A first conductor is provided on an outer circumference of a central conductor with an insulator therebetween, a second conductor is provided on a concentric circle having the central conductor as its center and outside the first conductor with an insulator therebetween. A coaxial cable is formed by coating the outside of the second conductor, which is on the concentric circle having the central conductor as its center, with an insulating external coating. A DC voltage source is able to apply DC voltage having a predetermined voltage value between the first conductor and the second conductor such that the direct current flowing in the first conductor and the second conductor takes a desired value. A noise barrier zone formed by the electro-magnetic action of the desired current is formed in the part surrounded by the first conductor and the second conductor on the outer circumference of the central conductor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coaxial cable, and more particularly relates to a coaxial cable in which a central conductor is used for transmitting images. A first conductor and a second conductor, which is outside the first conductor, are provided on the circumference of concentric circles having the central conductor as their center.
2. Description of Related Art
For transmitting images, coaxial cables having characteristic impedance of 75 Ω (ohms) are generally employed. It is known that the attenuation of picture signals is phenomenally approximated by, roughly, one-half power of the frequency. The disclosed measured values, for example, in a 3C-2V coaxial cable: when the frequency of the picture signal is 4 MHz, the attenuation is 27 dB/Km; when the frequency of the picture signal is 6 MHz, the attenuation is 32 dB/Km; when the frequency of the picture signal is 8 MHz, the attenuation is 38 dB/Km; and when the frequency of the picture signal is 10 MHz, the attenuation is 42 dB/Km. According to these measured values, it is understood that, generally, the higher the picture frequency, the larger the degree of the attenuation. Meanwhile, various factors other than the characteristic impedance of the coaxial cable are conceivable as the cause of the attenuation of picture signals. Among those factors, an external factor, other than noises, caused by the picture signal itself causes noises. Noises caused by such external factor are known to be a cause of the attenuation of picture signals and disturbance of picture signals. Herein, it is considered that the disturbance or the like of picture signals because of noises caused by such external factor is included in a broad sense of attenuation.
Meanwhile, cable compensators are employed in accordance with needs to compensate the attenuation of the picture signals. Cable compensators are amplification means of picture signals and essential means for providing images influenced by as little attenuation as possible, or for compensating for the attenuation. These compensators are disposed, in advance, at a predetermined distant interval in accordance with the attenuation state of the picture signals, and at every position, picture signals are amplified. In a case of a general coaxial cable, one cable compensator is disposed about every 100 m.
However, when cable compensators amplify attenuated picture signals, a phenomenon is caused in which noises are amplified at the same time. In the case of noises, the next cable compensator further amplifies the amplified noises that have been amplified by one cable compensator. Amplification is repeated one to the next, and as a result, the attenuation of the picture signal in a broad sense is accelerated. As described above, cable compensators have to be employed in order to compensate for the attenuation of picture signals. However, on the contrary, when cable compensators are overused, the result is that clear images cannot be obtained because of noises.
In relation to such coaxial cable, the inventor of the present application has formerly disclosed a coaxial cable comprising a first tubular electro-magnetic shielding conductor and a second tubular electro-magnetic shielding conductor for feeding current for driving devices. In this coaxial cable, the first tubular electro-magnetic shielding conductor is provided outside a central conductor with an insulator therebetween, the second tubular electro-magnetic conductor is provided outside the first tubular electro-magnetic shielding conductor with an insulator therebetween, the outer circumference of the second tubular electro-magnetic shielding conductor is coated with an external coating which is an insulator, and the first tubular electro-magnetic shielding conductor and the second tubular electro-magnetic shielding conductor are configured for feeding current for driving devices. According to this coaxial cable, for example, when electricity is allowed to flow with the inner first tubular electro-magnetic shielding conductor being negative and the outer second tubular electro-magnetic shielding conductor being positive, the magnetism in the center space becomes zero. Therefore, no magnetic disturbance is imposed on the central conductor, and magnetic actions caused in the cable form a barrier thereby carrying out protection against disturbing electric waves coming in from outside. Therefore, for example, the picture waveform sent from a monitoring camera is not disturbed at all, and the image of a monitor is not disturbed and clear images can be obtained.
[Prior Document]
Japanese utility model registration, publication No. 3024770 (FIG. 1)
However, there has been a problem for practical use regarding, among external noises, the influence of, for example, high frequency noises having steep wave forms generated when an accelerator of an electric system of an engine, for example, a motorcycle is suddenly stomped on. Also, in regard to image transmission, there has been a problem for practical use regarding how far a distance clear images having no attenuation can be transmitted without employing cable compensators.
The present invention has been developed to solve the above described problems. Its object is to provide a coaxial cable that is able to completely shut out external noises and transmit picture signals not influenced by noises over a long distance.


The present invention provides novel assays for determining the ability of a test compound to inhibit intercellular adhesion mediated by a selectin receptor, such as the LHR. The assay involves coating a surface of a solid substrate with an antibody which specifically binds a selectin ligand. Preferred are antibodies against GlyCAM-1 which is a natural biological ligand for L-Selectin and also binds to P-Selectin and E-Selectin. A compound such as GlyCAM-1 is then bound to the antibodies. The test compound mixture putatively containing a selectin ligand is then brought into contact with a chimeric molecule. The test mixture might include any compound which might block or hinder binding between a selectin receptor and the ligand bound to the antibody. The chimeric molecule is comprised of an immunoglobulin bound to a selectin receptor and is introduced under conditions such that the selectin receptor portion of the chimeric molecule will bind to the selectin ligand bound to the antibodies on the surface if such binding is not blocked by the test compound. Bound chimeric molecules can be detected in a variety of ways such as by a conjugate compound of an anti-immunoglobulin antibody bound to enzyme such as alkaline phosphatase for the generation of color. Any test compounds which bind to the selectin receptor and block finding can be isolated, analyzed and identified.

Recent work has established that specialized cell surface receptors (termed here selectins) on endothelial cells and various circulating cells are involved in a number of intercellular interactions. For instance, an adhesion molecule on the surface of leukocytes, lymphocyte homing receptor (LHR), is known to be involved in the adhesive interactions of leukocytes with the endothelial lining of blood vessels. This adhesive interaction is a prerequisite for the movement of leukocytes from the blood to tissue sites where immune reactions and inflammatory reactions occur.
LHR (also known as gp90.sup.MEL, gp100.sup.MEL, gp110.sup.MEL, Mel-14 antigen, Leu8 antigen, TQ antigen, DREG antigen, LAM-1, selectin 1, LECAM-1, LEC-CAM-1, LEEK and L-Selectin depending on animal species, leukocyte, and laboratory preference) is expressed on the surface of leukocytes, such as, lymphocytes, neutrophils, monocytes, and eosinophils (Gallatin, et al., Nature 303:30 (1983) and Lewisohn, et al., J. Immunol. 138:4313 (1987), which are incorporated herein by reference). LHR is known to mediate the adhesion of lymphocytes to specialized endothelial cells in lymph nodes, leading to the migration of blood-borne lymphocytes into the lymph node. On neutrophils and monocytes, it mediates the early interaction of these cells with endothelium of blood vessels at sites of inflammation.
LHR is a lectin-like protein which performs its adhesive function recognizing carbohydrate-containing ligands on endothelial cells. Lectin-like receptors have also been found on endothelial cells and platelets. Endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 (ELAM-1) also known as CD62E and E-Selectin is present on endothelial cells and is involved in the recognition of various circulating cells by the endothelium. Granule membrane protein-140 (GMP-140) also known as CD62P and P-Selectin is present on the surface of platelets and endothelial cells, where it mediates platelet-leukocyte and endothelium-leukocyte interactions.
Recent work has established that these receptors share certain structural features. Each of the receptors in this class is a glycoprotein with a lectin-like domain, a region with homology to epidermal growth factor, and a region with homology to complement regulatory proteins (see, Springer, Nature, 346:425, 1989, which is incorporated herein by reference). The term "selectin" is used herein to refer to this class of lectin-like receptors.
There is currently an interest in developing highly specific competitive inhibitors of selectin-mediated cellular adhesion. Such inhibitors are useful in therapeutic regimens to treat various selectin-mediated disease responses. The inhibitors could also be used to target other pharmaceutical compounds, such as anti-inflammatory agents or anti-oxidants, to the sites of injury.
In view of the above it is important to improve our understanding of the interaction of selectin receptors and their ligands. Thus, it is important to develop rapid, economical methods for identifying inhibitors of selectin-mediated interactions. In the past in vitro intercellular adhesion assays have been used to test inhibition (see, e.g., Stamper and Woodruff, J. Exp. Med. 144:828-833 (1976), which is incorporated herein by reference). These assays, however, are difficult to carry out and do not lend themselves to screening large numbers of test compounds. Comparisons of active compounds by quantitative dose-response studies is difficult using these assays.
Previous ELISA's for L-selectin have measured its interaction with PPME, sulfatide, or sLe.sup.x, Foxall, C., S. R. Watson, D. Dowbenko, C. Fennie, L. A. Lasky, M. Kiso, A. Hasegawa, D. Asa, and B. K. Brandley. (1992). The three members of the selectin receptor family recognize a common carbohydrate epitope, the sialyl Lewis.sup.x oligosaccharide. J. Cell. Biol. 117:895-902. Imai, Y., L. A. Lasky, and S. D. Rosen. (1992). Further characterization of the interaction between L-selectin and its endothelial ligands. Glycobiology. 2:373-381. Imai, Y., D. D. True, M. S. Singer, and S. D. Rosen. (1990). Direct Demonstration off the lectin activity of gp90MEL, a lymphocyte homing receptor. J. Cell. Biol. 111:1225-1232. The first two carbohydrates are fortuitous ligands, and their interaction with L-selectin reflects only limited features of the carbohydrate specificity of the lectin. sLe.sup.x is part of the endogenous ligands for L-selectin (see above), but without sulfate has very low affinity for L-selectin. The use of sLe.sup.x in an ELISA is thus problematic.
The present invention is a highly sensitive assay for finding compounds which inhibit interaction between a selectin receptor and a natural ligand. The present assay may be easily and efficiently carried out without the need for radioactive materials.

