A controller for eliminating acoustic noise of a power converter includes a control unit and a gate signal generation unit. The control unit is used for detecting a frequency corresponding to a gate control signal in a burst mode of the power converter. When the frequency is greater than a predetermined frequency, the control unit increases a resistance of a compensation resistor coupled to a compensation pin of the power converter; and when the frequency is less than the predetermined frequency, the control unit decreases the resistance of the compensation resistor. The gate signal generation unit is coupled to the control unit for generating the gate control signal to a power switch of a primary side of the power converter according to the resistance of the compensation resistor. The power switch is turned on according to the gate control signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a controller for eliminating acoustic noise of a power converter and a related method thereof, and particularly to a controller and a related method thereof that can increase a frequency corresponding to a gate control signal when the frequency corresponding to the gate control signal is greater than a predetermined frequency, and decrease the frequency corresponding to the gate control signal when the frequency corresponding to the gate control signal is less than the predetermined frequency to eliminate acoustic noise of a power converter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a secondary side of a power converter is coupled to a light load, a controller applied to the power converter can generate agate control signal corresponding to a burst mode of the power converter to a power switch of a primary side of the power converter, wherein the power switch is turned according to the gate control signal generated by the controller. Therefore, when the secondary side of the power converter is coupled to the light load, power consumption of the power converter can be decreased because the power converter enters the burst mode.
When a frequency corresponding to the gate control signal generated by the controller falls within a human auditory frequency range, the power converter will generate annoying acoustic noise. However, the prior art for eliminating acoustic noise of the power converter has poorer power saving, more complicated circuits, larger area, larger ripples in an output voltage of the power converter, and so on. Therefore, the prior art is not a good choice for a designer of the controller.

Controller for eliminating acoustic noise of a power converter and related method thereof


A synthetic resin skin material composite, including: a urethane resin skin material including a urethane resin skin layer provided at one surface of a substrate; and a cushion layer that is placed at a surface on an opposite side of the substrate from the surface of the urethane resin skin material at which the urethane resin skin layer is provided; in which the urethane resin skin material has recesses at a side of the urethane resin skin layer, and each of the recesses has a depth in a thickness direction of the synthetic resin skin material composite, such that the recesses extend from the urethane resin skin layer into the cushion layer beyond an interface between the urethane resin skin material and the cushion layer that is present in a region without a recess, as well as a method of producing a synthetic resin skin material composite.

Synthetic leathers excellent in durability have been heavily used for automotive interior parts, such as instrument panels, door trims, seats, and headliners, railway vehicle interior parts or aircraft interior parts, such as trims, seats, and ceilings, furniture, shoes, footwear, bags, interior/exterior materials for buildings, outer covering materials or backing materials for clothes, covering materials for walls, and the like, in place of natural leathers or fibrous sheets. Such synthetic leathers have stepped portions, namely grain pattern similar to natural leathers on outermost surfaces.
In recent years, skin materials with three-dimensional shape having deeper recessed portions have been demanded as synthetic leathers that are used for automotive seats, chairs, or the like, than synthetic leathers with leather-like shallow recessed portions that have been conventionally widely used.
For this reason, those that have been prepared by using clothes (fabric) as substrates, on the back surfaces of which urethane foam layers are provided for imparting cushioning property thereto, and on the top surfaces of which skin layers are provided for imparting high designability thereto, are used commonly.
For example, an interior material that has a wet microporous layer, a polyurethane adhesive layer, and a urethane skin layer at a side of napped surface of a base cloth with raised fibers, in which tips of the raised fibers of the base cloth are present within the polyurethane adhesive layer, has been proposed as an automotive interior material using wet-processing for imparting a soft feel to a skin layer (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. H07-132573).
Further, a method of integrally laminating a flexible polyurethane foam material having specific properties with an outer fabric with a constant load elongation of from 2% to 50%, to form a laminate sheet, placing the laminate sheet and a forming die that is provided with a large number of protrusions between a top and bottom pair of heating platens, and performing hot press, has been proposed as a method of producing a skin material having stepped portions, in which a stepped pattern can be deeply and clearly formed, and the shape of stepped portions is hardly deformed despite long-term use (see JP-A No. 2003-326598).

Synthetic resin skin material composite and method of producing synthetic resin skin material composite


An image reader includes a reading carriage, on which a reading unit is mounted and which performs scanning along a document-sheet platen in a scanning direction, and an annular belt that draws the reading carriage. The belt includes a first side extending in the scanning direction to which the reading carriage is fixed, and a second side that is disposed to be spaced from the first side. The detection unit that detects a document sheet mounted on the document-sheet platen is disposed in a region between the first side and the second side of the belt in a direction intersecting with the scanning direction.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image reader, such as a flatbed-type scanner.
2. Related Art
In the related art, an example of the image reader is a flatbed-type scanner which includes a reading carriage on which a sensor for reading a document sheet is mounted and which performs scanning in a scanning direction, an annular belt that draws the reading carriage, and three pulleys over which the belt is looped.
In such an image reader, two out of three pulleys are disposed on opposite ends in a scanning region of the reading carriage, and the remaining one pulley is disposed at a position overlapped with the scanning region of the reading carriage, such that the belt is stretched in a triangle (for example, JP-A-2004-133151).
Incidentally, in some cases, the image reader includes a detection unit, such as a reflective optical sensor, disposed on the side opposite to a mounting surface of a document-sheet platen where the document sheet is mounted, in order to detect the presence/absence of a document sheet mounted on the document-sheet platen. Since the detection unit is positioned to be overlapped with the scanning region of the reading carriage, there is concern that the detection unit interferes with the belt stretched in a triangle.


A 3D interconnect structure and method of manufacture are described in which a through-silicon vias (TSVs) and metal redistribution layers (RDLs) are formed using a dual damascene type process flow. A silicon nitride or silicon carbide passivation layer may be provided between the thinned device wafer back side and the RDLs to provide a hermetic barrier and etch stop layer during the process flow.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to three dimensional (3D) packaging, and more particularly to the integration of through-silicon vias (TSVs) into 3D packages.
2. Discussion of Related Art
3D packaging is emerging as a solution for microelectronics development toward system on chip (SOC) and system in package (SIP). In particular, 3D flip chip structures with TSVs have the potential for being widely adopted. TSV 3D packages generally contain two or more chips stacked vertically, with vias through silicon substrates replacing edge wiring to create an electrical connection between the circuit elements on each chip.
The Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC) is currently developing a WideIO standard defining the chip-to-chip landing pad interface for a logic-to-memory interface. Conventionally, the physical locations of TSVs are located directly beneath the landing pad locations on a chip, which takes up a lot of real estate. This means that all other circuitry is laid out around the TSV locations.
During TSV processing, the array of TSVs are formed through a thinned device wafer. Conventional TSV structures use either silicon dioxide or polymers as an insulator material on the backside of the thinned device wafer. These materials are not hermetic, and do not provide a robust passivation layer on the backside of the thinned device wafer.

3D interconnect structure comprising through-silicon vias combined with fine pitch backside metal redistribution lines fabricated using a dual damascene type approach


Certain 2-halophenyl, 2,4-dihalophenyl (e.g. 2,4-dichlorophenyl), 3,4-dichlorophenyl (e.g. 3,4-dichlorophenyl), 2,6-dichlorophenyl (2,6-dichlorophenyl) and 2,5-diakoxyphenyl (e.g. 2,5-dimethoxyphenyl) derivatives of tetrahydro-β-carbolines are provided, along with their pharmaceutically acceptable salts; prodrugs and solvates, and compositions containing the compounds. The compounds are useful for the prevention and treatment of cancer, and other indications where PDE5 inhibitors have shown benefits including erectile dysfunction, pulmonary hypertension, enhancing cognitive function, cystic fibrosis, or enhancing the activity of conventional chemotherapeutic drugs. Methods for fabricating the compounds are also provided.

Phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) is an important enzyme involved in regulating intracellular cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) signaling. PDE5 catalyzes the hydrolysis of cGMP into 5′ guanosine monophosphate, whereby inhibition leads to increased magnitude or duration of the cGMP signal. PDE5 is an essential regulator of normal physiological processes, such as smooth muscle contraction and relaxation and may also play an important role in a variety of pathological conditions including pulmonary hypertension, cognitive function, cystic fibrosis, and cancer. For example, PDE5 is a major cGMP degrading PDE isozyme in penile corpus cavernosum tissue, whereby its inhibition by drugs such as sildenafil, vardenafil, or tadalafil can enhance penile erection upon sexual arousal.1, 2 Inhibition of PDE5 may also benefit patients with pulmonary hypertension or cystic fibrosis, while additional indications are being studied including the enhancement of cognitive function, increasing efficacy of conventional chemotherapy, as well as being cardioprotective.
Recent studies have shown that PDE5 and possibly additional cGMP-PDEs are expressed in various carcinomas such as those derived from the colon, breast, lung and bladder. Moreover, cGMP PDE inhibition and consequent high intracellular levels of cGMP may be associated with the apoptotic activities of certain drugs.4, 5 For example, exisulind and its analogs (CP78, CP461, CP248) have been reported to selectively induce apoptosis of tumor cells derived from a variety of cancers including colon, bladder, prostate, breast and lung. Exisulind and its analogs maintained similar rank order of potency to induce apoptosis and inhibit tumor cell growth compared with cGMP PDE inhibition. Such compounds also caused a sustained elevation of intracellular cGMP levels in colon tumor cells. Therefore, it is proposed that cGMP mediates the mechanism underlying the apoptosis inducing properties of exisulind in neoplastic cells.4-7 These effects in neoplastic cells appear to be not solely dependent on the specific inhibition of PDE5, but rather, are related to inhibition of additional cGMP-PDEs. Previous studies therefore indicate that it is important to inhibit multiple cGMP PDE isoforms, although the exact isozymes involved have not been well defined.7 Accordingly, highly selective and potent PDE5 inhibitors such as tadalafil would not be expected to have anticancer properties. Additionally, there may be other reasons why conventional PDE5 inhibitors do not have anticancer activity that have not yet been delineated.
Even though significant advances have occurred in the treatment of cancer, it still remains a major worldwide health concern. Notwithstanding the advances in treatments for cancer and other hyperproliferative diseases there still remains room for improved drugs that are effective with minimal toxicity.

Tetrahydro-beta-carboline derivatives, synthesis and use thereof


3D graphics animation is increasingly used in movies and virtual reality computer games to produce realistic visual simulations of physical and natural phenomena. The animation of diffuse liquids such as gases is an indispensable component in such special effects. The present system and methods utilize physically-based and more intuitive procedurally-based simulation techniques to simulate and render natural phenomena in computer graphics. The present invention facilitates user interaction in order to generate a variety of gas effects, for example, waves within water, plumes within hot gas, and flames within fire. Improved user interaction is achieved by improving rendering performance and introducing a new method of high-level control for Eulerian simulations.

There is a growing interest in the development and use of 3D graphics animation for realistic visual simulations of physical and natural phenomena. Among other industries, the entertainment industry seeks to develop and use such simulations in movies and virtual reality computer games. Among many other challenges, simulating and rendering liquids including diffuse liquids is a difficult problem in computer graphics. The behavior and appearance of gaseous phenomena is physically complex. Simulation research has attempted to reduce the problem to specific kinds of gases. Solving the simulation of diffuse liquids problem is advantageous in that it is a subset of applications for more general work in flow modeling and translucent volume rendering.
Simulation methods attempt to produce realistic images by approximating the physical processes within gaseous phenomena, such as waves in water, plumes in hot gas, flames in fire, and condensation in clouds. Computational fluid simulations can produce what appear to be realistic images and movement of gaseous phenomena. However, large scale high-quality simulation severely taxes commodity computational resources even with the recent breakthroughs in real-time fluid simulation. Modeling amorphous phenomena by conventional simulation approaches is a slow offline process. Artists utilizing these approaches currently use and manipulate low-complexity avatars as placeholders for high-quality simulation. Fine tuning the results of these approaches is a very slow, iterative process. The tweaking of physical parameters may result in no observable consequence or may give rise to undesirable side-effects, including the loss of precision and numeric instability. Unpredictable results may be introduced from approximations in low resolution calculations during trial renderings. Physics-based interfaces can also be very cumbersome and non-intuitive for artists to express their intention and can limit the animation by the laws of physics.
In contrast to these known methods, the procedural approach can easily approximate phenomenological modeling techniques by generalizing high-level formation and evolution characteristics. These methods rely on mathematical primitives, such as volumetric implicit functions, fractals, Fourier synthesis, and noise to create the basic, structure of the clouds. The procedural approach often produces more controllable results than true simulation and in much less time. First, these models formulate the high-level cloud structure, such as fractal motion or cellular automata. Then, the model is reduced to renderable terms, such as fractals, implicits, or particles. Many versions of this approach use volumetric ellipsoids to roughly shape natural phenomenon, then add detail procedurally.
Currently, interactive gaseous environments are designed by using physically-based models or qualitative approximations to efficiently emulate the phenomena. Qualitative approximations are typically more effective as a modeling tool, but may not realistically capture the important nuances provided through a more exhaustive simulation.
Gas modeling poses a computational and modeling dilemma, balancing accuracy and efficiency. Realistic fluid dynamics is modeled over a spatial and temporal continuum. Choosing appropriate numerical approximations, along with sufficiently scaling resolution, plays an important role in achieving realistic yet efficient results. By making assumptions about the medium's behavior, approximations can be made for the gas structure and motion.
Physically-based approaches are the most common method to computationally simulate gases. Typically, Navier-Stokes equations are used for ideal incompressible fluid flow. For example, a flow field ξ:
                                          ∂            ξ                                ∂            t                          =                                            -                              (                                                      ξ                    T                                    ∇                                )                                                  ξ                    -                                    ∇              p                        ρ                    +                                    v                                            (                                                      ∇                    T                                    ∇                                )                                                  ξ                    +          f                                    (                  Equation                                                              1                )                                                      ∇            T                              ξ                =        0                            (                  Equation                                                                                2                )            where scalars ρ represents material density, p its pressure, and vits viscosity. The symbol ∇ represents a vector of spatial partial derivatives. In 3D, ∇=[∂/∂x, ∂/∂y, ∂/∂z]T. The first term in Equation 1 advects velocities through the velocity field ("self-advection"). The second term diffuses velocity along the pressure gradient, and the third dampens flow by viscosity. The final term includes any external forces such as gravity or user interaction by f. Equation 2 simply states flow field are divergence-free, thus preserving energy.
Much effort has been focused on developing solvers. To ensure unconditional stability of the Eularian solvers' numerical techniques, the method of characteristics is used, and a Hodge decomposition isolates divergent forces violating incompressibility. Simply removing these forces and grid based aliasing leads to numerical dissipation, motivating techniques reseeding energy, and staggered grids.
Even with these improvements, models are usually adapted to the task at hand. Solvers have been specially suited to simulate fire, smoke, and clouds. Other simulators additionally integrate strain and stress to simulate and control viscous and viscoelastic fluids. To support even larger domains, special grid structures have been developed to approximate intermediate values and implement octree encoding.
As gas and water simulations in computer graphics run faster and appear more realistic, more attention has been focused on controlling fluid flows. Early work used flow primitives to apply a particular kind of force in a primitive's vicinity. More sophisticated techniques seek solving for the forces necessary to push density from one defined configuration to another. This problem of keyframing densities can be presented as a problem of optimizing the driving forces and calculating the inter-frame derivatives. New solutions employ the adjoint method, or avoid optimization using coarser closed-form approximations.
Lagrangian simulations give rise to useful control techniques, but it is difficult to efficiently model continuous interfaces and varying densities of media exclusively with particle-particle interaction. In most cases simulations are reserved for fluids where interfaces are surfaces. In flow, it is not uncommon to combine both representations to leverage additional control, add additional particulate detail, preserve interfaces boundaries in fluids, and to preview more lengthy simulations.
In addition to physically-based approaches, there are also qualitative approaches. Addressing gas modeling issues of performance and control, procedural models are used to generate gaseous structures and motion. Rather than recreating the dynamics of the gassy media, procedural methods pursue simple mathematical primitives encapsulating the higher-level structure and flow behavior. These models may also be simpler to render, smaller to store, so that some applications convert grid-based volumes to procedural forms for this reason.
Blobbly models—also known as metaballs, implicit models, soft objects, or simply blobbies—provide a popular representation for billowy gases, a subvolume of density, or, for example clouds. These substructures are expressed with a Gaussian function or some other distance-based function. Provided their smooth blending, they make an intuitive modeling primitive to roughly shape clouds. Additional detail can be generated with noise, but in some approaches, automatically generated blobs are small enough to be directly rendered.
Procedural noise can also be used to create the basic structure of the clouds, along with fractals and Fourier synthesis. This provides a less controllable paradigm to shape gases, as they are intentionally unstructured and chaotic.
Slow kinds of gas motion can be emulated with basic texture warping and moving the underlying modeling primitives. More sophisticated approaches build phenomenological models with fractal motion or cellular automata to more realistically evolve gas motion. These methods still rely on some underlying primitive to render, and are usually combined with the previous primitives to produce a complete modeling and rendering system.
Correct gas illumination and shading is a difficult problem that must be addressed to produce convincing images and animations. Realistic radiosity solutions consider every visible point indirectly affected by all other points in space, posing a computationally exhaustive mathematical model. To pursue more efficient formulations, less general approaches are often considered, specifically directed to the respresentation clouds, fog, fire, and dust. Through appropriate limiting assumptions, the radiosity can be reduced to a more manageable approximation. An equally challenging issue is representing this model in a renderable form. Ultimately, the gas must be projected onto a 2D screen, and must consider the related operations whether gas is modeled as a surface, discretized, or a continuous volume.
Physically-based approaches in computer graphics relative to gas illumination include early work directed to planetary light scattering in the atmosphere, producing blue and red skies. Basic planetary-scale clouds represented as surfaces accurately model light diffusion, accounting for reflection, absorption, and scattering by approximating the media's physical properties. Medium-scale clouds were produced using only surface reflectivity of user-created ellipsoids and modulating their opacity. This method was adapted to graphics acceleration hardware by using hardware-supported blending functions, and a method of rendering to off-screen buffers to perform an additional rendering pass. Through volume rendering, various lighting phenomena can be simulated. This extends the reflective and transmissive diffusion process of surfaces continuously through 3D densities.
With reference to FIG. 1, spatial variables are used in a volumetric rendering equation. For an observer at point x, looking through the scalar field d( ), onto a background point b, with a single light source at point l, with d(s) as the volume density at point s, rendering can be generally expressed in terms of the volumetric rendering:L(x)=L(b)T(b,x)+∫xbT(s,x)g(s)f(s)T(l,s)L(l)ds  (Equation 3)where L(b) is the background color or sky texture, L(l) is the color of the light source, g(s) is the emissive scattering term at point s, f( ) its reflectivity, and T(x, y) is the total opacity of the volume from x and y:T(x,y)=e−∫yxd(s)ds  (Equation 4)
Equation 3 integrates through the visible volume, which in turn is lit by the fraction of light penetrating and reaching it through the volume. This approximation does not account for light scattering throughout the gas, which are significantly complicated calculations. Whereas Equation 4 only considers visible contribution along a ray, more complex phenomena must consider all the surrounding area as an emissive source.
Where present techniques only consider visible contribution along a ray, more complex phenomena must consider all the surrounding area as an emissive source. With a more general volumetric lighting model, previous work in surface shaded clouds have been extended to volumetric models using ray-tracing. Many methods have been proposed to account for more complex scattering effects instrumental in illuminating diffusive gasses and dramatic beams of light. This has been achieved through light-path integration, diffusion-based radiance point spreading, volumetric photon mapping, and simple analytic solutions through asserting assuming media homogeneity, particularly useful for skies.
Modern graphics accelerators enable high quality volume rendering at interactive rates using texture-based volume slicing. A fully interactive volume rendering model with limited scattering has been implemented by combining lighting and rendering passes, which can be further extended to physically-based lighting phenomena.
Provided the complexity of realistically conveying gas illumination by simulating light through translucent media, appearance oriented qualitative models have been developed. Efficiency can be improved by approximating volumetric elements with a collection of spherical primitives, and using an off-screen buffer to generate a shadow volume. Using a shadow buffer relies on both rendering to the buffer to accumulate the light extinction, and reading it back to for rendering. Since the loop back path from the shadow buffer to render buffer typically bottlenecks hardware accelerated renderers, some approached amortize the next frame's rendering while displaying the previous. Others resort to a coarser approximation on a CPU to completely avoid the memory lock on a GPU.
Animated gases are an indispensable component in special effects. However, the means of directing their intrinsically chaotic, turbulent behavior remains an open problem. Subtle and dramatic effects can be achieved practically with fog machines, pyrotechnics, and other means of capturing real natural phenomena. However, these effects offer only limited control, scale, and safety. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for artistic direction to seek physically-impossible behavior.
Computational gas models relieve the restrictions of physical approaches, but not without introducing new challenges. First, high-resolution detailed models require computational power that may be generally unavailable to the user, or simply require a frustrating length of time to simulate each frame.
Second, realistic gas models are often expressed in a mathematical way that can be generally inconvenient, and possibly unfamiliar, to more artist applications. However, both practical and simulated effects still lack a desirable level of control. While current techniques rely on creatively combining visible gas sources and jets, defining motion and gas structures at a finer level remains an open problem.

