Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for preventing and detecting fraud in the secondary gift card market are disclosed herein. An example system can identify an event associated with a prepaid gift account associated with a secondary market for reselling prepaid gift accounts, the prepaid gift account having a verified initial balance established prior to the event. Based on the event, the system can perform a reverification of the verified initial balance of the prepaid gift account to yield an updated balance. If the verification indicates that the updated balance is different from the verified initial balance, the system can perform a corrective action. The event can be receiving the prepaid gift account, listing the prepaid gift account for sale, transferring the prepaid gift account between parties, converting the prepaid gift account to a different form, an elevated fraud risk, a user request, a regular balance checking interval, or random selection.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to detecting and preventing fraud with gift cards, gift codes, or other prepaid debit accounts.
2. Introduction
Prepaid gift accounts are widely used as gifts for birthdays, Christmas, and other holidays. Prepaid gift accounts can be issued as physical cards. Prepaid gift accounts can also be issued as an account number delivered to the prepaid account holder via text message, email or as data displayed on an application residing on a mobile computing device such as a mobile telecommunications device, a mobile computing device such as a laptop computer, smart phone or tablet computer or a non-mobile computer device such as a personal computer system, personal gaming system or satellite or cable television system. Prepaid gift accounts can be closed loop, meaning that the value represented by the prepaid gift account is a valid form of payment at a closed set of retailers. For example, an OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE® prepaid gift account is only redeemable at OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE® and not at PLANET HOLLYWOOD® or TARGET®. Some closed loop prepaid gift accounts are valid at a family of closely related or commonly owned merchants. For example, a DARDEN RESTAURANTS prepaid gift account is valid at RED LOBSTER® and OLIVE GARDEN®; similarly, a local mall prepaid gift account is valid at tenant merchants in the local mall. By contrast, prepaid gift accounts can also be open loop, such as VISA® or MASTERCARD® debit cards, which serve as a valid form of payment at virtually any retailer nationwide.
While prepaid gift accounts are popular alternatives to cash and merchandise gifts, which may not interest the recipient, such prepaid gift accounts typically have various limitations which reduce their utility and appeal to the recipient. For example, the recipient may have trouble redeeming the prepaid gift account due to geographic limitations associated with the prepaid gift account. Many times, the prepaid gift account is tied to a particular merchant which the recipient may dislike, greatly reducing the value of the prepaid gift account to the recipient. Additionally, some merchants issue prepaid gift accounts with significant restrictions, complex fees, and/or expiration dates. According to one estimate, consumers purchase about $80 billion worth of prepaid gift accounts annually in the U.S., and roughly 10%, or $8 billion, of that amount goes unredeemed. Consumers waste these unredeemed funds and do not benefit from the full value of the prepaid gift account. Further, if these funds are not spent, they can escheat to the state.
Additionally, the process of handling prepaid debit accounts has several potential avenues for fraud. Both merchants and consumers have a strong incentive to reduce or eliminate fraud both with physical gift cards and electronic gift cards or codes.

System and method for preventing fraud in the secondary market for gift cards


An eye drop composition comprising a carboxyvinyl polymer and a monoterpene, and having a viscosity from 200 to 100,000 mPa·s. The monoterpene may be at least one selected from the group consisting of menthol, camphor and borneol. The carboxyvinyl polymer content may be from 0.001 to 10 w/v % with respect to the total volume of the eye drop composition, and the monoterpene content may be from 0.0001 to 1 w/v % with respect to the total volume of the eye drop composition.

High-viscosity ophthalmic compositions are useful for lengthening the residence times of compositions on the ocular surface thereby providing a sustained drug effect and preventing dry eye. Known thickening agents that are added to such high-viscosity ophthalmic compositions include cellulose-based polymers such as hypromellose, hydroxyethylcellulose and methylcellulose and vinyl-based polymers such as polyvinylpyrrolidone and polyvinyl alcohol and acrylic acid polymers such as carboxyvinyl polymer. Of these, carboxyvinyl polymers have a higher thickening effect than cellulose-based polymers that are widely used as components of an eye drop composition, and allow viscosities of several thousand to several tens of thousands mPa·s to be achieved even when used in small amounts, and they therefore serve as useful thickening agents.
Ophthalmic compositions such as an eye drop composition are generally housed and used in a container designed so that droplets can be dropped from an extraction opening (nozzle), by applying pressing force on the container. Modifications for dropping an eye drop composition from nozzles are therefore being devised.
For example, methods for improving liquid drip of an eye drop composition include the method described in Patent document 1 in which the material and shape of the nozzle are modified, but this method increases cost while also being limited to specific nozzle shapes, while it also places restrictions on the container shapes.
One method for dealing with poor liquid drip of an eye drop composition from nozzles is a method in which the nozzle is wiped with a clean wiper after each drip, in order to prevent deposition of the components, but this method not only fails to improve the liquid drip itself, but also increases inconvenience to the user. Also, Patent document 2 discloses a method of inhibiting deposition of components by addition of specific components into the liquid composition, but this method does not improve the liquid drip itself.
Addition of refrigerants such as menthol, camphor and borneol to ophthalmic compositions is already known. These refrigerants are known to impart a refreshing feel, while also exhibiting effects of alleviating ophthalmalgia induced by components (Patent document 3) and effects of improving the wettability of contact lenses (Patent document 4).
Addition of water-soluble polymers to ophthalmic compositions, in addition to refrigerants such as menthol, camphor and borneol, is also known. Such ophthalmic compositions are known to exhibit effects of improving the wettability of contact lenses (Patent documents 5 and 6), inhibiting adsorption of components onto contact lenses (Patent documents 7 and 8), maintaining a refreshing feel (Patent document 9), and alleviating irritation during drip (Patent document 10).


This invention aims at providing compositions and foods for improving lipid metabolism which improve the metabolism of lipids and thus are expected to contribute to the prevention and amelioration of hyperlipemia, obesity, atherosclerosis and the like. The invention provides compositions for improving lipid metabolism, compositions for preventing or treating hyperlipemia, compositions for preventing or treating obesity and foods for preventing or ameliorating hyperlipemia and obesity, which contain valine as an active ingredient.

In recent years, lipid intake has been increasing in Japan with the tendency toward improved and Western-style eating habits, which brings about a problem of excessive fat intake. The excessive fat intake causes obesity and an increase in the serum lipid level and consequently heightens the risk of the onset of various complications thereof (for example, circulatory diseases, in particular, coronary and cerebral vascular accidents and life-style related diseases such as certain cancers including breast cancer and colon cancer). Thus, it becomes a serious social problem from the viewpoint of maintaining and improving national health.
It has been pointed out that an increase in the levels of cholesterol in the blood is one of the risk factors of the onset of circulatory diseases. Recently, high concentrations of triacylglycerol (triglyceride) in the blood have also attracted attention as another risk factor independent from those of cholesterol.
Hyperlipemia means a condition wherein the blood cholesterol concentration and/or the blood triacylglycerol (i.e., one of neutral fats) concentration are increased. Hypercholesterolemia (hyper-β-lipoproteinemia) with an increase in the blood cholesterol level is caused mainly by an increase in the low-density lipoprotein (LDL, β-lipoprotein) to a level which is well known as one of the risk factors for atherosclerosis. It is also pointed out that the excessive lipid intake results in a continuous increase in the blood triacylglycerol concentration and, in turn, causes the onset of hypertriacylglycerolemia which is likely to induce atherosclerotic diseases such as hypertension and ischemic heart disease.
Moreover, an excess in stored energy due to the excessive lipid intake causes obesity. Obesity, which is defined as a condition with an abnormal increase in adipose in the body, is associated with an increase in visceral adipose and/or panniculus adipose. Classifications of obesity are: obesity in the upper half of the body; obesity in the lower half of the body; central obesity; peripheral obesity; visceral obesity; panniculus obesity and the like depending on the part of the body with the increased amount of adipose.
Also, obesity is regarded as one of the causative factors of life-style related diseases such as diabetes, hyperlipemia, hypertension, fatty liver, atherosclerosis, gout, myocardial infarction and angina. People suffering from these diseases sometimes develop complications depending on the areas of adipose deposition. It has been recently clarified that visceral adipose deposition is associated with the highest risk.
Methods of treating hyperlipemia and obesity include dietotherapy and chemotherapy which are usually combined with kinesitherapy and health guidance. However, these existing therapies suffer from various drawbacks: it is highly difficult to continue these treatments over a long period of time; they are less convenient; and there is a fear of side effects.
The percentage of patients with atherosclerosis in the total population of Japan has been increasing constantly and it is known that abnormal lipid metabolism is deeply involved in the formation of atherosclerosis.
It has been known that valine, which is one of the essential amino acids, is usable in therapeutic agents for liver regeneration (WO96/00059) and therapeutics for hepatic diseases (WO99/16433). However, it has neither been reported nor suggested so far to use valine in improving lipid metabolism or preventing, ameliorating or treating hyperlipemia, obesity or atherosclerosis.

Compositions for improving lipid metabolism


This invention discloses a method of inhibiting myocardial fibrosis by administering epoxymexrenone at a dosage which does not substantially increase sodium excretion by the body.

