A heated dental knife for trimming thermoplastic dental trays which has a heat sink temperature stabilizer and heating element designed to maintain a pre-selected blade temperature without adjustments under normal use in cutting such dental trays.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of dentistry and particularly dental knives for trimming thermoplastic dental trays.
2. Related Art
Thermoplastic dental trays are used in the application of dental fluoride, dental bleaching, and other like dental treatments. The dental tray is sometimes vacuum formed on a full size model of a patient's jaw ridge, which is the ridge-formed by parts of the gums, the adjacent teeth and the alveolar portions of the jaws, in the areas to receive the dental treatment. A mold of soft plastic material which hardens into such a full size model is obtained by taking an impression of the appropriate area of the patient's jaw ridge. The appearance and the fit of the finished dental tray depends to a large degree on the precision of the model on which the tray is formed and subsequently depends on the precision of the method of trimming the tray. The initial dental impression tray that is used to make the full size model is usually formed from a thermoplastic sheet. The initial impression tray closely approximates the shape of and size of the specific patient's jaw ridge for use as a mold in the manufacture of an accurate full size study model on which a more precise and final dental tray can be formed for use in a dental treatment. The creation, by vacuum forming, of a final hardened thermoplastic dental tray to be used for the fluoride, bleaching or other dental treatment requires trimming of the excess thermoplastic from the dental tray material to produce a tray with the desired shape to match the patient's gingival line. A trimming of the dental tray that matches the gingival line should produce a tray with a scalloped edge that matches the gingival line. Trimming or cutting is typically accomplished by using scissors with curved shear blades. However, there is a problem with a scissors trimming method. This method of trimming or cutting with scissors can only be done after the tray is removed from the mold and thus is very inaccurate. Once the tray is removed from the full size model, one must trim the tray utilizing the trace lines that remain as an impression from the model. There is great difficulty when scissors are used to accurately trim along the trace line impression left by the gingival line of the model in order to obtain the final tray to be used for application of the dental treatment. An additional problem is the difficulty in trimming the material with scissors once the material has fully cooled and hardened. The thermoplastic is substantially tough at body or room temperatures. Therefore when cut with scissors, the thermoplastic may stretch due to the shearing action of the scissors and this stretching may result in an oversize or misshapen dental tray. The accuracy of the trimming is key to the effective manufacture of a good dental tray for application of a fluoride or bleaching dental treatment. An accurate trimming process produces a dental tray that will have a tight and snug fit around the teeth to be treated. A tight and snug fit is desired for the most effective treatment. A dental tray that closely follows the shape of the patients gum line, 1 mil shy of gingival line, is desirable for the snug fit which promotes an effective treatment. When scissors are used, usually the distance between the gingival line and the dental tray is much greater than 1 mil and the tray thus overlaps the gum.
Also, trimming and cutting with scissors many times yield poor result such as a jagged edge which is not comfortable to the patient and many cuts or trims are not easy to accurately perform with scissors. Cutting with scissors is inherently a series of cuts, which may or may not align with each other. If not, a resulting jagged edge is probable. This result either makes for a jagged edge or loose fit or the tooth is not treated up to the gingival line.
Neither of the above results will provide an optimum treatment.
There are also heated dental knives that are utilized to trim thermoplastic dental trays. These heated knives have electrically powered heating elements that heat the blade tip. An adjustable heat setting is provided. The adjustable heat setting is usually provided by adjustment of a potentiometer which varies the voltage across a transformer and resulting power to the heating element. However, a problem with such heated dental knives is that there is no real time monitoring of the blade tip temperature, thus no feedback is provided for dynamic temperature control. There is only discrete voltage level adjustment capability. This type of heated knife will allow the actual blade cutting tip to over-shoot or under-shoot the optimal temperature if the potentiometer is set to the incorrect level. Adjusting the potentiometer to an optimal setting for trimming thermoplastic dental trays is accomplished by trial and error. Over-shooting the desired temperature will result in melting the thermoplastic. If melting occurs the thermoplastic will be deformed and possibly the severed thermoplastic will immediately meld back together after cutting. If under-shooting occurs the thermoplastic will possibly tear or cut unevenly instead of providing a cleanly seared cut. Temperature control at the blade tip is important because the heating element of dental knives such as the one described above are not designed to maintain a stable temperature range. For a given potentiometer setting, the temperature at the blade tip may vary widely. The ability to adjust the power level input to the heating element of the dental knife over a large temperature range is not needed or desired for the subject application because it allows more room for error. User error occurs when the level control is set to the wrong level. Also, there is a risk for error due to component anomalies such as failure of the potentiometer and failure the transformer assembly. In addition it is more difficult to design a dental knife that can maintain a stable temperature range at a given level setting when the power input to the heating element can be varied over a large range. There is not the ability to thermally design a dental knife that is optimized to maintain a temperature range for the fixed heating element power input and output needed for a dental tray knife.
Another difficulty with the current dental knives is that they are not ergonomically designed. Specifically the blade tip is too long for the comfortable application of trimming thermoplastic dental trays.
There are some prior art patents that address the forming, handling, or cutting of thermoplastic items. None are designed to perform the trimming or cutting of thermoplastic dental trays and none, if utilized, will yield the result of a dental tray that has a snug fit and closely follows the gingival line. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,251 issued Sep. 10, 1991 to Scott shows a portable lightweight tool employing a heating element and configured in a scissor-like embodiment whereby at least one blade of the scissors employs a heating element. A combination cutting and searing is achieved by the normal scissor-action of the embodiment. However, this item was designed to cut fabric material with high thermoplastic content and to be used by a seamstress, upholster, or the like. Scissors with one heated shear may make for ease of cutting, assuming the heating element achieves a high enough temperature to sear dental thermoplastic when the thickness is considered in comparison to that of fabric. However, as noted above, cutting dental trays with scissors makes jagged edges due to the discontinuance nature. Also, cutting with insufficient heat will result in tearing and stretching of the thermoplastic and with too much heat results in resealing of the cut. In addition, the scissors-like embodiment will not solve the problem for the trimming required in areas that are difficult to trim with scissors. A more practical solution to the continuing problem of jagged dental trays is needed.


According to one disclosed embodiment, a smart charging system includes a power conversion unit having a communication module and a charging integrated circuit that can convert mains power into a managed charging power used to charge any of several electronic devices. In one embodiment, a power conversion unit can manage a charging process by communicating with a connected electronic device and exchanging a charge profile representing ideal characteristics of the charging power. In one embodiment, an electronic device receives a charge from a power conversion unit through a wired power conduit. In another embodiment, an electronic device receives a charge from a power conversion unit through a wireless power conduit. In one embodiment, the smart charging system includes a battery usable to charge an electronic device when a mains adapter of the smart charging system is not powered.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally in the field of electronic devices and systems. More particularly, the present invention is in the field of delivery of power to electronic devices and systems.
2. Background Art
The use of battery operated electronic devices continues to proliferate into all aspects of daily life, from the commonplace laptop to all the innovative accessories designed for convenient use of portable electronic devices. As demand for these devices has expanded, so has the demand for higher reliability, efficiency and convenience with respect to both the manufacturing and the operating life of the devices.
Conventional power supplies used to charge battery operated electronic devices are typically inefficient and unconfigurable, mainly to reduce manufacturing cost, but also because general safety and liability concerns steer manufacturers towards designing their power supplies to be physically differentiated from product to product so as to limit the risk of damage due to incompatible voltage and current specifications. Because each matched power supply is typically designed to serve only a very limited market for a limited amount of time (e.g., the life of a single product), little effort is invested into designing high efficiency and reliability into each iteration of the generic power supply. Further, the lack of interchangeability typically leads to consumers having multiple collections of conventional power supplies at home, at work, and even in their car, for example.
Thus, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficiencies in the art by providing a charging system that can be readily adapted to charge electronic devices efficiently, reliably and conveniently.

Smart charging system and related method


The present disclosure relates to an electrode plate processing device. The electrode plate processing device includes: an electrode plate cutting mechanism having a cutting position; and an electrode plate rolling mechanism, through which an electrode plate passes. The electrode plate rolling mechanism includes a first roller and a second roller. The first roller has a vacuum adsorption zone for adsorbing a waste edge of the electrode plate. The cutting position is provided in upstream of the vacuum adsorption zone along a conveying direction of the electrode plate processing device.

In the modern society, in order to alleviate the environmental problems, electric vehicles have been widely used, followed by a rapid development of power battery industry.
In a process of manufacturing a power battery, it is necessary to cut electrode plates of different specifications according to various application situations, and the traditional mechanical die cutting process is far from satisfaction. Therefore, at present, a laser cutting process is usually adopted for the electrode plate die cutting.
However, when a laser is used for die-cutting an electrode plate, unsmooth guiding of waste edge may result in shaking and bulging at the laser-cutting point, which is likely to cause a defocus of the laser. Then, the electrode plate cannot be cut, and a formation of a tab will be finally affected, thereby degrading the quality and performance of the power battery.

CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY CO., LIMITED


The hammerhead ribozyme according to the present invention produces a hammerhead ribozyme—target RNA construct by base-pairing with an edited target RNA, and an editing recognition site of the hammerhead ribozyme cleaves the modification site by forming a base pair with the target RNA modification site. The cleavage of the modification site is expected to be applicable to the research and development of new drugs that can be used to prevent or treat diseases caused by the edited target RNA.