Assays for inhibitors of leukocyte adhesion

The Regents of the University of California


The present application is related to an electronic cigarette liquid and a method of producing pulp for use in the electronic cigarette liquid, the method includes: using a stainless steel bathing can with a 500 Liter capacity that can endure heating and pressurizing; placing the pulp and original liquid used for bathing inside the can at a pre-determined ratio. After heating, pressurizing and bathing, the absorption of the pulp is fully attained. Then, opening a ball valve and releasing and collecting only the liquid from the bathing can and taking out the viscous pulp for packaging. The hookah pulp product is obtained with a solid extract of the hookah pulp product being 90% or above of the hookah pulp product.

Hookah is a tobacco product which is applied with a specialized "water tobacco pipe" tool for smoker to be taken after water (or other liquids) filtering. It is widely used in the Middle East. Hookah is different from other tobacco products in that it causes smoke to rise through the heat generated from coal burning. During smoking, the smoker needs to set coal fire on the tobacco surface to enable the tobacco to burn. The bottom of the container is filled with water, the top is filled with tobacco. The smoke released from the burning of the tobacco is smoked by the smoker after water filtering and via a straw.
Traditional raw materials of hookah are generally made from tobacco and various kinds of flavors. Such method has been applied for several centuries. Until now, the harm produced by hookah due to tobacco burning has been controversial.
Electronic cigarette liquid (or known as electronic cigarette atomizing solution) is a widely used real cigarette replacement. More and more smokers accept the use of electronic cigarette in lieu of real cigarette. Therefore, while the hookah pulp processed from the electronic cigarette liquid can satisfy the economic expectation comparable with traditional taking of hookah preserving the same quality of taste, it can reduce the harm caused to the body compared with the traditional tobacco. Hookah pulp can be applied in the currently popular electronic cigarette apparatus. Smoke can be realized from electronic heating to produce atomization, or can be realized from using the traditional method of baking the hookah through high temperature borne from the coal fire. Such product in itself maintains the original characteristics of the fruit in terms of shape, color and smell etc., and is a new product belonging to inventive craft.

Method of producing pulp for use in electronic cigarette and traditional hookah


A classifier and method for predicting or characterizing graft-versus-host disease in a patient after receiving a transplant of pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells or bone marrow. The classifier operates on mass-spectral data obtained from a blood-based sample of the patient and is configured as a combination of filtered mini-classifiers using a regularized combination method, such as logistic regression with extreme drop-out. The method also uses a “deep-MALDI” mass spectrometry technique in which the blood-based samples are subject to at least 100,000 laser shots in MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry in order to reveal greater spectral content and detect low abundance proteins circulating in serum associated with graft-versus-host disease.

Transplants of pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells (PHSC) or bone marrow are an effective immunotherapy against hematological malignancies. However, graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) remains a major source of morbidity and mortality following transplant. GvHD is a systemic immunological disorder that develops when donor immune cells attack not just residual tumor cells, but also normal host tissue, particularly the skin, liver, and gastro-intestinal tract. GvHD is traditionally divided into two groups: acute (aGvHD), which arises before the 100 day mark post-transplant, and chronic (cGvHD), which occurs after 100 days post-transplant; however, the current consensus is that clinical manifestations and not time after transplantation determine whether the clinical syndrome is considered aGvHD or cGvHD. While mild aGvHD (grade I or II) is associated with little morbidity and almost no mortality, higher grades (III and IV) are associated with very high mortality rates.
Currently available diagnostic and staging tools frequently fail to identify those at higher risk of GvHD development, morbidity, treatment unresponsiveness and death. A number of candidate aGvHD biomarkers are currently under active investigation as promising diagnostic and prognostic tools, but to the inventors' knowledge none have yet been validated in multicenter prospective trials. Prior art describing such biomarkers includes U.S. Pat. No. 8,637,232 (disclosing biomarkers predicting, among other things, GvHD in lung transplant patients); U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,603,754; 8,153,130; and 7,763,425. The prior art also includes following articles: S. Paczesny, Discovery and validation of graft-versus-host disease biomarkers, Blood vol. 121 no. 4 pp. 585-594 (2013); M. T. Vander Lugt et al., ST2 as a Marker for Risk of Therapy-Resistant Graft-versus-Host Disease and Death, NEJM vol. 369 no. 6 pp. 529-539 (2013); E. Weissinger et al., Proteomic patterns predict acute graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, Blood vol. 109 no. 12 pp. 5511-5519 (2007); G. Socié, Graft-versus-host disease: proteomics comes of age, Blood vol. 113 no. 2 p. 271-272 (2009); S. Paczesny et al., Blood vol. 113 no. 2 pp. 273-278 (2009); Y-B Chen et al., Biomarkers for acute GVHD: can we predict the unpredictable? Bone Marrow Transplantation vol. 48 pp. 755-760 (2013); R. Srinivasan et al., Accurate diagnosis of acute graft-versus-host disease using serum proteomic pattern analysis, Experimental Hematology vol. 34 pp. 796-801 (2006); S. Paczesny et al., Graft-versus-Host Disease Biomarkers: Omics and Personalized Medicine, Int. J. Hematol. vol. 98 no. 3 pp. 275-292 (2013). J. Levine et al., Clinical applications for biomarkers of acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease, Biol. Blood Marrow Transplan. vol. 18 (1 Suppl): S116-S124 (2012); M. Cuzzola et al., A molecular and computational diagnostic approach identifies FOXP3, ICOS, CD52 and CASP1 as the most informative biomarkers in acute graft-versus-host disease, Haematologica vol. 97 no. 10 pp. 1532-1538 (2012), J. Rozmus et al., Biomarkers in Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease, Expert Rev. Hematol. vol. 4 no. 3 pp. 329-342 (2011); J. Levine et al., Acute graft-versus-host disease biomarkers measured during therapy can predict treatment outcomes: a Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network study. Blood, vol. 119 no. 16 pp. 3854-3860 (2012). The Srinivasan et al. paper describes SELDI-TOF-based proteomic analysis as a rapid and accurate method to diagnose aGvHD and is considered the closest known prior art.
Clinical tests predictive of the development of aGvHD and cGvHD (either de novo or secondary to aGvHD), as well as tests predicting the severity of the disease (both acute and chronic) would be of great interest, because they could guide therapeutic decisions towards more or less aggressive treatment. The present invention meets that need.

Method of predicting development and severity of graft-versus-host disease


The invention relates to compositions, methods and kits for the treatment of cancer. ATP-dependent potassium channel agonists, salts thereof, or chemical analogs thereof, for example, minoxidil sulfate, have been found to possess anti-neoplastic properties. Administering minoxidil sulfate may prolong the life of a cancer patient; for example, a patient with a brain tumor.

Cancer remains among the leading causes of death in the United States and around the world. Various forms of cancer are differentially treated, depending in part on the location of a tumor. One particularly difficult group of tumors to treat includes those that reside in and near the brain. Treatment of brain tumors presents a number of problems, not the least of which being the dangers inherent in any surgical procedure involving regions of the brain and the tissue located nearby. There is little room for error and the consequences of even a minor surgical mishap can be devastating to a patient; brain damage, or even death may result. Still, where possible, surgery remains the preferred method of treatment for most brain tumors and is often performed in conjunction with radiation therapy and chemotherapy. However, even commonly referenced medical authority suggests that patients with brain tumors be referred to centers specializing in investigative therapies; an indication that conventional modes of treatment are not overwhelmingly successful.
Glioblastoma multiforme ("GBM") and anaplastic astrocytomas are classified in the category of brain tumors commonly known as malignant gliomas. Although not particularly common tumors themselves, they represent a class of tumors associated with significant rates of mortality and morbidity. Current treatment for malignant glioma consists of surgical resection followed by radiation therapy and chemotherapy. However, this treatment generally fails in substantially changing the outcome for a patient; median survival remains less than one year even with medical intervention.
There remains a significant need in the art for improved methods for the treatment of cancer, and, in particular, for brain tumors.

Use of minoxidil sulfate as an anti-tumor drug


A semiconductor device includes a first chip coupled to an electrical insulator, and a sintered heat conducting layer disposed between the electrical insulator and the first chip.