This invention relates to drugs such as spironolactone which block the activity of the hormone aldosterone, and to the use of aldosterone-blocking drugs to prevent or treat myocardial fibrosis, a disease condition.
In a medical context, fibrosis refers the creation of fibrotic tissue (i.e., tissue characterized by an abnormally high quantity of fibrous material, primarily strands of collagen). In some situations, fibrosis is useful and necessary, such as in the healing of wounds, but in other situations, fibrosis can be harmful, especially when it interferes with the functioning of internal organs. As one example, liver cirrhosis is usually characterized by high levels of fibrosis. That condition, discussed in the above-cited parent U.S. application Ser. No. 07/871,390, is not directly relevant to this invention.
This invention relates to the use of mineralocorticoid antagonists (such as spironolactone) in inhibiting myocardial fibrosis.
The correlation between mineralocorticoids and fibrosis was not recognized prior to the work of the Applicant. However, a great deal was known about mineralocorticoids and about fibrosis, as separate fields in medicine and physiology. Accordingly, the following sections provide background information on each of those topics.

Use of aldosterone antagonists to inhibit myocardial fibrosis


A solid state light emitting device includes a laminated substrate structure (120), an LED chip (30), a transparent capsulation material (50) and an electric component (40). The laminated substrate structure includes a first substrate (10) and a second substrate (20) attached to each other by a sintering process. The first substrate has a mounting surface (100) and a receiving through hole (11) defined in the mounting surface thereof. The LED chip is mounted on the mounting surface of the first substrate. The transparent capsulation material envelops the LED chip therein. The electric component is received in the receiving hole and mounted on the second substrate. The electric component is located below the mounting surface of the first substrate.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to solid state light emitting devices and method for manufacturing substrates thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
LEDs (light emitting diodes) each is a type of solid state light emitting device and are widely used in daily life, such as in illumination devices or non-emissive display devices, due to its high brightness, long life-span, and wide color gamut. The researches of LEDs are disclosed in a paper on IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, entitled "Design and fabrication of AlGaInP LED array with integrated GaAs decode circuits", published by Rong-Ting Huang et al., in 1998, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In ordinary use, an electric component is usually enveloped in the LED for improving the reliability and practicability of the LED. For instance, mounting a zener diode on a surface of a substrate of the LED for increasing electrostatic prevention capability of the LED. The electric component usually is designed to have a black outer surface so as to obtain a good heat dissipation capability. However, the black outer surface would absorb some of light emitted from a LED chip arranged on the surface of the substrate and in juxtaposition with the zener diode, so that the luminous efficiency of the LED is degraded. Thus, there is a need for a LED endowed with additional functions without having to degrade the luminous efficiency.


Methods, systems, and computer readable medium for displaying results of a search query. In one implementation, the method includes receiving a query, obtaining documents that satisfy the query, constructing a facet hierarchy based on documents that satisfy the query, creating a cube structure based on the facet hierarchy, and displaying a multi-dimensional search interface based on the cube structure.

Relational database systems have been developed to organize and store the data in a logical (structured) manner. An OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) database is a relational database system capable of handling queries more complex than those handled by standard relational databases. An OLAP database typically provides multidimensional access to data—i.e., views to data by several different criteria or "dimensions". An OLAP database typically considers each data attribute (such as product, sales region, and time period) as a separate dimension. An OLAP database manager can compute the intersection of a plurality of dimensions (such as all products sold in a given region during a given time period within a certain range of retail prices) and display the intersection. OLAP databases typically allow users to query complex data interrelationships, and discover previously unknown patterns and relationships between data.
Queries on an OLAP database are typically performed using a cube structure (referred to herein as "cube"). An OLAP cube consists of numeric facts called measures which are categorized by dimensions (such as a location dimension Country/Region/City, or a time dimension Hour/Minute/Second). Dimensions may be used to organize types of data into hierarchies with levels of detail, while measures may be used to measure quantities. To speed up analytical operations (such as drill-down, roll-up, and slice-and-dice operations) on an OLAP cube, a database management system developer (or database administrator) generally models a number of (static) cubes and loads data into the cubes. Static OLAP cubes, however, are inherently rigid which can limit their usefulness in many contexts.
Data that is not organized in a relational or even a structured manner, however, cannot generally be accessed using conventional OLAP database applications. Instead, faceted searches using a faceted search engine can be used to search both structured and unstructured data. Faceted searches are generally performed on a search index with taxonomies that reflect the categories associated with the data. A taxonomy in this context is a categorization scheme for data where the facets and facet elements which are derived from the taxonomy guide the search, and a posting list of records is associated with each facet element. The resulting documents for a particular search are organized in a facet tree including one or more facets. A facet is a node in the facet tree, and a facet may have any number of facet elements (or child facets). The total number of records in a facet is the sum total of all records in the posting lists of the facet elements beneath the facet in the facet tree. Selection of a facet (a range, word, or phrase) causes the faceted search engine to present the next set of facets, and so on along the facet tree until a final facet, the lowest-level categorization for a facet, is reached. When the user selects one of the facet nodes, the documents on the associated posting list for the facet node are displayed. Unlike queries on an OLAP database, faceted searches are typically on independent dimensions and do not support typical OLAP tasks, like slice-and-dice operations.

International Business Machines Corporation


A vibrato assembly for stringed instruments makes slight and rapid changes in the pitch of the tone produced by a stringed instrument. The vibrato assemblies described herein use flexures to permit movement of an armature relative to a fixed base to produce variations in the tension of the strings and thereby the pitch of the tones. These flexure vibrato assemblies have the advantages of high strength, zero operational noise and rumble, and virtually zero friction and hysteresis. Additionally, flexure vibrato assemblies provide a robust path between the instrument and the strings resulting in improved tonal quality, range, and sustain. A modular flexural pivot is especially useful as the flexure of the present invention.

In a stringed instrument, the vibration of the strings consists of transverse deflections (waves) that propagate longitudinally (i.e., along the length of the strings) in both directions. The motion of the strings in the surrounding air converts their elastic and kinetic energy into acoustic radiation and heat. Thus, the transverse waves are attenuated as they propagate along the strings.
At the ends of the strings, some acoustic power is transmitted into the supporting structure due to its slight elasticity. However, an acoustic impedance mismatch between a string and the structure generally causes a large fraction of the power in the incident waves to be reflected from each anchor point as waves travelling in the opposite direction along the string.
The strings are themselves inefficient acoustic radiators, but they do produce some air-borne sound directly. Although most of this sound radiates away from the instrument, some radiates onto its surface. A severe mismatch of the acoustic impedance of the solid surface and that of air causes most of the incident acoustic power to be reflected from the surface and back into the air. Therefore, only a very small amount of acoustic power is transmitted to the structure in this way.
In the structure, acoustic power is dissipated by radiation from the surface into the surrounding air and by internal damping (friction). A small amount of acoustic power is transmitted from the structure back into the strings through the anchor points. Reabsorption of airborne sound by the strings is negligible.
The flow of acoustic energy in a stringed instrument is shown schematically in FIG. 7. The circles labeled 120, 122, and 124 represent the strings, supporting structure, and air, respectively. The heavy (wide) and light (narrow) lines represent the primary and secondary acoustic power transmission paths, respectively. The broken (dashed) circle 125 and lines represent an optional electronic pickup (vibration transducer) and its primary and secondary acoustic inputs, respectively. It is assumed that the pickup is attached to the structure (as in conventional electric guitars) and is thus primarily sensitive to structure-borne sound. (Electromagnetic pickups sense string motion rather than structural vibration.)
In the structure, acoustic (elastic) waves can propagate along many different paths. The acoustic attenuation depends on the medium, path, and frequency. Hence, the materials and geometry of the structure influence the acoustic attenuation as a function of frequency which in turn determines the "tonal quality" or "tonality" of the instrument. (Tonal characteristics that musicians consider desirable depend, to a certain extent, on the style of music.) Multiple acoustic paths can also cause destructive interference (phase cancellation) of desirable frequencies. This effect is referred to as "multipath distortion".
It is thus apparent that acoustic coupling between the strings and the supporting structure and within the structure itself affects the quality of an "acoustic" (unamplified) instrument. In the case of an "electric" (amplified) instrument, its importance can be paramount. An acoustic coupling consideration of particular importance pertains to vibrato.
Vibrato is a slightly tremulous effect imparted to an instrumental tone for added warmth and expressiveness, consisting of slight and rapid variations in the pitch of the tone being produced. Stringed instruments, such as guitars, violins, violas, cellos, double basses, banjos, mandolins, together with a few other instruments such as trombones, are unique in allowing the musician to produce any of a continuum of musical pitches by making slight variations in the position of fingers or in the configuration of the instrument. Among stringed instruments, this has led to the development and use of techniques to produce vibrato sounds by varying the position of the fingers along the strings.
Another way to produce vibrato sounds is by using a vibrato assembly that varies the tension of the strings while the fingers remain stationary. A conventional vibrato assembly (often called a tremolo tailpiece even though in stringed instruments tremolo usually refers to variations in the amplitude rather than in the pitch of the tone produced) has a bridge that rotates relative to the body of the stringed instrument about a knife-edge hinge or rolling ball bearings to produce variations in the tension of the strings and thereby variations in the pitch of the tone.
Previously known vibrato assemblies have several disadvantages. Knife-edge hinges and rolling ball bearings have friction that can produce wear on the pivoting surfaces and cause hysteresis (i.e., prevent the strings from returning precisely to their basic pitch). The pivoting of knife-edge hinges and rolling ball bearings produces undesirable noise and rumbling sounds that nearby electro-acoustic pickups on electric stringed instruments detect and transmit to the amplifier. Knife-edge hinges and rolling ball bearings allow acoustic micro slip (i.e., sliding friction in the transmission of elastic strain waves) that prevents the efficient transfer of acoustic energy between the strings and the instrument body. This results in a loss of tonal quality (i.e., the number and relative intensity of the harmonics), frequency range, and sustain (i.e., an absence of energy loss that allows the string to vibrate freely). Also, because of the high line-contact or point-contact stresses present, even slight overloads can damage knife edges or ball-bearing races and thus cause increased friction, noise, and acoustic losses.
For the reasons previously discussed, it would be advantageous to reduce multiple acoustic paths that cause destructive interference and distortion and to selectively alter the acoustic attenuation. Additionally, it would be advantageous to have a vibrato assembly for stringed instruments that exhibits no wear or hysteresis, does not create extraneous noise, efficiently transfers acoustic energy from the strings to the instrument body, and withstands rugged use.