Computer modeling and animation of natural phenomena


Disclosed are a light emitting device, a method of fabricating the light emitting device, a light emitting device package, and a lighting system. The light emitting device includes a first conductive semiconductor layer, an AlxInyGa1-x-yN layer (0<x≦1 and 0<y≦1) on the first conductive semiconductor layer, an active layer on the AlxInyGa1-x-yN layer, and a second conductive semiconductor layer on the active layer.

The embodiment relates to a light emitting device, a light emitting device package, and a lighting system.
A light emitting device (LED) includes a p-n junction diode having a characteristic of converting electric energy into light energy. The p-n junction diode can be formed by combining group III-V elements of the periodic table. The LED can represent various colors by adjusting the compositional ratio of compound semiconductors.
When forward voltage is applied to the LED, electrons of an n layer are combined with holes of a p layer, so that energy corresponding to an energy gap between a conduction band and a valance band may be generated. This energy is realized as heat or light, and the LED emits the energy in the form of light.
A nitride semiconductor represents superior thermal stability and wide band gap energy so that the nitride semiconductor has been spotlighted in the field of optical devices and high-power electronic devices. In particular, blue, green, and UV light emitting devices employing the nitride semiconductor have already been developed and extensively used.
According to a nitride semiconductor LED of the related art, a strain relief layer having an InGaN/GaN layer structure or an InGaN single layer structure is provided under an active layer in order to relieve strain in the active layer.
However, according to the related art, if a lattice matching effect is increased when the strain relief layer having the InGaN/GaN layer structure or the InGaN single layer structure is applied, as the lattice constant of the strain relief layer approximates that of the active layer, even the bandgap energy of the strain relief layer approximates that of the active layer, so that the strain relief layer may absorb light emitted from the active layer.
In addition, although the thickness of the strain relief layer may be increased in order to sufficiently relieve the strain within the limited range according to the related art, operating voltage Vf of the light emitting device may be increased due to the voltage loss in the strain relief layer.


An expansion module usable as an internal and external device is described. The module defines an interior volume, a recess for receiving a retaining latch external to the module for retaining the module positioned with respect to an expansion module sleeve, and at least two throughholes to the module interior and an alignment receptacle at one end of the module. The module includes a latch release attached to the module for expelling a retained latch from the recess, and an interface device positioned in the module interior volume, and receiving a) a standard data connector via one of the at least two throughholes and b) a power connector via another of the at least two throughholes, and including one or more expansion device connectors internal to the module interior volume for providing at least one of data signals and power received from the standard data connector and the power connector to an expansion device.

It is known in the art to use internal volume in a computer system to connect additional storage devices, e.g., hard drives, for the computer system. The additional storage device connection process requires tools and knowledge regarding opening the computer system and adding/replacing existing storage device. Most users of computer systems are incapable or uncomfortable with opening up a computer system to add additional devices. Most frequently, additional devices are only added by the computer system manufacturer.
Additionally, knowledge of different connectors for data signals and power is required by the user or technician and different computer systems require different, and at times incompatible and custom, connectors for data signals and power.
External storage devices using standard USB connectors to connect to external standard USB connectors on computer systems are used by user to connect additional storage devices; however, these external storage devices require the use of additional cables for both power and data signals and oftentimes an additional power transformer for providing power to the external storage device. The external nature of these devices and the associated cabling and power requirements contributes to a cluttered and potentially hazardous environment surrounding the computer system. Users trip over cabling potentially injuring themselves or causing damage to the external storage device or computer system connected at one end of the cable.
Manufacturers producing internal drive or external drive solutions have to stock both types of hard drive assemblies thereby increasing cost to the manufacturer. Additionally, users are required to purchase separate assemblies for using the same drive in an internal or external configuration. Further, additional strain and possibility of damage to the drive and drive connectors is introduced by requiring the user to install and remove the drive between the internal and external assemblies.

Removable expansion module usable as internal and external device

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A motor control apparatus providing an exercise resistance and an auto-rewinding function mainly employs a microprocessor to operate with a current detection feedback loop and a motor rotation speed detection loop for precisely controlling a quick random operation of a motor such that an axle of the motor can quickly control a loss braking unit and a power driving unit based on the existence of an external force, and the motor can automatically switch to an electric generator output mode (for providing an exercise resistance) or an electric machine output mode (for providing the automatic rewinding function).