A semiconductor package provides a protective enclosure for one or more semiconductor chips and includes interconnects to the chip(s). Semiconductor packages are employed in mobile electronic devices, including cellular telephones and other communication devices, automotive electronics, as well as other technology platforms.
Some semiconductor packages are configured for package-on-package stacking. Such package-on-package stacks include the base package fabricated to include landing pad(s) that receive/connect an upper package with semiconductor chip(s) in the base package. It is desirable to provide package-on-package semiconductor stacks with improved heat dissipation, improved resistance to moisture ingress, and improved mechanical stability leading to improved chip reliability.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.


The present invention provides an apparatus and method for filtering fluids with a compressible filter media within at least a portion of a housing inwardly compressible.

The present invention relates to the filtering of particulates from fluids, particularly the removal of solids from water, using compressible filter media in a compressible housing.
Prior art techniques using compressible media have relied on mechanically actuated plates to externally compress filter media.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,415 to Masuda et al. discloses the use of fibrous filter media compressed by a movable bottom plate in a bottom-up filtration apparatus.
U.S. patent application Publication No. US2003/0111431 discloses fibrous filter media compressed by a movable top plate in a bottom-up filtration apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,962 discloses a fibrous filter media compressed by a movable top plate in a downflow filtration apparatus.
In such prior art apparatuses, the movable plate compresses the filter media within rigid containment walls during filtration and provides compression across the entire filter media bed. Compression of the media increases the filtering performance measured as percent removal and removal of smaller particulates; however, particulate rapidly builds up in the initial portion of the media bed and reduces the filter operation time. Filtering efficiency progressively decreases as a result of the particulate accumulation, and eventually filtering must be stopped to wash and dislodge the solid build up. The movable plate pressed against the media further inhibits the capacity of the initial portion of the media bed to remove particulates resulting in shorter filter operation time and less solid removal per unit of filter media. The washing operation requires that the movable plate be retracted so that air and washing fluid may be directed through the media to scrub and dislodge the solids. The media is re-compressed with the movable plate when filtering is restarted. The movable plates require close tolerance with the rigid containment walls to retain filter media and maintain efficient filter and backwashing operations.
Accordingly, there is a need for a filter apparatus and method that provides efficient filtration with compressed media that improves particulate capture with longer filter operation times, but eliminates the need for mechanically movable plates, close tolerance containment walls and associated mechanisms.

Apparatus and method for filtering fluids


A method of tuning an alert device in a portable communication apparatus having a microphone. The method involves the steps of recording, through the microphone, an acoustic signal which is emitted by the alert device in response to a drive signal; deriving a characteristic value of the recorded signal; comparing the characteristic value with a reference value and generating a comparison result; and controlling the drive signal of the alert device in response to the comparison result.

1. Technical Field of Invention
This invention relates to a method of tuning an alert device in a portable communication apparatus. The invention also relates to a portable communication apparatus having a microphone, an alert device and a controller.
2. Background Art
Portable communication apparatuses, such as mobile telephones, are used in different environments and places having different types of conditions as regards, for example, loudness. If a mobile telephone is used in a very noisy environment the volume of the ring signal must be held at a high level. Still it can be difficult to hear the ring signal, and this problem can be solved with a vibrator, which is frequently used in mobile telephones.
The vibrator is initially set to vibrate at a certain desired frequency, and a driver, which drives the vibrator, is designed accordingly. Due to variations in efficiency of the motor of the vibrators and/or the response and the impedance in the output terminal of the drivers, the actual frequency of the vibrator is seldom the same as the desired frequency. The variations can be +/−50% and more. There is also a drift in the actual frequency due to ageing effects.
If the actual frequency gets too low, the signal gets too weak to be easily noticed by the user of the communication apparatus. When this occurs depends on the design of the communication apparatus and where in the apparatus the vibrator is located. Weight and mounting of the vibrators are the most decisive factors. If the actual frequency gets to high, friction in the vibrator becomes a problem and the vibrator produces too much heat, which has a bad effect on the power consumption of the apparatus, and the wearing and therefore aging of the vibrator also increase. A too high frequency also draws an unnecessary amount of power. Usually, one desired frequency is set, which should not be surpassed.
It is known to measure vibrating frequencies of vibrators by using vibration sensors, such as piezo crystals, rotation sensors and optical sensors. After the measurement of its vibrating frequency, the vibrator can be tuned to a desired frequency. A disadvantage with this solution is that it requires extra components. This means that the cost increases. If the measuring components are integrated with the apparatus having the vibrator, the extra components require extra space which is expensive.
Still another possible solution is to use a laser microphone to measure the vibrating frequency. A disadvantage by using such a laser microphone is that it is very expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,161 to Motorola describes how the vibration frequency can be monitored and kept constant. The frequency of the vibrator can be varied by varying a frequency selector. The frequency selector comprises a micro computer programmed via conventional techniques to measure a parameter, such as the amplitude of the actual vibration, of the vibrator. Optionally, the micro computer may monitor a signal such as the current or the voltage of the power supply of the vibrator, or the electromagnetic force of the vibrator. This information is then used to keep the frequency of the vibrator essentially constant or at the desired frequency settings. A disadvantage with this technique is that it requires extra components. The extra components require extra space which is expensive.
As vibrators are finding use in more and more applications, such as a response to some user action, as part of a tactile feedback scheme, as part of a game, as a communication method (such as Morse code) or as a rhythmic element in music, this greater use leads to increased wearing of the vibrator.


The specification describes an optical fiber device for propagating and recompressing high energy, ultrashort pulses with minimal distortions due to nonlinearity. The device is based on propagation in a higher order mode (HOM) of a few-moded fiber. Coupling into the HOM may be accomplished using long-period gratings. Features of the HOM fiber mode that are useful for high quality pulse compression include large effective area, high dispersion and low dispersion slope. In a preferred case the long period gratings go through a turn-around point (TAP) at the wavelength of operation.

(Parts of the following section may not be prior art.)
Fiber lasers with high pulse energy, good beam quality and excellent optical characteristics have applications in many fields and industries such as analytical spectroscopy (fluorescence, absorption), illumination, remote sensing and environmental spectroscopy (wind speed, biohazards, ecosystem mapping etc), ranging and targeting (collision avoidance, military applications etc) and scientific instrumentation. Fiber lasers with exceptionally short pulse widths, for example, femtosecond fiber lasers, have special applications in these and other fields.
There has been great progress in developing short pulse fiber lasers. However, one of the difficulties associated with femtoseconds pulses in fibers is amplifying the pulses to high power levels. Nonlinearities in the fiber cause distortions in the spectrum, and prevent compression and propagation of high energy pulses.
A number of approaches have been developed to get around this problem. One successful technique is to amplify the ultrashort pulse in a multimode fiber. By exciting only the fundamental mode of the fiber, a large effective area can be used, thereby reducing the impact of nonlinearities.
Another possibility is to use stretched pulse amplification, where the ultrashort pulse is first stretched by many orders of magnitudes, temporally broadening the pulse and decreasing the peak power, thus eliminating or reducing nonlinear interactions. However, the pulse must ultimately be re-compressed after amplification, and the high pulse energies mean the recompression stage is usually done using bulk optics.
A fiber that is capable of propagating and compressing high energy femtoseconds pulses would then be desirable for two reasons. First, if the fiber can be designed with an appropriate dispersion, it could serve as the post compression stage for the stretched, amplified pulses. Second, if the compression function can be implemented in a fiber, it can also serve as a delivery fiber for ultrashort pulses for applications such as use in an endoscope.

Short pulse lasers using large mode area fibers and higher order modes


This invention concerns an improved forecasting and routing system for scheduling propane and other consumable deliveries as well as service deliveries to end consumers by one or more trucks in a multi-stop environment. The invention utilizes information regarding weather history and the consumption history of individual consumers to calculate their future expected demand, and the variability on that demand when sufficient delivery history is available. Customers lacking sufficient delivery history use the consumption of similar customers as a surrogate. This information serves to determine the near optimal set of successive days within which to replenish or service each customer. Knowing this demand the system assembles deliveries into daily truck delivery routes that maximize the consumables delivered per hour. The system is designed for use in cooperation with a computer having memory and incorporates item, customer, weather, and routing information databases.