Vibrato assembly and acoustic coupling system for stringed instruments


A semiconductor integrated circuit includes non-volatile memory elements (PM1, PM2), each of which has a first source electrode, a first drain electrode, a floating gate electrode and a control gate electrode and is capable of having different threshold voltages, and read transistor elements (DM1, DM2), each of which has a second source electrode and a second drain electrode and is capable of having different mutual conductances according to the threshold voltage of the non-volatile memory element. The read transistor element has a switching state according to the electron injection state or the electron emission state, in other words, the writing state or the erasing state of the floating gate electrode. In a read operation, it is not necessary to cause a channel current to flow according to the threshold voltage of the non-volatile memory element.

The present inventions relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit (semiconductor device) including electrically erasable and programmable non-volatile memory elements; and, more particularly, the invention relates to a technology which can be effectively applied to, for example, a microcomputer or a memory LSI in which non-volatile memory elements, which are capable of being mounted without adding a new process to an existing CMOS process and are formed using a single layer poly flash technology, are used for a fault recovery and the like.
A single layer poly flash technology constituting the memory cell of a non-volatile memory by a single layer poly silicon gate is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 334190/1994 (which corresponds to U.S. Patent Publication No. 5,465,231), U.S. Patent Publication No. 5,440,159, U.S. Patent Publication No. 5,504,706, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 212-471/1992 (which corresponds to U.S. Patent Publication No. 5,457,335, 5,767,544 and 6,064,606), and "A Single Poly EEPROM Cell Structure for Use in Standard CMOS Processes", IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits, VOL. 29, NO. 3, March 1994, pp. 311-316. For example, in a non-volatile memory cell formed by a single layer poly flash technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 334190/1994, a first conductivity type MOS transistor is formed on a semiconductor substrate and a plate electrode formed in a second conductivity type well via an insulating layer, wherein the gate electrode of the MOS transistor and the plate electrode are connected to each other and function as a floating gate, and wherein the second conductivity type well functions as a control gate.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 212471/1992, there is also disclosed a technology for utilizing an electrically programmable non-volatile memory (EPROM) as a recovery circuit of a read only memory (ROM). Further, it is described in this publication that a non-volatile memory element having a first layer gate structure can also be used as an electrically programmable and erasable non-volatile memory element, in which a write operation is performed by hot carriers and an erase operation is performed by a tunnel current produced by applying a high voltage to a source or a drain, or the write and erase operations are performed by the tunnel current.
On the other hand, a technology for differentially utilizing two non-volatile memory elements from the viewpoint of preventing a malfunction is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 163797/1992, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 263999/1989, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 74392/1992, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 127478/1990, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 129091/1992, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 268180/1994, and U.S. Patent No.5,029,131. In a differential type memory cell structure, one non-volatile memory element is set in a writing state and the other non-volatile memory element is set in an erasing state, and signals read out in parallel from both the non-volatile memory elements are differentially amplified and the logic value of memory information is judged according to which output of the non-volatile memory elements in the writing state or in the erasing state becomes either an input to an inversion side or a non-inversion side.


Disclosed herein is electrolyzed functional water produced by the process comprising a step of feeding water containing electrolytes to a first electrolytic cell equipped with an anode, a cathode and an ion-permeable membrane between them to electrolyze it, and a step of electrolyzing the electrolyzed water obtained from the cathodic side of the first electrolytic cell on the anodic side of a second electrolytic cell equipped with an anode, a cathode and an ion-permeable membrane between them. Production processes and production apparatus of the electrolyzed functional water are also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrolyzed functional water having oxidizing ability, which is suitable for use in general sterilization and disinfection, sterilization and disinfection of soil, crops and plants, and the like, and to production processes and production apparatus thereof.
2. Description of the Background Art
There has heretofore been known a process in which raw water containing a chloride such as sodium chloride (NaCl) and/or potassium chloride (KCl) as electrolyte is fed to an electrolytic cell equipped with an anode, a cathode and an ion-permeable membrane between them to electrolyze it, thereby producing electrolyzed functional water from an anodic side, which is suitable for use as a bactericide, a sterilizer and a disinfectant.
According to the above conventional process, the electrolyzed functional water obtained from the anodic side contains electrolyzed products such as chlorine (Cl.sub.2), hypochlorous acid (HClO), chlorine oxide (ClO.sup.-) and the like.
The electrolyzed functional water has strong sterilizing ability from the effect of chlorine, chlorine oxide and hypochlorous acid in particular.
However, the electrolyzed functional water obtained by the conventional production process has the disadvantage of no sufficient bactericidal effect against chlorine-resistant germs, because its sterilizing ability is due to the above-described chlorine or chlorine compounds.
Further, the electrolyzed functional water has a high concentration of chlorine with a low pH at the same time, so that it tends to diffuse a toxic chlorine gas into the atmosphere. Therefore, it is necessary to take care to use it in a closed room or the like.

Electrolyzed functional water, and production process and production apparatus thereof


A laminated metal thin plate produced by electrodeposition is composed of a plurality of metal layers provided by at least two kinds of materials different in composition from each other. The laminated metal thin plate includes a first layer excellent in mechanical characteristics and/or chemical resistance and a second layer excellent in electrical characteristics such as electrical conductivity. The first and the second layers are adhered to each other in atomic level directly at their interface, with composition gradient at their interface, or with an adherence buffer layer such as a copper thin film interposed therebetween. The first layer is at first deposited on an electrode substrate. The second layer is deposited on the first layer. Deposition is repeatedly carried out in such a way that the first layers on opposite sides of the second layer are equal in thickness. Finally, the electrode substrate is dissolved and removed.

This invention relates to a metal thin plate produced by electrodeposition, to a method of producing the metal thin plate, and to a rotary blade cutter produced by the method.
By combining electrodeposition with lithography, it is possible to produce a metal microstructure necessary for micromachines and micro parts. In the electrodeposition, nickel is widely used as an electrodeposited metal material. This is because nickel is relatively easily electrodeposited. Therefore, it is attempted to use a metal thin plate of electrodeposited nickel for micro electronics components, such as spiral contactors, which require a spring function (see Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2003-78078). However, a metal structure formed by the electrodeposited nickel has drawbacks as follows. That is, plastic deformation called creep deformation is caused even under a stress load lower than a yield stress. Furthermore, even in a relatively low temperature region at and above the room temperature, crystal grain growth occurs so that the electrodeposited nickel is softened. As a result, the spring function is gradually lost with an increase in time period of use. Furthermore, although precision electrodeposition is relatively easy, nickel is fragile and is therefore susceptible to mechanical damage. Accordingly, as a material of a high-speed rotary blade cutter, the lifetime of nickel is too short.
In the meantime, development has been made of a technology of producing a nickel-tungsten (Ni—W) alloy thin plate by electrodeposition as an ideal material which compensates for the above-mentioned mechanical disadvantages of nickel (see Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2001-342591). However, the nickel-tungsten alloy has an electrical conductivity corresponding to only about one tenth of that of nickel. Thus, the nickel-tungsten alloy has a critical defect for use as an electro-conductive material. Furthermore, the nickel-tungsten alloy is low in alkali resistance though high in acid resistance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Laminated metal thin plate formed by electrodeposition and method of producing the same


A composition for forming a silver ion diffusion-suppressing layer includes an insulating resin and a compound including: a structure selected from the group consisting of a triazole structure, a thiadiazole structure and a benzimidazole structure; a mercapto group; and at least one hydrocarbon group optionally containing a heteroatom, with the total number of carbon atoms in the hydrocarbon group or groups being 5 or more. The composition for forming a silver ion diffusion-suppressing layer allows formation of a silver ion diffusion-suppressing layer capable of suppressing silver ion migration between metal interconnects containing silver or a silver alloy to improve the reliability on the insulation between the metal interconnects.

The present invention relates to a composition for forming a silver ion diffusion-suppressing layer, a film for the silver ion diffusion-suppressing layer, a circuit board, an electronic device, a conductive film laminate, and a touch panel.
A circuit board having metal interconnects disposed on a surface of an insulating substrate has conventionally been used in a wide variety of electronic members and semiconductor devices. Silver and copper which have high electrical conductivity are often used as metals constituting metal interconnects but these metals have a problem in that ion migration is more likely to occur and this problem is particularly conspicuous in silver.
A method which involves introducing a metal ion adsorbing compound into a polymer layer is proposed as a method of preventing ion migration of such metals (JP 2008-192850 A).

