The present invention is directed to an RF communications system that includes a first radio processor module having a first receiver portion programmed to convert a first analog receive signal into a first digital audio receive signal. The first analog receive signal conforms to a first set of radio signal parameters. A digital interconnection system is coupled to the first radio processor module. At least one second radio processor module is coupled to the digital interconnection system. The at least one second radio processor module includes at least one second transmission portion programmed to obtain the first digital audio receive signal via the digital interconnection system and convert the first digital audio receive signal into at least one second analog transmit signal conforming to at least one set of second radio signal parameters.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of radio communications, and particularly to software-defined radios.
2. Description of Prior Art
Responding to emergencies and disasters typically involves a variety of agencies that use differing radio architectures. Standard protocol is for one agency ("lead agency") to assume primary responsibility for coordinating the disaster response and establish a command and control facility. Other agencies ("subordinate agencies") receive direction from the lead agency and must therefore be in communication with the command and control facility and, perhaps, with other responding agencies. The lead agency is required to communicate with all individuals involved in the disaster response and coordinate activities of the subordinate agencies to form a cohesive unit.
Until now, handling of the communications in such an event was unreliable because of the variety of communication equipment used by the various agencies that might be involved. For example, some disaster response agencies use radios in the 450 MHz band, others use radios in the 800 MHz or 150 MHz bands. In addition, it is often necessary for the lead agency or a subordinate agency to communicate with a party outside of radio range, for example, using telephone or other non-radio means. If the lead agency does not have on hand all the radios and other equipment necessary to communicate with each individual and agency involved in the disaster response, a gathering and exchange effort has to take place. Helicopters, for example, have to find a place to land and acquire a radio compatible with the lead agency, and police, FBI, Coast Guard, and other agencies have to exchange or donate radios to permit communication between all of the responding agencies. Often these radios are in high demand due to the situation and thus may not be available in necessary quantities.
What is needed is a simple and convenient system that allows disaster response agencies to communicate with other disaster response agencies that use dissimilar communications equipment. What is further needed is a simple and convenient system that allows disaster response agencies at the disaster scene to communicate with agencies beyond radio communication range of the disaster scene, using a combination of radio and non-radio communications.


An application processor circuit has SD-compatible interface protocols and can perform both host and slave functions. The circuit includes SD bus interface logic for realizing SD interface signals defined in SD-compatible interface protocols; system bus interface logic for performing the interface function on the system bus side; a data buffer for adjusting the data transfer rate difference between the SD bus interface and the system bus interface; a data buffer controller for controlling access to the data buffer; and a configuration unit for configuring the circuit to work in the host mode or slave mode. The SD-compatible interface protocols include MMC/SD/SDIO protocol, high speed MMC/SD/SDIO protocol, and CE-ATA interface protocol. The SD host logic and slave logic are incorporated in a single module to support both the SD host and slave functions, so as to achieve more convenient data transfer between electronic devices.

The present invention relates to high speed data transfer between electronic devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to an application processor circuit compliant with MMC/SD/SDIO protocol, and to a portable electronic device including the application processor circuit.
The application processors in more and more portable electronic devices, e.g., personal digital assistance (PDA), portable music player and notebook computer, support interfaces compliant with MMC/SD/SDIO protocol, since these interfaces can achieve high efficiency in data transfer and are easy to use. The PDA devices, for example, implement some functions by means of external cards connected via an SD card slot to provide a variety of choices to the user and enable the user to configure the PDA device. These functions not only include expansion of the memory capacity of the PDA device, but also include other PDA functions that support connections with various other peripheral devices. Specifically, for example, SD (Secure Digital) memory card is widely used to expand the memory capacity of the PDA devices. The increasingly popular SDIO (Secure Digital Input/Output) card is based on the SD memory card, and is compatible therewith in terms of electrical and mechanical configuration. The common functions of SDIO card include Bluetooth adapter, WLAN adaptor, GPS receives, and so on. In addition, the SDIO specification has introduced the concept of "SDCombo", which refers to a combination of both SD memory card and SDIO card functions. The SD card slot of existing PDA devices can support the SD memory card and SDIO card, and can also support MMC (Multimedia Card), and the MMC protocol is an earlier developed memory card specification than the SD specification. Incidentally, in the context of the present application, concepts such as "SD protocol", "SD interface" and the like are used in many cases to represent the MMC/SD/SDIO protocol, so as to make the description more concise.
Existing application processor chips supporting the SD interface only include SD host logic to support SD slave device, but cannot achieve interconnection therebetween via such interfaces. For example, the existing PDA devices with SD slots only have SD host logic to support SD slave devices such as MMC card, SD memory card, SDIO card and SDCombo card. However, two PDA devices cannot enable data exchange therebetween though the SD interface. The existing data transfer compliant with SD protocol can only be done between a host and a slave device, but in practical use, it may be desirable to conduct data transfer between any two devices which support SD protocol, e.g., between two chips within the same package, or between two PDA devices which exchange data therebetween. Thus, there exists a need that an electronic device incorporating application processor chip, e.g., PDA, can serve both as a SD host and as a SD slave device, so as to provide more convenience in the data transfer.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0197017A1 uses SD protocol, but the application relates to a new protocol which, based on the SD protocol, inquires about the conventional protocols that the apparatus supports. However, the apparatus itself still serves as a host controller, and is irrelevant to the slave device.

Application processor circuit incorporating both SD host and slave functions and electronic device including same


An ultrahigh pressure pump includes a frame; a crankshaft having a journal; and at least one telescoping pump subassembly having inner and outer ends. The outer end is carried by the frame pivot so as to allow pivotal swinging movement of the pump subassembly, and the inner end is attached to the journal. The piston rod can reciprocate relative to the inner bore substantially free from side loads. The pump subassembly includes: an outer member including a cylinder defining an inner bore; and a inner member having a piston rod and a outer sleeve. The piston rod is received in the inner bore and the cylinder is received in the outer sleeve. First and second restraining elements are disposed at spaced-apart positions along the axis of the pump subassembly and are configured to oppose misalignment forces between the piston rod and the cylinder.

This invention relates generally to ultrahigh-pressure pumps and more particularly to a piston-type ultrahigh pressure pump.
Ultrahigh pressure pumps are used for many industrial applications, for example for waterjet cutting and textile manufacturing. An ultrahigh-pressure pump delivers liquid flow at extremely high pressures, e.g. more than about 207 MPa (30,000 psi). There are two broad classes of pumps used to produce theses pressures in the prior art, namely intensifier pumps which utilize a hydraulically-operated set of intensifier pistons to pressurize water to ultrahigh-pressure levels, and crank-operated piston pumps which are similar in construction to automobile engines. Intensifier pumps operate at relatively low efficiency, for example about 60%. Crank pumps are more efficient, but have relatively low service lives.
Accordingly, there is a need for an ultrahigh-pressure pump which combines high efficiency and high component life.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An intermediate electrical connector is to be connected to a mating connecting member. The intermediate electrical connector includes an intermediate connecting member; a blade disposed in the intermediate connecting member; and a supporting member for supporting the intermediate connecting member. The intermediate connecting member includes a supported portion disposed on a side surface portion thereof and supported on the supporting member. The supporting member is formed of a plate member facing the side surface portion of the intermediate connecting member. The supporting member includes a supporting portion accommodated in the supported portion or receiving the supported portion with a space in between.