Techniques are known for optimizing vehicle routing to replenish inventories in the case of the delivery of consumable products or periodic services using trucks in a multi-stop environment. Industry practices in these areas are set forth below.
Inventory Replenishment-Delivery Economics:
In general, consumption parameters provided by time series forecasting modeling modules calculate expected inventory levels for every day since the last delivery. The expected run out date will occur when the cumulative expected consumption has exhausted the last recorded inventory, which is usually captured at the last delivery. If there were no cost penalty to exhausting inventories, one would wait for that event before triggering replenishment. That would minimize the number of deliveries.
However, since substantial penalties are incurred for exhausting inventories (e.g. running out of propane gas), a classic inventory calculation trading off increased lot size/(decreased annual unit shipping costs) and expected stock out costs/(out of gas penalties) is needed to determine the optimal delivery day (ODD) which therefore occurs sometime before the expected run out day. The smaller the variance (error in predicting consumption) the closer the ODD is to the expected run out day and the steeper the trade off curve. The techniques used in this calculation have long been utilized for inventory reordering in a variety of industrial settings. Typically, the ODD will further be advanced by an additional number of days of reserve, which is the lead time within which a delivery is reasonably assured (e.g. allowing time for a second delivery if the first one failed for any reason). To handle special cases of deliveries, the system will also allow customer specified delivery days that override any statistically determined optimal delivery day.
Optimal Vehicle Routing:
Deliveries, however, cannot be considered independently because they must be combined with other deliveries on a route. To achieve this, commercially available optimal vehicle routing (OVR) packages, which have been readily available for many years, can be used. The basic purpose of OVR packages is to minimize the mileage and travel time costs associated with delivering a number of predetermined loads subject to a vehicle's carrying capacity (e.g. volume, weight) and allowable time on the road. OVR package functionality details often vary. However, all commercial OVR systems assume that deliveries must be made according to a schedule predetermined in the input. So a delivery required for a given day will be assigned to routes specified for a given day or a delivery which is free to be scheduled on several days will be free to be assigned to routes on those days. In other words, OVR systems consider only the geographic efficiencies of the routes generated to guide the assignment and cannot deal with additional complications inherent in delivery of consumable commodities, such as:    (1) OVR packages cannot account for the variation in delivery quantity that would occur if the delivery day were to change, i.e. delivering a time consumable commodity such as propane or fuel oil earlier would result in a smaller load and therefore allow more vehicle capacity for other deliveries and vice-versa.    (2) OVR packages cannot account for the day dependent expected cost of an individual delivery that are derived from inventory replenishment cost trade-offs.
There has been some experimentation in the propane industry with the use of OVR packages but because of the two complications identified above, these exercises have assumed very conservative service policies on delivery day selection (to avoid out of gas conditions). Over time these conservative policies result in the generation of significantly more customer deliveries than would be generated if both temporal (delivery day selection) and geographic (delivery sequencing) dimensions were optimized concurrently. Such optimization is implemented in accordance with the invention.

Method for forecasting consumption and generating optimal delivery schedules for vehicles involved in delivering propane and other consumables to end consumers


A walking insect that comprises a torso having a set of legs and wings attached thereto. Disposed within the torso is a battery and a rotating electric motor operative to vibrate the torso. The electric motor is attached to a counterbalance and tail cone such that when the counterbalance and tail cone are rotated, the insect vibrates thereby causing the legs to move and the insect to walk. The counterbalance is adjustable in order to amplify the vibration of the insect. The insect may be sold in kit form for assembly by children as an educational toy.

The present invention generally relates to educational toys and more particularly to a toy that teaches children about the physical and biological sciences.
There are many different types of educational toys on the market. The goal of such toys is to provide children with educational material while still being fun to play with at the same time. The toys provide useful information to the child in a form that makes learning enjoyable.
The present invention provides an educational toy which can teach both mechanical principals and biological principals. More particularly, the present invention provides a walking insect kit which, when assembled, teaches children about the biological sciences, as well as the mechanical sciences.

Walking insect and method of assembling the same


A container for a cemetery floral arrangement consists of a disposable paper cup adapted to hold the arrangement and a reusable plastic holder for supporting and retaining the cup in a desired position on the ground. The holder comprises a cup portion adapted to retainingly receive the paper cup and a projecting, tapered, cruciform spike, on the bottom of the cup portion, for fixing the holder in the ground.

The present invention pertains to a container for a floral arrangement and, more particularly, to a container for supporting and retaining a floral arrangement in a desired position on the ground, especially in a cemetery or the like.
It is a common practice, in many cultures, to show respect for the deceased by placing floral arrangements in the ground comprising or adjacent the gravesite. Often, these floral arrangements are placed in containers comprising a sheet metal cone formed around a projecting metal spike or nail. The spike is forced into the ground to retain the container in a desired location. Such containers suffer, however, in that they are comparatively costly, awkward to transport, and somewhat lacking in ability to retain a desired position.


An organic thin film transistor (TFT), a method of manufacturing the organic TFT, and a flat display apparatus having the organic TFT are provided. The organic TFT has a gate insulating layer with openings filled with a conductive material, thereby preventing short circuits from occurring between channels connecting the source and drain lines to the organic semiconductor layer. The organic TFT includes a substrate including a source line, a drain line, and a gate electrode. The organic TFT further includes a gate insulating layer formed on the source and drain lines and on the gate electrode. The gate insulating layer has openings exposing the source and drain lines, which openings are filled with a conductive material. The organic TFT also includes an organic semiconductor layer electrically connected to the conductive material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic thin film transistor, a method of manufacturing the same, and a flat display apparatus comprising the same. More particularly, the invention relates to an organic thin film transistor having a conductive material in an opening patterned in a gate insulating layer, which prevents short circuits from occurring between the channel connecting source and drain lines and the organic semiconductor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Thin film transistors (TFTs) are used in flat display apparatuses such as liquid crystal display devices, organic field emission display devices, and inorganic field emission display devices. The TFTs are used as switching devices that control the operation of each pixel and as driving devices that drive the pixels.
A conventional TFT is depicted in FIG. 1 and includes a gate electrode 20, source and drain lines 30a and 30b formed parallel to each other on a substrate 10, a gate insulating film 40 formed on the gate electrode 20 and on the source and drain lines 30a and 30b, an organic semiconductor layer 50 formed on the gate insulating film 40, tapers 60a and 60b formed in the gate insulating film 40, and source and drain electrodes 80a and 80b electrically connecting the source and drain lines 30a and 30b to the organic semiconductor layer 50.
Conventionally, if the gate insulating film 40 is formed of an organic material or an organic-inorganic hybrid type material, the TFT exhibits a large gate leakage current. Therefore, the gate insulating film 40 should be thick (i.e. from 0.5 to 1.0 μm). However, when contact holes 61a and 61b (which connect the source and drain electrodes to the pad metal or connect the source and drain electrodes to the pixel electrodes) are formed by dry etching, the angle of the tapers 60a and 60b is greater than 70 degrees. A channel is formed by dry etching the gate insulating film 40. The source and drain electrodes 80a and 80b are formed of a metal having a high work function, such as Au, Pt, Pd, etc. The source and drain lines 30a and 30b are then connected to the organic semiconductor layer 50. However, the metal having a high work function has a weak binding force with the underlying material. Therefore, it is difficult to form the source and drain electrodes 80a and 80b thicker than about 1000 Å. Due to the characteristics of metals having high work functions and their working processes, there is a high possibility that the channels formed on the slopes of the tapers 60a and 60b are too thin or disconnected.

Organic thin film transistor, method of manufacturing the same, and flat display apparatus comprising the same


A computer-implemented method for processing markup includes the steps of detecting textual content, detecting a markup element, detecting a predicate segment, and detecting a body. The markup element includes an open character, a textual name, an optional predicate segment, an optional body, and a close character. The predicate segment includes one or more predicates, separated by a predicate separator character. Each predicate includes a textual relation and optional textual complements separated by a complements separator character. The body includes a body separator character and a possibly empty sequence of instances of textual content and nested markup elements. Computer-readable markup data includes a sequence of textual content and markup elements. A computer-implemented driver configured to process markup and to generate object-oriented requests to a model object and a plurality of element objects includes a lexical analyzer, a syntax analyzer, and a parse responder.

This invention relates to specification and processing of markup.
The stored representations which are read and written by computer-implemented applications are often in the form of "markup." A particularly example of markup is the Extensible Markup Language (XML), which is in wide use. A useful reference for XML is the book "XML In a Nutshell, 3rd Edition", by Elliotte Rusty Harold and W. Scott Means, published by O'Reilly, 2004, ISBN 0-596-00764-7, which is incorporated herein by reference.
XML markup consists of hierarchically organized markup elements. A markup element typically consists of a start tag, an optional body, and an end tag. Where the body is absent, the start tag and end tag may be combined into a single tag. The start tag includes a textual name and optional attributes. The name describes the markup element. Each attribute includes a textual key and a textual value. Attributes may provide additional descriptive information about the markup element. The body of the markup element may contain both textual content and nested markup elements. The end tag concludes the markup element.
The hierarchical organization of markup is reflected in the nesting of markup elements. The body of a markup element may contain nested markup elements as well as textual content. The containing markup element is denoted the parent. The nested markup element is denoted the child. A markup element which lacks a parent is denoted a root. In XML, a well-formed document is required to contain exactly one root markup element.
XML is also an example of a metalanguage. A metalanguage is a foundation upon which languages may be built. XML specifies a syntax for markup, but it does not specify how markup should be processed or what interpretation should be attached to the markup elements. XML does not specify a set of valid element names or attributes (with a few minor exceptions). Nor does XML have much to say about relationships between markup elements. The only relationship between markup elements which is explicitly recognized in XML is hierarchy; markup elements may be nested within containing markup elements. Languages that are built upon XML may specify sets of valid names, interpretations for markup elements according to their names, relationships between markup elements, and even processing implications for markup elements, but such considerations are deliberately omitted from XML, which is limited to the syntax of markup.
A metalanguage for markup is of great practical value as it permits standardization of some aspects of processing markup. Applications which process XML may rely on a regular syntax and make use of numerous well-honed tools for application-specific processing of XML. Moreover, markup is readable and writable by humans as well as machines, which reduces the risk that data files will become unusable over time. Direct accessibility by humans also facilitates testing and debugging.
For these and other reasons, XML is very popular, but it does suffers from some shortcomings. The XML markup itself (as distinguished from the textual content) is somewhat redundant as names are duplicated in start and end tags. This redundancy is detrimental to human readers and writers. The implicit brackets that wrap a markup element consist of multiple characters, despite the availability of several distinct bracket character pairs in the ASCII character set. The semantics of attributes are murky; moreover there's no facility for plural values in an attribute. XML requires a single root markup element in a document, which is a reasonable requirement for certain applications but is unnecessarily restrictive in general; for example, this requirement precludes the validity of a document formed by concatentation of two valid documents. These shortcomings are alleviated by the use of a new metalanguage for specificationa and processing of markup.
Thus, it would be advantageous to alleviate some of the shortcomings which XML bears while maintaining a rough structural equivalence to XML, and preserving the benefits of a meta-language for markup. It would also be advantageous to facilitate markup processing by precisely specifying the processing of markup to requests in an object-oriented application programmer's interface (API).


