frames in a video sequence are redundant. MPEG compression uses this inherent redundancy to encode or compress frames in the sequence.
An MPEG stream includes three types of pictures, referred to as the Intra (I) frame, the Predicted (P) frame, and the Bi-directional Interpolated (B) frame. The I or Intraframes contain the video data for the entire frame of video and are typically placed every 10 to 15 frames. Intraframes provide entry points into the file for random access, and are generally only moderately compressed. Predicted frames are encoded with reference to a past frame, i.e., a prior Intraframe or Predicted frame. Thus P frames only include changes relative to prior I or P frames. In general, Predicted frames receive a fairly high amount of compression and are used as references for future Predicted frames. Thus, both I and P frames are used as references for subsequent frames. Bi-directional pictures include the greatest amount of compression and require both a past and a future reference in order to be encoded. Bi-directional frames are never used as references for other frames.
In general, for the frame(s) following a reference frame, i.e., P and B frames that follow a reference I or P frame, only small portions of these frames are different from the corresponding portions of the respective reference frame. Thus, for these frames, only the differences are captured, compressed and stored. The differences between these frames are typically generated using motion vector estimation logic, as discussed below.
When an MPEG encoder receives a video file or bitstream, the MPEG encoder generally first creates the I frames. The MPEG encoder may compress the I frame using an intraframe lossless compression technique. After the I frames have been created, the MPEG encoder divides respective frames into a grid of 16.times.16 pixel squares called macroblocks. The respective frames are divided into macroblocks in order to perform motion estimation/compensation. Thus, for a respective target picture or frame, i.e., a frame being encoded, the encoder searches for an exact, or near exact, match between the target picture macroblock and a block in a neighboring picture referred to as a search frame. For a target P frame the encoder searches in a prior I or P frame. For a target B frame, the encoder searches in a prior and/or subsequent I or P frame. When a match is found, the encoder transmits a vector movement code or motion vector. The vector movement code or motion vector only includes information on the difference between the search frame and the respective target picture. The blocks in target pictures that have no change relative to the block in the reference picture or I frame are ignored. Thus the amount of data that is actually stored for these frames is significantly reduced.
After motion vectors have been generated, the encoder then encodes the changes using spatial redundancy. Thus, after finding the changes in location of the macroblocks, the MPEG algorithm further calculates and encodes the difference between corresponding macroblocks. Encoding the difference is accomplished through a math process referred to as the discrete cosine transform or DCT. This process divides the macroblock into sub blocks, seeking out changes in color and brightness. Human perception is more sensitive to brightness changes than color changes. Thus the MPEG algorithm devotes more effort to reducing color space rather than brightness.
Therefore, MPEG compression is based on two types of redundancies in video sequences, these being spatial, which is the redundancy in an individual frame, and temporal, which is the redundancy between consecutive frames. Spatial compression is achieved by considering the frequency characteristics of a picture frame. Each frame is divided into non-overlapping blocks, and each block is transformed via the discrete cosine transform (DCT). After the transformed blocks are converted to the "DCT domain", each entry in the transformed block is quantized with respect to a set of quantization tables. The quantization step for each entry can vary, taking into account the sensitivity of the human visual system (HVS)} to the frequency. Since the HVS is more sensitive to low frequencies, most of the high frequency entries are quantized to zero. In this step where the entries are quantized, information is lost and errors are introduced to the reconstructed image. Run length encoding is used to transmit the quantized values. To further enhance compression, the blocks are scanned in a zig-zag ordering that scans the lower frequency entries first, and the non-zero quantized values, along with the zero run lengths, are entropy encoded.
As discussed above, temporal compression makes use of the fact that most of the objects remain the same between consecutive picture frames, and the difference between objects or blocks in successive frames is their position in the frame as a result of motion (either due to object motion, camera motion or both). The key to this relative encoding is motion estimation. In general, motion estimation is an essential processing requirement in most video compression algorithms. As described above, motion estimation is the task of identifying temporal redundancy between frames of the video sequence.
When an MPEG decoder receives an encoded stream, the MPEG decoder reverses the above operations. Thus the MPEG decoder performs inverse scanning to remove the zig zag ordering, inverse quantization to de-quantize the data, and the inverse DCT to convert the data from the frequency domain back to the pixel domain. The MPEG decoder also performs motion compensation using the transmitted motion vectors to re-create the temporally compressed frames.
When frames are received which are used as references for other frames, such as I or P frames, these frames are decoded and stored in memory. When a temporally compressed or encoded frame is received, such as a P or B frame, motion compensation is performed on the frame using the prior decoded I or P reference frames. The temporally compressed or encoded frame, referred to as a target frame, will include motion vectors which reference blocks in prior decoded I or P frames stored in the memory. The MPEG decoder examines the motion vector, determines the respective reference block in the reference frame, and accesses the reference block pointed to by the motion vector from the memory.
A typical MPEG decoder includes motion compensation logic which includes local or on-chip memory. The MPEG decoder also includes an external memory which stores prior decoded reference frames. The external memory is typically a paged memory which stores data in a plurality of pages. As is well known, when data is accessed within a page, the memory accesses occur quickly, i.e., without wait states, because the row address is common. However, when a page miss or page crossing occurs, i.e., when data is required which is located on a different page than the page currently being accessed, then a new RAS and CAS are required, thus requiring wait states. This increases the memory access latency and thus reduces system performance.
Therefore, a new system and method is desired for efficiently performing motion compensation in an MPEG decoder. A new system and method is desired which minimizes the maximum number of memory page crossings in retrieving reference block data for use in motion compensation. A new system and method is further desired which provides guaranteed performance characteristics.