1. Fields of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor control apparatus, and more particularly to a motor operating with a microprocessor for selectively executing two different output modes: an electric generator mode or a power machine mode of the motor and the motor is applied in various different fitness equipments such as a weight lifting machine and a rowing exercise machine for stretching exercises and thus simplifying the components of the fitness machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
As we all know, a traditional weight lifting machine (not shown in the figure) usually uses metal weights as the source of exercise resistance, and the weight lifting machine comes with complicated components and large volume that result in wasting spaces and generating noises. Therefore, manufacturers try to replace the metal weights or flywheels with a motor operated in an electric machine output mode and provide an exercise resistance to various different fitness equipments such as the fitness machines with a design of an electric motor as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,790,163, 5,762,584 and 5,435,798, so as to provide the expected exercise resistance. Thereafter, a built-in program of a microprocessor is operated together with the motion of a force measuring device for the clockwise and counterclockwise rotations of a motor of the electric machine in order to provide a resistance and rewinding function as disclosed in R.O.C. Pat. No. I268789 entitled "Programmable control resistance apparatus and method used for fitness equipment".
Although R.O.C. Pat. No. I268789 can achieve the expected effect, any person with ordinary skill in the electric field knows about that when the axle of an electric machine is braked in a reverse direction, the electric machine will have a "plugging" phenomenon. In other words, the electric machine will produce several generated current feedbacks to the overall circuit system, such that if the generated current is not eliminated properly, then the life expectancy of the motor and the overall circuit system will be affected adversely.
Further, the aforementioned patent uses a force measuring device to measure the data of a force exerted onto a rope, and the detected data is compared with a predetermined value of the microprocessor to control the clockwise and counterclockwise rotation of the motor, or even provide an appropriate safety response based on the existence of an abnormal force exerted onto the rope. In fact, the force measuring device usually has to go through a "stable" process each time when a user sets the unit measuring time (which is similar to a fluctuation of the readings at an early stage of a measurement occurred when we stand on a scale to measure our body weight), and thus we can obtain the best measured reading, but such arrangement greatly slows down the response of the overall circuit system. Simply speaking, the conventional resistance control apparatus is unable to cope with the natural response speed of a general exerciser's brain and limbs, unless the exerciser is operating and exercising at a very slow constant speed.

Motor control apparatus providing exercise resistance and auto-rewinding functions


The present invention provides a method and a system for configuring a storage device in a hybrid storage environment. The method includes: acquiring a plurality of attribute parameters of each storage device; performing calculation according to the attribute parameters to obtain a priority of each storage device; acquiring a storage priority of each data object; and performing matching according to the storage priority of each data object and the priority of each storage device, so as to store each data object into a storage device with a priority corresponding to the storage priority of the data object. Accordingly, configuration of a plurality of storage devices and a plurality of data objects in a hybrid storage environment can be implemented, which avoids manual involvement, thereby reducing security risks, improving performance of the system, and reducing energy consumption of the system.

With the rapid development of computer technologies, a computer storage system also goes through great changes, and a new type of storage device, such as an Solid-State Drive (SSD) and a Phase Change Memory (PCM), and a conventional disk storage device constitute a hybrid storage environment.
Compared with the conventional disk storage device, the new type of storage device, such as the SSD and PCM, is more advantageous in performance, density, and energy consumption, but is disadvantageous in cost and capacity. A plurality of types of storage devices is expected to coexist in a long time to come, and hybrid storage will become a mainstream storage configuration. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an existing hybrid storage environment.
In addition, with the rapid development of network technologies, a network storage device and a local storage device combine to constitute a persistent storage system. With the increase of network bandwidths and in consideration of factors such as security and building cost of equipment rooms, in some cases, a network storage device is advantageous over a local storage device in becoming a persistent main storage device, and a local storage device is likely to serve as a temporary data buffer device or a standby device. In addition, competition among a plurality of storage service providers may make it necessary for a computer system to make a selection from a plurality of network storage devices.
A plurality types of database objects such as a table, an index and a log exists in a database system of a computer. These database objects have different demands in access frequency and capacity. In addition, most database systems provide storage settings for these database objects. However, in a hybrid storage environment, a solution is required to optimize a configuration of a storage device in terms of database objects.

Method and system for configuring storage device in hybrid storage environment


A control circuit comprises a plurality of amplifier and filter stages for detecting ignition noise present on the battery line of a vehicle. It applies the filtered and amplified ignition noise signal to a hysteresis latch circuit for providing a control output signal for a solid-state switch coupled between the vehicle battery conductor and a load. Such a circuit provides accurate detection of only ignition noise to provide operating power from a battery line to a circuit to be powered thereby and is immune from extraneous noise frequencies and voltage levels.

The present invention relates to a circuit for controlling the application of battery power from a vehicle battery line to an electrical circuit upon detection of ignition noise on the battery line. In vehicle accessories, such as overhead consoles which house electrical components such as HomeLink.RTM. transmitters of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,485, it is desirable to power such devices only when the vehicle is in operation, which typically is accomplished by an ignition conductor which applies battery voltage to such conductors when the ignition switch is activated. The utilization of ignition conductors, however, requires that a separate line be extended from the ignition switch to the overhead console area of the vehicle, which is both costly and somewhat difficult. On the other hand, a battery conductor for allowing the manual activation of courtesy lights under any conditions is typically extended to the overhead console so that overhead lights can be employed with the ignition in an off position. Thus, there exists a battery conductor in the overhead console area, and it is desirable to use such conductor for other applications only when the ignition is on.
In the past, some electrical circuits have been provided to selectively provide operating power to such items as radar detectors and the like upon detection of ignition noise. Such prior art circuits, however, require that the circuit be built into the vehicle's alternator itself or directly associated with the engine computer. It is desired to provide a circuit which can be independently mounted remotely from the engine compartment of the vehicle and coupled to a vehicle battery supply line but provide operating power only when the vehicle engine is in operation. Such an application can, for example, be for back lighting of display panels in an overhead console, which back lighting is desired to be present whenever the vehicle is in operation so that the operator can see the various back lighted control switches or displays which may be associated with such electrical circuits as garage door opening transmitters, paging receivers, message centers and the like, which have back lighted control switches, both during day light and night time driving conditions. Further, it is desirable to have a system which accurately detects ignition noise to provide operating power only when the ignition is activated and not upon detection of other transient signals, as well as a system by which power, once applied, remains on until the ignition is turned off.


This disclosure provides a method for transporting a pathogen under ambient conditions, by culturing the pathogen with an amoeba under conditions that favor the incorporation of the pathogen into a trophozoite, starving the amoeba until it encysts, then culturing under conditions that favor conversion of the amoeba back to a trophozoite. In one aspect, the conditions that favor incorporation of the pathogen into the cyst of the amoeba comprises contacting the pathogen with the amoeba in an iron rich environment. Virus and/or bacteria are pathogens that can be transported by the disclosed method. Amoeba that are useful in the disclosed methods include, without limitation Acanthamoeba castellanii, Hartmannella vermiformis and Naegleria gruberi. The disclosed methods have utility in: transporting pathogens from military field hospitals and clinics to the laboratory; transporting pathogens from global satellite laboratories to clinical laboratories; long term storage of pathogens; enriching contaminated patient samples for pathogens of interest; biosurveillance and detection efforts.

New paradigms for early detection, prevention, and control at the human-environmental interface are needed to reduce global threats from current and emerging infectious diseases. For example, better storage and transport solutions are needed for pathogen-containing samples collected from global satellite laboratories, health clinics and military hospitals treating soldiers with persistent infections. While adequate collection and storage solutions are available for immediate transport to the laboratory, these methods are extremely time sensitive and often require refrigeration and/or cold storage.
Current methodologies for pathogen recovery and identification are dependent on obtaining sterile samples, which is often complicated in the field by contamination of the material with patient or environmental flora. In addition, existing methods are dependent on the use of pathogen-specific transport media, which delays identification of new emerging biothreats in the field, where no such defined growth media exists.
Thus, a need exists for safe and convenient method for the transport of pathogens at ambient temperatures. This disclosure satisfies this need and provides related advantages as well.

Compositions and methods for pathogen transport

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC


The pericardiocentesis needle is fitted with sensors, such as at least one electrode or at least one magnetic field sensor, and preferably both a proximal and a distal electrodes or multiple magnetic field sensors. These electrodes or other sensors are coupled to an electrophysiology mapping system configured to display cardiac structures on a display. The electrodes or other sensors on the needle cause a position, and preferably also orientation, of the needle, and especially the tip of the needle, to be visualized on a display of the electrophysiology mapping system, in accurate position relative to adjacent cardiac structures. In other embodiments other transcutaneous devices such as dilators and sheaths can be similarly fitted with electrodes or other sensors for visualization of such other devices within a display of an EP mapping system.