The present invention relates to an intermediate electrical connector for connecting two mating connectors, with the mating connecting bodies are mating connectors or circuit boards.
As a conventional connector of this type, there is known an intermediate electrical connector that is an intermediate electrical connector disclosed in Patent Reference. Patent Reference discloses an electrical connector assembled component, in which electrical connectors for circuit board use (mating connectors), the mating connecting bodies, are fitted to the intermediate electrical connector from thereabove and from thereunder. As a result, an electrical connector assembled component is completed, and the upper and lower mating connectors are electrically connected via the intermediate electrical connector. The conventional intermediate electrical connector includes a plurality of intermediate members and a housing. The plurality of intermediate members has flat shape and is to be connected to the respective mating connecting bodies. The housing arranges and holds the plurality of intermediate members in the sheet thickness direction of the intermediate members.    Patent Reference: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-070573
Each intermediate member has a plurality of terminals on one surface of a substrate that is flat and is made of electrically insulating material, and has a shielding plate on the other surface. Each terminal is formed of thin strip-like member extending in the up-and-down direction. Each terminal has a contact sections at an upper end thereof and at a lower end thereof, to contact with mating terminals provided in the mating connector(s). The housing is made of an electrically insulating material as one member. The housing has slit-like housing groove portions to house the respective intermediate members, penetrating in the up-and-down direction and being arranged in the arrangement direction of the intermediate members (in a longitudinal direction of the housing). The groove portion width of each housing groove portion (dimension of an inner width thereof in the arrangement direction) is formed slightly larger than the thickness of the intermediate members.
When the intermediate members are housed in the housing groove portions, there are gaps formed in the arrangement direction between sheet surfaces of the intermediate members and the inner wall surfaces of the housing groove portions. Moreover, the upper-end parts and lower-end parts of the intermediate members protrude from upper-end openings and lower-end openings of the housing groove portions.
The two mating connectors are formed to have the same shape. The two mating connectors are configured such that the slit-like receiving groove portions receive the upper-end parts and the lower-end parts of the intermediate members. The slit-like receiving groove portions are arranged and formed in the longitudinal direction of the housing (mating housing) of each mating connector. In the respective receiving groove portions, there is arranged a plurality of mating terminals in a lateral direction of the mating housing (a connector's widthwise direction that is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction). The plurality of mating terminals corresponds to the terminals of the intermediate members. The contact sections of the mating terminals protrude towards inside of the receiving groove portions in the groove portion's widthwise direction (the longitudinal direction).
Moreover, the groove portion width of the receiving groove portions is made slightly larger than the thickness of the intermediate members. When the upper end parts and the lower end parts are inserted in the receiving groove portions, there are formed gaps between sheet surfaces of the intermediate members and the receiving groove portions. On the both surfaces of the dividing walls that divide between the receiving groove portions, there is formed a plurality of protruding portions at the same height level as the contact sections of the mating terminals. In a state that the connectors are fitted, the upper end parts and the lower end parts of the intermediate members inserted in the receiving groove portions of the respective mating connectors are restricted at the both sheet surfaces from movement in the groove portion's widthwise direction, by the plurality of protruding portions.
According to Patent Reference, when the intermediate electrical connector fits to the mating connector in a state of being displaced in the arrangement direction, or when the intermediate connector fits to the mating connector at a normal position, but the positions are displaced after the fitting by receiving external force in the arrangement direction, the intermediate connector tilts around the protruding portions having the protruding portion as a fulcrum so as to be able to follow the displacement between the mating connectors. As a result, it is possible to maintain the connected state of the connectors.
According to the connector assembled component of Patent Reference, when the displacement in the longitudinal direction occurs between the intermediate electrical connector and the mating connector, the intermediate members of the intermediate electrical connector tilts using the gap in the housing groove portion so as to follow the displacement. The tilting of the intermediate members is allowed in the range of the groove portion width of the housing groove portions. Therefore, in order to handle large displacement that occurs within expectation, it is necessary to secure sufficiently large groove portion width of the housing groove portions. In addition, in order to maintain the strength of the housing, it is necessary to secure the thickness of the end walls of the housing and the dividing walls between the housing groove portions. Those necessities increases will cause size increase of the intermediate electrical connector and in turn the connector assembled body in the longitudinal direction.
Furthermore, as described in Patent Reference, it is not easy to form in the housing or in the mating housing the housing groove portions or the receiving groove portions in a large number being close to each other.
In view of the above-described issues of conventional technique, there is provided an invention, an object of which is to provide an intermediate electrical connector that can keep up with the physical displacement of the mating connecting bodies relative to each other without increasing the size of the connector and that can be easily produced.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of the present invention.


The present invention provides a skin care product comprising whole egg, an emollient substance and a humectant substance, colostrum, lactoferrin and/or methyl sulfonyl methane (MSM).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a skin care product containing whole eggs wherein the eggs are utilized as a carrier of the active ingredients in the product and is used to achieve the desired effects of the product. More specifically, the present invention relates to a whole egg product for use as a cosmetic, pharmaceutical and/or medicinal product applicable for soothing sore muscles, expediting the healing and repairing process of the skin and reducing the visual appearance of cellulite.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are numerous cosmetic and skin care products that use components of eggs as major ingredients in their formulation. For example, some cosmetic or skin care products use egg whites in their formulation. Other cosmetic and skin care products use extracts of yokes in their formulation. The use of whole egg has never been achieved since the mixing and/or shearing process of the manufacturing of the product will cause the egg components to coagulate and form mayonnaise. There have also been problems with incorporating the whole egg in the formations since the shearing and heating process of most processes have denatured the proteins in the eggs and have inactivated the active ingredients in the egg which provides for its excellent carrier/delivery properties. In addition, there are no cosmetic, medicinal, pharmaceutical and/or cosmopharmaceutical product that utilize whole eggs as carriers for their active ingredients.


A network connection system includes a client apparatus, an authentication server, and a connection server. The authentication server authenticates a user of the client apparatus and transmits a network address of the client apparatus to the connection server. When information indicating the transition to a connection wait state is received from the connection server, the network address of the connection server is transmitted to the client. The client apparatus transmits an encrypted user name and password to the network address. The connection server 11 conducts authentication using the encrypted user name and password.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network connection system for making it possible to connect to a local network, etc., from a remote location.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the variety of working styles of workers has been increasing in cooperation with the widespread use of Internet connection environment. For example, so-called telecommuting-type working style for the worker to work at home while belonging to an enterprise is easily accepted, because development of remote access service (RAS) technology for accessing a local area network in an enterprise via a network shared by different users, such as the Internet and a public telephone network, from a remote location of user's home, etc., has moved forward.
In such a remote access service, it is the common practice to perform authentication on the local network side based on the user name and the password previously registered in the local network and encrypt traffic after authentication on the network (midway network) between the remote location and the accessed local network to prevent information used in the enterprise from being freely referenced.
JP-A-Hei. 8-235114 discloses an art for each terminal to acquire information required for connecting to a server from an intermediate server for the purpose of providing a system for enabling even a terminal not holding user authentication information of a plurality of servers to access the servers and managing collectively charging for the servers.
However, in the remote access service in the related art described above, the traffic after authentication is encrypted, but authentication information of the user name, etc., is distributed as it is. Therefore, if the user name is illegally gained in a midway network, it is made possible to make unauthorized access wherein the illegally gained user name is sent to the local network side for attacking at random as the password.


Isothiazolones having the general structure ##STR1## where A is a monocyclic or bicyclic ring which may contain up to 3 heteroatoms selected from O, S, and N; R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are substituent groups such as alkyl, alkoxy, hydroxy, nitro, cyano, amino, and carboxy; and R.sup.5 is alkyl, cycloalkyl, phenyl, and Het. The isothiazolones are useful as anti-retroviral agents, anti-inflammatory agents, and anti-atherosclerotic agents.

Certain isothiazolones are known which have various pharmaceutical utilities, most notably antimicrobial activity. Okachi, et al., J. Med. Chem., 1985; 28:1772-1779, describe several 1,2-benzisothiazolones which have marginal antibiotic activity and which were primarily utilized as intermediates in the synthesis of 2,2'-dithiobis (benzamide) derivatives. Carmellino, et al., Eur. J. Med. Chem., 1994; 29:743-751, disclose a variety of 1,2-benzisothiazolones as antibacterial and antifungal agents. Miller, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,517,022, disclose 2-carbamoyl-1,2-benzisothiazolones which are said to be active against bacteria, fungi, and algae. Morley, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,012,039, describes 2-alkyl-1,2-benzisothiazolones which are useful as antibacterials and antifungals. Sherba, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,875, describe synergistic antimicrobial compositions comprising 2-unsubstituted 1,2-benzisothiazolin-3-one and iodopropargyl butylcarbamate. Laber, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,817, describe synergistic antimicrobial compositions containing a variety of 2-substituted and 2-unsubstituted benzisothiazolinones.
Grivos, U.S. Pat. No. 3,761,489, describes a series of substituted N-alkyl benzisothiazolinones which are said to be active against bacteria, fungi, and yeasts. Grivos, U.S. Pat. No. 3,661,974, describes the synthesis of various 2-substituted 1,2-benzisothiazolin-3-ones from 2-carbalkoxy-phenyl sulfonamides. The thiazolinones are said to be useful as antibacterials and antiseptics.
None of the references describing isothiazolones have disclosed that such compounds can be used to treat and prevent viral infections, inflammation, or atherosclerosis. We have now discovered that isothiazolones are potent anti-retroviral agents, and an object of this invention is to provide a method for preventing and treating viral diseases, including diseases caused by human T-cell leukaemia virus, Rous sarcoma virus, the myeloblastosis associated virus, various animal retroviruses, as well as HIV. A further object of the invention is to provide certain isothiazolones which are new compounds and which are especially useful for treating diseases caused by HIV. Still, a further object is to provide a method for treating inflammation and atherosclerosis by administering an isothiazolone.


A fuel cell module includes a plurality of fuel cells, which are connected one behind the other and which are combined to form a fuel cell stack. The fuel cell module should be designed in such a manner that the magnetic field or leakage field, which can be detected in the outer area and which is generated during the operation of the fuel cell module, is held at a particularly low level. To this end, the materials used for providing the fuel cells themselves, the materials used for producing the connecting components or auxiliary components, which are assigned thereto, that connect these fuel cells, and the materials used for producing the housing are selected that have a relative magnetic permeability of less than 1.1.