System and method for performing motion compensation using a skewed tile storage format for improved efficiency


Objects of the present invention are to provide a method for directly obtaining pluripotent stem cells from body tissue and the thus obtained pluripotent stem cells. The present invention relates to SSEA-3 (+) pluripotent stem cells that can be isolated from body tissue.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to body tissue-derived Pluripotent stem cells.
Background Art
Planarians and newts can regenerate their entire bodies even after their bodies have been cut. Such high regenerative capacity depends on the presence of pluripotent stem cells existing in the mesenchymal tissues. However, in the case of higher organisms such as humans, the tissue regenerative capacity is far lower than that of those animals. An inner cell cluster (or ICM: inner cell mass) in a mammalian blastocyst is recognized as a collection of pluripotent stem cells that is capable of differentiating into cells of ectodermal, mesodermal, and endodermal cell lineages. However, such pluripotency becomes limited as development proceeds, followed by cell differentiation for specialization resulting in each type of tissue.
In recent years, adult stem cells or tissue stem cells that can contribute to tissue regeneration have been attracting attention. However, it has remained unknown whether or not pluripotent stem cells are present in mature mammalian bodies, as in the case of planarians or newts.
Bone marrow stromal cell (MSC) fractions having the ability to differentiate into bone, cartilage, adipocytes, neuronal cells, skeletal muscles, and the like have been reported as cells obtained from an adult having differentiation potency (see Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2). However, bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs) are comprised of various kinds of cell populations. The differentiation potency of MSC population is varied, but the main body thereof is not clearly understood. Furthermore, it requires stimulation with a specific compound, gene transfer, or the like for differentiation into specific cells. Specifically, there is a need to construct a system for inducing differentiation.
Furthermore, iPS cells (induced pluripotent stem cells) (see Patent document 1, Patent document 2, Non-patent document 3, and the like) have been reported as adult-derived pluripotent stem cells. However, establishment of iPS cells requires an induction operation using a specific substance, such as introduction of a specific gene into a dermal fibroblast fraction (dermal fibroblast) that is a mesenchymal cell population or introduction of a specific compound into somatic cells.    Patent document 1 JP Patent No. 4183742    Patent document 2 JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2008-307007 A    Non-patent document 1 M. DEZAWA et al., The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 113, 12, pp. 1701-1710, (2004)    Non-patent document 2 M. DEZAWA et al., SCIENCE, 2005 Jul. 8, 309, pp. 314-317, (2005)    Non-patent document 3 Okita K. et al. SCIENCE, 2008 Nov. 7, 322 (5903), pp. 949-953

SSEA-3 pluripotent stem cell isolated from body tissue


The present disclosure relates to a novel substituted pyrazole derivative having an effect of inhibiting serine/threonine kinase activity targeting receptor ALK5 of TGF-β, and a pharmaceutical composition including the compound of the present disclosure as an active ingredient may be useful in preventing and/or treating cancers, autoimmune diseases, fibrotic diseases, inflammatory diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, infectious diseases, pulmonary diseases, cardiovascular diseases or metabolic diseases, or other diseases associated with a decrease in TGF family signaling activity.

A transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signal regulates a developmental stage and cell activity in various ways, and thereby regulates various cell responses such as cell proliferation, differentiation, cell migration and cell death. TGF-β has at least 3 isoforms called TGF-β1, TGF-β2 and TGF-β3, and TGF-β1 may be divided into two well-preserved single membrane serine/threonine kinase type I (ALK5) and formulation TGF-β receptor. When oligomerization is induced by a ligand, the formulation receptor induces activation of ALK5 by hyperphosphorylating serine/threonine residues of ALK5 and producing Smad protein bonding sites. Activated ALK5 phosphorylates Smad2 and Smad3 to form a complex with Smad4, and migrates into the nucleus to regulate gene expression (Pennison, M. Pasche, B., Curr Opin Oncol (2007) 19, 579-85, Attisano, L., Wrana, J L. Science (2002) 296, 1646-47). Accordingly, abnormality in the TGF-β signaling function causes a number of human diseases (for example, deposition of extracellular matrix, inflammatory response, fibrotic dysfunction and advanced cancer).
Meanwhile, TGF-β responds to cancer formation in an early stage of cancer, and facilitates metastasis formation in cancer growing and late tumor stages. For cancer cells, TGF-β facilitates proliferation, epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), penetration and metastasis, acts as a major regulator of autocrine and paracrine between a cancer and microenvironments around the cancer, and acts on changes in the microenvironment, neovascularization and immunosuppression, which is effective in inhibiting tumor proliferation and cancer metastasis. An important role played by TGF-β in facilitating cancer growth also indicates a correlation between potent TGF-β expression and poor prognosis.
In addition, fibrosis of organs and tissues is considered to be well-known as a relation between the TGF-β and diseases. EMT activity has been known to be a main mechanism causing fibrosis to date. An inhibitor of intercellular signaling pathways is a useful therapeutic for fibroplasia. It is known to be centrally related to fibrosis of organs such as kidney, liver, lung, heart, bone marrow and skin. From such a point, it has become clear that inhibiting TGF-β is useful for preventing and treating all diseases accompanying fibrosis including chronic renal disease.
A compound according to the present disclosure and a salt thereof have been found to have very important pharmacological properties while being highly tolerant. Particularly, these exhibit TGF-β receptor I kinase (ALK5)-inhibiting properties. Accordingly, for signaling pathway ingredients of the TGF-β family, development of inhibitors in treating or preventing diseases associated with an abnormal behavior of this signaling pathway has been required.

Pyrazole derivative as ALK5 inhibitor and uses thereof


The invention relates to a flange joint assembly for connecting together cylindrical duct sections. A tubular slip collar fits within opposing sections which engage an exterior projecting bead encircling the exterior of the slip collar. Opposing flange clamps are mounted on the ducts having leaf elements pressing against the duct surfaces. Opposing band clamps are mounted around the leaf elements securing the leaf elements to the duct surfaces. Opposing V-band ring locking devices encircle the flange clamps. In the alternative, Van-Stone flange rings secure the flange clamps together by means of locking bolts.