Pericardiocentesis was first introduced in 1840, and has been continually refined to the present. This technique involves placing a needle into the chest and entering the pericardial sac which surrounds the heart. Fluid in this space can give clues on diagnosis of multiple pathologies, and can relieve potentially catastrophic consequences. Pericardiocentesis can be both diagnostic and therapeutic especially for pericardial tamponade which is a life threatening condition that can occur spontaneously during electrophysiology study and ablation. Serious complications of pericardiocentesis are not uncommon, including injury to the liver, myocardium, coronary arteries and lungs. Echo guidance for pericardiocentesis has become a standard, however there are difficulties in performing transthoracic echo or intravascular echo while simultaneously directing a pericardiocentesis needle. Fluoroscopy is sometimes utilized, but exposes both patient and operator to radiation. CT and MRI guidance have been reported, however would require access to CT/MRI which may not be readily available in the cardiac catheterization lab.
The advent of epicardial mapping and ablation, and percutaneous epicardial left atrial appendage closure requires entering the pericardial space without significant pericardial fluid. Without significant pericardial fluid, the pericardiocentesis needle can enter the myocardium or coronary artery without having a buffer of collected pericardial fluid. This situation is a more difficult technique for the operator, and possibly has increased risk of catastrophic complications.
Various commercially available cardiac electrophysiology mapping systems use different modalities to identify locality of catheters within the body. The St. Jude ENSITE system, a trademark of St. Jude Medical, Atrial Fibrillation Division, Inc. of St. Paul, Minn., uses impedance to localize various catheters relative to a stable catheter located within the heart. There is a background circuit utilizing a high frequency transthoracic electric field between the catheters and body surface electrodes, which detect impedance changes relative to a stable cardiac catheter (usually located within the coronary sinus) to derive location information within the heart. Consequently, this existing cardiac electrophysiology mapping system can utilize bipolar/unipolar electrode impedance and/or electrical current to determine the location of these electrodes in a three-dimensional space relative to a set of reference electrodes.
Another mapping system produced by Biosense Webster utilizes a magnetic field and a magnetic sensor to localize catheter location. A magnetic field is created around the thorax, and a magnetic sensor equipped catheter within this three-dimensional field is localized to a precision within 1 mm. These mapping systems can combine anatomical information from computer tomographic imaging, fluoroscopy and intravascular echo into the electrical mapping system. These include endocardial, epicardial and importantly pericardial structures, without the need of active fluoroscopy.

Pericardiocentesis needle guided by cardiac electrophysiology mapping


An improved label is provided for enhancing the grip of bottles, cans and other objects held with a person's hand or fingers. The label includes a panel member applied to the object over a plurality of beads, so as form raised portions in the label which enhance gripping of the object. The beads are spaced apart and extend substantially horizontally. The beads preferably have a geometric cross sectional shape. The label engages the object between adjacent beads. In an alternate embodiment, the raised portion of the label is formed by a series of horizontal folds which increase the thickness of the label to provide a rib or ridge in the label for enhanced gripping.

Bottles and cans of numerous sizes and shapes have been known for many years for drinks such as pop, beer, juice and water. Common beverage containers currently used by manufacturers are a 12 ounce glass bottle or aluminum can, and plastic liter bottles.
In drinking from the conventional 12 ounce beverage containers, one problem is that the can or bottle, generally containing a chilled liquid, has a tendency to acquire condensation on the cylindrical side wall of the container which may make the container slippery and difficult to handle.
Another problem with the conventional 12 ounce and liter beverage containers is the grasping of the container by children or adults with small hands can be difficult. Also, people with physical impairment of the hands, such as arthritis, often times have difficulty gripping a smooth cylindrical bottle or can.
Other objects also may present gripping problems for the user. For example, writing utensils, such as pens, often have a smooth, slick gripping portion or may become slippery due to perspiration of the hand. Other bottles used in wet environments, such as shampoo bottles and dish detergent bottles also may become more difficult to grasp due to moisture on the bottle or user's hands.
Therefore, a primary objective of the present invention is the provision of an improved label with an enhanced grip for use on bottles, cans, and other objects to be gripped with a person's hand or fingers.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of a label for bottles, cans, and other containers having a plurality of raised ribs or ridges for enhanced gripping
A further objective of the present invention is the provision of a label having a plurality of beads which enhance the grip of the bottle, can or object to which the label is applied.
Still another objective of the present invention is the provision of a method for enhancing the grip of objects, such as cans and bottles, by providing at least one raised portion on the label of the object.
A further objective of the present invention is the provision of an improved grippable label which is economical to manufacture and durable in use.
These and other objectives will become apparent from the following description of the invention.


A unit for a programmable controller includes a user program memory storing a user program to be read out for carrying out a calculation process and a backup memory storing data with the same contents as the user program stored in the user program memory. An abnormality detector is provided for detecting a memory abnormality by comparing user data stored in the user memory and the backup memory while the programmable controller is operated. If a memory abnormality is detected, a restoration device repairs the data at the position where the abnormality was detected with the data at the corresponding position of the backup memory and the cyclic operation of the programmable controller is continued thereafter.

This invention relates to a unit for a programmable controller (PLC) and to a method of automatically restoring a memory.
Programmable controllers are used as a control device in factory automation (FA). Programmable controllers are formed with a plurality of units, or as a suitable combination of various types of units such as a power source unit serving as a supply source of electric power, a CPU unit for controlling the PLC as a whole, an input unit for inputting signals from switches and sensors that are suitably positioned on the production and equipment devices for FA, an output unit for outputting control signals to actuators or the like and a communication unit for connecting to a communication network.
The PLC (or its CPU unit) carries out repeatingly the operations of receiving signals inputted through the input unit into the I/O memory of the CPU unit ("IN refresh"), carrying out logical calculations on the basis of a preliminarily registered user program ("calculation"), transmitting the results of such calculations to the output unit by writing them in the I/O memory ("OUT refresh") and thereafter the so-called peripheral processes. The PLC controls an object to be controlled by repeating such operations.
User programs and set data ("user data") are saved on a RAM and data are read from and written in it sequentially when the calculation process is carried on.
At a factory where the PLC is installed, many kinds of apparatus such as servo motors, inverters and high-voltage power devices are connected to the PLC or disposed near the PLC. Thus, data stored on a memory in the PLC are susceptible to destruction due to radiation noise, instantaneous power failure or magnetic and electric fields. Destruction of data on the memory in the PLC may also take place due to cosmic rays. Destruction of data of the former type takes place normally in units of several bits, while that of the latter type often takes place in units of single bits.
It now goes without saying that a PLC cannot function normally if its control is based on destroyed user data. Thus, a PLC is adapted to keep checking during its operations whether the destruction of data has not occurred. For example, a PLC is adapted to calculate a sum value of the data on its RAM and compare the calculated sum value with a preliminarily stored sum value to thereby check the presence or absence of an abnormal condition.
Explained more in detail, whenever user data are newly downloaded or modified, the values of the user data are added from its beginning to the end and the value thus obtained is saved as the sum value in another area. During an actual operation, the sum value of the user data on the RAM is calculated by portions and whenever the final sum value is obtained, this value is compared with the value previously stored. If they do not match, it is concluded that the data on the RAM have been destroyed (or a memory abnormality has occurred) for whatever reason and the system operation is stopped in order to prevent a runaway situation and an incorrect output.
The user program is formed with instruction object codes that can be understood by a dedicated IC (ASIC) capable of carrying out user programs at a high speed as well as by a multi-purpose MPU.
It is normally an ASIC that interprets the instruction object code and determines whether the command is to be carried out by the ASIC itself or by the MPU. If the ASIC detects a code that cannot be carried out either by the ASIC itself or by the MPU, this abnormal condition is communicated to the MPU. As this communication is received, the MPU concludes that the RAM storing the object code is destroyed and may proceed to stop the PLC.
After the system is thus stopped, a work to restore the memory is carried out. In order to carry out this restoration work, however, a tool such as a personal computer for transmitting and outputting user programs must be connected to the PLC but since the PLC is usually set at a deep end of a control box, it is not easy to make such a connection.
Moreover, when the sum values are compared, there is the possibility of the sum values matching accidentally although data have been destroyed, and even after an object code becomes modified due to the destruction of data, the situation may be interpreted as being normal if the codes and the ASIC after the modification are still capable of being carried out by the MPU. In other words, it is a difficult job to reliably detect a destruction of data.
In view of this problem, Japanese Patent Publication Tokkai 11-143784 (at paragraphs 0022, 0023 and 0034 and FIGS. 1-3), for example, has disclosed a display device for a programmable controller. According to the disclosure therein, backup data with the same contents as the user data stored in the memory of the PLC are stored in the display device. When power is switched on and at specified time intervals thereafter, the presence or absence of destruction of data stored in the memory of the PLC is checked and if a destruction is found to be present, a restoration work on the memory of the PLC is carried out on the basis of the backup data stored in the display device. It also has the function of logging data on disagreement and displaying their contents. The examination for presence or absence of destruction is carried out by sequentially retrieving the backup data stored in the memory inside the display device for PLC backup and the PLC data in the memory of the PLC, comparing them by using a work memory within the display device and concluding that there was a destruction of data if there is a disagreement between the PLC backup data and the PLC data. The destroyed data portion is downloaded to the PLC to carry out a restoration work.
There is a problem with this method, however, because the display device is at a relatively distance position away from the PLC and is connected through a network. Accordingly, the memory of the PLC is read out through the network and hence the readout operation cannot be carried out sufficiently frequently. Thus, aforementioned Japanese Patent Publication Tokkai 11-143784 teaches that this be carried out only periodically at specified time intervals after power is switched on, without clearly stating what these specified time intervals might be. From the description of the specification as a whole, it may be imagined that they are fairly long time intervals. If so, they may be longer than the intervals at which prior art checking methods by way of sum values may be carried out and it is difficult to detect a destruction of data immediately.
With a method of detecting an abnormal occurrence by a display device and downloading correct data to the PLC on the basis thereof, however, a delay is involved in the communication of the abnormality to the PLC and it is usually necessary to stop the PLC temporarily for the restoration work by downloading data from the display device. This makes it difficult to carry out a real-time restoration of the memory.
Even with a checking method by means of sum values, furthermore, the user program as a whole cannot be checked for each cycle of the cyclically operating PLC. Thus, calculations are carried out sequentially in parts and a sum value is obtained by summing up the results of such partial calculations. In other words, there is a relatively large time lag from the moment when a destruction of data takes place until it is actually detected.