Fuel cells can be used for the environmentally friendly generation of electricity. In a fuel cell, a process which substantially represents a reversal of electrolysis takes place. For this purpose, in a fuel cell, a fuel which includes hydrogen is fed to an anode. Further, an auxiliary substance which includes oxygen is fed to a cathode. The anode and cathode are electrically separated from one another by an electrolyte layer.
Although the electrolyte layer allows ion exchange between the fuel and the oxygen, it otherwise ensures gastight separation of the fuel and auxiliary substance. As a result of the ion exchange, hydrogen which is present in the fuel can react with the oxygen to form water, with electrons accumulating at the fuel-side electrode or anode and electrons being taken up at the electrode on the side of the auxiliary substance, or the cathode.
Therefore, when the fuel cell is operating, a usable potential difference or voltage builds up between anode and cathode, while the only waste product of the electricity generation process is water. The electrolyte layer, which in the case of a high-temperature fuel cell may be formed as a solid ceramic electrolyte or in the case of a low-temperature fuel cell may be formed as a polymer membrane, therefore has the function of separating the reactants from one another, transferring the charge in the form of ions and preventing an electron short circuit.
A fuel cell comprises a flat electrolyte, one flat side of which is adjoined by a flat anode and the other flat side of which is adjoined by a cathode, which is likewise flat. These two electrodes, together with the electrolyte, form what is known as an electrolyte electrode assembly. Adjacent to the anode there is an anode gas space, and adjacent to the cathode there is a cathode gas space.
An interconnector plate is arranged between the anode gas space of a fuel cell and the cathode gas space of a fuel cell adjacent to this fuel cell. The interconnector plate produces an electrical connection between the anode of the first fuel cell and the cathode of the second fuel cell. Depending on the type of fuel cell, the interconnector plate is designed, for example, as a single metallic plate or as a cooling element which comprises two plates stacked on top of one another with a cooling-water space between them. Depending on the type of fuel cell, there are further components, such as for example electrically conductive layers, seals or pressure cushions, in a fuel cell stack.
On account of the electrochemical potentials of the materials which are customarily used, in a fuel cell of this type an electrode voltage of approximately 0.6 to 1.0 V can be built up under normal operating conditions and maintained during operation. For industrial applications, in which a significantly higher total voltage may be required, depending on the intended use or the planned load, therefore, it is customary for a plurality of fuel cells to be electrically connected in series in the form of a fuel cell stack. The fuel cells are stacked in such a manner that the sum of the electrode voltages supplied by the fuel cells corresponds to the required total voltage or exceeds this total voltage. Depending on the total voltage required, the number of fuel cells in a fuel cell stack of this type may, for example, amount to 50 or more.
To make it possible to utilize the potential difference generated when the fuel cells which have been connected up to form a fuel cell stack of this type are operating, the fuel cell stack is connected to a load. In this case, for electrical connection of the load to the fuel cell stack, there is what is known as a terminal plate, to which electrical supply and discharge lines can be connected, arranged at the two outermost fuel cells of the fuel cells which are connected in series.
On account of the particular operating properties of fuel cells of this type, and in particular since water is the only significant by-product produced, fuel cells are also particularly suitable for use for supplying energy in closed mobile systems, such as for example underwater vessels. In this context, it is particularly advantageous that a relatively high output current can be achieved at a standard voltage level in the form of a relatively high power density in a fuel cell arrangement with only limited spatial dimensions. Moreover, particularly for use in underwater vessels, the fuel, i.e. the substance which includes hydrogen, can be provided in relatively compact form. The auxiliary substance or oxidizing agent used may in this case be pure oxygen. The hydrogen may in this case in particular be carried along in hydride tanks.
Particularly when fuel cells are used in an underwater vessel, it may be desirable for the signature emitted to the outside, i.e. the externally detectable signs indicating the location or operation of the underwater vessel, to be kept at a particularly low level. This signature may also include magnetic fields which are generated by the currents flowing in and out when fuel cells are operating.

Fuel cell module comprising a magnetic shielding


A system is provided for providing automated washing for debris removal from the skin of a user's hands. At least some embodiments of the present include a friction enhancing structure such as a brush. In at least one embodiment of the invention, the system includes an RFID capability for identifying when at least one component, such as a removable brush, is due to for replacement for sanitation reasons.

The importance of cleanliness has long been recognized, particularly in the fields of heath-care, food preparation, and laboratories, to name but a few. The practice of surgical scrubbing by surgeons and other operating room personnel is probably the epitome of efforts to cleanse the hands and forearms of persons working in sterile environments. Although manual hand-washing can appear effective, medical experts have concluded that automated hand-washing increases hand-washing compliance and reduces the risk of infection.
Touchless automated hand-washing devices are designed to wash the hands of the user and provide the proper amount of antimicrobial solution in a set time. Additionally, these systems diminish the deterrent effects of friction and irritation associated with frequent manual hand-washing. Notwithstanding the benefits and convenience of automated washing devices, difficulties still exist with removing highly persistent hand contaminants. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a system that provides automated washing with a way of providing removal of persistent contaminants on difficult to clean areas of the hands by the intended users.

Automated appendage cleaning apparatus with brush


According to an example, a method for TIJ printing may include applying, by a processor, F electrical firing pulses to a resistor of a TIJ printhead for a duration of about 0.50 to 1.00 μs to jet a latex ink or a dispersed polymer particle ink from a nozzle. According to another example, a TIJ printing apparatus may include a TIJ printhead including a firing chamber to jet a latex ink or a dispersed polymer particle ink from a nozzle, and a resistor to heat the latex ink or the dispersed polymer particle ink to jet from the nozzle. The TIJ printing apparatus may further include a memory storing machine readable instructions to apply F electrical firing pulses to the resistor for a duration of about 0.50 to 1.00 μs to jet the latex ink or the dispersed polymer particle ink, and a processor to implement the machine readable instructions.

Inkjet printing propels droplets of ink onto media to create a digital image. Thermal ink jet (TIJ) printing uses print cartridges that contain a series of firing chambers, each containing a resistive heater in a flow channel filled with ink. The firing chambers are often constructed by photolithography. In order to eject a droplet from each firing chamber, a pulse of current is passed through the heating element, causing rapid vaporization of a thin film immediately above the resistor to form a bubble. The rapid expansion of the bubble propels the remaining ink in the chamber through an orifice, ejecting a droplet of ink onto the media. Collapse of the vapor bubble pulls ink back into the firing chamber through a narrow channel attached to an ink reservoir, refilling the firing chamber for another droplet ejection.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A clip particularly adapted for releasably attaching a component such as an AV screen to a surface, wherein the component defines a channel having a base wall and a pair of opposed side walls each of which has a recess extending therealong and facing the opposed side wall. The clip has a base member adapted for attachment to the surface with a rear plane in contact therewith, and an arm projecting forwardly at an acute angle to the rear plane so as to be engageable into one of the component side wall recesses. A latch member is slidably supported on the base member and is spring urged away from the arm. The latch member has a leading portion configured for engagement in the recess of the opposed side wall of the component.

a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a clip for a detachable component and arranged for mounting on a surface, so that the component may be attached to and released from that surface. The invention further relates to such a clip in combination with a detachable component and in particular—but not exclusively—a retractable screen.
b) Description of the Prior Art
With increasing use of audio-visual (AV) aids for educational and training purposes, and also in a home environment for entertainment purposes, there is a demand for a retractable screen which may easily be mounted in a suitable location when required for use but which may be removed either for storage or for use elsewhere when no longer required in that first location. It is known to provide a stand to support a casing of a retractable screen. More conveniently, the casing may be mounted at a relatively high location on a wall or ceiling, so that the screen may hang down from the casing, when extended. The mounting of a retractable screen casing to a wall or ceiling surface is not easy to perform, particularly having regard to the length and so somewhat unwieldy nature of the casing; as a consequence, users tend to utilise a stand or to install a screen on an essentially permanent basis.


An adjustable chair includes a base, a back and a chair control for pivotally connecting the back to the base for movement between a fully upright position and an inclined position. A cable actuated variable back stop mechanism includes a generally U-shaped bail or stop lever pivoted to the back. The bail is engageable with a stop on the chair base. A lock member is slideably mounted on the back. The lock member includes a front face defining a plurality of vertically spaced, generally parallel grooves. The grooves are dimensioned to receive the bail and hold the bail in one of a plurality of selected positions when the lock member is moved from an inoperative to an operative position. When in the operative position, the lock member prevents pivoting of the bail when it engages the stop on the base, hence, limiting tilting of the chair back.

The present invention relates to office furniture and, more particularly, to adjustable chairs of the type including a base or pedestal, a back and a chair control for pivoting the back to the base.
A wide variety of adjustable office chairs are presently available which adapt to the particular user and task involved. Tilt back chairs include a chair control which permits the back to tilt or move from a fully upright to a fully inclined or reclined position. Provision may be made for preventing tilting of the chair back with respect to the base or seat. In addition, a variable stop mechanism may be included which provides a variety of maximum tilt positions. Adjustability of the degree of tilt of the back adapts the chair to the particular task and/or the user. Examples of chairs including variable stop or lock mechanisms may be found in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,142 entitled VARIABLE BACK STOP, which issued on Jun. 9, 1988 to Holdredge; commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,795 entitled VARIABLE BACK ADJUSTER FOR CHAIRS, which issued on Jan. 22, 1985 to Roossien; and commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,206 entitled SYNCHROTILT CHAIR CONTROL, which issued on Jun. 28, 1984 to Faiks et al.
The variable back stop mechanism disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,142 includes a stop bracket connected to the chair support or base. A plurality of stop plates are provided in a stacked arrangement. The stop plates are carried by the chair back. Selected ones of the plates are moved forward when the chair back is moved to a desired stop or maximum tilt position. The degree of tilting or range of movement permitted is dependent upon the number of the stacked plates which have been moved forward. Thereafter, upon tilting movement from a fully upright towards a reclined position, the plates will contact the stop bracket on the chair support. Further tilting action is, therefore, prevented.
A need exists for an improved adjustable chair and variable back stop mechanism of reduced complexity than that heretofore available, which may be easily assembled or incorporated in a chair without changing or significantly modifying the parts of the chair, which is reliable in use and which may be manufactured and installed at reduced costs from that heretofore experienced.