It is known that RNA in a living organism is chemically modified, and noncoding RNA such as rRNA and tRNA is functionalized by modification. Meanwhile, mRNA is also modified and, for example, modification such as RNA editing such as A-to-I editing in which adenosine (A) is substituted by inosine (I) in the nucleotides of mRNA and C-to-U editing in which cytosine (C) is substituted by uracil (U) is known.
Among these, RNA editing is a mechanism to convert genetic information after transcription and a phenomenon to alter the base at a specific site in the base sequence of pre-mRNA generated by transcription of a gene into another base by enzyme action, and appears in various forms such as insertions, deletions or substitutions of bases (Non-Patent Document 1). This phenomenon is generally a mechanism programmed in living organisms to change gene products depending on changes in physiological conditions and environments. In higher eukaryotes, it is believed that A-to-I editing in which the adenosine (A) base at a specific site in pre-mRNA is substituted by the inosine (I) base by the action of adenosine deaminase (ADAR) has a physiologically important meaning (Non-Patent Document 2). When A-to-I base substitution occurs in an mRNA sequence encoding a protein, since the inosine (I) is read as guanosine by ribosomes during translation, codons are changed, thereby genetic information is converted and a protein having a function different from that of the original one is generated.
As the most researched RNA precursors about A-to-I editing in coding RNA, there are mentioned serotonin 2C receptor (HTR2CR) and glutamate receptor subunit B (GRIA2) (Non-Patent Document 3).
Serotonin 2C receptor (HTR2CR) is a seven-transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor mediating neural signaling in the brain by serotonin and is believed to be deeply involved in emotion control, and is known to be subjected to RNA editing (A-to-I editing) in which 5 adenosines (A) at the A to E sites on HTR2C pre-mRNA are substituted by inosine (I) by double-stranded RNA-specific adenosine deaminase (ADAR) (Non-Patent Document 4, FIG. 1).
Even in normal healthy people, adenosine (A) bases at the A site to the E site in HTR2CR mRNA are altered into the inosine (I) base with proper frequency by A-to-I editing by the catalytic action of enzymes ADAR1 and ADAR2. Consequently, it is reported that emotion is normally controlled in normal healthy people, while the regulation is broken in patients with depression and suicides. It is believed that the defect in RNA editing in serotonin 2C receptor (HTR2CR) is involved in functional psychoses such as depression, schizophrenia and autism; however, a mechanism to control normal regulation has not yet been revealed.
As shown in FIG. 2, serotonin 2C receptor (HTR2CR), when serotonin is bound to the extracellular loop of HTR2CR, transmits impulses to coupled G protein, then causes changes in properties of nerve cells via intracellular signal transduction pathway and eventually controls cerebral functions such as memory, learning and emotion. When serotonin 2C receptor (HTR2CR) is subjected to RNA editing, the amino acid sequence in the G protein-binding region of a receptor protein is changed and the signal transduction ability of the receptor is changed. In HTR2CR, up to 24 types (mainly 8 types) of receptor proteins with different amino acid sequences and different transmitting abilities are generated from a single gene by combining sites subjected to RNA editing (shown by solid-white letters in the drawing) among the base sequence of HTR2CR and amino acids to be encoded (Non-Patent Documents 4 and 5).
In the pre-mRNA of glutamate receptor subunit B (GRIA2), desensitization kinetics of the receptor and an ion channel, Ca2++ permeability, are controlled by RNA editing (Non-Patent Document 6).
As another form of RNA modification by substitution, C-to-U editing in which cytosine (C) is substituted by uracil (U) and cytosine is converted to uridine by deamination is known (Non-Patent Document 7). It is reported that the nucleus transcriptional body encoding intestinal apolipoprotein B (ApoB) is subjected to C-to-U RNA editing to convert a CAA codon to a UAA stop codon and a shorter protein than that before editing is generated (Non-Patent Document 8).
As described above, RNA editing such as A-to-I editing and C-to-U editing is involved in an important mechanism to control genetic adaptability by generating a protein different from a protein to be generated when editing does not occur. RNA modification by substitution in a coding region plays a definitive role in biological process control, and thus the development of abnormal modification is a cause of a serious disease (Non-Patent Document 9), and, in particular, the relation of RNA modification by substitution to mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder attracts attention.
Along with RNA precursors of serotonin 2C receptor (HTR2C) and glutamate receptor subunit B (GRIA2), particularly, γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) receptor, a receptor deeply involved in the neuropsychiatric function of the central nervous system such as potassium channels, ion channels, and other targets of RNA editing in sequences encoding proteins of other proteins have been identified recently (Non-Patent Document 10). Although high throughput sequence data suggest that RNA modification by substitution controls protein function by converting amino acid sequences, the detailed biological function of this RNA editing has not yet been revealed.
As described above, the detailed biological function of RNA editing has not yet been revealed; however, techniques for controlling site-specific RNA substitution editing remain an attractive tool to analyze and control biological processes related to RNA editing.
Ribozymes are meanwhile known as functional molecules which specifically recognize and react with a modified specific site in an RNA sequence. Among such ribozymes, a hammerhead ribozyme (HHR) which is the smallest RNA motif having catalytic action can cleave an RNA phosphodiester bond at a specific site, and the smallest hammerhead ribozyme (HHR) which cleaves a trans type is created by modifying a natural HHR (Non-Patent Document 11), and is used for suppressing in vivo target gene expression by gene control through RNA (Non-Patent Document 12). A HHR is composed of an active region having a conserved core sequence with catalytic activity at the central portion (Helix II), and recognition regions having two hybridizing arm sequences which recognize target sequences existing on the 3′ side and 5′ side of the active region (Helix III and Helix I, respectively).
A target-specific hammerhead ribozyme (HHR) can be produced by converting the hybridizing arm sequence corresponding to target RNA according to simple Watson-Crick base pairing rule. A HHR with variously different core sequences corresponding to target RNA can be designed and can be bound to target RNA by using a sequence complementary to a hybridizing sequence including a specific triplet of target RNA, and can cleave the phosphodiester bond existing on the 3′ side of the triplet (Non-Patent Document 13).
Such hammerhead ribozyme (HHR) can in vitro and in vivo cleave mRNA in a mutation-specific manner (Non-Patent Document 14). These mutation-specific properties of HHR are produced based on the triplet to be preferentially cleaved. As described above, some HHRs which can cleave target RNA in a mutation-specific manner are created; however, a HHR which can specifically recognize RNA modification by substitution has not been reported.

Ribozyme for identifying modification on RNA sequence and RNA cleavage method using same


A cooling system for a combustion engine having a cooling passage system in an engine block comprising a main cooler HWK which is arranged in a cycle with the cooling passage system of the combustion engine, a water pump and a first thermostat TH1 in said cycle, a hot water heat exchanger HWT which is connected to the water pump 12 through a bypass and a bypass valve, a second thermostat TH2 in the bypass passage, the opening temperature of the thermostat valve of the second thermostat TH2 is significantly lower than the opening temperature of the thermostat valve of the first thermostat TH1, the thermostats being arranged such that upon closed thermostat valve B of the second thermostat TH2 below its opening temperature a minimum amount of water flows through the cooling passage system through the heat exchanger HWT, upon opened thermostat valve B of the second thermostat TH2 a larger amount of water flows through the cooling passage system from its opening temperature on and upon the opening temperature of the thermostat valve A of the first thermostat TH1 a thermostatic control takes place through the first thermostat TH1 and the main cooler HWK whereby the amount of cooling fluid is progressively increased from the opening of the thermostat valve B of the second thermostat TH2 on and/or least a further heat exchanger MÖK, GÖK is connected.

The present invention is related to a cooling system for a combustion engine.
In the context of regulations for exhaust gas and consumption, it is necessary to achieve rapid warming up of the combustion engine to its working temperature, in automobiles in particular, because a big part of the relevant emissions and of the consumption is created in the cold operation. The rapid warming is obtained when the amount of cooling fluid circulating through the engine in the cold start is reduced to a minimum degree. However, it has to be taken care with respect to the operational safety that the amount of cooling fluid is sufficient to securely prevent local overheating on critical points of the engine. In addition, legal rules for the defrosting of the glazing at cold outside temperatures must be fulfilled.
In cooling systems for combustion engines, it is distinguished between engine blocks which have only one cycle and such ones which have separate cooling of the head and the block. In the latter case, the water jacket of the engine has two cycles.
Conventionally, one thermostat is provided in single-cycle cooling systems, which is realised as a double valve. Below the working temperature, cooling fluid is conveyed through the cooling passage system of the engine via a heat exchanger for heating (for heating the passenger compartment), the second valve of the thermostat and a bypass. When the working temperature is reached, the thermostat opens and by doing so it throttles the flow across the heat exchanger for heating by the second valve, whereas the main part of the cooling fluid is led through a main cooler.


A passive power factor correction (PFC) circuit is disclosed. It converts an AC input voltage into at least one DC output voltage. A diode bridge and a diode pair rectify the AC input voltage and provide first and second rectified voltages, respectively. A resistor applies the second rectified voltage to a first capacitor that stores the first voltage. A diode applies the first voltage to an inductor. The inductor applies the first rectified voltage to an output capacitor that stores the DC output voltage. The passive PFC circuit is intended to expand commonly used full-wave bridge rectifier and following storage capacitor. It can replace an input circuit, including low pass filter, in many applications even if improved power factor is not required. The passive PFC specifically targets size of the inductor while avoiding any switching, and maintaining power factor that challenges active PFC circuits. Early prototypes reached power factor of 0.99 while driving a 100 W load.