Composition for forming silver ion diffusion-suppressing layer, film for silver ion diffusion-suppressing layer, circuit board, electronic device, conductive film laminate, and touch panel


An AR/VR input device include a processor(s), an internal measurement unit (IMU), and a plurality of sensors configured to detect emissions received from a plurality of remote emitters. The processor(s) can be configured to: determine a time-of-flight (TOF) of the detected emissions, determine a first estimate of a position and orientation of the input device based on the TOF of a subset of the detected emissions and the particular locations of each of the plurality of sensors on the input device that are detecting the detected emissions, determine a second estimate of the position and orientation of the input device based on the measured acceleration and velocity from the IMU, and continuously update a calculated position and orientation of the input device within the AR/VR environment in real-time based on a Beyesian estimation (e.g., Extended Kalman filter) that utilizes the first estimate and second estimate.

Virtual reality (VR) is frequently associated with a variety of applications that comprise immersive, highly visual, computer-simulated environments. These environments typically simulate a physical presence of a user in places in a real or an imagined world. The computer simulation of these environments can include visual images, which are presented by means of a graphical display. Typically, the display is arranged as a head mounted display (HMD) and may encompass all or part of a user's field of view.
Augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality (MR), on the other hand, can superimpose virtual images on a real world environment, or otherwise combine them. A famous example is Google™ Glass, where a display is projected on an HMD worn by a user, while still allowing the user to see the real world. A touchpad on the side of the Google™ Glass HMD provides control of the display. Another technology is retinal projection, where a small projector mounted on an HMD can project a display directly onto a retina of a user's eye, while allowing the user to see the real world at the same time.
In an AR/VR/MR system, a problem is to track (e.g., the 3D position and 3D orientation of) certain entities (e.g., an HMD or a hand controller). It is desirable to be able to track the HMD and hand controllers, in real time, within the same, fixed, inertial frame of reference. This can be done using outside-in or inside-out systems. In outside-in systems, certain emitters (e.g., beacons, light sources, or markers) can be embedded or fixed in an environment at known locations. An entity in the AR/VR/MR system can include sensor(s) that can be used to track the location of the entity with respect to these fixed markers to estimate its own position and/or orientation. A typical example of an outside-in is the HTC Vive™ system.
In inside-out systems, the tracked entities in the AR/VR/MR system are tracked using sensor(s) external to the tracked entities. The sensors(s) can be located at known reference points within an environment and can be used to track points of reference coupled to the entity to be tracked in the environment.
In most virtual systems, the tracked entities are typically composed of two parts: one part is the functional part that, e.g., offers services to the user (such as the display subsystem of the HMD) and a part that is dedicated to the tracking (such as through use of emitters and/or sensors embedded in the HMD to help it localize itself). Despite the many improvements, there remain significant tracking challenges in many systems that can be caused by occlusions, echoes, and other signal disruptions that can negatively impact system performance. As AR/VR systems continue to advance, more robust tracking systems are needed.


Disclosed are a touch control display, a method for controlling a touch control display, and a storage medium, in the field of display technology. The touch control display includes: an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display panel and a touch control component; the OLED display panel includes a base substrate and a plurality of pixel electrodes on the base substrate; and the touch control component includes a plurality of touch control electrode lines between the plurality of pixel electrodes, and any one touch control electrode line of the plurality of touch control electrode lines is configured to form a first touch control capacitor with a pixel electrode adjacent to the any one touch control electrode line.

A touch control display is a display having a touch control function, and generally includes a display panel and a touch control component.
A touch control display includes an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panel and a touch control component disposed at the outside of a side, displaying images, of the OLED display panel. When a user touches the touch control component to control the OLED display panel, the touch control component can acquire touch control information of the user.

Touch control display, method for controlling touch control display and storage medium

Ordos Yuansheng Optoelectronics Co., Ltd.


It is an object to provide a flow control method in which a packet round trip time is not excessively calculated out and its performance is not unnecessarily deteriorated even at the time of continuously connected packet transfers through relays of a plurality of receiving terminal devices. This method is directed to a flow control method in which the delivery of packets are carried out through relays of a plurality of receiving terminal devices. The method is comprised of steps (S501-S517) for acquiring a packet round trip time for every pair of neighboring terminal devices in a path of the delivery, a selection step for selecting one from the acquired round trip time in accordance with a predetermined standard, and a step (S518) for calculating a packet transmission rate on the basis of the selected round trip time, so that the round trip time of each receiving terminal device is measured and the transmission rate is calculated in accordance with the measured result. Thus, a packet round trip time is not excessively calculated out, and data transmission performance can be improved.

When data is delivered in packets to a plurality of terminals over a network, the flow of data to transmit needs to be controlled according to the conditions of the network and receiving terminals.
Especially, when delivering data over the Internet, it is necessary to impartially share the bands with other traffic other than video and audio data on the Internet. Most of other traffic on the Internet is traffic using TCP (Transport Control Protocol). For this reason, it is well settled that fairly sharing the band with other traffic on the Internet may be realized through flow control so that the band is shared fair with traffic using TCP. That is, it is well settled that flow control having good affinity with TCP is best to be performed when delivering data over the Internet.
Meanwhile, when data is delivered to a plurality of terminals, it is possible that the terminals have different capacities. To be more specific, while the speed of only several Mbps (megabits per second) is allowable to terminals connected to the Internet via ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), terminals connected to the Internet via optical fiber can deliver data at a speed of 100 Mbps. When data delivery is performed simultaneously to terminals connected to the Internet via ADSL and terminals connected to the Internet via optical fiber, a scheme of performing flow control such that data is delivered at a speed not exceeding the speed allowable to the slowest terminal, that is, a terminal connected via ADSL, is known. To be more specific, for example, a flow control scheme using TFMCC (TCP Friendly Multicast Congestion Control) is known.
However, with these schemes, when there are receiving terminals of various speeds, receiving terminals having high capacity cannot receive sufficient data delivery. Referring back to the aforementioned example, although a terminal that is connected via optical fiber has a receiving capacity of 100 Mbps, the terminal can receive data delivery only at several Mbps. Such a situation produces unfairness in the same session (i.e. data delivery) and is referred to as "intra-session unfairness." Therefore, the flow control scheme for delivering data to a plurality of terminals is expected to be able to realize a state in which all receiving terminals can receive data at their maximum capacities, that is, maintain fairness in sessions and resolve intra-session unfairness.
The SICC (Sender Initiated Congestion Control) scheme is known as a flow control scheme for resolving intra-session unfairness while keeping affinity with TCP (e.g. see Non-Patent Document 1).
Furthermore, the TFRC (TCP Friendly Rate Control) scheme is known as a scheme for estimating the rate at which data can be transmitted (e.g. see Non-Patent Document 2).
The SICC scheme is a transmission scheme for realizing flow control using this TFRC scheme in a type of multicast-based communication in which a transmitting terminal explicitly specifies a list of destination addresses of receiving terminals such as an XCAST (eXplicit Multicast) scheme.
Here, the SICC scheme will be explained in detail.
SICC-based transmitting terminals have a plurality of classes sending packets at different rates. The transmitting terminal estimates the rates data can be transmitted to the receiving terminals, based on the TFRC scheme, and classifies the individual receiving terminals into the above-described plurality of appropriate classes, based on the estimated values. The transmitting terminal delivers XCAST packets, in which the addresses of the receiving terminals classified into classes are specified.
A transmittable rate is estimated based on feedback from a receiving terminal about a round trip time (RTT) of a packet between a transmitting terminal and the receiving terminal. This transmittable rate is estimated based on the TFRC scheme, which is a scheme that fulfills affinity with TCP. Therefore, the flow control exercised by the SICC scheme fulfills affinity with TCP.
By the SICC scheme, transmittable rates are estimated based on the TFRC scheme and the receiving terminals are classified into appropriate classes based on the estimated transmittable rates. Therefore, by the SICC scheme, it is possible to drastically improve fairness within a session while fulfilling affinity with TCP without the speed being limited by a receiving terminal having the lowest transmittable rate during delivery of a packet.
By the way, measuring RTTs is indispensable to the estimation of transmittable rates by the TFRC scheme as described above. With the TFRC scheme, a transmittable rate Xcal is estimated based on following equation 1.
[1]
                    Xcal        =                              8                                                                          s                                R            (                                                            2                                                                                p                    /                    3                                                              +                              t_RTO                ×                                                      3                                                                                p                      /                      8                                                                      ×                p                ×                                  (                                      1                    +                                          32                                                                                p                        2                                                                              )                                                      )                                              (                  Equation                                                              1                )
In equation 1, "R" is the RTT, "p" is the loss event rate, "s" is the packet size and "t_RTO" is the timeout value used in TCP. 4Rs are generally used for t_RTO. Since R is the denominator of equation 1, it is obvious that the transmittable rate Xcal is inversely proportional to RTT and that the transmittable rate Xcal decreases as RTT increases.
As the scheme for delivering packets to a plurality of terminals as described above, the SICC scheme uses, for example, the XCAST scheme disclosed in Non-Patent Document 3.
The XCAST scheme disclosed in Non-Patent Document 3 is a scheme for explicitly specifying all receiving terminals to which the transmitting side delivers a packet by the transmitter by storing the destination addresses of all receiving terminals belonging to a predetermined group in the option header or payload in the packet. According to this XCAST scheme, when a relay router located between a transmitting node and a receiving node does not support the XCAST scheme, a packet delivered to the relay router is identified by the destination address and delivered to one receiving terminal to which no packet has been delivered yet. When there still remains a destination to which the packet has not been delivered yet, the receiving terminal having received the packet retransmits the packet to the destination to which the packet has not been delivered yet. When the receiving terminal repeats such relay operation, packets are delivered to all receiving terminals.
That is, even if the relay router does not support the XCAST scheme, a plurality of receiving terminals carry out concatenated transfer in the XCAST scheme, and the packet can thereby be delivered to the receiving terminals.    Non-Patent Document 1: E. Muramoto, et al., "Proposal for Congestion Control Method on Sender Initiated Multicast," Internet Conference 2003    Non-Patent Document 2: M. Handley, et al., "TCP Friendly Rate Control (TFRC): Protocol Specification", RFC 3448, January 2003    Non-Patent Document 3: Y. Imai, et al., "XCAST6: eXplicit Multicast on IPv6," IEEE/IPSJ SAINT2003 Workshop 4, IPv6 and Applications, Orland, January 2003