Programmable controller unit and method of automatically restoring memory


Disclosed is an organic EL device comprising a transparent electroconductive anode layer which is formed by a simple coating method that enables film formation at a low temperature, which organic EL device is free from electrical short circuit between the transparent electroconductive anode layer and a cathode layer. Also disclosed is a transparent electroconductive layered structure used for manufacturing such an organic EL device. The transparent electroconductive layered structure is characterized by comprising a flat and smooth substrate, a transparent electroconductive anode layer which is formed on the substrate by a coating method and mainly composed of conductive particles, and a transparent substrate joined to the transparent electroconductive anode layer via an adhesive layer. The transparent electroconductive layered structure is also characterized in that the flat and smooth substrate can be separated from the transparent electroconductive anode layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transparent electroconductive layered structure, organic electroluminescent device using the same, and method for producing the same layered structure and device, more specifically a transparent electroconductive layered structure as a constituent component for an organic electroluminescent device (hereinafter referred to as organic EL device), which is used as a light source (e.g., liquid-crystal device's back light) or display, organic EL device using the same layered structure, and methods for producing the same layered structure and organic EL device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An electroluminescent device is self-luminous, unlike a liquid-crystal device, and an inorganic electroluminescent device (hereinafter referred to as inorganic EL device) with an inorganic fluorescent material serving as the light-emitting material has been used as a component for displays. An inorganic EL device, however, involves several disadvantages, which have limited its applicable areas. For example, it can emit limited types of colors, and needs a high operating voltage.
Recently, an organic EL device of two-layered structure with an organic light-emitting layer and charge-transporting compound layer has been proposed (as disclosed by, e.g., JP-A-59-194393). It can work at a low voltage to realize high luminance, and easily produce varying emitted light wavelengths. Therefore, it has been extensively studied for commercialization, because of these advantages.
An organic light-emitting layer for an organic EL device has been mainly produced by vacuum evaporation of a low-molecular-weight light-emitting material (refer to JP-A-59-194393) or coating a substrate with a high-molecular-weight light-emitting material or precursor therefor (refer to, e.g., JP-A-03-244630 or JP-A-10-092577), the latter being more noted because of the simpler organic EL device production process and potential for reducing the production cost.
Some of the high-molecular-weight light-emitting materials proposed so far for forming an organic, light-emitting layer include poly(p-phenylene vinylene) as a conjugated high-molecular-weight compound produced by polymerization of the solvent-soluble precursor, in which it is spread, dried and heat-treated at high temperature (refer to JP-A-10-092577), and another conjugated, high-molecular-weight compound soluble in a solvent and needs no heat-treatment at high temperature (refer to JP-A-03-244630).
Moreover, JP-A-2000-514590, for example, proposes a hole-injection layer of electroconductive high-molecular-weight compound, e.g., polythiophene derivative, formed between an anode and light-emitting layer, to improve light-emitting efficiency and durability of the organic EL device in which it is used.
Of the layers which constitute the above organic EL device, the organic light-emitting layer and hole-injection layer are produced by a coating method in which a high-molecular-weight light-emitting compound or electroconductive high-molecular-weight compound is spread and dried. On the other hand, a transparent electroconductive film as the anode is made of an electroconductive oxide, e.g., indium tin oxide (ITO) or antimony tin oxide (ATO), and formed by a physical method, e.g., sputtering.
However, the physical method for producing the transparent electroconductive film is not preferable costwise, because it needs a large-size production system and a film-making apparatus operating under a vacuum. Another disadvantage involved in the physical method is need for heat-treatment of the substrate while the film is being formed thereon. This excludes a plastic for the substrate, because of its low heat resistance.
Therefore, several proposals have been made to form a transparent electroconductive film more simply at lower temperature using a coating liquid dispersed with fine electroconductive particles in a solvent to be spread on a substrate, dried and, as required, heat-treated.
For example, JP-A-4-26768 proposes a coating liquid dispersed with fine ITO particles as the electroconductive particles to form a transparent electroconductive film. JP-A-2000-268639 proposes fine electroconductive particles of a noble metal, e.g., gold or silver, dispersed in a coating liquid to form a transparent electroconductive film of still improved film characteristics, e.g., resistance and transmittance.
These methods, in which a coating liquid is used to form a transparent electroconductive film, involve problems when applied to preparation of an anode for the above-described organic EL device. The transparent electroconductive anode prepared using the coating liquid for forming a transparent electroconductive film invariably has a rougher surface than that prepared by the physical method, because of the presence of fine particles dispersed in the coating liquid. Moreover, the coating liquid contains small quantities of coarse electroconductive particles, which may be secondary particles of agglomerated fine particles. These particles may cause uneven spreading while the coating liquid is spread or dried, and eventually notable irregularities on the film surface.
The irregularities or projections of the transparent electroconductive anode layer, when excessively grow, may cause problems, e.g., electrical short circuit between the transparent electroconductive anode layer and cathode layer, failure of light emission by the organic EL device, notably deteriorated light-emitting efficiency, or the like.
It is therefore difficult to use a transparent electroconductive film prepared by a coating method as the transparent electroconductive film for an organic EL device.

Transparent electroconductive layered structure, organic electroluminescent device using the same layered structure, method for producing the same layered structure, and method for producing the same device


According to present disclosure, there is disclosed an algae growth and cultivation system that provides a cost-efficient means of producing algae biomass as feedstock for algae-based products, such as, fertilizer, feed, biofuel manufacture, and desirably impacts, nutrient recovery from waste streams for valued byproducts production, recycle water, and alternative/renewable energy production. The system as discussed herein is an integrated systems approach to wastewater treatment, algal strains selection for byproducts production, and recycle of algal biomass-processing waste or additional algae harvested as feedstock for products such as fertilizer production. Embodiments of a system as discussed herein present an economically viable algae production system and process that allows algae-derived products such as fertilizer, feed, biofuels, etc. to compete with non-organic or petroleum products in the marketplace.