There is a large quantity of plastic ductwork and piping used in industry because of their beneficial corrosion resistance to a broad variety of aggressive chemicals. There is a large variety of plastic materials that are used for this purpose, including but not limited to polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polyethylene, and fiberglass reinforced plastics using a variety of thermoset resins.
Each of these presents its own challenges in terms of making field joints to connect the various section of ductwork and piping together in the field. Small diameter thermoplastic sections are generally assembled with the aid of adhesives; large diameter duct or pipe sections are generally assembled with the aid of permanent flanges made of the same materials which have been chemically welded to the duct or pipe sections. In fiberglass work, the conventional joint making mode is to use what is commonly known as "bell and spigot" joints. This is an industry term for the treatment of the ends of various sections of straight duct, fittings, or a combination of the two. One end, left as a trimmed raw edge the same size as the diameter of the duct or pipe, is the "small end or spigot end." The opposite end of the fitting or duct is enlarged, known as a bell, into which the spigot or small end fits.
In the thermoplastic field on small diameter sections a standard glue or resin may be used to coat the exterior of the spigot and/or the interior of the bell. This glue generally "melts" the materials so they bond very tightly together. The same type of joint may be used in fiberglass reinforced plastics; however, here, the bell and spigot are merely an aid to alignment in the field. In the case of the fiberglass materials, the duct and/or fitting close to the joint must first be sanded before the application of thermoset resin and glass fabric. The joint must be wrapped with various layers of glass saturated with resin in order to complete the joint. Once the resin hardens, the joint is set.
All of these non-metallic materials may be connected with flanges made of the basic virgin material from which the duct, pipe and/or fittings are made. For example, in the case of thermoplastics, and as an integral part of the duct or pipe, particularly on large diameters, a flange may be chemically welded to the ends of each duct, pipe and/or fitting, or may be made as an integral part of the duct or pipe, and these flanges are subsequently joined in the field. Such flanged joints require drilling of bolt holes, and the use of bolt sets and gaskets which connect flanged joints together in the field.
A similar operation may also occur with fiberglass reinforced plastics, both in ductwork and piping, where, at the ends of each section of duct and/or fitting, there may be an integrally bonded flange made of the fiberglass material. In other words, if a polyester or vinyl ester thermoset resin is used, the flange would be made out of the same resin and glass as the basic product. For example, SMACNA (Sheet Metal Air Conditioning Contractors National Association, Inc.) publishes manuals which deal with things such as PVC and fiberglass reinforced plastic ductwork. In these various manuals, specific recommendations are provided with respect to the thickness of the duct or flange, the sizes of the flange in relation to the duct or piping to which it is connected, the specific manner of making an integral bond between the duct or pipe and flange are shown, and specific dimensions are provided with respect to the size and location of the bolt holes around the bolt-hole circle where parts are to be joined.
All of these methods of making non-metallic field joint connections have deficiencies or certain dis-benefits which may make them undesirable in certain circumstances.
For many years, whether it be in marine services, petroleum services, pharmaceutical, waste water treatment, plating shops or semi-conductor services, etc., it has always been considered desirable to use flanged joints. The problem with flanged joints, however, is that the dimensions of flange face to flange face sections used in the field are very critical. It is common that buildings, as they are built, are subject to myriad changes so that one cannot apply pencil to paper in determining duct or pipe section lengths and expect to solve all problems. A large number of changes occur in the field before the building of a facility is completed which can place a duct or pipe system out of alignment and can cost millions of dollars to correct the problem.
Quite often, it would be preferred to use flanged joint sections without the inconvenience of costly, time consuming pre-determination of flange-face to flange-face dimensions for every single piece of material that goes into an industrial complex. It is also desirable to have a last-minute flexibility in this regard, and to be able to make adjustments in the field, so that any time that a flange/flange dimension might change, this change might be accommodated at the job-site quite readily after the changes of dimensions have occurred on a last-minute basis.
One of the largest single users of non-metallic material for ductwork and piping is the semiconductor industry. Non-metallic ductwork and piping are used for corrosion-resistant benefits. There are some unusual standards applied in the semiconductor industry, because of the manner in which the industry builds its buildings and systems. These semiconductor facilities use "clean rooms" to produce their chips. The interior finished areas are noted for their cleanliness and there is close control of any methods of construction or installations that may compromise super-clean environments. It is not uncommon for people to worry about dimensions of dirt particles such as 0.10 to 0.30 microns. A human hair in such an environment is considered an enormously large contaminant which could cause significant dollar losses.
In this atmosphere of such ultra-clean environments, there is also great concern about such things as odors, smoke or out-gassing of aggressive chemicals, which may destroy chips in the process of being made. Because of this, any activity that requires sawing, drilling, coating, painting, etc. is not desirable or permitted in some areas.
Thus, methods of fabrication and installations for "ordinary" services such as ductwork and piping become extremely complicated, because semiconductor or pharmaceutical industries absolutely will not tolerate what, not too many decades ago, was accepted as "common practice." Also, buildings are constructed on a "fast track", or accelerated schedule. It is not unusual for a $2 billion facility to be constructed and put in operation in 8 months. Such speed of construction reduces the financial burden on an owner, but it also creates problems where much construction must be done on the fly. There is great pressure to reduce time consumption on things like field joints for ductwork and piping.
It becomes desirable then, to create a means of joining ductwork and piping which does not require injurious odors from resins or adhesives, does not cause dust contamination by injurious sanding with resulting abrasive dust which must be cleaned up, or does not require the application of fiberglass materials which will spew forth particulate matter, nor the problems caused by dimensional tolerance mistakes, where parts may be a few inches too short or too long, and new replacement parts must be made at a remote factory. Such mistakes cause loss of time, which is loss of money. Being able to measure distances of points of connection in the field as the building is in fact being erected and thereafter being able to produce a flanged connection quickly, efficiently, and at low cost, is of great benefit, both in time and in reducing the burden of financing a project. Avoiding even one day's delay because of a goof might save an owner as much as a half-million dollars. Little things can be enormously costly. The solution to all these problems is the quick flange joint of this invention.