This patent discloses a detachable hot beverage cup lid. There is provided a spill resistant feature within the drink-through opening, a condiment funnel, an alignment indicia opposite the drink-through opening, and a novel stirring rod.

In recent years, the fast food service industry has experienced an explosion in growth. That growth has resulted in dramatically increased sales of take-out beverages. The industry has come to demand functional, convenient, inexpensive containers and lids for both hot and cold beverage service. Particularly relevant to the field of the present invention are lids required for use in hot beverage take-out service.
In order to supply such hot beverages to an increasingly mobile customer base, certain functional criteria must be considered in designing suitable hot beverage container lids. Successful designs have met the industry required criteria of being easily manufactured, being susceptible of compact storage for shipment and dispensing, and being inexpensive so as to be disposable following a one time use.
It has been observed, however, that certain other considerations have not been well met in the prior art. Specifically, on-the-go consumers are often concerned with the convenience, ease, and speed in adding condiments, such as sweeteners and creamers, to hot beverages such as coffee, tea, or the like. The industry and its consumers alike are concerned with ways to reduce or prevent the accidental injuries which often occur due to splashing or overturning of such hot beverages.
The design of such lids seemingly has been especially challenging, given that many hot beverages are served at drive-through windows. Wisely or not, consumers may attempt to add condiments to hot beverages while seated in a moving vehicle. Because contemporary hot beverage service lids provide limited access to the hot beverage for purposes of adding such condiments, consumers often remove the lid from the beverage container to add the desired condiments. It is often during this activity that injurious splashes or spills of the hot beverage occur.
Additionally, dripping of the hot beverage is a common experience. The source of such dripping is often attributable to insufficient sealing of the lid periphery against the rim of the cup. This is so because contemporary insulated paper cups are manufactured with a seam joining overlapping edges of the paper. This seam results in a step-type misalignment adjacent the surface of the cup. Because the rim of the cup is formed by rolling the upper edge thereof, the gap ultimately formed between the lid and the cup rim tends to increase. Depending upon the consumer's orientation of the cup when drinking, the resulting gap may result in dripping of the beverage from between the lid and the cup rim at the seam of the cup.
Recognizing this inconvenience, others have provided lid designs intended to increase the hoop strength of the lid. Examples of such designs may be found by referring to U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,286 to Rush et al. Such designs, even when effective, do not completely solve the problem so presented.
Further compounding the dripping problem, certain prior art lids remove the continuous seal between the cup and the lid adjacent the rim surface, as in those designs that utilize a "tear-back" tab portion of the cup lid. An example of such a design may be seen by referring to U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,373 to DeParales. The seal often is not reestablished well enough to prevent the hot beverage from leaking at the exposed junctures between the rim and the lid.
In addition, the "tear-back" tab portion of such a cup lid design may not stay firmly in its open position and can interfere with the consumer while drinking. Furthermore, the edges adjacent the "tear-back" tab portion which are left when the tear is effected can sometimes be sharp. These edges may feel uncomfortable to the consumer while drinking, and in some cases may cut the consumer's mouth.
Other inconveniences may be seen in referring to the prior art. Some lids, commonly referred to as "drink-through" cup lids, can be somewhat difficult for the consumer to drink from. The openings may be inconvenient, involving distortions of the lid from the user's mouth during drinking, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,214 to Dart et al. Sometimes, the flow of the beverage allowed to pass through the openings may be substantially reduced, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,299 to Herbst et al. The reduced beverage flow provided through some such lids may not be sufficient to satiate the consumer.
What is needed and apparently not heretofore available is a hot beverage cup lid which is effective in reducing the spills, splashes, and drips attendant to disposable hot beverage containers of the contemporary fast food service industry. The hot beverage cup lid should be effective in reducing such spills, splashes, and drips, without significantly impeding such flow of the beverage as the consumer may desire. Such a hot beverage cup lid should empty completely. Such a hot beverage cup lid, further, be susceptible of providing the consumer with the ability to safely and conveniently add desired condiments to a hot beverage without necessitating removal of the lid. Additionally, such a hot beverage cup lid should be comfortable to the consumer during use, attractive in design, inexpensive to manufacture, convenient to transport and store, and disposable.
It is the recognition of defects observed within the prior art hot beverage cup lids, combined with the recognition of those needs recited hereinabove, which has formed the objects and the basis for the present invention. It is, therefore, to the provision of such a hot beverage cup lid that the present invention is primarily directed.

Spill-resistant cup lid with condiment funnel and stirring rod


Poly(propylene carbonates) are prepared from propylene oxide and CO2 with less than 10% cyclic propylene carbonate by product using cobalt based catalysts of structure

The generalized mechanism of CO2/epoxide copolymerization involves two steps, namely epoxide ring opening by a metal carbonate followed by CO2 insertion into a metal alkoxide. When aliphatic epoxides such as propylene oxide are used, a common side-product is the cyclic carbonate. The most active catalysts, namely [Zn(BDI)OAc] and [Cr(salph)Cl]/DMAP, reported to date, produce 10-30% of unwanted cyclic propylene carbonate (CPC) by-product, under optimized conditions.

Polycarbonates made using highly selective catalysts

Abstract: preferably in combination with salt cocatalyst, very preferably cocatalyst where the cation is PPN+ and the anion is Cl− or OBzF5−. Novel products include poly(propylene carbonates) having a stereoregularity greater than 90% and/or a regioregularity of greater than 90%.


A process for recovering waste liquid from the distillation of fermented rice liquor. After filtration of the waste liquid, the residue can be recovered as dry feed, and the filtrate which contains about 4-5% crude protein, 1% starch and 92 wt. % water is first concentrated to lower the water content to about 70-80 wt. %. The filtrate is then dried with a spray dryer to produce nutritious dry feed while a suitable chelating agent such as magnesium hydroxide is used to prevent the clinging of the product on the wall of the dryer.

The present invention relates to a process for recovering the waste liquid that is produced from the distillation of rice liquor, and more particularly to the recovery of a nutritious product.
In the production of rice liquor, rough rice (or brown rice) is usually used as the raw material. As shown in FIG. 1, the production of rice liquor involves the processes of soaking, cooking, cooling, saccharification and fermentation of the raw materials. The fermented product is then distilled to yield raw rice liquor. After aging for a period of time, rice liquor is blended with a suitable amount of alcohol and then filtered to obtain the finished product. However, waste liquid or dregs are produced during the distillation of the fermented liquor. As a result, a process is required to treat these wastes to comply with effluent standards.
Conventionally, the waste liquid from the distillation of the fermented liquor is treated with a biological treating process. As shown in FIG. 2, the biological treatment mainly consists of three steps, i.e., a pretreatment, a secondary treatment and an after treatment, wherein waste slurry is produced from a regulating pond and a primary sedimentation pond in the pretreatment, a biological treating device in the secondary treatment, and a final sedimentation pond in the after treatment. The waste liquid treated by the conventional biological process conforms to effluent standards, and the slurry is subsequently treated with a slurry treatment that includes the steps of dehydration, drying and incineration. As mentioned-above, the conventional process for treating the waste liquid from distillation in the production of rice liquor is complicated and costly.

Recovery of waste liquid from production of rice liquor

Industrial Technology Research Institute


Provided is a fat or oil composition, comprising 50 mass % or more of diacylglycerols satisfying the following (1) to (4): (1) 20 to 92 mass % of a disaturated diacylglycerol (SS) in the diacylglycerols; (2) 60 mass % or less of a monosaturated-monounsaturated diacylglycerol (SU) in the diacylglycerols; (3) 8 to 80 mass % of a diunsaturated diacylglycerol (UU) in the diacylglycerols; and (4) 20 mass % or more of a total content of saturated fatty acids having 10, 12, and 14 carbon atoms in saturated fatty acids constituting the diacylglycerols.

A fat or oil has been conventionally blended in a frozen dessert for the purpose of, for example, imparting a taste and flavor, improving a palate feeling, or improving physical properties.
As the fat or oil for a frozen dessert, the following (1) to (4) has been heavily used: (1) a liquid oil typified by soybean oil or rapeseed oil having an extremely low melting point in consideration of a satisfactory melt-in-the-mouth feeling in a freezing temperature range; (2) an SUS-type triglyceride characterized by having a sharp melt-in-the-mouth feeling at temperatures near the body temperature (a triglyceride having an unsaturated fatty acid at the 2-position and saturated fatty acids at the 1- and 3-positions; (3) a lauric acid-rich fat or oil such as coconut oil or palm kernel oil; and (4) a solid fat typified by palm oil.
However, the liquid oil (1) is insufficient in amount of crystals even at low temperature and hence is poor in emulsion stability. In the case of the solid fats (2) to (4), all of the fats or oils containing the solid fats pass through the throat to be ingested without melting in the mouth. Hence, the solid fats are poor in melt-in-the-mouth feeling in some cases. In addition, the solid fats are liable to provide frozen desserts with poor fineness and texture.
On the other hand, a fat or oil containing diacylglycerols at high concentrations has been known to have physiological effects such as suppression of an increase in triglyceride (neutral fat) in blood after meal and less accumulation in the body (Patent Documents 1 and 2), and is expected to be used as an alternative to conventional fats or oils.
Hitherto, for example, a diacylglycerol-containing semisolid fat or oil or the like synthesized from palm oil or the like has been reported as the diacylglycerol-containing fat or oil (Patent Document 3).