Flow control method, transmitting terminal device used in same, receiving terminal device and packet transfer system


A brazing method includes fixing a padding plate on a base material such that the padding plate is arranged in a lower position from a groove formed in a repair region of the base material, and heating the base material such that a base material powder is melt, after a paste that base material 1 contains the base material powder which is formed from a same material as the base material is filled into the groove. The base material powder filled into groove can be prevented from flowing out from the groove even if being fused since the padding plate is arranged for the base material. Thus, a repair region can be repaired more appropriately.

A TiAl intermetallic compound that contains titanium and aluminum is known. The TiAl intermetallic compound is applied to parts that are required to be high in heat resistance and light in weight. As the parts, parts for a flying vehicle and an aerospace engine are exemplified. When the TiAl intermetallic compound is mechanically worked, a crack and a break are easily generated therein. When the crack and break are generated in the part made of the TiAl intermetallic compound, a region where the crack and the break are generated is required to be built up. The part made of the TiAl intermetallic compound is typically brittle, and when a filler material made of the same material as the base material is used to perform an buildup welding operation, a residual stress generated in the buildup welding portion is high, and a ductility is low. Thus, the break is easily generated, and the repairing work is difficult. For this reason, a brazing work that uses the filler material made of material different from the TiAl intermetallic compound is applied to the buildup welding operation to the part made of the TiAl intermetallic compound. It is desired to adequately repair the brittle base material that is exemplified for the TiAl intermetallic compound.
Japanese Patent No. 3,741,547 discloses a brazing method of using a diffusion brazing work of a part made of titanium aluminide that can attain a sufficient quality standard which is especially required in an aircraft field. A brazing method includes (a) a step of preparing a homogeneous mixture of a powder A and a powder B, (b) a step of mixing an organic binder with the powder mixture obtained in the step (a) to prepare a paste, (c) a step of depositing the paste to cover a gap of the part, and (d) a step of heating an assembly obtained in the step (c) in a vacuum furnace at a temperature between 1000° C. and 1300° C. for several minutes to 6 hours. The powder A is made of a titanium alminide alloy corresponding to a weight ratio of 40 to 90% of the total amount of the homogenous mixture. The powder B is made of an alloy, which has a melting point lower than a melting start temperature of the powder A, and contains as a main component, titanium or copper that allows the powder A to be chemically moistened, and corresponds to a weight ratio of 10 to 60% of the total amount of the homogeneous mixture (here, the above weight ratio between the powder A and the powder B is determined on the basis of an operation parameter of a method, a temperature and a granularity of a powder).
JP H04-367382A discloses a bonding body of a high strength TiAl in which a bonding condition is relaxed so as to improve a bonding portion quality. The bonding body of the high strength TiAl contains two TiAl intermetallic compound layers that are substances intended to be bonded, and two diffusion layers and a metal Ti layer. The two diffusion layers include a Ti3Al intermetallic compound layer provided between the two TiAl intermetallic compound layers. The metal Ti layer serves as an insertion material provided between the two diffusion layers.


A storage unit of a relaying apparatus stores first identification information that identifies an SIP terminal and second identification that identifies other SIP terminal which is forecast as a transfer destination of a message. A transmitting-and-receiving unit receives from the SIP terminal a request message that is received before a transfer message to be transferred to other SIP terminal and that includes a processing request concerning communications and the first identification information. An obtaining unit obtains from a storage unit the second identification information corresponding to the first identification information included in the received request message. A connection establishing unit establishes communications between the other SIP terminal of the obtained second identification information and the relaying apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus that establishes communications and relays a message based on the established communications, and a method and a computer program product for establishing communications.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) has been widely known as a signaling protocol that is present between communication devices and controls and relays communications. A communication system (SIP system) employing the SIP uses an SIP proxy as a communication intermediary server device between SIP terminals as terminal devices. It is a general method to secure communications, using a Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol as a transport protocol that connects between the SIP terminal and the SIP proxy. The SIP terminal and the SIP proxy are collectively called an SIP entity.
The TLS is a connection-oriented secure transport protocol. To distribute SIP messages using the TLS, a connection needs to be established between SIP entities by executing TLS handshake. J. Rosenberg et al., "RFC 3261, SIP:Session Initiation Protocol", [online], June 2002, retrieved from the Internet: <URL:http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3261.txt> discloses the use of the TLS as the transport protocol for the secure distribution of the SIP messages.
The outline process from when an SIP proxy B receives an SIP message from an SIP terminal A that transmits the SIP message until when the SIP proxy B distributes the SIP message to a destination SIP terminal C is explained next.
First, the SIP terminal A executes the handshake protocol of the TLS with the SIP proxy B. Accordingly, a secure connection is established between the SIP terminal A and the SIP proxy B. Next, the SIP terminal A transmits an SIP message encrypted by the TLS to the SIP proxy B, by using the established secure connection.
The SIP proxy B receives the encrypted SIP message, and fetches the SIP message by decrypting the TLS. The SIP proxy B references a Request-URI included in an SIP header, and determines a distribution destination of the received SIP message. For this purpose, the SIP proxy B can enquire an SIP location server, for example. The SIP proxy B executes the handshake protocol of the TLS with the SIP terminal C as the distribution destination of the SIP message. Accordingly, a secure connection is established between the SIP proxy B and the SIP terminal C.
Next, the SIP proxy B transmits the SIP message encrypted by the TLS, to the SIP terminal C, using the established secure connection. The SIP terminal C transmits an SIP response message, using the TLS connection established between the SIP proxy B and the SIP terminal C. The SIP proxy B distributes the received SIP response message, using the TLS connection established between the SIP terminal A and the SIP proxy B.
As described above, for the SIP proxy B to distribute the SIP message, the connection needs to be established by executing the handshake with each SIP terminal. Because plural messages are mutually exchanged in the handshake protocol, the process requires a certain time to establish the TLS connection.
In general, the SIP proxy cannot specify the destination SIP terminal to which the SIP message is to be distributed, until when the SIP proxy references the SIP header (Request-URI, in general) after receiving the SIP message. Therefore, after receiving the SIP message and after specifying the distribution destination, the SIP proxy needs to distribute the SIP message by establishing the TLS connection to the SIP terminal of the distribution destination.
According to the conventional method, the establishment of the TLS connection is started after specifying the distribution destination by receiving the SIP message. Therefore, a delay in the time required to complete the distribution of the SIP message increases.
The TLS connection does not need to be carried out each time when the SIP message is going to be transmitted. An established TLS connection can be also used to distribute the SIP message by maintaining the TLS connection. However, maintaining plural TLS connections is not desirable, because this compresses the storage capacity of the SIP proxy and the load of a central processing unit (CPU). Therefore, usually, in transmitting an SIP INVITE request message, a new TLS connection is established for each SIP transaction.

Message relaying apparatus, communication establishing method, and computer program product


For optical detection of the velocity of gas bubbles in the cooling liquid of an internal combustion engine, light is radiated into the coolant by means of at least one emitter, and the scattered light caused by the gas bubbles, or rather, the change in intensity of light radiation emitted into the coolant, is measured by an optical sensor. The scattered light or intensity change is measured in at least two adjacent areas, and the velocity of the bubbles is determined from the travel time between the measurement signals.

The present invention relates to a method for optically detecting gas bubbles in the cooling liquid of an internal combustion engine, where light is radiated into the coolant via at least one emitter and the scattered light caused by the presence of the gas bubbles, or rather, the change in intensity of light radiation emitted into the coolant, is measured by a sensor, and to a device for implementing this method.
The size, number and velocity of gas bubbles in the coolant of an internal combustion engine have an essential influence on the performance of the cooling system.

Method for optically detecting gas bubbles moving in a coolant


A method and system to permit the creation of “parent” accounts within a school system's data transmission system which are associated with a parent's child or children who are students in the system. A parent account is capable of creation and access by various levels within the hierarchy of the system and is associated with one or more schools within the community being serviced by the entity providing the servers and community generation implementation engine.