A wafer processing method including a mask forming step of forming a mask for covering a region corresponding to each device on a functional layer formed on the front side of a substrate constituting a wafer, a groove forming step of spraying a fluid containing abrasive grains against the front side of the wafer to thereby form a groove for dividing the functional layer along each street, and an etching step of performing dry etching from the front side of the wafer to thereby form an etched groove along each street. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent that the functional layer may be separated to cause damage to each device. Furthermore, a wide area of the wafer can be processed at a time, so that the productivity can be improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wafer processing method for dividing a wafer into a plurality of devices, the wafer including a substrate and a functional layer formed on the substrate, the plural devices being formed from the functional layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally known is a semiconductor wafer including a substrate such as a silicon substrate and a functional layer formed on the front side of the substrate, wherein a plurality of devices are formed from the functional layer. The functional layer is formed by stacking a plurality of low-permittivity insulator films (low-k films). Examples of each low-k film include an inorganic film of SiO2, SiOF, etc., a polymer film of polyimide, parylene, etc., and an organic film of SiOC, etc. Each low-k film is very brittle like mica. Accordingly, when the wafer having the stacked low-k films is cut by using a cutting blade, there arises a problem such that the low-k films may be separated (delamination) to cause damage to the devices. To cope with this problem, there has been proposed a wafer processing method including the steps of applying a laser beam along each street formed on the wafer to form two laser processed grooves along each street which grooves are spaced a given distance greater than the width of the cutting blade, thereby dividing the low-films, and next cutting the area between the two laser processed grooves along each street, whereby the separation of the low-k films can be stopped by the two laser processed grooves to prevent the damage to the devices (see Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2005-142398, for example).


A method for preparing plasmalogens and derivatives thereof represented by Formula B, wherein R1 and R2 are similar or different, derived from fatty acids; R3 is selected from hydrogen and small alkyl groups. The synthetic route involves production of novel cyclic plasmalogen precursors of Formula A and their conversion to plasmalogens and plasmalogen derivatives of Formula B. Also disclosed is the therapeutic use of plasmalogens and derivatives thereof as produced by the synthetic route of the present invention.

Plasmalogens are a class of phospholipids characterized by presence of a vinyl-ether-linked alkyl chain at the sn-1 position, an ester-linked long-chain fatty acid at the sn-2 position, and a head group attached to the sn-3 position through a phosphodiester linkage. They are represented by the following general formula:

In mammals, the sn-1 position (R1) is typically derived from C16:0, C18:0, or C18:1 fatty alcohols while the sn-2 (R2) position is most commonly occupied by polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). The head group can have different identities such as ethanolamine, choline etc. Different identities of R1 and R2 and the head group result in different plasmalogen derivatives.
Plasmalogens are found in numerous human tissues, particularly, in the nervous system, the immune system and the cardiovascular system. They represent one fifth of the total phospholipids in the human body. Plasmalogens are thought to have numerous physiological roles. They are an important structural component of the cell membranes, and act as secondary messengers in cell signaling. In fact, almost 30% of the glycerophospholipids in the adult human brain and up to 70% of myelin sheath ethanolamine glycerophospholipids are plasmalogens. They may also be involved in membrane fusion, ion transport, and cholesterol efflux. Plasmalogens may also act as antioxidants, thus protecting cells from oxidative stress (Plasmalogens: Workhorse Lipids of Membranes in Normal and Injured Neurons and Glia. Akhlaq A. Farooqi, Lloyd A. Horrocks; Neuroscientist. 2001 June; 7(3):232-45).
Apart from their normal physiological roles which are still being elucidated, plasmalogens are also implicated in different human diseases (Functions and biosynthesis of plasmalogens in health and diseases, Pedro Brites, Hans R Waterham, Ronald J. A Wanders; Biochim Biophys Acta. 2004 March 22; 1636(2-3):219-31). In particular, altered levels of tissue plasmalogens has been associated with Zellweger syndrome, rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata, Alzheimer's disease, Down syndrome, and Niemann-Pick type C disease etc. (The ether lipid-deficient mouse: tracking down plasmalogen functions. Gorgas K, Teigler A, Komljenovic D, Just W W., Biochim Biophys Acta. 2006 December; 1763(12):1511-26).
A number of reports have been published demonstrating reduced levels of brain plasmalogens in Alzheimer's disease (Plasmalogen synthesis is regulated via alkyl-dihydroxyacetonephosphate-synthase by amyloid precursor protein processing and is affected in Alzheimer's disease, Grimm M O, Kuchenbecker J, Rothhaar T L, Grösgen S, Hundsdörfer B, Burg V K, Friess P, Müller U, Grimm H S, Riemenschneider M, Hartmann T., J Neurochem. 2011 March; 116(5):916-25; Membrane phospholipid alterations in Alzheimer's disease: deficiency of ethanolamine plasmalogens, Farooqui A A, Rapoport S I, Horrocks L A, Neurochem Res. 1997 April; 22(4):523-7.)
Administering plasmalogens so as to overcome the deficit has been postulated as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease (Plasmalogen Deficit: A New and Testable Hypothesis for the Etiology of Alzheimer's Disease, Paul L. Wood, M. Amin Khan, Rishikesh Mankidy, Tara Smith and Dayan B. Goodenowe, Alzheimer's Disease Pathogenesis-Core Concepts, Shifting Paradigms and Therapeutic Targets, Pg. 561-588).
For this therapy to be practical, a source of plasmalogens is needed. Plasmalogens can be extracted from sources such as bovine, mammalian or fish brain and spinal cord, hen egg phospholipids etc. (Ingestion of plasmalogen markedly increased plasmalogen levels of blood plasma in rats, Megumi Nishimukai, Takuya Wakisaka and Hiroshi Hara, LIPIDS Volume 38, Number 12, 1227-1235; U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,621). However, the extracts are usually contaminated with other phospholipids, are difficult to make, and the procedures are costly. Plasmalogens can also be produced through biosynthetic routes, but again problems arise from the need for extensive purification and the use of costly procedures.
Chemical synthesis of plasmalogens can serve to solve the above-mentioned problems. Several approaches have been tried to chemically synthesize plasmalogens (Direct Synthesis of Plasmenylcholine from Allyl-Substituted Glycerols, Junhwa Shin and David H. Thompson, J. Org. Chem., 2003, 68 (17), pp 6760-6766; Improved Plasmalogen Synthesis Using Organobarium Intermediates, Jeroen Van den Bossche, Junhwa Shin,† and David H. Thompson, J. Org. Chem., 2007, 72 (13), pp 5005-5007). However, most of the existing chemical synthesis processes face problems due to the sensitivity of the vinyl-ether bond to acidic conditions, as well as oxidative conditions. Further, there is a difficulty in generating the Z—O-alkenyl functionality stereoselectively.