There is provided a micro pump, including: a channel forming substrate having an inlet and an outlet; an upper substrate connected to the channel forming substrate and having a first hole connected to the inlet and a second hole connected to the outlet; and an adhesive member disposed between the channel forming substrate and the upper substrate to bond the channel forming substrate and the upper substrate and having a first valve opening and closing the inlet and a second valve opening and closing the outlet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a micro pump, and more particularly, to a micro pump, a valve of which may be easily manufactured.
2. Description of the Related Art
Observation of a reaction between a new medicine (that is, a drug) and a cell is required for developing new medicines and testing the stability thereof. In general, a reaction test between a drug and a cell is performed by using a culture dish, or the like.
However, since a reaction between a drug and a cell in a culture dish is significantly different from a reaction between a drug and a cell within a body, it is difficult to accurately observe or examine a reaction between a drug and a cell through only the result of a test using a culture dish. Therefore, development of a new device allowing for the observation of a reaction between a drug and a cell in a similar environment to that of the interior of a body is required.
To this end, a technology of circulating a culture medium has been developed. However, since a small amount of culture medium needs to be constantly supplied for smoothly culturing the cell, development of a micro pump that can constantly supply a small quantity of fluid is required.
Meanwhile, as related art inventions associated with micro pumps, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 are provided. In both Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, a small quantity of fluid can be moved through driving force provided by a piezoelectric element. However, in Patent Document 1, since a valve able to completely interrupt the flow of fluid is not provided, it is difficult to transport a fixed quantity of fluid. In contrast thereto, in Patent Document 2, since valves 5 and 6 are provided on valve substrates 3 and 4, respectively, a fixed quantity of fluid may be transported, but it may be difficult to manufacture the valve substrates 3 and 4.


A complementary bipolar transistor having a lateral npn bipolar trasistor, a vertical and a lateral pnp bipolar transistor, an integrated injection logic, a diffusion capacitor, a polysilicon capacitor and polysilicon resistors are disclosed. The lateral pnp bipolar transistor has an emitter region and a collector region which includes high-density regions and low-density regions, and the emitter region is formed in an n type tub region. In the integrated injection logic circuit, collector regions are surrounded by a high-density p type region, and low-density p type regions are formed under the collector regions. The diffusion capacitor and the polysilicon capacitor are formed in one substrate. The diffusion regions except the regions formed by diffusing the impurities in the polysilicon resistors into the epitaxial layer are formed before forming the polysilicon resistors, and polysilicon electrodes are formed along with the polysilicon resistors.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to integrated circuit transistors and manufacturing methods thereof, in particular, to bipolar transistors, integrated injection logics devices (I.sup.2 L), capacitors, polysilicon resistors and isolation regions which separate the above devices and manufacturing methods therefor.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Many semiconductor devices are integrated in a chip in various fields. In order to integrate these devices on a chip, many complicated processes are used, and thus many problems may occur. For example, the resistivity in the polysilicon resistors are not uniform, that is, the distribution of the impurities in the resistors are not uniform. This is because there are many ion implantation steps and drive-in steps once doping of the polysilicon resistors are completed. During the successive ion implantation steps and drive-in steps, the impurities in the polysilicon resistors may be redistributed nonuniformly. In addition, since a separate polysilicon layer is deposited and patterned to form polysilicon electrodes after forming the polysilicon resistors, two polysilicon layers are used for resistors and electrodes respectively. The manufacturing method thus may be complicated. Furthermore, the characteristics of the I.sup.2 L may not be good, and the description thereof is now described with reference to FIG. 1A which illustrates a conventional I.sup.2 L.
An n+ type buried layer 2 is formed on a p type substrate 1, and an n type epitaxial layer 3 is formed thereon. The epitaxial layer 3 has a plurality of diffusion regions such as n type regions 4, 8, 9, 10 and 24 and p type regions 5, 31 and 34 which extend downwards from the surface of the epitaxial layer 3. An n+ type sink region 4 is formed on the edges of the buried layer 2. A LOCOS oxide layer 13 is formed on the central region of the portion of the epitaxial layer 3 enclosed by the sink region 4. P type regions 5 and 31 and 34 are formed at both sides of the LOCOS oxide layer 13, respectively. The p type region 34 includes two p- type regions 36 and 37 and a central p+ type region 35 therebetween. The p type region 31 has a p- type region 33 adjacent to the LOCOS oxide layer 13 and a p+ type region 34 adjacent thereto, and the p type region 5 is formed to be separated from the p type region 31. Multiple n+ type regions 8, 9 and 10 are formed in the p- type regions 33, 36 and 37. Another n+ type region 24 is formed in one side of the sink region 4, and a LOCOS layer 14 is formed on the other side of the sink region 4. A LOCOS oxide layer 11 and 12 surrounding the n+ type region 24 is formed on the epitaxial layer 3. An oxide layer 15 is formed on the epitaxial layer 3 and on the LOCOS oxide layers 11, 12, 13 and 14, and it has contact holes on the n+ type regions 8, 9, 10 and 24 and on the p+ type regions 5, 32 and 35. In the contact holes on the n+ type regions 8, 9, 10 and 24, polysilicon electrodes 17, 18, 19 and 16 are formed to be in contact with the n+ type regions 8, 9,10 and 24, and silicide layers 30 are formed on the respective polysilicon electrodes 17, 18, 19 and 24. An interlayer insulating film 23 is formed thereon and it has contact holes exposing the polysilicon electrodes 17, 18, 19 and 24 and contact holes in the oxide layer 15. Finally, metal electrodes 21, 22 and 25 which are respectively in contact with the p+ type regions 5, 32 and 35, and metal electrodes 20, C1, C2 and C3 which are respectively in contact with the polysilicon electrodes 16, 17, 18 and 19 are formed in the contact holes.
In this conventional I.sup.2 L, a punch through phenomenon occurs among the n+ type region 10, the p- type region and the epitaxial layer 3 in the region as shown by A in FIG. 1A, and this yields leakage current which degrades the characteristics of the device.
Next, a conventional lateral pnp bipolar transistor is described with reference to FIG. 1B.
An n+ buried layer 40 is formed on a p type substrate 1, and an n type epitaxial layer 3 with is formed thereon. A p+ isolation region 44 formed in the epitaxial layer 3 extends downward from the surface of the epitaxial layer 3, and a p+ type region 42 is formed to extend from the p+ isolation region 44 to the substrate 1. The isolation region 44 and the p+ type region 42 surround the buried layer 40, and LOCOS oxide layers 61 and 63 are formed on the isolation region 44. The portion of the epitaxial layer 3 surrounded by the isolation region 44 has a plurality of diffusion regions such as n type regions 46 and 48 and p type regions 51 and 52 which extend downwards from the surface of the epitaxial layer 3. An n+ type sink region 46 is formed to be connected to the edges of the buried layer 40. A p+ type emitter region 52 and a p+ type collector region 51 which surrounds the emitter region 52 and is separated from the emitter region 52 are formed in the epitaxial region 3. An n+ type region 42 is formed in the sink region 4, and it provides currents to the epitaxial layer 3 which serves as a base through the sink region 46 and the buried layer 40. A LOCOS oxide layer 62 is formed on the portion of the epitaxial layer 3 between the sink region 46 and the portion of the collector region 51 adjacent to the sink region 46. An oxide layer 15 is formed on the epitaxial layer 3 and the LOCOS oxide layers 61, 62 and 63, and it has contact holes on the n+ type region 48 and the collector and the emitter regions 51 and 52. In the contact hole on the n+ type region 48, a polysilicon electrode 70 is formed to be in contact with the n+ type regions 48. An interlayer insulating film 23 is formed thereon and the interlayer insulating film 23 has contact holes exposing the polysilicon electrode 70 and contact holes in the oxide layer 15. Finally, an emitter and a collector metal electrodes 81 and 82 which are respectively in contact with the emitter and collector regions 52 and 51 and a base metal electrode 83 which is in contact with the polysilicon electrode 48 is formed in the contact holes.
In this conventional lateral pnp bipolar transistor, since the concentration of the epitaxial layer 3 which function as the base is very low, sufficient distance may be required between the emitter region 52 and the collector region 51 for maintaining the breakdown voltage. However, the large distance between them may cause the current gain to become small.


In a laser screen for a cathode-ray tube having a semiconductor member of a semiconductor compound positioned between a partly transparent mirror and a reflecting mirror, an intermediate member is grown by deposition from vapor phase on the partly transparent mirror. The intermediate member is made of a semiconductor material transparent for radiation generated by the screen and has a bandgap width which is at least 0.98 times as great as the bandgap width of the material of the semiconductor member. The intermediate member is cemented to a transparent heat removing support member.