The present disclosure is related generally to passive power factor correction (PFC) circuits. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to passive PFC circuits that provide a high power factor while utilizing a small number of passive components having reduced size.
Power factor is defined as the ratio of the real power to apparent power. It can be also defined as cosine of the phase angle between the current and voltage waveforms if both are pure sine waves. This occurs when the load is linear. The real power produces real work. The apparent power is the power that would be delivered to a pure resistive load, regardless of the current waveform. It is thus the total power supplied by an AC source to produce the required amount of the real power. The AC source is most often the power company supplying electricity through power lines but could also be the output of an electronic inverter, motor drive or other localized AC source. Due to energy stored in the load and returned to the source and/or due to a nonlinear load that distorts the wave shape of the current drawn from the source, the apparent power is greater than the real power. The power factor is 1.0 if both the input current and voltage are sinusoidal and in phase. This occurs when the load is or behaves like a resistor. It allows the power distribution system to operate at its maximum efficiency.
PFC may be needed in any line-powered device that uses AC/DC power conversion. These applications can range in scale from battery chargers for portable devices to big-screen TVs. Most commonly, the AC line voltage is rectified in a single phase bridge rectifier and filtered with a large electrolytic capacitor. These nonlinear and storage elements, also aided and abetted by the impedance of the power line itself, result in many problems such as reduction in the available power, increased losses and generation of serious harmonic distortions in the line current. The problems are magnified when operating a large numbers of these nonlinear loads due to the cumulative effect. The result is a poor power quality, wherein neutral currents can be large and rich in third harmonic currents.
Unless some correction circuit is used, the input rectifier with a capacitive filter circuit will draw pulsating currents from the AC source, resulting in poor power quality and high harmonic contents that adversely affect other users. The RMS value of the narrow pulses of the input current is higher than the corresponding sinusoidal current required to produce the same power. This situation has drawn the attention of regulatory bodies around the world. Governments are tightening regulations, setting new specifications for low harmonic currents and restricting the amount of harmonic currents that can be generated. This necessitates the need for PFC and harmonic reduction circuits.
PFC is required in various power systems supplied from line in order to comply with requirements of international standards such as EN61 000-3-2, Energy Star and 80 Plus. Without compliance to the appropriate standards, a product will have difficulties gaining acceptance in the marketplace. PFC is also necessary for energy saving. PFC usually reduces harmonics in the line current, increases the efficiency of the power systems and reduces customer's utility bill. In one estimate, the cost increase is directly proportional to the inverse of the power factor.
The methods to improve the power factor can be classified as active and passive methods. Active PFC circuits utilize feedback circuitry along with switching converters to synthesize input current waveforms consistent with high power factor. The advantages of the active PFC circuits include high power factor of at least 0.99, correction of both distortion and displacement, universal line voltage, regulated output voltage, small and light components, ability to absorb some line transients and design supported by vast array of integrated controllers. The disadvantages include complexity, output voltage that has to be greater than the peak of the input voltage, high cost especially for low power applications, no inrush current limiting, added conversion stage that decreases efficiency and increases EMI/RFI performance. The last shortcoming necessitates employment of a low pass filter at the input. The input ripple current is at the switching frequency of the active PFC circuit and must be filtered at the input. Unfiltered ripple will be conducted down the power line as EMI.
The passive PFC circuits incorporate passive components, typically capacitors and inductors. However, active components, such as synchronous rectifiers, emulating passive components can be used as well. The advantages of the conventional passive PFC circuits include simplicity, cost effectiveness especially at low power, high efficiency, reliability and ruggedness, no source of EMI/RFI, assistance with EMI/RFI filtering and capability of reaching unity power factor for linear loads. The disadvantages of the conventional passive PFC circuits include large and heavy line frequency components, inability to completely correct nonlinear loads, unregulated output voltage and component values dependent on load characteristics. The widely used valley-fill circuit is somewhat different. It employs rectifiers for diverting the current flow and capacitors for delivering energy to the load at low line voltage. However, the valley-fill circuit performs poorly when complementing the bridge rectifier and its storage capacitor.
Many applications do not require a power factor of at least 0.99 that the active PFC circuits commonly offer. The power factor of the passive PFC circuits can be tweaked in order to reduce size and cost of the components and yet meet performance requirements. For example, certain aircraft landing lights operating below 80 VA require leading power factor of 0.728 or lagging power factor of 0.613. Since an aircraft presents a very difficult EMI/RFI environment, the employment of the passive PFC is most advantageous. Moreover, many applications employ an input filter but no PFC due to disadvantages mentioned hereinabove. These applications could benefit greatly by replacing the input circuit, including low pass filter, with a passive PFC circuit without significantly raising the size and cost.
The present invention is intended to provide the passive PFC that incorporates many advantages of the PFC of both types while overcoming some disadvantages of the conventional passive PFC. Similarly to the active PFC circuits, the present PFC circuits are intended to expand the full-wave bridge rectifier and the following storage capacitor. The passive PFC technique according to the present disclosure specifically targets size of the inductor while avoiding any switching, and maintaining power factor that challenges active PFC circuits. Early prototypes reached power factor of 0.99 while driving a 100 W load.

Passive power factor correction incorporating AC/DC conversion


A kit for removing calcium deposits in a shower head extending from a shower arm without removing the shower head from the shower arm. The kit includes a first portion and a second portion. The first portion is replaceably attached to the shower arm, adjacent the shower head. The second portion is replaceably suspended from the first portion and receives the shower head and is filled with a mild acid, with the shower head submerged therein, so as to allow the mild acid to dissolve the calcium deposits in the shower head soaking in the mild acid in the second portion, without having to remove the shower head from the shower arm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a kit for removing calcium deposits in a shower head. More particularly, the present invention relates to a kit for removing calcium deposits in a shower head extending from a shower arm without removing the shower head from the shower arm.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Rooms in better quality hotels are clean, nicely decorated, have good beds, fine television, convenient ice, but terrible showers.
Virtually everyone knows that one can take the shower head down, place it in container of vinegar overnight, and the shower head will work like new the next day.
Commercial uses, such as hotels, are reluctant to remove shower heads even if they keep spares. Residential users often are people without tools or mechanical ability to remove the shower heads without damaging something else.
Numerous innovations for nozzle related cleaning device have been provided in the prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention.
A FIRST EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,144 to Madden et al. teaches apparatus for preventing build-up of sealing compound at the outlet of an intermittently operated sealing compound ejecting nozzle. In the device, a stream of air is directed towards the outlet of the nozzle from a suitable air outlet, and a solvent is injected into the air stream at a point upstream from the air outlet, the air outlet being located at a distance from the nozzle such that turbulence of the air stream occurs in the area of the nozzle. The rate of supply of solvent to the air stream is such as to produce an atmosphere saturated with solvent in the turbulent area. This prevents evaporation of solvent from the sealing compound and hence prevents the sealing compound building up at the outlet of the nozzle.
A SECOND EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,875 to Nishino teaches a scale removal device for scraping off scale deposited on the inner surface of a tube section comprising a rotary shaft to be received within said tube section for advancement and rotation under the action of fluid under pressure pumped into the tube section and having a spiral blade thereabout, a scraper head detachably connected to the leading end of said rotary shaft and having resilient scraper blades thereabout for yieldingly abutting against the inner surface of said tube section and connector means detachably connecting said rotary shaft and scraper head.
A THIRD EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,066 to Hethcoat teaches apparatus for cleaning paint spray gun nozzles automatically that includes a housing having separate cleaning and reservoir chambers separated by a dividing wall, and a cleaning spray head in the cleaning chamber for directing a spray of cleaning fluid at a nozzle in the chamber. A supply of cleaning fluid in the reservoir is connected to the cleaning spray head by a supply tube. The cleaning chamber has an entrance for receiving a spray gun nozzle, and a supply of gas under pressure is connected to the reservoir chamber automatically on detection of entry of a spray gun nozzle through the entrance, to urge cleaning fluid from the reservoir into the supply tube. A passageway is provided in the dividing wall for returning used cleaning fluid to the reservoir. The supply of gas to the reservoir is cut off automatically at the end of a cleaning cycle on removal of the cleaned nozzle from the chamber.
A FOURTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,303 to Thomas, Sr. teaches a rust, corrosion, and scale removing composition. It comprises an additive concentrate and water. The additive concentrate preferably consists of, on a parts by weight basis, 1.5 to 5 parts glycolic acid, 0.2 to 1 parts tetrasodium salt of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, 2 to 6 parts citric acid, and 1 to 3 parts trisodium citrate dihydrate.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for nozzle cleaning related devices have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.

Kit for removing calcium deposits in a shower head without removing the shower head from a shower arm


The present invention provides nucleic acids and polypeptides for IRAK-4, a novel member of the IRAK family of protein kinases. Members of the IRAK family are indispensable signal transducer for members of the IL-1R/Toll family of transmembrane receptors, including IL-1 receptors, IL-18 receptors and LPS receptors. IRAK-4 sequences from human and mouse are provided, as are methods for identifying compounds useful in the treatment or prevention of inflammatory diseases.

The proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1) functions in the generation of systemic and local responses to infection, injury and immunological challenges. The importance of IL-1 in inflammation has been demonstrated by the ability of the highly specific IL-1 receptor antagonist protein (IL-1Ra, or IRAP) to relieve inflammatory conditions (for review, see, e.g., Dinarello, Cytokine Growth Factor Rev. 8:253–265 (1997)). IL-1 is produced primarily by activated macrophages and monocytes, and is involved in lymphocyte activation, fever, leukocyte trafficking, the acute phase response, cartilage remodeling and other processes. IL-1 exerts its effects by binding to a receptor, IL-1RI, located on the plasma membrane of responsive cells. Among the results of IL-1 binding to the IL-1RI receptor is the activation of the NF-κB transcription factor, ultimately leading to the expression of numerous genes involved in inflammation, such as cytokines, growth factors, immunoreceptors, and cell adhesion molecules (for review, see, e.g., Lee, et al., J. Clin. Pharmacol. 38(11):981–93 (1998)).
Several proteins have been discovered to mediate signal transduction following IL-1RI activation, ultimately leading to the activation of NF-kB. For example, the IL-1R accessory protein, IL-1RAcP, has been shown to associate with the IL-1RI receptor following binding to IL-1, thereby initiating the signal transduction cascade (Greenfeder, et al., J. Biol. Chem. 270(23):13757–65 (1995)). In addition, three IL-1 receptor-associated kinases (IRAKs) have been identified, IRAK ("IRAK-1;" Cao, et al., Science 271:1128–1131 (1996)), IRAK-2 (Muzio, et al., Science 278:1612–1615 (1997)), and the monomyeloic cell-specific IRAK-M (Wesche, et al., J. Biol. Chem. 274:19403–10 (1999)). IRAK has been shown to be phosphorylated and to associate with IL-1RI in an IL-1 dependent manner. In addition, the MyD88 protein has been shown to mediate the association of IRAK proteins to the activated IL-1 receptor (Wesche, et al., 7:837–47 (1997)). Also, TRAF6 transduces the IRAK signal to downstream effector molecules (Cao, et al., Nature 383:443–6 (1996)). The IRAK proteins, as well as MyD88, have been shown to play a role in transducing signals other than those originating from IL-1R receptors, including signals triggered by activation of IL-18 receptors (Kanakaraj, et al. J. Exp. Med. 189(7):1129–38 (1999)) and LPS receptors (Yang, et al., J. Immunol. 163:639–643 (1999); Wesche, et al., J. Biol. Chem. 274:19403–10 (1999)). Overexpression of IRAK-2 and IRAK-M has been shown to be capable of reconstituting the response to IL-1 and LPS in an IRAK deficient cell line.
The IL-1 signal transduction cascade is analogous to a signaling cascade in Drosophila melanogaster that is involved in the establishment of dorsal ventral polarity during the early development of Drosophila embryos. Specifically, in Drosophila, the extracellular ligand Spaetzle binds to a receptor called Toll, which shares homology to IL-1R. In addition, a serine/threonine kinase acting downstream of Toll activation, Pelle is homologous to IRAK kinases (Cao, et al., Science 271:1128–1131 (1996); Muzio, et al., Science 278:1612–1615 (1997); Wesche, et al., J. Biol. Chem. 274:403–410 (1999)). Finally, activation of the Toll receptor results in the activation of the transcription factor Dorsal, which is homologous to NF-κB. Dorsal is inhibited in Drosophila cells by Cactus, which is itself homologous to the NF-κB inhibitor IκB.
The present invention is based on the identification of a novel member of the IRAK family, IRAK-4. Nucleic acid and protein sequences for IRAK-4 are provided, as are methods of making IRAK-4 nucleic acids and proteins. Also provided are methods of using IRAK-4 polynucleotides and polypeptides, including methods of using the herein-disclosed sequences to isolate compounds useful in the treatment or prevention of any of a number of inflammatory diseases and conditions.


According to one embodiment, a policy management system includes a user terminal, an ID provider system which manages an identity of a user, and a service provider system which provides service data. The ID provider system stores a pair of an old policy and a new policy with respect to each service provider ID. The ID provider system stores information with respect to each service provider ID, the difference-adaptive definition information defining a first condition which is referred to when a date of transmission of an access request message is within a transition period from the old policy to new policy, and a second condition which is referred to when the date of transmission of the access request message is out of the transition period.

With the background of the situation in which the degree of dependency on online services of the society, economy and living increases, there has been an increasing importance of identity management which manages information relating to individuals and organizations. The identity management is a technique for promoting the security and convenience of the information relating to individuals and organizations in various services and systems, and managing the whole of the life cycle of an identity from registration to a change and deletion.
Here, the identity, in this context, refers to the whole of information which specifies an individual, a group, and an organization/company in a certain situation, and includes an identifier, credentials and attributes. The identifier is information for discriminating the identity, and corresponds to, for instance, an account or an employee number. The credentials are information for indicating the validity of some information content, and are, for instance, a password. The attributes are information which characterizes the identity, and refer to, for instance, a name, an address, and date of birth.
As a typical example of the technique utilizing such identity management, there is known Single Sign-On (hereinafter abbreviated as SSO). The SSO is a technique which enables use of a plurality of applications and services by a single authentication procedure. In many cases, the SSO integrates authentications which are provided in a plurality of applications in a single domain such as an intranet of one company. In this case, the SSO is generally realized by a method in which an authentication result is included in an HTTP Cookie and the authentication result is shared between the applications. In addition, such SSO methods have been individually manufactured as access management products by SI (System Integration) vendors or middleware vendors.
In recent years, there has been a demand for an SSO among different domains (hereinafter also referred to as cross-domains) across a single domain. A reason for this is outsourcing due to an acceleration of the consolidation and merger of companies, overseas expansion, and SaaS (Software as a Service) or the like in emerging cloud computing. For example, one of the merits of the SaaS or the like is quick use when needed.
However, when cross-domain SSO is realized, sharing of an authentication result is very time-consuming. There are two main causes. The first cause is that, since the use of HTTP Cookie is limited to a single domain, an authentication result cannot be shared between domains by using the HTTP Cookie. The second cause is that, since SSO methods of access management products, which are adopted for respective domains, are different among vendors, simple introduction is not possible and additional measures need to be prepared.
In order to resolve such causes, there has been an increasing demand for standardization of the SSO. One of typical standardization techniques, which meet such a demand, is SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) which was formulated by a nonprofit organization, OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards).
The SAML is specifications in which the expression form of information relating to authentication, approval and attributes, and transmission/reception procedures are defined, and the SAML is systematically stipulated so as to realize various implementation modes in accordance with purposes. Subjects comprise three parties, i.e. an identity provider (hereinafter, abbreviated as IdP, and referred to as "ID provider"), a service provider (hereinafter, abbreviated as SP, and referred to as "service provider"), and a user. The SSO is realized by the service provider trusting an authentication result which is issued by the ID provider.
When the SSO based on SAML is started, the following two points, in general, need to be prepared in advance. The first point is that the relationship of trust should be established in advance by information exchange and consensus building in business and technical aspects between the service provider and ID provider. The second point is that one user should have individual accounts for respective service providers and should federate these individual SP accounts and the account of the ID provider in advance. The SSO cannot be started unless in a state in which advance preparations, such as the establishment of the relationship of trust and the advance account federation, have been completed.
After these advance preparations, the SSO is realized by the following procedures (1) to (6). Here, the procedures of the SSO through a Web browser are described.
(1) A user requests service provision from a service provider.
(2) Since the service provider has not yet authenticated the user, the service provider sends an authentication request to the ID provider via a user-side Web browser.
(3) The ID provider authenticates the user by some means, and creates an authentication assertion. Incidentally, the SAML does not stipulate the means for authentication, but stipulates a scheme for informing the service provider of an authentication assertion. The authentication assertion includes information, such as the kind of authentication means and the manner in which the credentials were created, in order for the service provider to determine whether the authentication result is trustworthy or not.
(4) The ID provider returns an authentication result including the created authentication assertion to the service provider via the user-side Web browser.
(5) The service provider determines permission/non-permission of service provision, based on the authentication result of the ID provider.
(6) The user receives service provision from the service provider.
In this manner, in the SSO that is based on SAML, a plurality of services are made usable by the user simply executing a one-time authentication procedure for the ID provider, without executing a further authentication procedure. At present, in order to secure interoperability of cross-domains, the middle vendor, which implemented the individual SSO system, sells access management products in which an SAML ID provider/service provider function is implemented, or introduces a commercial Web service in which an SAML service provider function is implemented.
In the meantime, in the SSO based on SAML, as described above, the advance account federation and registration are necessary. In usual cases, when a company uses a service which is provided by a service provider, an IS (Information System) department performs account registration and federation for the service provider.
The IS department collectively performs a large volume of advance processes corresponding to many users belonging to the company, or conducts, after a procedure through a serial approval flow at an arbitrary timing given by a user, the account registration and federation for this user.
Here, in the former case of executing the advance process, since there is no need to execute account registration and federation in the process of the SSO, there is no relation to the above-described data processing system.
On the other hand, in the latter case of the procedure through the approval flow, a great deal of time and labor is needed since the procedure is conducted through not only the user but also many people, such as superiors in layers of the organizational hierarchy to which the user belongs, and people in a procurement department and an IS department. Furthermore, since the IS department does not collectively perform the advance processes, manual operations occur, which are burdensome and are low in efficiency and convenience. For example, it is not possible to utilize the merit of quick use in SaaS, etc.
Accordingly, in the system which executes account registration and federation in the process of the SSO, it is preferable that the system has a seamless scheme for determining permission/non-permission of service use in a nonmanual manner.
Thus, there is a technique for automating a series processes from the application for use of services provided by a service provider to the SSO, by inserting, between the procedures (2) and (3) of the SSO, a process of executing account federation and registration after evaluating permission/non-permission of use of services provided by the service provider, based on a pre-defined policy relating to service use and the condition of service use.
The above-described technique has no problem in usual cases. However, according to the study by the inventor, there is room for improvement, as described below.
Usually, in a company, if a change in organization or personnel is made, the policy is updated from the standpoint of security. However, when a change in organization or personnel is made, it is necessary to conduct a handover work which follows the change in organization or personnel. If the policy is immediately updated without a manual operation, such a problem may occur that services, which are used in the handover work, cannot be utilized. Thus, in general, the update of the policy due to a change in organization or personnel is performed by a manual operation (i.e. the user performs a policy update work).
However, a manual work imposes a heavy load on the user, and there is a concern that a work error (human error) will occur.