This invention relates to a constant flow control device for a pressure pot shot peening machine. Such structures of this type, generally, assure that the air flow and the pressure drop through the pressure pot shot peening nozzle remain independent of uncontrolable upstream conditions, thus assuring constant velocity of the shot stream regardless of shot delivery hose routing or wear.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a constant flow control device for a pressure pot shot peening machine. Such structures of this type, generally, assure that the air flow and the pressure drop through the pressure pot shot peening nozzle remain independent of uncontrolable upstream conditions, thus assuring constant velocity of the shot stream regardless of shot delivery hose routing or wear.
2. Description of the Related Art
A key control difficulty inherent in conventional pressure pot shot peening machines involves maintaining constant conditions of the shot stream with a remote system of control. That is, pressure pot shot machines are normally set up and controlled as shown in FIG. 1. A constant pressure supply of air is mixed with shot well upstream of the shot peening nozzle. The shot mass flow rate of the stream is controlled by flow through a fixed orifice or by a closed loop mass flow controller such as a magnetic flow controller built by Electronics, Inc. To assure shot flow stability, a bleed line (see FIG. 1) maintains a constant pressure across the shot flow controller.
The need for a remote system of control is directed by requirements of machine motion and flexibility and the hostile environment of the shot peening cabinet itself. Thus, the cabinet containing various control functions described above must be well removed from the shot delivery nozzle. The shot delivery hose, usually about 20 feet long, is therefore needed to connect the cabinet to the nozzle. The air velocity in the hose must be sufficient to sweep the shot along with it to the nozzle where the two phase flow is accelerated and ejected from the nozzle at a velocity sufficient to perform the peening operation.
The problem with pressure pot systems is that there is a sizable pressure drop in the delivery hose, as well as, the nozzle itself due to the shot/air stream. Thus, the pressure available in the throat of the nozzle where the shot is accelerated to its terminal velocity is well below the pressure control set point. Worst yet, the pressure drop is not constant. It depends upon the routing of the hose, hose wear, nozzle geometry, and the mass flow rate of the shot. There is no better illustration of this fact than the well known observation that the peening intensity increases for otherwise fixed conditions when the hose wears, because the reduced flow resistance makes more pressure available at the nozzle. Therefore, a more advantageous system, then, would be presented if the air flow and the pressure drop through the nozzle remained independent of uncontrolable upstream conditions.
It is apparent from the above that there exists a need in the art for a pressure pot shot peening machine which is capable of delivering shot to the workpiece, and which at least equals the shot peening characteristics of the known shot peening machines, but which at the same time is capable of assuring that the air flow and the pressure drop through the nozzle remains independent of uncontrollable upstream conditions. It is a purpose of this invention to fulfill this and other needs in the art in a manner more apparent to the skilled artisan once given the following disclosure.

Constant flow control for a pressure pot shot peening machine


A feeding container (1, 101, 301) for a stick-form cosmetic material (A, B, C) comprises a sleeve (10, 110, 310) which accommodates a tubular holder (31, 131, 331) holding the base end of the stick-form cosmetic material (A, B, C). By constituting the holder (31, 131, 331) by a thin film, an appropriate clearance can be set between the cosmetic material (A, B, C) and the inner periphery of the sleeve (10, 110, 310) without providing a step in the outer periphery of the cosmetic material (A, B, C). The form of an opening portion of the holder (31, 131, 331) is corrected by the inner periphery of the sleeve (10, 110, 310) when the holder (31, 131, 331) is inserted into the sleeve (10, 110, 310), so the cosmetic material (A, B, C) can be fitted easily into the holder (31, 131, 331) in the sleeve (10, 110, 310).

In relation to a feeding container for a stick-form cosmetic material such as lipstick, JP2002-262936A and JP07-024216U, published by the Japan Patent Office in 2002 and 1995 respectively, disclose containers in which a stick-form cosmetic material is inserted through a tip end opening of a sleeve, the cosmetic material is held within the sleeve, and the cosmetic material is fed by rotating a main body tube relative to the sleeve.
An example of this prior art will now be described with reference to FIGS. 11A–11D. This example corresponds to a third embodiment of JP2002-262936A.
A stick-form cosmetic material P shown in FIG. 11C has a circular cross-section, and is accommodated on the inside of a sleeve 210 shown in FIG. 11A The top end of the stick-form cosmetic material P is cut crossways at an incline. A main body tube 220 is joined to a lower end of the sleeve 210. This joint permits relative rotation between the sleeve 210 and main body tube 220 while restricting relative axial displacement.
As shown in FIG. 11C, the stick-form cosmetic material P decreases in diameter at a midway step 270. Referring to FIG. 11D, a narrow diameter portion 271 below the step 270 is inserted into a holder 231 of a core chuck member 230 which protrudes into the main body tube 220 from the sleeve 210. Engaging protrusions 239 which engage with vertical grooves 212 formed in the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve 210 are formed on the outer periphery of the holder 231 at equal angular intervals. The engagement between the engaging protrusions 239 and vertical grooves 212 restricts relative rotation between the holder 231 and sleeve 210, but permits relative axial displacement.
The core chuck member 230 comprises a stick shaft 234 fixed to a bottom surface of the holder 231 and protruding into the inside of the main body tube 220.
A male screw is carved into the outer periphery of the stick shaft 234, and this male screw is screwed into a female screw formed on the inside of the main body tube 220. Hence, by rotating the main body tube 220 relative to the sleeve 210, the holder 231 is axially displaced while supporting the stick-form cosmetic material P.

Stick-form cosmetic material feeding container


Provided is an apparatus including a frame a conduit coupled to the frame. The conduit is configured to adjustably extend from the frame, thereby providing a channel between the frame and a side of the server rack. The channel is configured to substantially thermally isolate a flow of gas through the channel.

Server systems operate as part of a client-server architecture and serve the requests of a client system by performing some computing tasks on behalf of the client system. Example server computing systems include database, file, mail, print, application, web, gaming servers, etc. Server computing systems often run for long periods without interruption and the expectation of server system availability is often very high, making reliability and durability of the server components extremely important. To maintain maximum reliability of the server components, the server components are generally kept within a specified temperature range.
The server components of a server computing system may be organized and mounted into server racks that are commonly used throughout various industries, e.g., audio, video, telecommunication, computing, entertainment, etc. Server components may be configured to receive cold air at the front side of the server rack and exhaust hot air from the back side of the server rack to maintain a suitable temperature environment within the server rack. Server components operate in a temperature controlled environment because for every 1° C. temperature increase, the life expectancy of the server components may be reduced in half. As the need for information has increased, so has the processing power of the server components, thereby resulting in increasingly higher processor densities and heat levels within server racks.

ALLIED TELESIS HOLDINGS KABUSHIKI KAISHA


In a data transfer device which cancells an offset of a differential amplifier for amplifying a received signal and an offset caused by characteristics of a differential transmission line and selects optimum conditions such as pre-emphasis amount of an output pre-emphasis circuit, a first chip (transmission side LSI=transfer engine 210) and a second chip (reception side LSI=multiplexing engine 330) are connected to each other through differential transmission line 430 and a SerDes (serializer) 401 and a SerDes (deserializer) 402 are used to make signal transmission, so that optimum setting conditions of an offset amount of an offset cancellation circuit included in an input buffer amplifier and a pre-emphasis amount of pre-emphasis circuit included in an output buffer are decided in training using a training PRBS generator 560 and a training PRBS comparator 570.