Laser screens for cathode-ray tubes are known to have an optical cavity with a semiconductor member between the mirrors defining the cavity (V. I. Kozlovsky et al. Laser Screens of CdS, CdS.sub.x Se.sub.1-x and ZnSe Monocrystalline Ingots (in Russian). J. Kvantovaya Elektronika. Moscow. 1977. Vol. 4. No. 2. p. 351-354). The optical cavity is cemented to a transparent heat removing support member. Organic adhesive compositions are used to cement the optical cavity to the transparent support member. This laser screen cannot work with an acceptable efficiency for a long time at temperatures close to room temperature. If thickness of the single-crystal wafer is much greater than the typical depth of penetration of an electron beam into the laser screen, a strong absorption in the non-excited zone of the single-crystal wafer substantially lowers efficiency of lasing at room temperature. If the thickness of a single-crystal wafer is approximately the depth of the penetration of an electron beam into the laser screen, the efficiency of the laser screen remains high even at room temperature. However, service life of such laser screens is rather short because of a rapid decomposition of an organic cementing layer under the action of an electron beam partly penetrating the cementing layer if a small-thickness wafer is used. The service life is also shortened because of thermoelastic stresses at the boundary between the single-crystal wafer and cementing layer due to a low heat conductance of the cementing layer.
It is known to make a semiconductor laser with optical pumping, comprising a multiple-layer structure which consists of an active layer, reflecting layers, and a passive single-crystal epitaxial layer having different values of the bandgap width and different indices of refraction (Jewell, J. L. et al. Vertical Cavity Single Quantum Well Laser. Appl. Phys. Lett. 1989. Vol. 55. p. 424). This structure can be used as a laser screen for a cathode-ray tube. This device does not have a cementing layer because one layer of the structure is made thick enough to function as a heat removing support member. In addition all layers, including the mirror layers defining an optical cavity, are single-crystal layers. A structure like this is prepared by a method comprising epitaxial overgrowth of layers of different composition from organoelement compounds (Koyama F. et al. CaAlAs/GaAs MOCVD Growth for Surface Emitting Laser. Jap. J. of Appl. Phys. 1987. Vol. 26. No. 7. p. 1077-1081). This method can only be carried out with a high perfection of structure of grown substrates and fair agreement between parameters of lattices of all grown single-crystal layers. This surface emitting laser structure is also deficient in the fact that it can be grown only with the use of a limited number of A.sup.III B.sup.V semiconductor compounds emitting only in the near infrared spectral area. These compounds cannot be used for lasing in the visible spectral area.
Another prior art laser screen has a transparent support member and a structure having a silver mirror coating, a semiconductor layer, a passive transparent semiconductor layer, and a partly transparent mirror which is cemented to the transparent support (Katsap, V. N. et al. Heterostructures Cd.sub.x Se.sub.1-x /CdS in Longitudinal Electron Beam Pumping Lasers (in Russian). J. Kvantovaya elektronika. Moscow. 1987. Vol. 14. No. 10. p. 1994-1997). A method for making this laser screen involves polishing a wafer having an appropriate orientation on the one side, overgrowing on this side a passive layer of a similar semiconductor compound having a wider bandgap, applying a partly transparent insulating coating to this layer, cementing the resulting structure to a support, polishing the opposite side of the wafer, and applying a reflecting mirror to this opposite side of the wafer. The passive layer is grown by static resublimation in a quasi-sealed space at 1175 to 1225K in argon or hydrogen. The boundary between the wafer and the passive layer in this laser screen is within the optical cavity formed by the partly transparent mirror and reflecting mirror. This method can be used for making laser screens of A.sup.II B.sup.VI semiconductor compounds which radiate in the visible and near ultraviolet spectral areas. The passive layer thickness must be large enough because the cementing layer should be spaced to a desired distance from the zone excited by electron beam which is necessary to prolong service life. In addition, the bandgap width of the passive layer must be large enough in comparison with the bandgap width of the active layer so as to lower absorption in the passive layer. It is, however, difficult to overgrow the passive layer of such compounds by the procedure described above without impairing emitting efficiency of the active semiconductor. This results in the prior art laser screen having a low lasing efficiency at room temperature.

Laser screen for a cathode-ray tube and method for making same


In an image sensing apparatus having an image sensing element that senses an object and outputs image data and an electronic zoom function, either a first processing mode or a second processing mode is set and an angle of view is designated. In the first processing mode, the image sensing element is driven by switching reading regions and reading methods of image data from the image sensing element based on the designated angle of view and the image data is read, processed, and the angle of view determined by the switched reading region is changed to the designated angle of view. In the second processing mode, the reading region and the reading method of the image data are fixed and the image data output from the image sensing element is processed, and the angle of view determined by the fixed reading region changed to the designated angle of view.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image sensing apparatus that senses still images and moving images and a control method therefore, and more particularly, to an image sensing apparatus having an electronic zoom function, and a control method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image sensing apparatuses, notably digital cameras and digital video cameras, that form an optical image on an image sensing element, perform various signal processes on the image data obtained by photoelectric conversion, and output a visual image of the object field on a liquid crystal monitor, and at the same time record on a recording medium, have been proposed. The recorded image data is either a still image, which uses substantially all of the data of pixels located within the effective area of the image sensing element, or a moving image, which uses only data obtained by thinning and/or averaging the data of pixels located within the effective area of the image sensing element such that the centers of gravity of the pixels become uniform.
In addition, among image sensing apparatuses, as means for setting the angle of view of the subject to be photographed, there are those that have an optical zoom achieved by a zoom lens and those that have an electronic zoom achieved by processing the image data obtained from the image sensing element. Electronic zoom methods are of two general types. One is a method involving manipulating the drive method used to scan the image sensing element, as described, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open (JPA) 2002-314868. The other is a method involving enlarging the image obtained from the image sensing element, as described, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open (JPA) H08-009221 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open (JPA) H09-033793. Moreover, as described for example in Japanese Patent Laid-Open (JPA) 2002-314868 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open (JPA) H09-033793, a proposal to achieve a wide range of an angle of view setting by combining optical zoom and electronic zoom has also been made.
Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open (JPA) 2002-314868 also discloses a higher-resolution electronic zoom achieved by changing the reading region using an image sensing element that employs an X-Y address type scanning method.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Laid-Open (JPA) 2003-125270 proposes carrying out electronic zoom by fixing the reading area of the image sensing element and performing enlarging processing on the image data obtained from the image sensing element until a prescribed zoom ratio is reached, and changing the reading area of the image sensing element depending on the magnification if the prescribed magnification is exceeded so as to reduce deterioration in picture quality.
The number of pixels in the image sensing elements used in these image sensing apparatuses has increased every year, and recently some apparatuses have image sensing elements with more than 10 million pixels. As pixel density has increased the resolutions of still images has improved but the time required for image readout has lengthened.
At the same time, with an electronic viewfinder (EVF), which refreshes the image at predetermined periods of time and outputs the refreshed image to the liquid crystal monitor, and during moving image recording, an image of a number of pixels that is determined by the number of pixels in the liquid crystal monitor or by the specifications of moving image recording is acquired at predetermined periods of time. As the number of pixels in the image sensing element increases, the need arises to thin and/or to average more pixels in order to obtain the image of the number of pixels for the EVF and/or for moving picture recording, lengthening the time needed for readout.
Further, with electronic zoom accomplished by manipulating the image sensing element drive method as in Japanese Patent Laid-Open (JPA) 2002-314868, there is a possibility that the rate at which the image from the image sensing element is refreshed declines in proportion to the electronic zoom magnification ratio. In such a case, in order to maintain the rate at which the image from the image sensing element is refreshed, the drive frequency must be increased in proportion to the zoom ratio of the electronic zoom.
Further, in order to obtain more pixel information from the image sensing element so as to improve the image quality, together with increasing the drive frequency it is also necessary to increase the signal processing frequency so as to process at high speed the image data output from the image sensing element. As a result, overall power consumption also increases.
In addition, an image sensing apparatus using an image sensing element employing the X-Y address type scanning method of Japanese Patent Laid-Open (JPA) 2002-314868 has the following problem: Specifically, combination of using electronic zoom that changes the image sensing element read drive method at each predetermined zoom ratio and electronic zoom that enlarges the image data obtained from the image sensing element in accordance with designated zoom ratio makes it impossible to display an image smoothly when the image sensing element read drive method is changed.

Image sensing apparatus having electronic zoom function, and control method therefor


Disclosed embodiments relate to systems and methods for dynamically identifying potential file system privilege escalation and manipulation vulnerabilities. Techniques include monitoring a file system of a computing system; detecting a privileged file operation involving the file system; determining that a target of the path is writable by a non-privileged identity; and determining whether the target of the path is a dynamic link library. If the target of the path is a dynamic link library, techniques may further include creating a semi-malicious dynamic link library. If the target of the path is not a dynamic link library, techniques may further include creating an object manager symbolic link in a protected file.