Policy management system, id provider system, and policy evaluation device


An acoustic imaging system coupled to an acoustic medium to define an imaging surface. The acoustic imaging system includes an array of piezoelectric acoustic transducers formed at least in part from a thin-film piezoelectric material, such as PVDF. The array is coupled to the acoustic medium opposite the imaging surface and formed using a thin-film manufacturing process over an application-specific integrated circuit that, in turn, is configured to leverage on or more beamforming scan operations to drive the array of piezoelectric actuators to generate an image of an object at least partially wetting to the imaging surface.

An acoustic imaging system can be used to capture an image of an object at least partially wetting to a surface, often referred to as an "imaging surface." Certain conventional acoustic imaging systems are implemented with a two-dimensional array of microelectromechanical piezoelectric actuators that (1) generate an acoustic pulse directed toward the imaging surface in response to stimulus from control electronics and/or (2) output an electrical signal upon receiving reflections of those acoustic pulses resulting from impedance mismatch boundaries defined by contours of the object wetting to the imaging surface.
In many cases, however, conventional imaging systems are not suitable to operate with nonplanar imaging surfaces, such as curved sidewall surfaces of a button, a housing, or a rotary input device.

Beamforming optimization for segmented thin-film acoustic imaging systems incorporated in personal portable electronic devices


A robot arm including a force sensing apparatus capable of accurately sensing of a force in the axial direction of the robot arm during operation thereof, without being affected by a motion of the robot arm. The robot arm includes: a body that is elastically deformable and has a pipe form extending in an axial direction; an instrument connected to an operational end of the body; a cable that is connected to a terminal end of the instrument and controls an operation of the instrument; and a force sensing apparatus that is attached to a surface of the body and senses a force acting upon the body, wherein the cable at the terminal end of the instrument is configured to move along a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the body.

1. Field
Example embodiments of the following disclosure relate to a robot arm, including a force sensing apparatus, and more particularly, to a robot arm including a force sensing apparatus capable of accurately sensing a force in an axial direction of the robot arm, without being affected by a motion of the robot arm.
2. Description of the Related Art
Robots for diverse uses have been developed and commercialized in line with the advances in robot technology. For example, a remote-controlled surgery robot connected to a surgical part of a patient assists a surgeon in easily conducting minute surgical operations by viewing the surgical part remotely on an endoscope screen. By using the surgery robot, handshake that is caused as the surgeon moves his/her hand may be compensated for, and a remote surgical arm may scale-down and reproduce the motion of the surgeon's hand, and thus, precise operations may be conducted.
However, currently commercialized surgery robots provide only image information about a surgical part via an endoscope, and touch information which can be obtained in typical surgical operations is not provided. That is, compared to a surgical operation actually performed by using the hands, it is difficult for a surgeon to accurately figure out the amount of force applied to a surgical part by a surgical instrument attached to a surgery robot arm. Thus, if information about intensity of a contact of the surgical instrument, attached to the surgery robot arm, to the surgical part is provided to the surgeon, the information about the contact together with the image information may be helpful for minute operations needed for cutting, cauterization, suture, and the like, of the surgical part. To this end, it is important to accurately measure forces acting between the surgical instrument attached to the surgery robot arm and the surgical part.
Accordingly, installment of a delicate force sensing apparatus at an operational end of a surgery robot has been researched. However, currently suggested force sensing apparatuses are not capable of accurately measuring forces in each direction or it is difficult to mount force sensing apparatuses on an arm portion of a surgery robot in a limited space. Additionally, such force sensing apparatuses may malfunction in an environment where a strong electromagnetic field exists. In particular, it is difficult to sense a force acting in an axial direction of a robot arm. In addition, while grippers installed at the operational end of the surgery robot or the like are operating, a reaction force may be generated in the axial direction of the robot arm, which makes it even more difficult to sense a force in the axial direction.

Robot arm including force sensing apparatus


In a control circuit for controlling a current resonance type DC/DC converter, a negative voltage detection arrangement produces a pulse while a both-ends voltage of a resonance capacitor has a negative voltage. A voltage level error signal generating circuit includes a capacitor which is charged during production of the pulse and generates a voltage level error signal where a voltage level rises. A timer produces a timer signal having a sawtooth waveform where a voltage level gradually rises. An off timing generating circuit compares the timer signal with the voltage level error signal to generate an off timing signal defining a timing for making a short-circuit switch turn off. Responsive to the off timing signal, a driving control signal generating arrangement generates a second driving control signal indicative of turning-off of the short-circuit switch.

This invention relates to a switching power converter and, in particular, to a current resonance type DC/DC converter including a resonance circuit and a method of controlling a resonance current thereof.
In the manner which is well known in the art, the DC/DC converter is a switching power converter for converting an input DC voltage (which will later be merely also called an "input voltage") into an output DC voltage (which will later be merely also called an "output voltage") which is different from the input DC voltage.
As one of the DC/DC converters, there is a PWM (pulse width modulation) type DC/DC converter is known in the art. The PWM type DC/DC converters have various types which are classified into a step-down type, a step-up type, a polarity reversing type, or the like. The step-down PWM type DC/DC converter comprises an energizing switch, a short-circuit switch, and an output inductor. In lieu of the short-circuit switch, a diode may be used.
However, the PWM type DC/DC converter is disadvantageous in that it has a large switching loss when the energizing switch changes from an on state to an off state or changes from an off state to an on state. As a DC/DC converter which is capable of eliminating such a switching loss, a current resonance type DC/DC converter is known, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,635 issued by Vinciarelli et al.
Although the current resonance type DC/DC converter will later be described in conjunction with FIG. 1, the current resonance type DC/DC converter comprises a current resonance type DC/DC converting portion which includes an energizing switch, a resonance inductor, a resonance capacitor, a short-circuit switch, and an output inductor. The energizing switch is turned on/off in response to a first driving control signal. The resonance inductor has an end connected to the energizing switch. The resonance capacitor has an end connected to another end of the resonance inductor and another end which is grounded. The short-circuit switch is connected in parallel with the resonance capacitor. The short-circuit switch is turned on/off in response to a second driving control signal. The output inductor has an end connected to the other end of the resonance inductor and another end connected to an end of an output capacitor.
In the current resonance type DC/DC converter, a current flows through the resonance inductor only for a resonance duration with respect to a switching period. The current does not flow through the resonance inductor for a duration obtained by removing the resonance duration from the switching period. When an input/output voltage ratio becomes smaller, the switching period with respect to the resonance duration becomes longer. As a result, durations where the current does not flow through the resonance inductor increase, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,667 issued by Lee et al.
The current resonance type DC/DC converter has a large advantage where a zero-current switching (ZCS) of the energizing switch is enable by using a series resonance of a series resonance circuit consisting of the resonance inductor and the resonance capacitor, and it results in eliminating the switching loss.
In the conventional current resonance type DC/DC converter, a resonance current value is fixed to a value by an input voltage of an input power supply, the resonance inductor, and the resonance capacitor. Therefore, in order to always actualize the zero-current switching (ZCS), it is necessary to always flow, through the resonance inductor, the resonance current having a peak equivalent to a maximum output current value. For example, it will be assumed that the maximum output current value is equal to ten amperes. In this event, it is necessary for the peak of the resonance current have ten amperes or more.
In other words, it is necessary to always flow the resonance current having the peak equivalent to the maximum output current value through the resonance inductor not only on a heavy load where an output current is large but also on no-load or a light load where the output current is small.
In the manner which is described above, it is necessary to always flow the resonance current having the peak equivalent to the maximum output current value through the resonance inductor also on the no-load or the light load where the output current is small. Therefore, on the no-load or the light load, losses become larger caused by the resonance current flowing through the resonance inductor and parasitic resonance components of the energizing switch, the resonance inductor, the resonance capacitor, and so on. As a result, the conventional current resonance type DC/DC converter is disadvantageous in that it has a low degree of efficiency.