Global education has become a requirement, not a luxury. Technology integration into a curriculum has become a must. The Internet has become the transmission medium. Connectivity has become the goal. The proliferation of personal computers has permitted virtually every classroom to have the capability to be "wired" and on-line. There is the realization that Internet connectivity can enhance the economic advancement of students and communities and provide a level of information on a broad scale hitherto unknown. In can permit the current generation to leap frog into this century. The failure to provide such connectivity can further exacerbate the split between the haves and the have-nots.
Along with global information access has come the realization that a level of monitoring and control must be exercised in order to keep the information highway from becoming an open sewer. Regular e-mail and open access chat rooms are generally not secure. Although there are some screening tools and blockages that can be employed, as a general matter, the flow of information cannot be adequately controlled in an open environment.
Through community based filtered and monitored systems, such as is described in a Provisional patent application Ser. No. 10/619,259, teachers can set up accounts for themselves and for their classes in order to provide "shared learning" through collaboration. However, this limits the collaborative environment to those who are willing to use the Internet and become part of a community. Moreover, to the extent that there is any financial burden or cost involved with the account, teachers may be reluctant to bear that obligation personally, inasmuch as it is being used for their professional activities. Similarly, establishing such an account may or may not be consistent with the curriculum plans for a particular school or for the particular school system. Classrooms in a wealthier areas may all be interconnected, while those in less affluent parts of a community may not, thus relying on those teachers to bear any economic cost of setting up and maintaining the account, along with the computer necessary to access it.
Provisional patent application Ser. No. 10/619,097 describes a method and system for multi-level monitoring and filtering of data transmissions (Schoolmail) that permits the creation within a school district or school system of a secure "virtual district" with "virtual classrooms", "virtual meeting halls", "virtual teacher conferences" and multiple accounts to permit a hierarchical infrastructure with varying privileges associated with each user name or category. The system provides a universal solution to allowing information flow to both students and educators, while maintaining control of the type and character of material received by students. It also permits internal community or group generation to permit dissemination of information to different levels of educators or administrators on a needs basis. The system can employ common server capability to permit multiple districts to have their individual SchoolMail, while at the same time providing the capability of interaction and connectivity among the districts, based upon screening and search criteria. It can also control the desktop of the personal computers that are on the SchoolMail system to prevent students from getting off and onto an open and uncontrolled system.
Although school systems are coming to the realization that they must provide uniform access to all teachers and administrators within a system, and the capability to communicate with other systems, the cost of setting up the necessary servers, personal computers and information infrastructure can be prohibitive. Maintaining the system can require substantial numbers of dedicated personnel and rapid advances in technology can make a system obsolete before it is even paid for.
Educators are also finding that without the participation of parents in the educational process, teaching is hampered and less effective. Parental involvement is critical on several levels. An involved parent is more likely to push their child to learn and go beyond the minimum requirements of a class session. An involved parent is also more likely to pay for the cost of the added benefit of technological integration into the classroom. However, parental involvement in education an also be seen by administrators and educators as another level of "bureaucracy" to which they have to answer, and which may sometimes become involved in petty matters. There is a need to enhance the educational experience by providing the interactive, connective technological tools for collaborative learning and involving those who ultimately are paying for the tools while, at the same time, preventing the parents from "micro-managing" their child's education or using the information highway to inundate teachers and administrators.
Repeat use of reference characters in the present specification and drawings is intended to represent same or analogous features or elements of the invention.

Method and system for interactive, multi-user electronic data transmission in a multi-level monitored and filtered system


NK cells and NK cell lines are modified to increase cytotoxicity, wherein the cells and compositions thereof have a use in the treatment of cancer. Production of modified NK cells and NK cell lines is via genetic modification to remove checkpoint inhibitory receptor expression and/or add mutant (variant) TRAIL ligand expression.

Typically, immune cells require a target cell to present antigen via major histocompatibility complex (MHC) before triggering an immune response resulting in the death of the target cell. This allows cancer cells not presenting MHC class I to evade the majority of immune responses.
NK cells are able, however, to recognize cancer cells in the absence of MHC class I expression. Hence they perform a critical role in the body's defence against cancer.
On the other hand, in certain circumstances, cancer cells demonstrate an ability to dampen the cytotoxic activity of NK cells, through expression of ligands that bind inhibitory receptors on the NK cell membrane. Resistance to cancer can involve a balance between these and other factors.
Cytotoxicity, in this context, refers to the ability of immune effector cells, e.g. NK cells, to induce cancer cell death, e.g. by releasing cytolytic compounds or by binding receptors on cancer cell membranes and inducing apoptosis of said cancer cells. Cytotoxicity is affected not only by signals that induce release of cytolytic compounds but also by signals that inhibit their release. An increase in cytotoxicity will therefore lead to more efficient killing of cancer cells, with less chance of the cancer cell dampening the cytotoxic activity of the NK, as mentioned above.
Genetic modification to remove inhibitory receptor function on NK cells has been suggested as a method for increasing the cytotoxicity of NK cells against cancer cells that lack MHC class I expression but are able to dampen NK cytotoxicity (Bodduluru et al. 2012). NKG2A has been established as an inhibitory receptor worth silencing under these circumstances, as certain cancer cells are known to express MICA which binds NKG2A and inhibits NK cell cytotoxicity in the absence of MHC class I expression (Shook et al. 2011; WO 2006/023148).
Another method of downregulating NKG2A expression has been shown in NK-92 cells, in which transfection with a gene encoding IL-15 was shown to be associated with a reduction in NKG2A expression (Zhang et al. 2004). However, despite an observed increase in the cytotoxicity of the NK cells, the increase was likely a result of a concomitant increase in expression of the activating receptor NKG2D. This is supported by the observation that blocking NKG2A receptors on NK-92 cells was not associated with an increase in cytotoxicity against multiple myeloma cells (Heidenreich et al. 2012). Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the NK-92 cell line is a highly cytotoxic cell line with very low expression of inhibitory receptors. Therefore, any increase in cytotoxicity associated with decreased NKG2A expression might have been too trivial to detect.
Similar studies have been carried out in mice. For example, mice express a receptor called Ly49 on NK cells, which is analogous to human inhibitory KIR receptors. It has been shown that by blocking the Ly49 receptor with antibody fragments. NK cells are more cytotoxic and capable of killing murine leukemia cells in vitro and in rive (Koh et al. 2001).
It is a consequence of reducing inhibitory receptor function, however, that 'normal' cells in the body also become more susceptible to attack by modified NK cells, as the modified NK cells become less capable of distinguishing between 'normal' cells and cancer cells. This is a significant disadvantage of reducing 'classical' inhibitory receptor function.
Another way in which NK cells are known to kill cancer cells is by expressing TRAIL on their surface. TRAIL ligand is able to bind TRAIL receptors on cancer cells and induce apoptosis of said cancer cells. One speculative approach describes overexpressing TRAIL on NK cells, in order to take advantage of this anti-cancer mechanism (EP1621550). Furthermore, IL-12 has been reported to upregulate TRAIL expression on NK cells (Smyth et al. 2001).
Nevertheless, cancer cells have developed evasive and protective mechanisms for dealing with NK cells expressing TRAIL. Decoy TRAIL receptors are often expressed on cancer cell membranes, and binding of TRAIL to these decoy receptors is unable to induce apoptosis; methods of overcoming such mechanisms have not yet been pursued.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematopoietic malignancy involving precursor cells committed to myeloid development, and accounts for a significant proportion of acute leukemias in both adults (90%) and children (15-20%) (Hurwitz, Mounce et al. 1995; Lowenberg, Downing et al. 1999). Despite 80% of patients achieving remission with standard chemotherapy (Hurwitz, Mounce et al. 1995; Ribeiro, Razzouk et al. 2005), survival remains unsatisfactory because of high relapse rates from minimal residual disease (MRD). The five-year survival is age-dependent; 60% in children (Rubnitz 2012), 40% in adults under 65 (Lowenberg, Downing et al. 1999) and 10% in adults over 65 (Ferrara and Schiffer 2013). These outcomes can be improved if patients have a suitable hematopoietic cell donor, but many do not, highlighting the need for an alternative approach to treatment.
Natural killer (NK) cells are cytotoxic lymphocytes, with distinct phenotypes and effector functions that differ from e.g. natural killer T (NK-T) cells. For example, while NK-T cells express both CD3 and T cell antigen receptors (TCRs), NK cells do not. NK cells are generally found to express the markers CD16 and CD56, wherein CD16 functions as an Fc receptor and mediates antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) which is discussed below. KHYG-1 is a notable exception in this regard. Despite NK cells being naturally cytotoxic. NK cell lines with increased cytotoxicity have been developed. NK-92 and KHYG-1 represent two NK cell lines that have been researched extensively and show promise in cancer therapeutics (Swift et al. 2011; Swift et al. 2012).
Adoptive cellular immunotherapy for use in cancer treatment commonly involves administration of natural and modified T cells to a patient. T cells can be modified in various ways. e.g. genetically, so as to express receptors and/or ligands that bind specifically to certain target cancer cells. Transfection of T cells with high-affinity T cell receptors (TCRs) and chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), specific for cancer cell antigens, can give rise to highly reactive cancer-specific T cell responses. A major limitation of this immunotherapeutic approach is that T cells must either be obtained from the patient for autologous ex vivo expansion or MHC-matched T cells must be used to avoid immunological eradication immediately following transfer of the cells to the patient or, in some cases, the onset of graft-vs-host disease (GVHD). Additionally, successfully transferred T cells often survive for prolonged periods of time in the circulation, making it difficult to control persistent side-effects resulting from treatment.
In haplotype transplantation, the graft-versus-leukemia effect is believed to be mediated by NK cells when there is a KIR inhibitory receptor-ligand mismatch, which can lead to improved survival in the treatment of AML (Ruggeri, Capanni et al. 2002; Ruggeri, Mancusi et al. 2005).
Furthermore, rapid NK recovery is associated with better outcome and a stronger graft-vs-leukemia (GVL) effect in patients undergoing haplotype T-depleted hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in AML (Savani, Mielke et al. 2007). Other trials have used haploidentical NK cells expanded ex vivo to treat AML in adults (Miller, Soignier et al. 2005) and children (Rubnitz, Inaba et al. 2010).
Several permanent NK cell lines have been established, and the most notable is NK-92, derived from a patient with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma expressing typical NK cell markers, with the exception of CD16 (Fc gamma receptor III). NK-92 has undergone extensive preclinical testing and exhibits superior lysis against a broad range of tumors compared with activated NK cells and lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells (Gong, Maki et al. 1994). Cytotoxicity of NK-92 cells against primary AML has been established (Yan, Steinherz et al. 1998).
Another NK cell line, KHYG-1, has been identified as a potential contender for clinical use (Suck et al. 2005) but has reduced cytotoxicity so has received less attention than NK-92. KHYG-1 cells are known to be pre-activated. Unlike endogenous NK cells. KHYG-1 cells are polarized at all times, increasing their cytotoxicity and making them quicker to respond to external stimuli. NK-92 cells have a higher baseline cytotoxicity than KHYG-1 cells.
It is therefore clear that current adoptive immunotherapy protocols are affected by donor variability in the quantity and quality of effector cells, variables that could be eliminated if effective cell lines were available to provide more standardized therapy.
A considerable amount of research into NK cell cytotoxicity has been performed using mouse models. One example is the finding that perforin and granzynme B mRNA are constitutively transcribed in mouse NK cells, but minimal levels of protein are detected until stimulation or activation of the NK cells (Fehniger et al, 2007). Although this work and other work using mouse NK cells is of interest, it cannot be relied upon as conclusive evidence for NK cell cytotoxicity in humans. In contrast to the above example, human NK cells express high levels of perforin and granzyme B protein prior to stimulation (Leong et al, 2011). The result being that when either mouse or human NK cells are freshly isolated in culture, the mouse NK cells have weak cytolytic activity, whereas the human NK cells exhibit strong cytolytic capabilities.
Mouse and human NK cells also vary greatly in their expression markers, signalling cascades and tissue distribution. For example, CD56 is used as a marker for human NK cells, whereas mouse NK cells do not express this marker at all. Furthermore, a well-established mechanism for regulating NK cell cytotoxicity is via ligand binding NK activation and inhibitory receptors. Two of the most prominent human NK activation receptors are known to be NKp30 and NKp44, neither of which are expressed on mouse NK cells. With regards to NK inhibitory receptors, whilst human NK cells express KIRs that recognise MHC class I and dampen cytotoxic activity, mouse NK cells do not express KIRs at all but, instead, express Ly49s (Trowsdale et al, 2001). All in all, despite mouse NK cells achieving the same function as human NK cells in their natural physiological environment, the mechanisms that fulfil this role vary significantly between species.
Thus there exists a need for alternative and preferably improved human NK cells and human NK cell lines, e.g. with a more cytotoxic profile.                An object of the invention is to provide NK cells and NK cell lines with a more cytotoxic phenotype. A further object is to provide methods for producing modified NK cells and NK cell lines, compositions containing the cells or cell lines and uses of said compositions in the treatment of cancers. More particular embodiments aim to provide treatments for identified cancers, e.g. blood cancers, such as leukemias. Specific embodiments aim at combining two or more modifications of NK cells and NK cell lines to further enhance the cytotoxicity of the modified cells.