Cybersecurity has increasingly become one of the biggest threats impacting organizations and individuals. While many organizations protect sensitive data and files within a network or computing system, for example by requiring privileged access to the data, these measures are not failproof. One common way an attacker may breach such security measures is through privilege escalation, in which the attacker exploits a bug or design flaw in an operating system or application to gain elevated access to restricted resources. For example, in a file system attack, a malicious user may target privileged software that is trusted by an operating system. By exploiting a vulnerability in the system, such as through dynamic link library hijacking or a symlink attack, the malicious user may gain code execution abilities within the privilege level of the trusted software.
Existing techniques, such as antivirus and antimalware tools often cannot protect against such attacks. Because the software is trusted by the operating system it may be very unlikely that the escalated privileges gained through operations performed by the software will be detected. Further, it may be difficult to distinguish between files created by legitimate users and files created by malicious users for the purposes of escalating privileges through a file system attack.
Accordingly, in view of these and other deficiencies in existing techniques, technological solutions are needed for identifying potential file system privilege escalation and manipulation vulnerabilities. Solutions should advantageously allow for dynamic monitoring within a live system environment to detect potential vulnerabilities. Further, technological solutions should be capable of operating at the kernel level of a computing system such that operations may be intercepted before they reach the file system.

Automatic detection and protection against file system privilege escalation and manipulation vulnerabilities


A method of determining leaks and loose couplings in a pipe system which transfers liquid medium, and an apparatus for implementing that method. The pipe system includes a conduit having a beginning, an end, an inner pipe which carries the liquid medium and an outer pipe which surrounds the inner pipe. The conduit has a filler material which fills in an annular space between the inner and outer pipes. The leaks and loose couplings are detected and isolated by measuring only resistances of the filler material between the beginning of the conduit and ground yielding a first resistance value, between the end of the conduit and ground obtaining a second resistance value, and finally between the beginning of the conduit and the end of the conduit obtaining a third resistance value. The defect is then detected and located in the conduit using the first, second and third resistance values.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus of detecting and locating leaks in a pipe system, and in particular, to a method of determining and locating leaks in conduits having an inner pipe carrying a liquid, an outer pipe surrounding the inner pipe and a filler material in an annular space between the inner and outer pipes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conduits are, for safety reasons, composed of an inner pipe carrying a liquid medium and an outer pipe enclosing the inner pipe. In practice, it is necessary to detect a leak in one of the walls as quickly and easily as possible and to determine the location of that leak. When a leak occurs, either the liquid medium inside the inner pipe or water present on the outside of the outer pipe enters into the space between the inner and outer pipes.
In older pipe systems, it has been difficult to detect and locate defects resulting in leaks, because perspiration tended to form in air spaces between the pipes due to changes in temperature (breathing). Hence, when conventional type sensor cables were introduced, they often reported defects, whether or not a leak was actually present. For example, in sewer systems, the space between sewer pipes is often filled with foamed concrete for reasons of stability. This concrete is wet by nature and consequently unsuitable for leak monitoring. If a leak occurs within such a conduit, the filler material becomes wetter at the location of the leak in the space between the pipes. However, this increased wetness cannot be detected quickly at the accessible ends of the pipes either optically or by measuring technology methods.
In newer installations, the pipes are stabilized relative to one another, that is, the space between the pipes is filled with foam which keeps that space dry. However, if the foam has closed pores this can greatly delay detection of a leak. Also, if the foam has open pores, the damage spreads, making it harder to locate the leak.

Method and apparatus for detecting and locating leaks and loose couplings in conduits for liquids


CMOS inverters are included in a standard cell. Power supply lines are electrically connected to CMOS inverters, and include lower layer interconnects and upper layer interconnect. Lower layer interconnects extend along a boundary of standard cells adjacent to each other and on the boundary. Upper layer interconnects are positioned more inside in standard cell than lower layer interconnects, as viewed from a plane. CMOS inverters are electrically connected through upper layer interconnects to lower layer interconnects. Thus, a semiconductor device is obtained that can achieve both higher speeds and higher integration.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor devices, and particularly to semiconductor devices having a plurality of aligned standard cells.
2. Description of the Background Art
In recent years, layout design using a standard cell library is generally performed in system on chip (SOC) because of increasing scale of circuit integration. As the advanced functions and performances of SOC are achieved, the demand for higher integration and higher speeds of the standard cell library increases. On the other hand, an increase in consumption current involved in such achievement of high speeds makes an increasing problem of causing characteristic degradation due to power supply noise such as IR-Drop (i.e., assuming that when current I flows through a path and the resistance value of the path is R, a potential difference represented as I×R is generated at both ends of the path).
Conventionally, there is a configuration of forming, e.g., a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) inverter as a function element in a standard cell of a standard cell library. In this configuration, a p-channel MOS transistor (hereinafter referred to as a "pMOS transistor") is formed on the surface of an n-type well region, and an n-channel MOS transistor (hereinafter referred to as an "nMOS transistor") is formed on the surface of a p-type well region. Connected to each of these pMOS transistor and nMOS transistor are power supply lines (VDD interconnect and GND interconnect). Each of these power supply lines is connected to a substrate to fix the substrate potential, and is provided commonly in a function element in each standard cell.
Since consumption current of a standard cell increases with increasing speeds of a standard cell library, current flowing through a power supply line also increases. Current of a plurality of standard cells is flowed into a power supply line common to the standard cells. This causes an increase of a value of current that flows through the power supply line, and therefore an effect of IR-Drop needs to be considered. IR-Drop of a power supply line is correlated with the resistance value of the power supply line; the smaller the resistance value is, the smaller the effect of IR-Drop becomes. Therefore, measures to increase the line width of a power supply line have been taken.
On the other hand, with achievement of higher integration of a standard cell library, two CMOS transistors having different drain nodes are sometimes arranged in one standard cell. In this case, a method has been implemented that four transistors are arranged in a row in a vertical direction, as viewed from a plane, to achieve higher integration of a standard cell. With this method, there has been a tendency that the number of interconnects of connecting transistors and the number of interconnects of connecting transistors and power supply lines are increased to make the interconnect layout complicated.
A conventional layout of arranging a plurality of standard cells is disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2000-223575. This patent document discloses that first layer power supply lines (3VDD1 and 3VSS1) and third layer power supply lines (3VDD3 and 3VSS3) in parallel thereto are provided and a signal line (3S2) passes through a second layer, so that the first layer power supply lines are reinforced by the third layer power supply lines without imposing restrictions on the arrangement of the second layer.
However, it has been difficult for such a conventional configuration as mentioned above to include both a configuration of widening power supply lines for higher speeds and a configuration of arranging a plurality of transistors in the vertical direction for higher integration so as to realize a standard cell with higher integration and higher speeds. The reason is that widening of power supply lines makes it difficult to secure intervals between interconnects of connecting drains of a pMOS transistor and an nMOS transistor constituting an inverter and an interconnect portion of connecting the power supply line to the transistor.


A system may include a memory that includes a database of retailer-supplied promotions associated with a first plurality of brand items, and a database of promotions associated with a second plurality of brand items. The system also includes a communications interface configured to communicate with a remote device and a processor coupled to the memory and the communication interface. The processor is configured to determine whether a given promotion matches any retailer-supplied promotion, and when the given promotion matches, then not send a corresponding digital promotion via the communications interface to the remote device. The processor is also configured to, when the given promotion does not match, then send the corresponding digital promotion via the communications interface to the remote device for redemption.

Sales of a particular product or service may be based upon how well that product or service is marketed to a consumer. One form of marketing is a coupon, typically in paper form, for a discount toward the product or service. Some coupons may be retailer specific, for example, only redeemable for the discount at a particular retailer, while other coupons may be product specific from a manufacturer and redeemable at any retailer.
To increase savings, a consumer may seek to apply both a manufacturer-supplied coupon and a retailer-supplied coupon. This is often referred to as coupon stacking. U.S. Patent Application No. 2013/0117094 to Jones et al. discloses an automated system for optimizing retail savings using coupons. More particularly, Jones et al. discloses a system that maintains a store profile database storing attributes of retail stores, including location and coupon policy rules, a coupon profile database storing the attributes of current and future coupons, a sale profile database storing attributes of sale events at the stores, and a subscriber profile database storing identifiers of stores preferred by the subscriber, subscriber preferences, and the like. The system performs a matchup process executed by the system that interrogates the databases to identify matches among stores, coupons, and sale events, and provides the subscriber with a list of those matches, from which the subscriber can enter shopping list inputs that identify items that the subscriber wants to purchase, including coupons possessed by the subscriber. A process executed by the system uses the shopping list inputs to create suggested transactions for the subscriber that minimizes out-of-pocket cost, maximizes savings, or maximizes the value of items purchased within a spending limit. While coupon stacking may be particularly advantageous for a consumer, it may not be desirable from the perspective of the retailer and/or manufacturer.

System including communication interface based sending of digital promotions and related methods


A representative spacecraft system includes a connecting device, which in turn includes a housing having a common port opening, a first connecting element carried by the housing and positioned to connect with a corresponding first spacecraft connecting structure having a first configuration, and a second connecting element carried by the housing and positioned to connect with a corresponding second spacecraft connecting structure having a second configuration different than the first configuration. At least one of the first and second connecting elements is moveable relative to the other between an operational position and a non-operational position, and each of the first and second connecting elements, when connected to the corresponding first or second spacecraft connecting structure, is positioned to allow transport through the common port opening.