Current resonance type DC/DC converter capable of decreasing losses on no-load and a light load


An Airport Guidance System and Method which provides for GNSS compatible seamless airport guidance capability is disclosed. The computer system provides a automated lighting functions based upon GNSS based position and spatially compatible databases. The system and method utilize precise GNSS compatible zones, the Earth Centered Earth Fixed (ECEF) WGS-84 coordinate reference frame, GNSS compatible local coordinate frames such as local and state plane grids, zone-based automated airport lighting control, travel path information management processes which allow for the intelligent control of airport lighting systems. True airport independent processing is achieved when the ECEF coordinate reference frame is utilized. The lighting methods and processes are applicable to vehicles and aircraft operating in a controlled airport space envelope as well as other remote user sites with or without the assistance of air traffic controller. The system utilizes broadcast Automatic Dependent Surveillance (ADS) information from participating aircraft and vehicles. Although the processing methods may be employed using other surveillance information derived from radar sources with some degradation in performance due to radar inaccuracies and inability to produce accurate 3-dimensional velocity. The methods and processes employed provide a fundamental framework for increased airport safety, operational efficiency, energy savings and improved automation.

Today's airport terminal operations are complex and varied from airport to airport. Airports today are, in many cases, the limiting factor in aviation system capacity. Each airport has a unique set of capacity limiting factors which may include, limited tarmac, runways, suitable approaches, navigational or/and Air Traffic Control (ATC) facilities.
Furthermore, operational requirements in the terminal area involve all facets of aviation, communication, navigation and surveillance. The satisfaction of these requirements with technological/procedural solutions should be based upon three underlying principles; improved safety, improved capacity and cost effectiveness.
Today airport air traffic control procedures and general airport aviation operations are based on procedures from the 1950's. These air traffic control procedures were initially developed to separate aircraft while in the air. The separation surveillance system initially was a radar system consisting of a rotating radar antenna. The antenna rotated typically about once every 4.8 seconds while transmitting a signal, another receiving antenna picked up a reflected signal from a target. The surveillance system then calculated a range (based on transit time) and an azimuth angle based on the physical orientation of the antenna. The 2-dimensional position was then usually plotted on a display with other detected targets, objects and clutter. Radar today relies on faster rotating antennas or electronically scanned antennas to provide more frequent updates and higher resolution. To further enhance the performance of the target returns, provide altitude information and an identifier, a transponder is used on the aircraft. The transponder is the key element in radar surveillance systems, since without it no identification and no altitude information is provided to the air traffic control system.
Surveillance data from multiple surveillance systems (radars) is then discretely mosaiced or "tiled" into a semi-continuous system. Controllers today separate traffic visually by the rule of "green in between" the target tracks. This is a highly manual method for separation of aircraft, placing stress on the controllers and limits any true automation assistance for the controller.
Airport lighting functions currently are controller primarily on a manual basis from the airport tower. A 1991 effort conducted by MIT Lincoln Laboratory (DOC #8 Lincoln Lab Journal Vol. 4 #2 1991) used airport surface radar surveillance for the control of airport lights. A localized radar compatible processing environment was used with radar based position reports. The processing was not specifically compatible with seamless globally applicable GNSS position and velocity information nor GNSS based navigation. Other less sophisticated systems using buried magnetic sensors, burried weight sensors and even optical detection systems have been utilized in the control of airport lights. These lighting systems all fail to integrate gracefully into the a GNSS compatible overall airport processing environment as presented here.
In the high density and high precision airport environment numerous single function airport systems have been developed over the years to support air traffic control and pilot needs. Precise landing navigation is currently provided by the Instrument Landing System (ILS), while airside navigation is provided by VOR/DMS, LORAN and NDB's. Airport air traffic controller surveillance is provided thorough visual means, airport surface detection radar (ASDE), secondary surveillance radar, parallel runway monitoring radar and in some cases primary radar. Each of these systems is single function, local in nature and operation and provides accuracy which is a function of distance to the object being tacked. Merging these navigation and surveillance systems into a 4-dimensional seamless airport environment is technically difficult and expensive. MIT Lincoln Laboratories is attempting to provide an improved radar based Air Traffic Control environment and has received three U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,374,932, 5,519,618 and 5,570,095 reflecting those efforts. These patents relate to improvements of the current localized surveillance and navigation airport environment without the use of GNSS compatible seamless techniques as described by Pilley.
These localized systems have served the aviation system well for nearly 50 years and numerous mishaps have been prevented over this period through their use. With the advent of new multi-function technologies superior performance is available at a fraction of the cost of today's current single function systems. The technologies of Global Navigation Satellite Systems, digital communication and low cost commercial computers can support seamless 4-dimensional airport operations at smaller airports unable to justify the heavy financial investment in today's single function navigation and surveillance systems.

Airport guidance and safety system incorporating lighting control using GNSS compatible methods


A semiconductor chip package includes a lead frame, an insulation member, a chip, bonding wires and a sealing member. The lead frame includes a plurality of first leads and a plurality of second leads. The second leads have a chip adhesion region. The insulation member fills a space between the second leads in the chip adhesion region. The chip is provided on at least one surface of the insulation member. The chip has single-side bonding pads. The bonding wires electrically connect the leads and the bonding pads. The sealing member covers the lead frame, the insulation member, the chip and the bonding wires. Since the space between the second leads is filled with the insulation member, voids may be prevented from occurring.

1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments relate to a semiconductor chip package, and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor chip package. More particularly, example embodiments relate to a semiconductor chip package on which a semiconductor chip having single-side bonding pads is mounted, and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor chip package.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nowadays, interest is increasing in decreasing a chip size and improving the electrical characteristics of chips according to decreasing design rules of semiconductor devices. A chip having single-side bonding pads has been developed to decrease a chip size and improve chip electrical characteristics. In addition, a lead frame to which the chip is adhered has been developed.
The lead frame includes a plurality of first leads and a plurality of second leads. The chip having single-side bonding pads is adhered to the second leads. As such, chips may be adhered to one surface or both surfaces of the second leads.
When chips are adhered to both surfaces of the second leads, there exists a long and narrow space between the second leads. Since the space is long and narrow, a sealing member for covering the chip and the lead frame may not completely cover the space. Accordingly, voids and air pockets may occur within the semiconductor chip package to cause defects of the semiconductor chip package.


A process for projection exposure in which, using alignment marks on the back of a workpiece, positioning of the mask to the workpiece is performed, and a device for executing the process is achieved by the fact that exposure light is emitted from an exposure light irradiation device without the workpiece being in place. Images of alignment marks of the mask are imaged on image sensors of alignment units, and by an image processing part positions thereof are determined. According to the invention, then, a workpiece is placed on a workpiece carrier, light is emitted from alignment light irradiation devices and positions of the alignment marks of the workpiece are determined. Furthermore, the workpiece carrier is moved by the carrier drive device such that the alignment marks of the mask and workpiece come to rest on top of one another, and thus positioning of the mask to the workpiece is done. Then the exposure surface of the workpiece and the imaging position of the mask are brought into agreement with one another, exposure light is emitted from the exposure light irradiation device, and the workpiece is exposed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a projection exposure device which is used, for example, for production of a semiconductor device, a printed board, an LCD (liquid crystal display), and for similar purposes. The invention relates more specifically to a process for exposure in which positioning of alignment marks which are located on the back of a workpiece is performed relative to alignment marks of a mask, and in which projection exposure of a mask pattern onto the workpiece is produced. The invention also relates to a device for executing such a process.
2. Description of Related Art
In the production of a power transistor, micro machine, printed circuit board and the like, it is important to expose the pattern of a mask exactly in a predetermined position of a workpiece, such as a silicon wafer, epoxy resin and the like. The above described positioning is conventionally performed in such a way that the alignment marks of the mask and workpiece come to rest on top of one another. In particular, in a certain production process, there are cases in which the pattern is burned onto both sides of a workpiece, exact positioning of one pattern on the front side relative to the other pattern on the back being important.
This means that, in the formation of the back pattern, by turning over the workpiece with the pattern formed on its front and then exposing the back, it is necessary that alignment marks which are recorded on the front surface, on which the pattern is already formed and which are positioned by turning to the back relative to the surface exposed to the mask alignment marks, and that the pattern on the back be positioned relative to the pattern of the front. (In the following, this alignment is called back alignment).
In a process of manufacturing a micro machine, there is a need for accuracy of the above described positioning equal, for example, to roughly 1 micron.
The above described back alignment is conventionally used only for a proximity printing system in which the mask and the workpiece are caused to approach one another and exposure is produced. It is not used in a projection exposure system in which the mask pattern is projected onto the workpiece via a projection lens and exposure is performed.
The projection exposure system was conventionally used for working in the micro domain, such as formation of chips on a wafer surface, as in a reduction projection exposure device of the stepper type.
On the other hand, recently, exposure of both sides of the workpiece has been performed more and more often, as in a process of manufacture of a micro machine and the like. In this case, a double-side type of exposure is used more and more frequently in which, for example, one surface of the workpiece is subjected to precision processing by exposure by means of a stepper or the like, in which, then, the workpiece is turned, alignment of the second surface is performed using the alignment marks on the back surface and then exposure is performed.
To date, the proximity printing system as was described above was conventional as the exposure system for double-sided exposure by executing back alignment. In the proximity printing system, however, it was considered to be a disadvantage that impurities or the like which are formed on the workpiece and the mask cause faults, in this case, because the mask and the workpiece are caused to approach one another and exposure is done.