Methods for the synthesis of plasmalogens and plasmalogen derivatives, and therapeutic uses thereof


The apparatus for producing glass beads of the present invention comprises a melting pot 2 for heating and melting glass, a nozzle 2A for dripping molten glass 4 in the melting pot 2, which is disposed at the bottom of the melting pot 2, and a liquid glass droplet receiver 11 filled with cooling solution 150 for cooling the liquid glass droplet 10 dripped from the nozzle 2A, which is disposed under the nozzle 2A, wherein the cooling solution 150 is made from a material that forms a bubble layer around the liquid glass droplet 10 as the cooling solution 150 is vaporized due to the heat of the liquid glass droplet 10 during a period when the liquid glass droplet 10 is cooled down to a temperature lower than the glass transfer temperature in the cooling solution 150.

Recently, not only optical equipment and digital cameras but cellular phones and other devices are equipped with cameras, and there is an increasing demand for low-cost lenses which are smaller in size and higher in performance. As a method for manufacturing such lenses, a hot mold press-forming method for preform material is widely employed in place of a conventional glass sheet polishing method. In this manufacturing method, a lens is formed by hot press-forming after arranging glass beads, preform material, between metal molds having same curved surfaces as those of the lens. In this case, for increasing the shape accuracy of the lens to be finally formed, it is desirable that the glass beads, preform material, be as spherical as possible and free from defects such as internal bubbling. The reasons for this are as follows. Namely, when glass beads are excellent in sphericity, no bias load will be applied to the glass beads in the initial state of pressing in metal molds, and as a result, it is possible to enhance the accuracy of the lens formed by press-forming.
As a method for producing such glass beads as preform material, available is a method of grinding and polishing glass into spheres. However, in the glass grinding and polishing method, there is a great loss of glass material, and also, much time is required for producing glass beads and it is unable to improve the productivity.
Accordingly, in the Japanese Laid-open Patent H2-14839, disclosed is a method for producing glass beads in which glass is melted in a platinum pot, and the molten glass is dripped into air from a platinum nozzle connected to the pot, and the dripped molten glass is cooled in a state of being floated by a flow of air jetted above the receiving mold provided with an air jetting orifice at the bottom thereof. Also, in the Japanese Laid-open Patent H10-291824, disclosed is a method of cooling and hardening drops of molten glass thrown into a solution having cleaning effects. In this method, alcohol or a mixture of alcohol and water is used as the solution, and it is disclosed that glass beads with excellent sphericity can be manufactured while shortening the dripping distance.
However, in the case of producing a glass bead by cooling while making it floated in air, it is relatively difficult to cool a drop of molten glass in a state of being precisely floated by air flow. As a result, the drop of molten glass may sometimes come into direct contact with the inner surface of the receiving mold. In that case, there arises a problem such that the drop of molten glass hardens as it is deformed or strained. Further, when a plurality of drops of molten glass are dripped into same receiving mold, the drops of molten glass come into contact with each other to be broken, cracked or hardened, and it is necessary to take out the glass beads before dripping the next molten glass. Accordingly, there is a problem of poor productivity.
Also, in the method of producing glass beads by cooling drops of molten glass thrown into alcohol or the mixture of alcohol and water, defects such as breaking of glass beads and vacuum bubbling are liable to take place, and the yield as preform material cannot be improved, and it is relatively difficult to manufacture highly accurate lenses at low costs.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Provided is a content management device for protecting a content of a provider. A content management device 800 deletes one or more contents shared with and held by a user of another device. The content management device 800 comprises: a sharing unit 801 configured to distribute the contents to the user and thereby share the contents with the user; and a switching unit 802 configured to switch a method of the deletion to another method according to a time elapsed from the distribution.

In recent years, digital cameras and digital movie cameras have been widely prevalent. Accordingly, it is becoming increasingly popular to store digital photographs and digital movies (hereinafter "photographs" and "movies") taken by such cameras into a communication device (hereinafter "terminal device") such as a personal computer (PC), and to view the photographs and the movies. Also, along with the spread of the Internet, the number of terminal devices connected to a network has been increased. As a result, contents (e.g., photographs and movies) stored in a terminal device are exchanged among friends via the network.
Patent Literature 1 discloses a service in which contents including video data and audio data are distributed to clients via a network. In a service as described above, a content provider can distribute contents to multiple clients by accessing a server via operation of his/her own terminal device. Patent Literature 2 discloses a technology for exchanging digital contents between terminal devices, such as mobile terminals, without intervention of a server.