Modified natural killer cells and natural killer cell lines having increased cytotoxicity


A tape sticking apparatus includes a rubber sheet that partitions an airtight space formed above a chamber into first and second airtight spaces and, a tape frame that holds a tape above the rubber sheet, and a supply/exhaust mechanism that switches between pressurizing and depressurizing by supplying gas to or sucking gas from the first and second airtight spaces. The gas supply/exhaust mechanism includes a first flow-rate control valve that controls the flow rate of sucked gas when the first airtight space is depressurized, and a second flow-rate control valve that controls the flow rate of supplied when the first airtight space is pressurized.

Conventionally, when dicing tape is to be stuck on a semiconductor wafer in a semiconductor manufacturing process, for example, a wafer 42 is placed on a pedestal 41 and tape 43 is stuck on the wafer 42 by pressing the tape 43 from above by using a roller 44 with rubber adhered on its surface, a cylindrical block, or the like as shown in FIG. 17. However, there has been a problem in this method that since the process is carried out in the atmosphere, air tends to be trapped between the wafer 42 and the tape 43, and if the dicing is carried out (i.e., the chip is divided) in that state, cracking and chipping occur.
Therefore, a sticking apparatus that sticks tape under vacuum has been proposed. For example, as shown in FIG. 18, Patent literature 1 discloses a tape sticking apparatus 50 including a chamber 52 having an airtight space 51 formed therein, a rubber sheet 56 that divides the airtight space 51 into first and second airtight spaces 53 and 54, a frame pedestal 58 that holds tape 57 above the rubber sheet 56, and first and second air-flow passages 59 and 60 that are used to switch the air-pressure state of the first and second airtight spaces 53 and 54 between vacuum/atmospheric states, in which a wafer 55 is placed on the top surface of the rubber sheet 56.
In the tape sticking apparatus 50, the first and second airtight spaces 53 and 54 are first brought into a vacuum state, and then only the second airtight space 54 is switched to an atmospheric state, thereby generating a pressure difference between the first and second airtight spaces 53 and 54. As a result, the rubber sheet is inflated and the wafer 55 is pushed upward, thereby bringing the wafer 55 into contact with the adhesive surface (rear surface) of the tape 57. This tape sticking apparatus 50 makes it possible to stick the tape 57 on the wafer 55 under vacuum and thereby to prevent air from being trapped therebetween.


Techniques are described herein that transfer information using a container-located module. The module is coupled to sensor(s) that are configured to detect characteristic(s) pertaining to a medical substance that is included in a medical container. The module wirelessly transfers information that is based on the characteristic(s) to a requesting device in response to a request from the requesting device.

Medical substances often are stored and/or transported using medical containers, such as Petri dishes, test tubes, fluid bags, syringes, etc. A medical substance is a substance (e.g., gas, liquid, solid, etc.) that is taken from an organism (e.g., a human body) and/or a substance that is to be introduced into and/or onto an organism for a purpose that pertains to health of the organism (e.g., for prevention, diagnosis, and/or treatment of a medical condition with regard to the organism). Medical substances that may be taken from an organism include but are not limited to blood, feces, urine, bile, bone marrow, muscle tissue, skin, brain tissue, cartilage, ligament, bone, etc. Medical substances that may be introduced (e.g., injected, ingested, inhaled, inserted, etc.) into and/or onto an organism include but are not limited to medicine, blood, bone marrow, tissue, cartilage, ligament, bone, nutritional supplement, etc. Medical substances that are introduced into an organism may be introduced, for example, via a vein, tissue, joint, bony structure (e.g., spine), organ, digestive system, etc. of the organism.

Container-located information transfer module


A method and system that allows authorized individuals access into controlled access locations and the ability to grant temporary and limited access to guests into these locations. The method and system allow for navigational services to be provided to members and guests, and real-time tracking and confirmation to members and administrators that guests have arrived at their destination and did not enter any unauthorized areas. The method preferably can work through a system of wireless radio, sound and/or light-based beacons communicating with member and guest's electronic devices. Members and administrators can send one or more temporary electronic access keys to a guest's smartphone or other electronic device. Wireless radio, sound and/or light-based beacons provide an access control and location tracking system with real-time data about the member and guest whereabouts, allowing for the confirmation and tracking.

Controlled access areas have become increasingly commonplace in modern society. From hospitals to gated communities, sensitive industries to prison complexes, there is a need to control the flow of human capital. Systems for doing so are often rudimentary, such as those that utilize a guard who checks an individual's identification and access rights. Other systems involve physical keycards and passes, which allow access past static checkpoints.
These systems are often insufficient for controlling and tracking the movement of guests who have access for a particular, limited purpose. Once past a static checkpoint, control systems have limited means for tracking a guest's movements. Furthermore, guests may become lost or enter into areas beyond the scope of their invitation.
It is to addressing or reducing these problems that the current disclosure is directed.

Electronic access control and location tracking system


Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for identifying locations of communication devices in a simulcast network. A comparator sends a location request to communication devices in a simulcast network. The location request includes timeslot assignments for each talk group in the simulcast network. The comparator receives responses from the communication devices. Each response is received in a timeslot assigned to a talk group. The comparator assigns network resources to talk groups in the simulcast network based at least in part on the received responses.