Process for projection exposure of a workpiece with back alignment marks


The present disclosure relates to a game ball having one or more grip zones that have greater frictional interaction compared to the outer surface of the game ball. The grip zones are made by stitching of a coated thread upon at least one cover panel to create the grip zone. The grip zone formed from the coated thread enhances the handling characteristics and playability of the resulting game ball.

The present disclosure relates generally to inflatable game balls having one or more grip zones that improve the handling characteristics of the ball. Methods of making such grip zone(s) using a soft, compressible, elastic thread stitched into the outer cover panel(s) of the ball are also disclosed. The stitches and/or resulting grip zone may have an enhanced coefficient of friction (or frictional coefficient) over other components of the ball, and the resulting grip zone provides better grip, handling, and playability characteristics. These methods are particularly useful for enhancing the grippability of the covers of certain inflated game balls or sportsballs, such as those used for throwing, kicking, and catching in the games of rugby, American football, or Canadian football.
In this regard, a football or rugby ball has a generally prolate spheroid shape (i.e. egg-shaped) with lacing on top of the ball. The specific size, shape, and construction of the ball differ depending upon league rules and regulations. Such balls are designed to meet certain specifications. For example, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) requires that all footballs used for gameplay are marked with two 1-inch white stripes covering one-half the circumference (i.e. the top panels) of the ball. These stripes are located about 3 inches from the end of the ball. Some rugby balls do not have lacing or stripes.
When used in play, a football and/or rugby ball is contacted by players in a variety of different ways and using a variety of techniques. For example, a football player can carry, hold, throw, and/or catch the game ball frequently during the course of a game.
The feel or touch of the game ball can affect the tempo and result of the game. For example, if the surface of a game ball is too smooth, it may be very difficult for a receiver to catch a football or for a running back to maintain the ball in his hands while running. Similarly, if the game ball has a surface that is too slick, the quarterback may have difficulty throwing the football with the desired degree of precision, or a kicker may have difficulty kicking the ball accurately. This is especially true during play in inclement weather conditions.
It would be desirable to provide game balls that have enhanced grip characteristics, as well as alternative methods for making such game balls.


A mobile information terminal to determine whether a user's operation state is one-handed operation or two-handed operation. The mobile information terminal includes a pressure sensor array that acquires a gripping pressure distribution; a gripping pressure logger that records time-series changes in gripping pressure at each pressure sensor forming the pressure sensor array; a gripping pressure change point detection unit that includes a gripping pressure change amount calculation section that acquires time-series changes in gripping pressure at each pressure sensor and determines whether the amount of change in gripping pressure per unit time exceeds a predetermined value at any pressure sensor; and an operation state determination section that determines the operation state of the user of the mobile information terminal is one-handed operation when the amount of change in gripping pressure per unit time exceeds the predetermined value at any pressure sensor.

Mobile information terminals having a touch sensitive screen as a user interface have been coming into use in recent years. The user can intuitively operate the mobile information terminal with a touch sensitive screen by touching the screen with a finger or by sliding the finger on the screen. Many recent mobile information terminals incorporate an accelerometer, and those mobile information terminals can automatically switch the display orientation of the display screen in accordance of the direction of gravitational force sensed by the accelerometer. This allows the user to use the mobile information terminal in a variety of gripping states and operation states according to the circumstances. For example, the user may grip the mobile information terminal in the right hand and operate the terminal with the right fingers alone (right thumb mainly), may grip the mobile information terminal in the left hand and operate the terminal with the left fingers alone (left thumb mainly), may grip the mobile information terminal in the right hand and operate the terminal with the left fingers alone (left index finger mainly), and may grip the mobile information terminal in the left hand and operate the terminal with the right fingers alone (right index finger mainly). Moreover, the user may not grip the mobile information terminal but may place it on a stand and operate it with right fingers or left fingers, and may also grip the mobile information terminal in both hands and operate it with fingers of both hands (both thumbs mainly), for example.
Although the gripping states and operation states of the mobile information terminal vary as described above, conventional mobile information terminals cannot perform screen display suited to each gripping state and each operation state. For example, if the user grips the terminal in the right (left) hand and attempts to operate the touch sensitive screen with the right (left) thumb (this operation method will be referred to as one-handed operation), some areas of the touch sensitive screen, such as the top right corner, the bottom left corner, the top left corner, and the bottom right corner, become difficult to reach for the right (left) thumb. If an icon or link is displayed in those areas, it has been difficult for the user to touch the icon or link displayed in those areas while performing one-handed operation. For example, when the user of the mobile information terminal is going to operate the mobile information terminal, while standing in a moving train, the user would hold on to a strap or a rail with one hand so that he or she will not stagger and would perform one-handed operation of the mobile information terminal with the other hand.
If an icon or link the user wants to reach is displayed in an area that is difficult to reach for the right (left) thumb on the touch sensitive screen, the user should give up the operation until the next time the train stops and operate the mobile information terminal with both hands when the train has stopped, or should release the strap or rail temporarily in the moving train and operate the mobile information terminal with both hands temporarily. If the train jolts while the user is not holding on to the strap or rail, the user may fall down. If this occurs in a crowded train, the user could bump into another passenger or could step on the foot of another passenger. The same inconvenience will occur when the user attempts to operate the mobile information terminal with one hand while carrying in the other hand a load that cannot be carried on his or her back. The user has to lower the load onto the ground and then operate the mobile information terminal.
A portable terminal in Patent Literature 1 utilizes a touch sensor (left sensor) disposed in the upper part of the left edge of the housing and a touch sensor (right sensor) disposed in the upper part of the right edge of the housing and solves the problems described above by determining whether the user's current holding state is left-handed operation, right-handed operation, or two-handed operation, using the states of thumbs detected by the left and right sensors and the detected state of the touch sensitive screen. When the detected states of the left sensor, right sensor, and touch sensitive screen are expressed by a circle (detection) or a cross (no detection), if the left and right sensors and the touch sensitive screen make no detection, for example, the state can be expressed as (left sensor, right sensor, touch sensitive screen)=(x, x, x). When the initial state S1 is defined as a state in which the user is neither gripping the portable terminal nor touching the touch sensitive screen, the initial state S1 can be expressed as (x, x, x). When a change from the initial state (x, x, x) to a state (O, x, x) is detected, it is determined that the left thumb is placed on the upper part of the left edge of the housing of the portable terminal, and the state shifts to a left-hand-holding state S2. When a change from the left-hand-holding state S2 (O, x, x) to the state (x, x, x) is detected, it is determined that the thumb is moving to touch the touch sensitive screen, and the state shifts to a prior-to-left-handed-operation state S3. When a change from the prior-to-left-handed-operation state S3 (x, x, x) to a state (x, x, O) is detected, it is determined that the thumb has touched the touch sensitive screen, and the state shifts to a subsequent-to-left-handed-operation state S4. When a change from the left-hand-holding state S2 (O, x, x) to a state (O, x, O) is detected, it is determined that the terminal is held in the left hand and the touch sensitive screen is operated with a right finger, and the state changes to a left-hand-holding right-handed-operation state S5.
The same goes for the right hand. When a change from the initial state (x, x, x) to a state (x, O, x) is detected, it is determined that the right thumb is placed on the upper part of the right edge of the housing of the portable terminal, and the state shifts to a right-hand-holding state S6. When a change from the right-hand-holding state S6 (x, O, x) to a state (x, x, x) is detected, it is determined that the thumb is moving to touch the touch sensitive screen, and the state shifts to a prior-to-right-handed-operation state S7. When a change from the prior-to-right-handed-operation state S7 (x, x, x) to a state (x, x, O) is detected, it is determined that the thumb has touched the touch sensitive screen, and the state shifts to a subsequent-to-right-handed-operation state S8. When a change from the right-hand-holding state S6 (x, O, x) to a state (x, O, O) is detected, it is determined that the terminal is held in the right hand and the touch sensitive screen is operated with a left finger, and the state shifts to a right-hand-holding left-handed-operation state S9. The terminal in Patent Literature 1 determines whether the user's current holding state is left-handed operation, right-handed operation, or two-handed operation, as described above, and re-positions the control buttons on the touch sensitive screen so that they can be reached easily in any holding state.
Patent literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2009-169820

Mobile information terminal and operation state determination method


A client node (CN) requests content from an access node (AN). Rule set ACR_CN is provided to CN and AN and ACR_AN is used by AN. A request sent by CN in violation of ACR_CN may be blocked and cause AN to block subsequent requests from CN that would be allowed per ACR_CN. A request blocked according to ACR_AN but not ACR_CN is blocked but subsequent requests may still be allowed according to ACR_CN and ACR_AN. Authenticated distribution of the ACR_CN and ACR_AN may be performed in cooperation with a controller using authenticated tokens (AT).