It is well known in the prior art that spacecraft may be attached to each other using various devices. Previous spacecraft have used docking mechanisms, typically including a male portion (e.g., a probe) and a female portion (e.g., drogue) that connect spacecraft together and permit transfer of resources, cargo, and crew between the spacecraft.
Other docking mechanisms are androgynous in nature (i.e., have no male or female half) that connect spacecraft together and permit transfer of resources, cargo, and crew between the spacecraft. For example, the Androgynous Peripheral Attach System (APAS) docking system and the International Berthing and Docking Mechanism (IBDM) are both androgynous in nature.
The docking mechanisms are attached to each other using a docking process in which two rendezvousing spacecraft are joined together when one spacecraft connects with the others with one or both maneuvering relative to each other. This permits the docking mechanisms to mechanically join by electrically driving threaded bolts into floating nuts. The joined docking mechanisms create a volume between the two that can later be pressurized for transport of crew and/or cargo through the docking mechanism assembly.
The International Space Station (ISS) uses Common Berthing Mechanisms (CBMs) consisting of a male (Active Common Berthing Mechanism or ACBM) and a female (Passive Common Berthing Mechanism or PCBM) portion that connect the spacecraft together and permit transfer of resources, cargo, and crew between the spacecraft.
The CBMs are attached to each other using a process called berthing. Berthing is a process in which two rendezvousing spacecraft are joined together by having one spacecraft capture the other using a robotic arm, and then using the robotic arm to maneuver the two spacecraft CBMs together. This permits the CBMs to mechanically join by electrically driving threaded bolts (on the ACBM side) into floating nuts (on the PCBM side). Joining the CBMs creates a volume between the ACBM and the PCBM that can later be pressurized for transport of crew and/or cargo through the CBM assembly.
Prior docking and berthing mechanisms are generally satisfactory for their specific functions, but there remains a need in the industry for improved and/or more versatile docking systems.

Spacecraft multifunction connecting mechanisms including interchangeable port opening docking mechanisms, and associated systems and methods


In an optical/electrical imaging system, optical depth of focus corrections are accomplished electronically. A plurality of defocus states of the optical system are measured and/or determined and image restoration coefficients corresponding to each of these states are stored. The state of defocus of the imaging system is then determined by deriving an image from a target having known characteristics, which are then correlated to determine a state of defocus. A microprocessor is utilized to provide appropriate defocus correction information to an electronic filter, thereby providing an adaptive filtering arrangement.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to optical imaging systems in electronic reprographic equipment. More specifically, the invention relates to a system for correction of optical defocus and related optical system errors by correction of electrical signals representative of the optically produced image data.
2. Description of Related Developments
Electronic reprographic equipment and facsimile transmission equipment employ scanners for optically scanning an image, such as a document, and converting the optical information to an electrical image signal. Several types of optical systems are commonly employed to achieve the raster scanning of input documents and produce the representative electrical signal. FIG. 1 illustrates one of several configurations frequently used with reduction optical systems to scan a document and produce a reduced size image on a linear array of photosensors. This configuration is relatively tolerant of errors in the object conjugate of the lens; i.e., errors in the optical path length from the lens, through the mirrors, to the original document. Variations in this path length of .+-.1 millimeters, while causing noticeable change in magnification, will typically have little degrading effect on the focus, or sharpness, of the optical image formed on the photosensor array. Since only one compound lens is used, however, there may exist a variation in image quality along the linear portion of the image sensed by the photosensor array. Variations in image quality from the end of such a scanned image line to the center of this line frequently occur with a reasonable degree of symmetry about the center of the scanned image. These variations in quality may, for example, be caused by the curvature of the surface of best focus of the lens, or by other related lens aberrations which are well known to vary with the distance from the center of the optical field. The mathematical description of these aberrations can be approximately determined from lens design data, but further aberrations occur due to small errors which result from the lens fabrication process. Other single lens optical systems, such as those frequently referred to as "full-rate/half-rate" scanners, have similar optical characteristics. As a result, scanners using single reduction lens optics may illustrate a decrease in image quality at the edges of the scan line, even when the center of scan is in good focus.
A second class of optical systems frequently used for document scanning in electronic reprographic equipment is the "full-width" scanner type, shown in FIG. 2. Here, an array of lenses extends (into the page in the figure) the full extent of the line on the input document which is to be imaged at unity magnification onto the full-width photosensor array. Full-width scanners have been developed which utilize amorphous or crystalline silicon photosensor arrays that offer the advantages of high responsivity (which yields high scanning speeds), low illumination requirements (which reduces power consumption) and compactness. These scanners require compact, full width lens arrays to achieve these performance advantages. The most commonly used lenses for this purpose are gradient index fiber lens arrays, as illustrated in FIG. 3. While commercially available gradient index lens arrays provide good optical efficiency and excellent control of the unity magnification requirement, they have poor depth-of-field capabilities when compared with, for example, reduction optics designs; i.e., they are considerably more sensitive to errors in the object conjugate length than reduction optics designs. Typically, the depth-of-field for high efficiency gradient index lens arrays is approximately .+-.0.25 to .+-.0.50 millimeters.
FIG. 4 illustrates the depth-of-field characteristics of a typical gradient index lens array. The graph of FIG. 4 plots the modulation transfer function (MTF) achievable by the lens array as a function of defocus distance at a predetermined spatial frequency; for example, FIG. 4 shows these characteristics for a commercially available lens at 6 cycles per mm. The MTF value correlates directly to the fidelity level of the image from the lens array. By selecting a desired level of MTF (and thus image fidelity) the curves show the defocus distances (or depth-of-field) of the lens array necessary to maintain the desired MTF. In FIG. 4, the zero on the abscissa represents the best focus position and the small divisions along the abscissa are tenths of a millimeter. Curve M represents the characteristics of the lens in the main scanning direction along a line coincident with the line of photosensors, and curve S represents the characteristics of the lens in the subscanning direction; i.e., perpendicular to the main scanning direction. From FIG. 4, it is evident that at high levels of image fidelity (MTF), small variations in defocus distance can cause unacceptable blurring and that the amount of blur varies with the scan direction (i.e., the lens becomes increasingly anamorphic in this loss of quality as the focus error increases). As a result, optics/sensor architectures employing such full-width lens arrays frequently do not provide sufficient image quality or resolution to meet image fidelity requirements, thereby limiting the use of such scanner designs.


Proposed is a sinker (2) provided with a region (23) of reduced thickness on its working part (9). As a result, a clearance space is created on at least one side of the sinker (2). This clearance space makes it possible to reduce the distance between the sinker (2) and the latch needle (3) or to reduce the wear between these two elements. The clearance space furthermore does not change the distance between the sinker and the latch needle on the other side of the sinker. The sinker (2) according to the invention preferably has a clearance space on both sides, so that this sinker can be used in circular knitting machines which are designed for both rotational directions.

For the production of knitted goods, knitting systems are generally used which can be provided with sinkers. These sinkers operate jointly with needles, for example latch needles, having a latch that is positioned pivoting.
A knitting system of this type is already known from European Patent Application 0 570 340 B1, wherein the sinker for this knitting system consists of a flat metal part with a u-shaped recess. The latch needle is moved past this recess in a direction transverse thereto. Correspondingly, the latch of the latch needle also moves past a defined area of the sinker.
Whenever the sinker and the latch needle come in contact, it can result in wear, particularly if the latch comes in contact with the sinker. The latches of needles, e.g. used in circular knitting machines, are deflected to the side as a result of centrifugal forces and inertial forces, even those on new needles that are still positioned with relatively small play in the needle shank. This deflection increases over the service life of the needle as a result of continued wear and increased latch play. The accompanying increase in wear of the sinker and the latch can make it necessary to replace the sinkers and latch needles. To be sure, the European Patent 0 570 340 B1 proposes to increase the sheet metal thickness of the sinker portion that engages in the sinker cam in order to reduce wear occurring thereon and, instead, to reduce the thickness of the frontal section that comes in contact with the thread. However, the sheet metal thickness in the frontal section cannot be reduced too much because such a reduction is limited by the required stability and/or bending resistance for the sinker and the cutting sensitivity of the threads that are used.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to produce a sinker and/or a knitting system with reduced wear.

Sinker for knitting system and knitting system showing reduced wear


System for using a manufacturer issued certificate to authenticate a CTA device during registration with an IP telephony network. In response to providing the manufacturer issued certificate, the issuance of another certificate allows the CTA to be provisioned by a specific IP telephony network. The system includes a method of operating a cable telephony adapter in an IP telephony network. The method includes steps of storing a manufacturer issued certificate in the cable telephony adapter, providing the manufacturer issued certificate to the telephony network, receiving a network issued certificate, and registering for telephony services with the telephony network using the network issued certificate.

In IP telephony systems, a cable telephony adapter (CTA) device is used to allow a user to send and receive information in secure transactions over an IP telephony network. In typical operation, a series of signaling messages are exchanged that register the CTA device with the IP telephony network before a secure channel with another user can be established.
Therefore, there is a need to authenticate the CTA device. The authentication provides protocol security and allows the IP telephony network to authenticate the identity of the CTA device. The CTA should be authenticated from the very beginning of the provisioning process. Otherwise the provisioning process would be open to additional denial of service attacks—since some provisioning exchanges can be forged. In addition, it is desirable for the service provider to cryptographically identify the CTA device—to make sure that only authorized devices are allowed in its IP Telephony network. If only the subscriber—but not the CTA device itself—were authenticated, this would not be possible.

Built-in manufacturer's certificates for a cable telephony adapter to provide device and service certification