Institutional organizations, such as public safety organizations, typically use simulcast networks for voice communications. A simulcast radio network is a radio network in which all network components are active on the same radio frequency channel at the same time. In simulcast radio networks, mobile devices, for example portable two-way radios, mobile radios, or other similar radios, communicate with each other and with a centralized dispatch center through base radios/stations. Signals transmitted from each radio are received by multiple base radios and simulcast radio network 100 is configured to select a desired base radio signal for processing. In order to efficiently use network resources, each radio in the network may be associated with one or more talk groups.
To split common network resources between two or more talk groups that operate on the same access channel, each talk group is located in a unique geographical area in the network coverage area. Each talk group is also assigned a unique network access code, wherein radios in each talk group are programmed to suppress audio input/output that does not include the unique network access code. For example, radios for firefighters may be associated with a firefighter talk group which is located in, for example, the northern coverage area in simulcast radio network 100. The radios in the firefighter talk group may therefore be configured to communicate through base radios in the northern coverage area of simulcast radio network 100. Radios for police officers in the same simulcast radio network may be associated with a police talk group which is located in another geographical coverage area, for example, the southern coverage area in simulcast radio network 100. As such, the radios in the police talk group may be configured to communicate through base radios in the southern coverage area of simulcast radio network 100. Because the talk groups are in different geographical locations, there should be no interference between the talk groups. In order to efficiently configure and modify talk groups and to assign adequate network resources to each talk group, it is useful to identify the locations of radios associated with each talk group.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus for continuously monitoring locations of radios in talk groups.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

Method and apparatus for determining locations of communication devices in a simulcast network


An image reading device includes a plurality of photoelectric converting elements, a plurality of accumulating elements corresponding to each of the photoelectric converting elements, and switching circuitry for reading out the signals accumulated in the accumulating elements. Each of the photoelectric converting elements comprises a switching portion and a sensor portion. Driving circuitry is provided for driving the photoelectric converting elements by activating the switching portions to release the charges accumulated in the accumulating elements through the photoelectric converting elements in order to reset the accumulated elements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image reading device, and more particularly to an image reading device provided with means for accumulating incident light information, adapted for use in a reader unit of an image information processing apparatus such as facsimile.
2. Related Background Art
There are already known various image reading methods for use in the image reading devices. Examples of such methods are frame transfer method and interline transfer method employed in CCD (charge coupled devices).
Also image reading circuit structures for use in the amplifying devices with improved S/N ratio are disclosed for example in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,791,469, 4,831,454, 4,835,404 and 4,876,601.
Furthermore, circuit structures adapted for use in thin film devices suitable for forming large area devices are disclosed, for example, in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,390,791, 4,461,956, 4,829,485 and 4,886,977.
Furthermore, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,955 discloses a circuit structure in which transistors constituting pixels are serially connected for every vertical line for enabling collective resetting. However these structures have a limit in reducing the resetting time, because of large parasite resistance and capacitance in the serially connected line of pixels.
In addition to the conventional structures mentioned above, there is also proposed a resetting method utilizing block drive.
FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram of a conventional image reading device, showing, as an example, a photosensor array with nine photosensors.
In the circuit shown in FIG. 8, among photosensors E1-E9, three constitute a block, and three blocks constitute the photosensor array. Capacitors C1-C9 and switching transistors T1-T9, respectively corresponding to the photosensors E1-E9, are similarly grouped.
Electrodes at a side (common electrodes) of the photosensors E1-E9 are connected to a power source 101, while the other electrodes (individual electrodes) are grounded through respectively capacitors C1-C9.
Also, the individual electrodes of a same cardinal number in different blocks of the photosensors E1-E9 are connected, through respective switching transistors T1-T9, to one of common lines 102-104.
More detailedly, first switching transistors T1, T4, T7 of different blocks are connected to the common line 102; second switching transistors T2, T5, T8 of different blocks are connected to the common line 103; and third switching transistors T3, T6, T9 of respective blocks are connected to the third common line 104.
Said common lines 102-104 are connected, respectively through switching transistors T10-T12, to an amplifier 105.
The gate electrodes of the switching transistors T1-T9 are commonly connected for each block, and are respectively connected to parallel output terminals of a shift register 106. Said output terminals release high-level signals in succession at predetermining timings, whereby the switching transistors T1-T9 are turned on in succession in the unit of each block.
Also, the gate electrodes of the switching transistors T10-T12 are respectively connected to parallel output terminals of a shift register 107. Said output terminals release high-level signals in succession at predetermined timings, whereby the switching transistors T10-T12 are turned on in succession.
The common lines 102-104 are also grounded respectively through capacitors C10-C12 and switching transistors CT1-CT3.
The capacitance of the capacitors C10-C12 is selected to be sufficiently larger than that of the capacitors C1-C9.
The gate electrodes of the switching transistors CT1-CT3 are commonly connected to a terminal 108. Thus, the application of a high-level signal to said terminal 108 turns on the switching transistors CT1-CT3 simultaneously, thereby grounding the common lines 102-104.
Such image reading device is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,345.
In the following there will be explained the function of such conventional image reading device, with reference to a timing chart of the switching transistors T1-T12 and CT1-CT3, shown in FIG. 9. In FIG. 9 there is shown the timing when each switching transistor is turned on, and it also shows the timing of the release of a high-level signal from the shift register 106 or 107.
When the light enters the photosensors E1-E9, charges are accumulated in the capacitors C1-C9 from the power source 101 through the photosensors E1-E9, according to the intensity of said incident light.
Then the switching transistors T1-T3 are turned on when a high-level signal is released from the first output terminal of the shift register 106 (FIG. 9(a)).
With said switching transistors T1-T3 being turned on, the charges accumulated in the capacitors C1-C3 are respectively transferred to the capacitors C10-C12.
Subsequently the shift register 107 effects a shifting operation to turn on the switching transistors T10-T12 in succession [FIG. 9(d)-(f)], whereby the optical information of the first block transferred to and accumulated in the capacitors C10-C12 are read in succession and released through the amplifier 105.
After the reading of the information of the first block, an unrepresented circuit detects said reading and applies a high-level signal to the terminal 108, whereby the switching transistors CT1-CT3 are simultaneously turned on [FIG. 9(g)]. Thus the remaining charges in the capacitors C1-C3 and C10-C12 are dissipated, and said capacitors become ready for accumulating the optical information.
Then the shift register 106 effects a shift to release a high-level signal from the second output terminal, thereby turning on the switching transistors T4-T6 [FIG. 9(b)]. Thus the information reading of the second block is conducted in a similar manner as in the first block. Operations for the third block are also conducted in a similar manner.
As explained above, information are accumulated in the capacitors C1-C9, according to the shift timing of the shift registers 106, 107 and the timing of the high-level signal application to the terminal 108 as shown in FIG. 9. The information accumulated in said capacitors C1-C9 are transferred to the capacitors C10-C12 by the unit of each block at a time, and the information thus transferred are time-sequentially read by the switching transistors T10-T12.
However, the conventional structure has been associated with the following drawbacks, because of the on-resistance (resistance in "on" state) in the switching transistors:
(1) The timing constants, determined by the capacitances of the capacitors C1-C9 and the resistances of the corresponding switching transistors T1-T9 become large, and the discharging time of the capacitors C1-C9 becomes longer because of the parasite capacitances of the common lines 102-104 and the switching transistors T10-T13, the capacitances of the capacitors C10-C12 and the wiring resistances. Consequently, such image reading device requires a long time for the information reading operation;
(2) As the discharge of the capacitors C1-C9 requires a long time, it is limited to a certain time in practice, but the image reading operation becomes unreliable because the amount of the remaining charge in the capacitors C1-C9 varies depending on the light intensity.

Image reading device and image information processing apparatus utilizing the same


A projected capacitive touch panel that can detect touch pressure. The cover layer of projected capacitive touch panel has protrusions with gaps that fill up partially when finger is pressed, thereby registering a large change in projected capacitance. A keyboard using such device with optional mechanical switches underneath the touch surface for tactile feedback. Haptic feedback is coupled to detection of touch pressure. Reconfigurable keyboard and trackpad regions on a touch panel sensitive to touch pressure with tactile feedback from underlying mechanical switches. A mouse with left and right click support using projected capacitive touchpad with pressure detection for mouse click. Human finger based mimicking of mouse operation in combination with touch pressure detection. Supporting gestures that use touch pressure. Providing a visual feedback in an underlying display when touch pressure is detected. Providing an audio feedback when touch pressure is detected.

Projected capacitive touch panels are used very widely today in mobile devices like smartphones, tablets etc. While they enable a display area to be reused for touch, they do not offer the same user experience of a pressure sensitive keyboard with tactile feedback to the finger.
For dedicated keyboards, in U.S. Pat. No. 8,139,035 B2 titled "TOUCH SENSITIVE KEYPAD WITH TACTILE FEEDBACK," a touch sensitive surface is placed on top of a mechanical keyboard switch arrangement that provides tactile feedback, while the switch arrangement itself has electrical connectivity for indicating touch.
Very low profile mechanical keyboards have a limited electrical contact life though the tactile life of each key can be significantly larger. It is expensive to replace these keyboards in notebook PCs.
United States patent application US 2010/00860593 A1, published Mar. 11, 2010, for PHASE COMPENSATION FOR MULTI-STIMULUS CONTROLLER, describe the operation of a projected capacitance touch panel. It is referenced for the description of prior art regarding the operation of the projected capacitance touch panel.

Pressure sensitive projected capacitive touch sensing