Waste management, e.g., livestock manure, food wastes, beverage wastes, food byproducts, nutrient runoff, and flue emission, are large environmental and societal concerns.
Livestock manure management is a global issue, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimating in 2012 that more than 335 million tons of "dry matter" waste (the portion of waste remaining after water is removed) was being produced annually on farms in the United States. Animal feeding operations annually produce about 100 times more manure than the amount of human sewage sludge processed and existing dairy manure management practices are unable to mitigate the environmental impact from nutrient runoff (a byproduct of anaerobic digesters). Food waste management is another large-scale global problem as about one-third of food is wasted worldwide. Food waste is estimated at between 30 to 40 percent of the food supply in the United States.
The successful role of algae in wastewater treatment has been documented since the early 1950s, and algal wastewater treatment systems are known to utilize the extra nutrients including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, heavy metals and other organic compounds from wastewater. For example, an algal turf scrubber system feeding algae a diet of dairy manure can recover over 95% of the nitrogen and phosphorous in the manure wastewater. Additionally, lipid/oil productivity occurs in algal wastewater treatment systems, but there are few, if any, known robust algae strain(s) for oil production that use wastewater as a primary feedstock. For example, a polyculture (dominated by Rhizoclonium sp.) used in algal turf systems for treating dairy and swine wastewater had very low lipids/oil content (fatty acids contents of 0.6% to 1.5% of dry algae weight) and other researchers have reported 2.8 g/m2 per day of lipid productivity from algal polyculture combined with dairy wastewater treatment.
Mass cultivation of algae has also been used for creating nutritional supplements, fertilizer, and food additives. Additionally, commercial growth of algae has been explored to create biologically-derived energy products such as biodiesel, bioethanol, and hydrogen gas. As a biofuel feedstock, algae provide multiple environmental benefits and presents significant advantages over traditional plants/crops used for biofuel production (e.g., corn, sugarcane, switch-grass, etc.). For example, unlike traditional food crops that are being used to produce biofuels (e.g., corn, sugarcane, etc.), algae does not compete with food and water resources; it grows significantly faster than traditional crops used for biodiesel; algae produce up to 300 times more oil than traditional crops on an area basis; algae fuel has properties (low temperature and high energy density) of which make it suitable as jet fuel; and algae can be produced so as to provide a nearly continuous supply of fuel. Moreover, algae can treat industrial, municipal and agricultural wastewaters, capture carbon-dioxide, and provide valuable byproducts, such as, but not limited to, protein-rich feed for farm animals, organic fertilizer, and feedstock for producing biogas.
Algal biomass can accumulate up to 50% carbon by dry weight, therefore producing 100 tons of algal biomass which fixes roughly 183 tons of CO2—providing a tremendous potential to capture CO2 emissions from power plant flue gases and other fixed sources for growing algae biomass. Ideally, biodiesel from algae can be carbon neutral, because all the power needed for producing and processing the algae could potentially come from algal biodiesel and from methane produced by anaerobic digestion of the biomass residue left behind after the oil has been extracted.
Algae's other byproducts can also be beneficial. For example, the value of algae as food was explored as early as 1950s, and some have demonstrated the concept by raising baby chickens to adults on twenty percent (20%) algae fortified feed (grown on pasteurized chicken manure). The antibiotic Chlorellin extracted from Chlorella during World War II marked the start of algae based pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industry that led to the Japanese Chlorella production facilities during 1960s, further leading to current production of Chlorella, Spirulina, Dunaliella and Hematococus at commercial scales. Fertilizers from algae have also shown equivalence to commercial organic fertilizers in terms of plant mass and nutrient content.
Despite all of the aforementioned benefits, algae biomass production and the production of algal oil (i.e., biofuels from algae) are primarily hampered by the high cost of producing algae biomass (currently either requiring large amounts of land/water and/or large sterile facilities). There have been attempts to offset this high cost by using the various traits of algae to their greatest benefit. For example, biofuel production from algae has been combined with wastewater treatment (as discussed above) and has been shown to be 40% more cost effective than the best conventional alternatives, but still has not been economically viable due to low lipid production. As another example, entities have attempted to vary the type of cultures used—for example, algae monoculture (requiring sterile conditions) versus polyculture-based wastewater treatment. However, the results of these trials have not proven themselves. Other disadvantages of current algae biomass production include, but are not limited to, the availability of low cost throughput sugar feed-stocks for growing algae, treating effluent created during production, and the requirement of nitrogen and phosphorus supplements. Until such time as these algae production related issues are solved, production of oil feedstock from algae is likely to remain commercially infeasible.
For this reason, the system and process disclosed herein addresses the challenges involved in materializing the cost-efficient algae-based on a robust, easily adaptable, sustainable, environmentally friendly system that is capable of growing algae biomass at commercial scales for fertilizer, animal feed, water, biofuel, and other byproducts. The symbiotic algae system and process disclosed herein also holds great potential for farms, industries, and municipalities especially dairy farms and food & beverage industries, because the system allows these entities to more efficiently and effectively meet government standards for handling and recycling of wastes.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods of producing compositions from the nutrients recovered from waste streams


A docking system utilizing a single DisplayPort cable connection to a computer system is provided. In one embodiment, the docking system includes a single DisplayPort (“DP”) input, a management layer module coupled to receive video inputs from the single DP input and to provide video data to at least one video monitor output, and a USB layer module coupled to receive an AUX channel from the single DP input and to couple the AUX channel with a USB hub.

1. Technical Field
Some embodiments according to the present invention relate to multi-device docking utilizing a DisplayPort compatible cable.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The DisplayPort standard is a video standard for providing video data between digital devices and display devices. The current DisplayPort standard can provide for both high-resolution video and audio data. Data is transmitted between a source and a display over 1, 2, or 4 lanes of data. In the DisplayPort standard, an Auxiliary channel is utilized to communicate control data and a hot plug line is utilized to indicate to a DisplayPort source that a DisplayPort device is active. As the DisplayPort standard becomes more widespread, there is increasing interest in devices that utilize the standard. There is also interest in providing for the integrity of signals utilized in the DisplayPort systems.
Therefore, there is a need for improved integrity of various signals and better capabilities in the DisplayPort standard.

Multi-device docking with a displayport compatible cable


A slip bobber for use in ice fishing is formed of a buoyant, water impervious, plastic material. The slip bobber is provided with an elongate vertical passage therethrough for accommodating a fishing line. The slip bobber also includes a transverse passage therein for receiving a locking element. The locking element has an opening therein through which the fishing line extends. The locking element is shiftable between a release position wherein the fishing line is freely movable through the bobber and locking position. The fishing bobber is locked to the fishing line in the locked position but is readily shiftable to the release position when the fishhook is set by the fisherman.

In ice fishing, the selected depth for the baited hook or lure is determined by the position of a bobber on the fishing line. Some ice fishermen manually hold the fishing line and retrieve a hooked fish by the typical hand over hand technique. Other fishermen prefer to use the conventional short rod and a reel attached thereto. However, when a rod and reel are used in ice fishing, the fishing bobber cannot pass the eye on the rod when the line is reeled in.
Slip bobbers are available which permit the bobber to slip relative to the line when the hook is set and are intended to permit the line to be reeled in while the bobber remains stationary. These slip bobbers use stop elements on the line for holding the bobber at a predetermined position on the line. However, it is sometimes difficult to move a stop element through the eye of the rod when the line is being retrieved.


A 3-dimensional (3-D) non-volatile memory device includes a first channel protruding from a substrate, a selection gate formed on sidewalls of the first channel and in an L shape, and a gate insulating layer interposed between the first channel and the selection gate and surrounding the first channel. A method of manufacturing a 3-D non-volatile memory device includes forming first channels protruding from a substrate, forming a first gate insulating layer surrounding the first channels, and forming first selection gates having an L shape on sidewalls of the first channels on which the first gate insulating layers are formed.

Exemplary embodiments relate to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same and, more particularly, to a non-volatile memory device having a 3-dimensional (3-D) structure (hereinafter simply referred to as a '3-D non-volatile memory device') and a method of manufacturing the same.
A non-volatile memory device retains data although the supply of power is stopped. As memory devices having a 2-dimensional (2-D) structure in which memory cells are fabricated on a silicon substrate in the form of a single layer have reached the limit in increasing the degree of integration, there is proposed a 3-D non-volatile memory device in which memory cells are vertically stacked on a silicon substrate.
The structure and features of the known 3-D non-volatile memory device are described below with reference to relevant drawings.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are cross-sectional views illustrating a conventional method of manufacturing a 3-D non-volatile memory device. It is to be noted that only part of one of strings is shown in the drawings, for the description purpose. In other words, only a plurality of memory cells and one selection transistor stacked along a channel protruded from a substrate are shown.
As shown in FIG. 1A, a plurality of interlayer insulating layers 11 and a plurality of sacrificial layers (not shown) are alternately stacked over a substrate 10 and are then etched to form a trench. The plurality of sacrificial layers is formed to secure regions where a plurality of word lines and a plurality of selection gate lines will be formed in subsequent processes. In general, since the selection gate line has a longer length than the word line, the sacrificial layer for securing the selection gate line regions is thicker than the sacrificial layer for securing the word line regions.
A channel 12 is formed in the trench. The plurality of interlayer insulating layers 11 and the plurality of sacrificial layers are etched to form a slit between the adjacent channels 12.
A plurality of word line regions and a plurality of selection gate line regions are formed by removing the plurality of sacrificial layers exposed through the inner wall of the slit. Here, the selection gate line region D1 is thicker than the word line region D2.
A conductive layer 13 is formed on the entire surface of the resulting structure in which the plurality of word line regions and the plurality of selection gate line regions are formed. Here, the plurality of word line regions is fully filled with the conductive layer 13, whereas the plurality of selection gate line regions is partially filled with the conductive layer 13.
As shown in FIG. 1B, the conductive layer 13 formed on the inner wall of the slit is etched in order to separate a plurality of word lines 13A and a plurality of selection gate lines from each other. In this process, however, the conductive layer 13 formed in the plurality of selection gate line regions may be fully removed (reference numeral 'A').
In general, since the selection transistors of a non-volatile memory device have higher threshold voltages than memory cells, the threshold voltages of the selection transistors are to be controlled by controlling the impurity doping concentration of a channel. A conventional method of manufacturing a 3-D non-volatile memory device, however, may have difficulty in controlling the threshold voltages of the selection transistors because the channel is filled in the trench.

Manufacturing method of three-dimensional non-volatile memory device including a selection gate having an L shape


A package for storing smoking articles includes a body having a plurality of walls defining a volume, including a front wall and a rear wall, and an opening; a lid for closing the opening and having a plurality of walls and being hinged on the rear wall, allowing the lid to be moved between closed and open positions; a locking tab; and an engagement recess for engaging the locking tab when the lid is in the closed position. The locking tab is connected to one of either the front wall of the body or an inner side of a front wall of the lid, and the engagement recess is located on the other one. The locking tab and the engagement recess each have a respective engagement edge for mutual engagement. The engagement edge of at least one of the locking tab and the engagement recess follows a curved line.