The present invention relates to a technique which can be effectively applied to cancellation of offsets of an input differential signal and a differential amplifier and an equalization amount of an output pre-emphasis circuit in an inter-LSI (large-scale integrated circuit) data transfer system of a network apparatus and, for example, a technique which can be effectively utilized in the network apparatus and LSIs used in the network apparatus.
Heretofore, in the inter-LSI data transfer system, the technique disclosed in JP-A-2005-20119 and JP-A-8-116340 is used to cancel a DC offset.
However, recently, a serializer/deserializer system in which bus is serialized and signal is transmitted at high speed is being often used in parts requiring the high throughput in the inter-LSI signal transmission. A main reason thereof is that in the conventional parallel transmission the operation frequency is higher the data period is shorter and it seems that timing between bits is relatively largely scattered, so that a margin of timing is small and it is hard to improve the throughput.
The serializer/deserializer system is a transceiver system for transferring data at very high speed. The serializer is a circuit for converting low-speed parallel data into high-speed serial data and transmitting the serialized data from an output buffer. The deserializer is a circuit for restoring high-speed serial data received by an input buffer to original parallel data by means of a clock data recovery circuit incorporated therein. The transceiver system using these circuits is the serializer/deserializer system. In the following description, the serializer/deserializer system is sometimes named SerDes.

Data transfer device of serializer/deserializer system


A backup control system within a fabrication system is provided. The fabrication system contains a plurality of separately located fabrication facilities, each of which contains a computer assisted production control system and a plurality of processing tools. The backup control system, coupled with the computer assisted production control systems, provides control of backup operations between the fabrication facilities, and relays manufacturing constraints of the backup-operated articles before and after the backup operation.

The present invention relates to a fabrication control system and particularly to a fabrication control system capable of controlling fabrication backup applied in multiple fabrication facility locations.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a conventional fabrication system 100, capable of fabricating semiconductor wafers, and containing Fabs 11 and 13. Fabs 11 and 13 are not identical in tool composition, but have similar and/or partially overlapping tool sets. Fabs 11 and 13 contain tools 11a˜11n and 13a˜13n respectively. Tools 11a˜11n and 13a˜13n are controlled by Manufacturing Execution Systems (MESs) 110 and 130 respectively. Although both Fabs 11 and 13 belong to fabrication system 100, they are not only geographically separated but also operate discretely. Because of the discrete operation, workloads allocated to Fab 11 cannot be processed in Fab 13, and vice versa. Even though Fab 13 is available for providing backup operation, Fab 11 loading must wait for processing when a bottlenecked tool is backed up. Thus, some tools in Fab 13 may remain idle despite Fab 11 having wafer lots queued at a corresponding tool. The independent operation of Fabs 11 and 13 actually hinders fabrication system 100 from optimizing utilization.
While cross-Fab backup within a fabrication system is clearly desired, it is not routinely practiced due to great difficulty in monitoring and controlling a plurality of separately located independent fabrication facilities. Cross-Fab backup is presently executed manually in the conventional fabrication system, an inefficient and mistake-prone process. Moreover, owing to the complexity of wafer fabrication, the conventional cross-Fab backup cannot address every detail of process operation, resulting in yield loss. In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 20020165629 (Backup control system for optimizing utilization of multiple fabrication facilities), Ho et al. disclose a backup control system and method for monitoring and controlling multiple fabrication facilities. The above-mentioned invention relieves the manual burden of conventional cross-Fab backup and enhances the overall utilization of the multiple fabrication facilities.
In wafer fabrication processes, however, most work-in-process (WIP) has manufacturing constraints, based on process time, equipment, Advance Process Control (APC), and contamination. These manufacturing constraints are set to prevent mis-operation and yield loss. Both the conventional method and the cited disclosure fail to relay these manufacturing constraints between Fabs during cross-Fab backup, thereby increasing the likelihood of mis-operation and yield loss, and thus counteracting the benefits of cross-Fab backup operation.
Hence, there is a need for a fabrication system that addresses mis-operation during cross-Fab backup arising from the existing technology.

System and method for fabrication backup control

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A multipurpose tool for handles and valves has been designed to facilitate the operation of outdoor water faucets (sillcocks, cocks, spigots, bibs, taps) and water splitters (diverters, wyes). Metal fingers (pins, tines) on the tool fit into or onto window, tee, and cross tee handles to open or close water faucets. Other metal fingers fit onto various shapes of levers to open or close water splitter valves. The valve fingers also work as a wrench to tighten or loosen the nut securing most faucet handles to the spigot. Both types of fingers can be used to scoop out damaged leaky washers. The tool arm has a metal file surface to smooth rough faucet edges that touch washers, often a place where water leaks occur. Finally, the hollow tool handle contains extra plumbing sealing tape and washers for onsite faucet and hose repairs.

Homeowners, condominium owners, apartment dwellers, and commercial building maintenance workers are frequently faced with the task of grasping and turning outdoor faucet handles. Whether it is work related, gardening, watering the lawn, washing the family auto, or simply spraying the kids and the dog, water users want pain-free, hassle-free access to water which is directly related to the operation of faucet handles and valve levers.
Most outdoor faucet handles are categorized into one of three designs: the windowed design, the tee design and the cross tee design; all of which can be difficult to grasp and turn, especially if they are rusted or corroded with sediment. In addition, many outdoor faucets are equipped with water splitters, diverters that channel water into a number of different hoses. The splitters, operated by tiny valve levers, compound the problem of access to water because they too are difficult to grasp and turn.
The relatively simple task of providing water through faucets and hoses can be challenging for many with average strength and dexterity because of the size, shape, and condition of the faucets, handles, and levers. Many others with limited use of their fingers, hands, and arms including those afflicted with arthritis and other conditions that weaken the limbs have an even greater challenge. For them, the task can be frustratingly painful, even impossible.
The Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) recommend that living accommodations be made to avoid common barriers to operating door handles and other handles likely to be encountered in typical living situations. This standard requires that hardware be operable without any tight grasping or strenuous twisting motion. They stated: "Handles, pulls, latches, locks, and other operating devices on accessible doors shall have a shape that is easy to grasp with one hand and does not require tight grasping, tight pinching, or twisting of the wrist to operate. Lever-operated mechanisms, push-type mechanisms, and U-shaped handles are acceptable designs".
In the spirit of the ADAAG recommendations for door handles, the multipurpose tool presented herein is designed to circumvent the difficulties associated with operating outdoor faucet handles and splitter valves levers. This tool is also designed to aid the user in making simple repairs to eliminate many leaks associated with hose connections.
A small number of tools were intended to engage and rotate the handles of exterior water faucets. Current designs and implements to facilitate the operation of outdoor faucets include covering each faucet handle with a semi-permanent elastomeric surface cap (U.S. Pat. No. 4,999,875), or a plastic cover (U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,641A), or covering a tee (T) handle with a plastic accessory (WO1998001693A1), or using a metal tool atop a tee handle (GB2327255A; U.S. Pat. No. 3,010,346A), or installing a semi-permanent ear-type extended handle (U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,475B1). Some other tools were designed to be portable in their operation. For example, one tool includes 8-12 sliding pins to fit into an outdoor or onto an indoor faucet handle (WO1999005581A1). The pins, falling by gravity, would fit into open areas in and around the handle as the paddle-like pin device contacted the target. With pins in place, the operator would then rotate the handle to open or close the faucet. Other portable tools include fixed pins protruding into open spaces between spokes in a valve handle (JP2008290224A; U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,401B1), and a three-pronged wire device with a long handle to penetrate the windows of faucet handles (U.S. Pat. No. 1,569,638A).
Two marginally related pin-tools designed to turn valve handles had more than one function. The first was designed as a large industrial tool with two pins for sizable valve wheel handles (U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,435A). The second multipurpose tool was designed to fit and work on gas cylinder handles (U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,069B1).
Criticisms of the tools described in the prior art include one or more of the following: limited function, installation cost, effort to operate, and lack of portability.
Plastic covers positioned on top of handles may reduce physical contact with small and sharp metal structures, but they do not provide much leverage for turning, the problem many people with arthritis and other physical impairments must overcome. Extended handles for the tee style are either stationary or portable, but limited to the tee handle design. Single ear-type covers for round windowed handles must be attached to each unit thus adding to the overall effort and cost.
One tool having multiple movable pins (WO1999005581A1) is awkward to set into position, needs gravity to function, requires higher maintenance for the pins to slide smoothly, and is likely to jam multiple pins inside old rusty handles making it difficult to release the tool when turning is complete. Other tools sharing the pin feature have fixed pins (US20090320651A1; U.S. Pat. No. 2,086,722A; US20030047041A1) or wires (U.S. Pat. No. 1,569,638A) that fit in between handle spokes, but lack the two finger simplicity, the light weight, and the versatility of the tool proposed herein. Furthermore, the pin-tool designs described thus far in this paragraph are limited to the singular function of turning handles. Two other pin-tools with multiple functions were designed either to fit and operate large industrial wheel valves and barrel plug nuts (U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,435A), or to fit and operate gas cylinder valves (U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,069B1), neither of which was designed for small outdoor water faucets, splitter valves levers, or to repair leaks.

Multipurpose tool for handles and valves


This invention discloses a novel system and method for comparing electronic documents that are created on different software platforms or that are in different data formats by traversing the two hierarchical representations of the documents in a manner so as to selectively ignore nodes in the hierarchy and attempt to resynchronize the sequence of traversing when nodes have no matching content.