Content management device and content management method

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A customer segmentation method, system, and computer program product, include inputting a set of characteristic features for each of a plurality of customers, defining a customer-event map that maps the characteristic features of each of the customers to a plurality of event categories, and estimating a likelihood of an event driven purchase for each product type and an event category combination.

The present invention relates generally to a customer segmentation method, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a system, method, and computer program product for grouping retail/grocery customers who exhibit similar patterns of response.
For individual target event promotions, there is a need to characterize customers by their event response. For other decisions, segmentation can be critical in understanding event impacts. For example, without segmentation, a grocer planning a promotion around a holiday may not find evidence of the holiday shopping in historical data due to the holiday's close timing to other events (e.g., local town parade, football game, other holidays, etc.).
Some conventional techniques have considered clustering together similar time series, but these techniques do not address causality and are concerned only with similarity of patterns. Other conventional techniques have considered latent class segmentation that models customer behavior as a function of some heterogeneous underlying latent variables. However, these techniques are static models that do not handle events. Some other conventional techniques have considered hidden Markov models that cover dynamic state transitions by customer, but have not considered the impact of external events on a customer model.

Customer segmentation based on latent response to market events

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A method and apparatus are disclosed for testing the accuracy of digital test images generated by a computer graphics program executed on a computer graphics system. A test program is utilized to compare the test image with a reference image. The user defines regions of interest and a maximum error for each region. This allows the user to focus on a particular object or group of objects. Global image quantification verification generates one measurement of error or image difference for each region of the test image. Each region is divided into sub-regions and an average color value is calculated for each sub-region and the corresponding sub-region in the reference image. The differences between the averages for corresponding sub-regions in the test and reference images are calculated. A test image region may be unacceptably different from a reference image if a normalized sum of the absolute differences exceeds the maximum error.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of computer software and computer program testing. More specifically, it relates to verification of graphics images produced by a computer graphics program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Early graphics systems were limited to two-dimensional (2D) graphics and acted as simple translators or interfaces to a display device. Modem graphics systems, however, must support three-dimensional (3D) graphics with textures and many special effects such as anti-aliasing, texture mapping, advanced shading, fogging, alpha-blending, and specular highlighting. Modem computer displays have many more pixels, greater color depth, and are able to display more complex images with higher refresh rates than earlier models. Consequently, modem graphics systems must incorporate graphics processors with a great deal of complexity, and the color value of one pixel can be the accumulated result of many calculations involving several models and mathematical approximations.
Software testing has experienced a similar transformation. As the complexity of the calculations and the layering of effects increased, the amount of time required to test and evaluate graphics software also increased and has become a significant bottleneck in the software development timeline. The evaluation of new graphics software may involve thousands of tests and require the judgment and experience of a senior test engineer to sort through the many possible reasons for a test failure. There may be more than one bug in a software program, and the cumulative result may cause a pixel in an output image to be different from a pixel in a reference image. In addition, there are many combinations and versions of hardware and software that may be used to generate a test image. It is not practical to generate a set of reference images for each of these combinations.
One method of testing graphics software is known as sample point testing. In this method the expected values of each pixel in a reference image generated by a specific hardware/software configuration is hardcoded in a test program. Each pixel of a test image is evaluated versus the hardcoded data in the test program. A difference image is formed by subtracting the value of a test image pixel from the value of the corresponding reference image pixel. Corresponding pixels are pixels located at the same x and y coordinates in both the test image and the reference image. Consequently, the test program user is easily overwhelmed, since the test evaluation output (the difference image) is as complex as the test image. In addition, the test program must be updated for any equipment or software modifications and each reference image requires a new test program. Maintaining and updating the test programs is both time consuming and error prone.
Other types of test programs are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,406, issued on May 1, 2001, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Hybrid Sampling Image Verification" by Teh-Ming Hsieh.
A more efficient, faster, automated method of testing images generated on various combinations of computer graphics software and hardware using a limited set of reference images is needed. The method should accept insignificant rendering differences. The test result should be as simple as "pass or fail," or provide a simple quantifiable measurement of the image comparison. The comparison criteria should be user adjustable and programmable.

Method and apparatus for global image quantification verification