Boxed shaped containers having a hinged lid for containing cigarettes are well known in the art and numerous different examples have been proposed in the past. These are often folded from cardboard blanks to form a cardboard pack having a hinged lid which may be opened to allow access to the contents and closed again to protect the contents during transport, when in the pocket of a user's garment for example.
Such cardboard packages (or packs) may suffer some deformation during use and due to this deformation and/or due to general disturbance of the pack in use, the lid may tend to at least partially open at times when the user wishes the lid to remain closed. This can result in damage to the contents of the pack and can result in the contents of the pack escaping from the pack in an undesirable manner. This phenomenon may be referred to as "smiling", where the hinged lid of the pack sits slightly open with respect to the body of the pack. When carried in a garment, in particular where the pack is a cigarette pack, loose tobacco contained in the pack can find its way into the user's pocket through the aperture created by this "smiling" effect.
Packs including a lid locking mechanism have been proposed in the past/One such pack has a tongue mounted to a front wall of the pack which is rotatable about a hinge at the base of the tongue. The tongue is configured to engage with an engaging part on the inner front wall of the lid of the pack, which has a gap, the gap being formed between the inner wall of the lid and a tab folded on to the inner wall. As the lid of the pack is rocked toward an open position, the tongue enters the gap and resists the opening of the pack. This prior configuration has some drawbacks, in that the forces required to disengage the tongue from the gap can create stresses in the hinge at the base of the tongue, as well as between the inner front wall of the lid and the tab creating the gap. Further the prior locking mechanisms only engage once the lid is partially rocked toward the open position and so only hold the lid partially closed and do not completely resolve the "smiling" problem. Additionally, the prior locking mechanisms can result in sudden changes in force occurring during the opening of the lid, which can cause a shock to the hinge at the base of the tongue and result in increased wear and/or damage to the hinge at the base of the tongue, substantially reducing the lifespan of the locking mechanism. Furthermore, the locking mechanisms involved in such packages, can snag the smoking articles when the lid is being closed, causing tearing and deformation of the smoking articles.
Accordingly, there is a clear need for a container having an improved locking mechanism for maintaining the lid in a closed configuration.


A new Rotating Tree Stand for providing the ability to rotate a Christmas tree through 360 degrees thus allowing the entire tree to be accessible for decorating and display. The inventive device includes a stationary base member and a rotatable shell member shrouding the stationary base member, wherein the rotatable shell member is rotatable relative to the stationary base member and is adapted to support a Christmas tree. A rotation unit is provided for rotating the rotatable shell member relative to the stationary base member and a musical unit is provided for playing songs, wherein the rotation unit and the musical unit are shrouded by the rotatable shell member. A remote electrical outlet is provided in the rotatable shell member for providing electrical power to an electrical adornment placed on the Christmas tree, such as a string of lights, and a remote control is provided for controlling the operation of the Rotating Tree Stand.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to Christmas tree stands and more particularly pertains to a new Rotating Tree Stand for providing the ability to rotate a Christmas tree through 360 degrees thus allowing the entire tree to be accessible for decorating and display.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of Christmas tree stands is known in the prior art. More specifically, Christmas tree stands heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art Christmas tree stands include U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,799; U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,381; U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,323; U.S. Pat. No. D359,462; U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,004; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,622.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new Rotating Tree Stand. The inventive device includes a stationary base member and a rotatable shell member shrouding the stationary base member, wherein the rotatable shell member is rotatable relative to the stationary base member and is adapted to support a Christmas tree. A rotation unit is provided for rotating the rotatable shell member relative to the stationary base member and a musical unit is provided for playing songs, wherein the rotation unit and the musical unit are shrouded by the rotatable shell member. A remote electrical outlet is provided in the rotatable shell member for providing electrical power to an electrical adornment placed on the Christmas tree, such as a string of lights, and a remote control is provided for controlling the operation of the Rotating Tree Stand.
In these respects, the Rotating Tree Stand according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing the ability to rotate a Christmas tree through 360 degrees thus allowing the entire tree to be accessible for decorating and display.


A wiring board has a laminated structure having a recessed portion on a first-surface side of the laminated structure and a solder resist layer on a second-surface side of the laminated structure on the opposite side of the first-surface side. The laminated structure has a first-surface side pad formed in the bottom of the recessed portion and a second-surface side pad formed on the second-surface side of the laminated structure, the solder resist layer has a first opening portion and a second opening portion formed in the solder resist layer, the first opening portion is exposing the second-surface side pad, the second opening portion is formed on a back face of the recessed portion, and the back face of the recessed portion does not include the second-surface side pad.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wiring board and its manufacturing method.
2. Discussion of the Background
In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-34589, a wiring board and its manufacturing method are described, where a recessed portion that opens on one side is formed and multiple pads are formed on the bottom of the recessed portion. The contents of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-34589 are incorporated herein by reference in this application.

Wiring board and method for manufacturing the same


A method for controlling a power conversion device for converting power from a power supply by controlling an input to a resonance circuit comprising a resonance coil and a resonance capacitor, with a switching element, the method comprising simultaneously changing a switching frequency and a time ratio of the switching element so that the switching element satisfies a condition of zero-voltage switching when an output power of the power conversion device is changed.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a resonance-type power transmission apparatus as a power conversion device using a class-E circuit. The resonance-type power transmission apparatus disclosed in Patent Literature 1 includes multiple class-E circuits, in which a phase difference in current outputs from these class-E circuits is adjusted to obtain a combined output current.

Power conversion device and method for converting power from a power supply


A digital audio file search method and apparatus for digital audio files is provided that allows a user to navigate the audio files by generating speech sounds related to the information of the audio files to facilitate searching and playback. The digital audio file search method and apparatus searches for audio files in a portable digital audio player in combination with an automobile audio system through speech sounds by utilizing text-to-speech processing and by prompting response from a user in response to the generated speech sounds. The text-to-speech technology is utilized to generate the speech sound based on tag-data of the audio files. When hearing the speech sounds, the user gives instruction for searching the files without being distracted from driving the automobile.

Digital audio files, such as MP3, ATRAC (adaptive transform acoustic coding), WMA (windows media audio), AAC (advanced audio coding), etc. are popular media for listening music or audio dramas, comedies and the like. Digital audio files are generally stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk, CD-ROM, memory card, etc., installed in a small box. Such media have an advantage that, because of the compression technology, the size of each file is smaller than that of a conventional audio format used in a compact disk (CD) ROM. In addition to the audio data, a digital audio file contains tag-data (meta-data) that describe tag information such as, artist names, titles of music, genre of music, etc. Such information is often used by a digital audio player to display music information in a text format to help a user to identify the music.
Portable digital audio players, such as an ipod (Apple, Inc.), are popular due to their capability of storing a large amount of music and their portability. Typically, a user creates a library of favorite music in a portable digital audio player and listens to the music while working, studying, walking, or the like. The user also wants to listen to the music from his collection in the portable digital audio player even when he is driving an automobile or anyway in an automobile without using a headset of the portable digital audio player.
Thus, there is a demand to use such a portable digital audio player in combination with an automobile (vehicle) audio system so that a user can enjoy his preferred music or dramas, etc., stored in the portable digital audio player when the user is driving an automobile. In such an application, because a number of music files in such digital audio players is large, searching a particular audio file poses a significant problem when the user is driving an automobile.
Since the automobile audio system is usually used when the user is driving the vehicle, distraction of user's attention from the driving must be minimized. In particular, for safe driving, visual distraction should be minimized as much as possible when the user searches for next pieces of music stored in the portable digital audio player. Accordingly, there is a need of a new method of searching for desired music files in the portable digital audio player and playing the music files by an automobile audio system with minimum distraction from the driving.

Digital audio file search method and apparatus using text-to-speech processing


Embodiments of the present invention provide systems, methods, and computer storage media directed to providing unified digital rights management (DRM) across heterogeneous computing platforms. In embodiments, a unified DRM engine executed on a computing platform validates one or more constraints defined by a first content license associated with consumption of encrypted content. In response to successful validation, the unified DRM engine, in some embodiments, utilizes a second content license that is associated with the computing platform to enable a native DRM engine of the computing platform to decrypt the encrypted content. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

Digital rights management (DRM) is a mechanism utilized by content providers to protect content offered by the content provider. In utilizing DRM, the content provider generally specifies a number of restrictions associated with use of the content. These restrictions can be defined in the form of a license that is protected, by DRM software and/or hardware to ensure that the content is used, or consumed, in accordance with these restrictions. As used herein, to consume content refers to any utilization of the content, including playing, viewing, copying, migrating, etc.
Under the current state of the art, the diversity of connected devices has resulted in an array of various DRM solutions. Many of these various DRM solutions are proprietary and provide hardware and/or software protection specific to the respective devices on which the various DRM solutions are implemented. In addition, these DRM solutions are not generally open for use by other non-proprietary DRM solutions. As a result, a content provider that wishes to provide content to these devices would need to manage the various DRM solutions implemented on these devices. Management of the various DRM solutions can be difficult though because the management of the content and/or the workflow can be different from device to device depending on the specific DRM solutions supported by the devices.
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

Unified digital rights management for heterogenous computing platforms