Many real world data sets are hierarchical, i.e. they can be represented in a tree-like structure where every node in the tree may have an ordered collection of sub-nodes. Examples might include an organizational hierarchy, the structure of a document (consisting of sections, paragraphs, tables, rows, cells, etc.) or the categorization of items in a taxonomy. The purpose of this invention is to calculate a correspondence between two sets of hierarchical data where the underlying data represented by the hierarchies is the similar, but the node structures used to represent that data differ. The invention works for hierarchies that are ordered and where the ordering is the same between the two representations of the data and the dissimilarities between the two representations are small. The tree hierarchy must be such that a depth first traversal of the tree visits the tree nodes in the correct order. The particular problem that this technique was invented to solve was to deal with the case where two tree representations of the same word-processing document have been obtained by reading the document through different document display or editing programs. For example, one representation may have been obtained by loading the document into Microsoft Word and examining the Document Object Model exposed to VBA and COM by the Word application, while the other may have been obtained by using a code library to read the content of the document directly. In this case, while the text of the document in the two representations would be expected to be largely the same (excepting possibly different handling of special characters etc.), the hierarchies may differ. Therefore, there is a need for a system and method that can compare the two documents by means of the hierarchy. These and other objects, features and characteristics of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from a study of the following detailed description in conjunction with the appended claims and drawings, all of which form a part of this specification. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

Method and system for comparing document versions encoded in a hierarchical representation


A method and apparatus for managing text is disclosed. A data processing system identifies a log of research and text in a document that matches the log of research. The data processing system determines whether a mismatch exists between a search result for the text in the document and the log of research. Responsive to determining the mismatch exists between the search result for the text and the log of research, the data processing system then modifies the text in the document based on the log of research.

1. Field
The disclosure relates generally to data processing systems and, in particular, to managing text. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method, apparatus, and computer program for modifying text in a document to correct a search result for the text.
2. Description of the Related Art
When writing a document, users enter information about topics into the document. The information entered by the users may be information learned while researching the topics. For example, information entered into the document for a particular topic may be information from a web page that includes information about the particular topic. In this example, when a reference to the web page is not provided in the document, the link between the particular topic in the document and the web page may not be known to some users of the document.
When reading about topics in a document, users oftentimes have a desire to search for additional information about the topics. For example, a user may use text in the document about a particular topic to form a search request for a search engine for the particular topic. When using a search engine, the text used in each search request determines each search result. A search request that has the wrong or insufficient text may result in some number of web pages in the search result that do not apply to the particular topic in the document.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method, apparatus, and computer program product that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above.

Managing text in documents based on a log of research corresponding to the text

International Business Machines Corporation


Provided is a printing apparatus having a device which is capable of intuitively deciding whether the indication of printing start is possible. Platen installation (S10), ink cartridge installation (S20), residual ink amount (S30), waste ink tank installation (S40), residual capacity of waste ink tank (S50), printing data reception (S60), and maintenance execution (S70) are confirmed, as conditions at which printing can be conducted, with a platen detection sensor, ink cartridge detection sensor, residual ink amount detection sensor, water ink tank detection sensor, residual capacity of waste ink tank detection sensor, reception flag, and maintenance flag, respectively, and a printing possibility LED provided in a printing start button is switched on at the point of time when all the printing possibility-conditions are satisfied (S90).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus of an ink-jet system or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In printing apparatuses of an ink jet system which conduct recording by ejecting ink on a recording medium, the ink is generally supplied to a plurality of ejection channels of an ink jet head from an ink supply source, an actuator such as a heat generating element or piezoelectric element is selectively actuated, and the ejection of ink is carried out from an ejection nozzle provided at the distal end of the ejection channels. In such a printing apparatus, printing is typically conducted on paper or the like serving as a recording medium, but recording is also sometimes conducted on cloth such as T-shirts.
When printing is conducted on paper or the like, if the user inputs a printing command from an external equipment such as a personal computer connected to the printing apparatus, printing is usually executed without conducting any operations at the printing apparatus. However, for example, when the residual amount of ink is small, this is detected by an appropriate method, the user is informed about it, and printing processing is carried out after the ink cartridge is replaced. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-72105 discloses a configuration in which an ink cartridge state display LED is prepared and comes on if the residual amount of ink becomes small or when the ink supply is disrupted or the ink cartridge is not properly inserted.
On the other hand, when printing is conducted on cloth such as a T-shirt, in most configurations the recording medium has to be strongly fixed to a holding device such as a platen, printing has to be executed after confirming that the printing is possible at the printing apparatus side, and printing cannot be automatically started merely by the printing command from the external equipment. In such printing apparatuses for printing on cloth, an indication device such as a button for indicating the printing start is provided, and the user starts printing by pushing the printing start button after confirming that several conditions are satisfied, those conditions relating to the residual amount of ink, completion of printing data reception, installation of waste ink tank, fixing of the recording medium, and the like.
However, information on whether the conditions required for printing start have been satisfied has to be confirmed by displaying at separate LED lamps or liquid-crystal displays, and as the number of conditions increases, the number of items that have to be confirmed also rises, making the procedure inconvenient for the user.


The present invention provides a method and apparatus for fabricating a separator assembly. The method comprises: providing a central core element comprising at least one concentrate exhaust conduit and at least one permeate exhaust conduit; disposing a first portion of a membrane stack assembly comprising a permeate carrier layer, a membrane layer, and a feed carrier layer within the central core element such that the concentrate exhaust conduit and permeate exhaust conduit are separated by the first portion of the membrane stack assembly; radially winding a second portion of the membrane stack assembly around the central core element; and sealing the wound assembly comprising two opposing end surfaces made of the membrane stack assembly by applying an adhesive on both end surfaces of the wound assembly; and applying a negative pressure inside the central core element so that the adhesive penetrates into the membrane stack assembly.

This disclosure includes embodiments that generally relate to fabricating separator assemblies. In various embodiments, the disclosure relates to a method of fabricating separator assemblies. The disclosure also relates to apparatus for fabricating separator assemblies.
A conventional separator assembly typically comprises a multilayer membrane assembly disposed around a porous exhaust conduit. The multilayer membrane assembly comprises a feed carrier layer, a permeate carrier layer and a membrane layer between the feed carrier layer and the permeate carrier layer. The permeate carrier layer is in contact with the porous exhaust conduit. It is also necessary to prevent the feed carrier layer from contacting the permeate carrier layer or the porous exhaust conduit. During a typical operation, a feed solution passes through the multilayer membrane assembly along the axis of the assembly. The feed solution is brought into contact with the feed carrier layer of the multilayer membrane assembly which transmits the feed solution to the membrane layer. The membrane layer modifies and transmits a portion of the feed solution as a permeate solution to the exhaust conduit via the permeate carrier layer. A concentrated solution is also transported out of the multilayer membrane assembly via the feed carrier layer. Separator assemblies have been used in various fluid purification processes, including reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, and microfiltration processes.
In order to ensure isolation of the permeate carrier layer from the feed carrier layer, thus preventing the permeate solution from being contaminated by the feed solution, a folded multilayer membrane assembly is typically utilized, in which the membrane layer is folded to create a pocket-like structure which envelops the feed carrier layer. The edges of the membrane layer are also sealed by applying a sealing adhesive onto a passive surface of the membrane layer in contact with the permeate carrier layer. During fabrication of separator assemblies comprising the conventional folded multilayer membrane assemblies, the sealing adhesive is often applied before the membrane stack is wound onto the exhaust conduit. The sealant is kept in an uncured state to allow the surfaces of layers of the membrane stack assembly some freedom of motion during the winding process. Therefore such folded multilayer membrane assemblies are especially susceptible to telescoping of the layered structure and consequent contamination of the permeate carrier layer. In addition, the adhesive is typically applied manually, thus it is a time-consuming process which may occupy up to 50% of overall operation time for fabricating separator assembly.
Thus, there exists a need for further improvements in both the design and manufacture of separator assemblies.