Digital business transformation requires systems, services, APIs, data and processes to be accessible through multiple ecosystems anywhere, anytime, from any device over the Internet. This expands the surface area for attackers to target. One of the known ways of controlling access to protected resources is to deploy a perimeter firewall providing highly restricted external access to the network with protected resources, while allowing full access from inside of that network. This model creates excessive trust for inside access that can be abused by attackers from the outside once they penetrate the defenses and reach the inside. For instance, an attacker that has reached the inside through a Virtual Private Network (VPN) may be allowed to pass through the perimeter firewall and may access any protected device inside that network as a trusted user, compromise it, and then instruct compromised device to access other protected devices without additional authorization (attack known as a lateral movement).
Instead of allowing every user inside the trusted network to access any protected resource, Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) implementations use secure trust brokers to mediate connections between users and protected resources. A Secure trust broker can be deployed on a server, gateway, or a proxy. For instance, BeyondCorp implementation of ZTNA, developed by Google Corporation, uses an internet-facing access proxy with an access control engine to provide service-level authorization to protected resources on a per-request basis. In this implementation, an attacker or a previously compromised device can't access unauthorized resource even from inside the network containing protected resources.
It would be an advancement in the art to improve ZTNA in a network environment.

Secure controlled access to protected resources


A flexible auxiliary clip-on frame for tension mounting to a mating or primary spectacle frame. The clip on may be used to house sunglasses or any other frames necessary. The primary spectacle frame does not have to be constructed with any special features in order to mate with the auxiliary clip-on assembly. The primary spectacle frame assembly has the typical eyewear components including the eyerim, end pieces, rimblocks, bridge, temple, and optionally, nose pieces. Due to its flexible nature, the entire body of the auxiliary clip-on assembly acts as a spring. The spring-like qualities of the auxiliary clip-on assembly are used to securely fit the auxiliary clip-on assembly onto the primary spectacle frame assembly through the use of end piece retainers, without the need for magnets or any other fixture.

Clip-on eyewear, in one form or another, has been in use for over fifty years. The most common use is for a primary eyeglass frame, usually holding prescription lenses, to support an auxiliary eyeglass partial frame, usually holding sunglass lenses. One or both of the primary and auxiliary frames would be manufactured with structure to enable the user to mount the auxiliary partial frame onto the primary frame, so that the auxiliary (sunglass) lenses would be positioned in front of the primary (prescription) lenses. Many different configurations of clip-on eyewear have been designed. Clip-on sunglasses allow consumers to purchase a pair of sunglasses at an affordable price and enable prescription glasses to function as sunglasses by simply attaching the clip-on accessory.
Early embodiments of clip-on eyewear involving clip-on sunglasses were equipped with metal hooks or clamping mechanisms for attaching to prescription glasses. In order to attach the clip-on sunglasses to the prescription glasses, the clip-on was twisted and the metal hooks were affixed over the eyerim of the prescription glasses.
U.S. Pat. No. 569,117 issued to Mosher discloses a non-magnetic clip-on for attaching to a primary frame. However, the clips of the Mosher invention are constructed of metal. Further, the auxiliary clip-on of Mosher's invention employs a yielding ligament between the two lenses. And finally, the auxiliary clip-on of Mosher's invention is meant to put on or taken off while the primary frame is being worn.
A later embodiment of clip-on eyewear employed magnets to attach an auxiliary frame to a primary frame. By replacing the hooks with magnets, the clip-on sunglasses attached without twisting and hooking the clip-on. The magnets can be placed in a variety of positions. The initial magnetic embodiment involved front-mounted magnets. U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,537 issued to Sadler discloses a front-mounted magnetic eyewear invention. The subsequent magnetic embodiments moved the magnets to a variety of other locations such as top-mounted magnets, bridge-mounted magnets, back-mounted magnets, and bottom-mounted magnets.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,207 issued to Chao (reissued as Pat. No. RE37,545 E) discloses auxiliary lenses that magnetically engage with the primary eyeglass frame. In this disclosure, the configuration of the primary eyeglass frame and auxiliary lenses only prevent downward disengagement of the auxiliary lenses.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,730 issued to Kwok is an improvement on previous magnetic eyewear patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,207 issued to Chao. In Kwok, the auxiliary lens frame securely attaches to the primary eyeglass frame whereby disengagement of the auxiliary lens frame from the primary eyeglass frame is prevented in all directions. The auxiliary lens frame is manufactured with engaging magnets contained on two sides projection members thereof in protective mounting collars, each having flanges that prevent the auxiliary lenses and primary eyeglass frame from becoming disengaged due to movement of the wearer when engaged.
This magnetic clip-on eyewear met the needs of consumers who had become more athletic and design-aesthetic conscious. The consumer's requirements for clip-on eyewear became more exacting as to the need for secure mounting and position-holding of the two assemblies, as well as the attractive appearance, using light weight metals with thin profiles.
However, despite their advantages over the metal hook variety, the magnetic attaching sunglasses had certain flaws as well. First, there are concerns regarding a pair of magnets emitting electromagnetic radiation on each side of the head for prolonged periods of time. There is no research yet that proves that this proximity for long durations of time is harmless. Second, there is the possibility of increased risk due to electromagnetic radiation directly next to cellular telephones. Third, there is the possibility that the magnets may be harmful to the cell phones. The impacts of magnets are still the subject of many studies.
Electromagnetic radiation cannot be shielded completely. Children are more vulnerable than adults to electromagnetic radiation. Cell phones have been linked to cancer. Electromagnetic radiation depletes lymphocytes that are part of the immune system. Power line electromagnetic radiation has been proven to cause leukemia. To date, exactly how much exposure to electromagnetic radiation can be harmful to health remains an unsolved scientific and medical issue.
Further, there is the possibility of issues associated with the magnets themselves. The magnets may fall out of the eyewear. The magnets may corrode. The magnets may corrode inherently; however, the movement of the magnets in some inventions may cause increased wear. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,207 issued to Chao only restricts downward disengagement versus U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,730 issued to Kwok which further restricts movement due to the presence of flanges on the auxiliary lens frame. In addition, when the magnets of the clip-on or frame are in a bag, such as a purse, stray objects such as paper clips are attracted to the eyewear. These situations cause either inconvenience, damaging scratches to lenses, and/or cost to consumers.
In addition, prior art clip-on eyewear is capable of one handed mounting and removal of the auxiliary assembly to and from the primary assembly, when the primary assembly is being worn but such action causes that one hand to be put in front of one's eyes, often when driving a car or descending stairs—which poses a safety problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,470 issued to Sheffield discloses a prescription lens attachable to safety glasses. The safety glasses are equipped with a projecting rim. The prescription lens is constructed with a sloping edge to fit into the projecting rim of the safety glasses. The prescription lens fits in the inside of the safety glasses between the wearer's face and the safety glasses. This invention is quite different from other clip-on eyewear inventions due to the fact that attachment occurs on the inside of the primary frame rather than the outside. A distinct disadvantage of this invention is that both the safety glasses and the prescription lenses must be specially constructed with either a projecting rim or the appropriate sloping edge in order for engagement to occur.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,234 issued to Huang discloses a non-magnetic clip-on for attaching to a primary frame. In Huang, both the primary frame and the auxiliary frame require special modification to effectuate engagement. The primary frame is constructed with recessed notches, while the auxiliary frame is constructed with hooks. The alignment of the hooks and notches is critical to engagement.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,627 issued to Agnoli also discloses a non-magnetic clip-on eyewear invention. Specifically, Agnoli discloses an eyeglass device with a removable supplemental lens. In Agnoli, the primary frame must be manufactured with tabbed projections to meet with the notches of the auxiliary frame in order for attachment to occur.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,705 issued to Ledbetter discloses auxiliary corrective eyeglasses for use with primary eyeglasses. In Ledbetter, there is no clipping, attachment, or engagement involved. In Ledbetter, the auxiliary frame merely rests on the inside of the primary frame. There are clear disadvantages to this invention that fails to provide a secure means for maintaining the auxiliary frame in its proper, desired position.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,964 issued to Kroman discloses a non-magnetic clip-on eyewear invention. The auxiliary frame in Kroman slides into position in front of the primary frame. Both the primary frame and auxiliary frame must be constructed with curved portions for attachment to occur.
Utility Pat. No. RE37,523 issued to Bondet discloses eyeglasses having interchangeable lenses and attachment clips in contrast to clip-on eyewear which involves a separate auxiliary and primary frame. There are many disadvantages associated with this type of invention including but not limited to ease of use.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,703 issued to Sadler discloses a magnetic clip-on eyewear invention. In particular, Sadler discloses eyeglass devices having auxiliary eyeglasses with magnetic clamp mounting. The numerous potential disadvantages associated with magnetic clip-on eyewear have been discussed above. There are further disadvantages associated with the Sadler invention due to the fact that the magnetic features of the invention are a separate entity from the auxiliary and primary frames and thus could become more easily lost or damaged.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,478 issued to Jagasia discloses an eyeglass device having primary and auxiliary frames with lenses and method for forming the same. As Jagasia is a clip-on magnetic eyewear invention, it too is subject to the numerous potential disadvantages associated with magnetic clip-on eyewear discussed above.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,912 issued to Vitaloni discloses spectacles with additional removable lens or lenses. This non-magnetic clip-on eyewear invention requires that the primary frame be manufactured with means for clasping the auxiliary lenses.
For these reasons, a biologically safe clip-on is needed which attaches with neither metal hooks nor magnets.

Flexible auxiliary clip-on for tension mounting to a mating spectacle frame