Method and apparatus for fabricating separator assembly


Provided is an optical head device and an optical information recording or reproducing device for performing recording or reproduction to/from a plurality of types of optical recording medium, which can obtain a stable track error signal by a small size and exhibits high efficiency. Light PD and light PC emitted from a double-wavelength light source make incidence to a diffractive optical element in the same polarization directions. Diffraction gratings have a double refractive characteristic and in these areas the polarization directions of the two light beams become orthogonal. The light of 650 nm band is divided into 0th-order light and ±1st-order diffracted light in one of the diffraction grating and transmits through the other diffraction grating. The light of 780 nm band transmits through one of the diffraction grating and is divided into 0th-order light and ±1st-order diffracted light in the other diffraction grating. The two light beams are emitted from the diffractive optical element in the same polarization direction and guided towards the optical recording medium through a polarizing beam splitter and a quarter-wave plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical head device and an optical information recording or reproducing device for performing recording or reproduction to/from a plurality of types of optical recording medium and, more specifically, to an optical head device and an optical information recording or reproducing device, which can achieve a stable track error signal by small size and also exhibits high efficiency. In the followings, light of 400 nm band wavelength for HD DVD is referred to as light PH, light of 650 nm band wavelength for DVD as light PD, and light of 780 nm band wavelength for CD as light PC.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical head devices which perform recording and reproduction to/from a plurality of types of optical recording medium of different standards such as DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) and CD (Compact Disk) have been put into practical use. However, the recording or reproducing characteristics for the optical recording medium of a specific standard are guaranteed only for a specific wavelength. That is, the recording or reproducing characteristics for the optical recording medium of DVD standard are guaranteed only for the light PD, and the recording or reproducing characteristics for the optical recording medium of CD standard are guaranteed only for the light PC.
Therefore, in general, the optical head device which performs recording and reproduction to/from a plurality of types of optical recording medium of different standards comprises a plurality of numbers of light sources being mounted for outputting the light of wavelengths corresponding to each standard. For example, the optical head device which performs recording and reproduction to/from both the optical recording medium of DVD standard and the optical recording medium of CD standard is provided with a light source for emitting the light PD and a light source for emitting the light PC.
In general, each of these two light sources is housed in a separate package. However, a double-wavelength light source in which two light sources are housed in a common package has also been put into practical use. By using such double-wavelength light source for the optical system of the optical head device, it becomes unnecessary to provide a photosynthesizing device for synthesizing light emitted from two light sources housed in separate packages. Thus, size of the optical system of the optical head device can be reduced.
Known as a method for detecting a track error signal in the optical head device is a differential push-pull method. With the differential push-pull method, there is no offset generated in the track error signal even if an objective lens of the optical head device shifts in a radial direction of the optical recording medium thereby enabling to attain a stable track error signal. This detection method can be achieved through dividing the emitted light from the light source into 0th-order light as a main beam and ±1st-order diffracted light as sub-beams by a diffractive optical element provided between the light source and the objective lens of the optical head device. These three beams of light are reflected by the optical recording medium and separately received by a photodetector of the optical head device. In the differential push-pull method, the track error signal is attained by finding a difference between a push-pull signal of the main beam and push-pull signals of the sub-beams received by the photodetector. The ratio of light quantities of the main beam and the sub-beams is determined by the groove depth of a diffraction grating of the diffractive optical element. The space between the main beam and the sub-beams on the optical recording medium is determined by a groove cycle of the diffraction grating of the diffractive optical element.
Now, let's look into the case of detecting the track error signal using the above-described diffractive optical element for each of the optical recording medium of the DVD standard and the optical recording medium of the CD standard in the optical head device which performs recording and reproduction to both the optical recording medium of the DVD standard and the optical recording medium of the CD standard.
When using two light sources for DVD and CD being housed in the separate packages for the optical system of the optical head device, in general, a diffractive optical element for DVD is disposed on an exclusive optical path of the light PD and a diffractive optical element for CD is disposed on an exclusive optical path of the light PC. By individually setting the groove depth and the cycles of the diffraction gratings of the respective diffractive optical elements, the ratio of the light quantities of the main beam and the sub-beams and the space therebetween on the optical recording medium can be set individually for the light PD and the light PC.
In the meantime, when using the double-wavelength light source for DVD and CD housed in a common package for the optical system of the optical head device, the diffractive optical element compatible for double wavelengths of DVD and CD has to be disposed on a common optical path of the light PD and the light PC. Thus, for individually setting the ratio of the light quantities of the main beam and the sub-beams and the space therebetween on the optical recording medium for the light PD and the light PC, some contrivances are necessary in the diffractive optical element which is compatible for double wavelengths.
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2001-290017 discloses such an optical head device which uses the double-wavelength light source and the diffractive optical element compatible for double wavelengths as described above. FIG. 1 shows the optical head device disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2001-290017. A semiconductor laser 1a is obtained by housing a semiconductor laser for emitting the light PD and a semiconductor laser for emitting the light PC in a common package.
The light PD emitted from the semiconductor laser 1a is divided into three light beams by a diffractive optical element 35 which are 0th-order light as a main beam and ±1st-order diffracted lights as sub-beams. A part of these light beams transmits through the non-polarizing beam splitter 36, collimated by a collimator lens 2, and is focused onto a disk 7 as an optical recording medium of the DVD standard by an objective lens 6. The three light beams reflected by the disk 7 transmits through the objective lens 6 and the collimator lens 2 in the reverse direction and a part of which is reflected by the beam splitter 36 and received by a photodetector 10a.
The light PC emitted from the semiconductor laser 1a is divided into three light beams by a diffractive optical element 35 which are 0th-order light as a main beam and ±1st-order diffracted lights as sub-beams. A part of these light beams transmits through a non-polarizing beam splitter 36, collimated by a collimator lens 2, and is focused onto the disk 7 as an optical recording medium of the CD standard by the objective lens 6. The three light beams reflected by the disk 7 transmits through the objective lens 6 and the collimator lens 2 in the reverse direction and a part of which is reflected by the beam splitter 36 and received by the photodetector 10a.
FIG. 2 is a cross section of the diffractive optical element 35. The diffractive optical element 35 has a configuration in which: a diffraction grating 38a having a birefringent characteristic is formed on a substrate 37a; a diffraction grating 38b having a birefringent characteristic is formed on a wave plate 41; a filler 39 is filled in between the diffraction grating 38a and the diffraction grating 38b; and the wave plate 41 and the substrate 37a are bonded by an adhesive 40. Here, the linearly polarized light whose polarization direction is parallel to the grooves of the diffraction gratings 38a, 38b is referred to as TE-polarized light and the linearly polarized light whose polarization direction is vertical to the grooves of the diffraction gratings 38a, 38b is referred to as TM-polarized light. At this time, the refractive index of the diffraction grating 38a is equal to the refractive index of the filler 39 for the TE-polarized light and is different from the refractive index of the filler 39 for the TM-polarized light. Further, the refractive index of the diffraction grating 38b is different from the refractive index of the filler 39 for the TE-polarized light and is equal to the refractive index of the filler 39 for the TM-polarized light. That is, the diffraction grating 38a functions as the diffraction grating only for the TM-polarized light and the diffraction grating 38b functions as the diffraction grating only for the TE-polarized light.
As shown in FIG. 2(a), the light PD makes incidence to the diffraction gratings 38a, 38b as the TE-polarized light. Thus, the light PD almost entirely transmits through the diffraction grating 38a and is divided into three light beams, i.e. 0th-order light as the main beam and the ±1st-order diffracted light as the sub-beams by the diffraction grating 38b. The ratio of light quantities of the main beam and the sub-beams is determined by the groove depth of the diffraction grating 38b and the space between the main beam and the sub-beams on the optical recording medium is determined by the groove cycle of the diffraction grating 38b.
As shown in FIG. 2(b), the light PC makes an incident to the diffraction gratings 38a, 38b as the TM-polarized light. Thus, the light PC is divided into three light beams, i.e. 0th-order light as the main beam and the ±1st-order diffracted light as the sub-beams by the diffraction grating 38a and almost entirely transmits through the diffraction grating 38b. The ratio of light quantities of the main beam and the sub-beams is determined by the groove depth of the diffraction grating 38a and the space between the main beam and the sub-beams on the optical recording medium is determined by the groove cycle of the diffraction grating 38a.
In the manner as described above, the ratio of the light quantities of the main beam and the sub-beams and the space therebetween on the optical recording medium can be individually set for the light PD and the light PC. The wave plate 41 functions as a quarter-wave plate for the light PD. Thus, in FIG. 2(a), the light emitted from the diffractive optical element 35 becomes a circularly polarized light. Further, in FIG. 2 (b), the light emitted from the diffractive optical element 35 becomes an elliptically polarized light in general.
In an optical head device shown in FIG. 1, for example, for obtaining the maximum product of the efficiency of the inward light emitted from the semiconductor laser 1a towards the disk 7 through the beam splitter 36 and the efficiency of the outward light towards the photodetector 10a reflected by the disk 7 and the beam splitter 36, the transmittivity and the reflectivity of the beam splitter 36 are both to be 50%. That is, when the non-polarizing beam splitter 36 is used as a light separating element for separating the inward light and the outward light, there generates 50% loss in the light quantities generated both in the inward and outward light. In order to suppress the loss of the light quantity in the inward and outward light, generally used as the light separating element is a combination of a polarizing beam splitter and a quarter-wave plate.
However, even if the beam splitter 36 of the optical head device shown in FIG. 1 is replaced with the combination of the polarizing beam splitter and the quarter-wave plate, loss in the light quantity of the outward light cannot be suppressed. The reason is that the light PD for DVD makes incidence to the polarizing beam splitter as a circularly polarized light so that only about 50% of the light is transmitted, and the light PC for the CD generally makes incidence to the polarizing beam splitter as an elliptically polarized light so that the light is not transmitted by 100%.
As described above, in the optical head device disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2001-290017 and the optical head device in which a part of the optical system is modified, the optical system can be reduced in size by using the double-wavelength light source for the optical system, and the ratio of the light quantities of the main beam and the sub-beams and the space therebetween on the optical recording medium can be individually set for the light of the respective wavelength. Thus, it is possible to attain a stable track error signal by the differential push-pull method. However, loss of the light quantity in the inward and outward light cannot be suppressed so that the efficiency is low.

Optical head device and optical information recording or reproducing device