Servo patterns for patterned media. The servo pattern includes specification of cylinder/track ID with and without a Gray code. The servo pattern space is minimized by the optimum usage of the islands. This is achieved by island allocation rules to take advantage of non-magnetic island. The island allocation also provides for easier lift-off. Logic is used to encode and decode the Gray code. Further, the Gray code is designed to stabilize the magnetic island/non-magnetic island ratio to allow for easier manufacture.

The heart of a computer's long term memory is an assembly that is referred to as a magnetic disk drive. The magnetic disk drive includes a rotating magnetic disk, write and read heads that are suspended by a suspension arm adjacent to a surface of the rotating magnetic disk and an actuator that swings the suspension arm to place the read and write heads over selected circular tracks on the rotating disk. The read and write heads are directly located on a slider that has an air bearing surface (ABS). The suspension arm biases the slider into contact with the surface of the disk when the disk is not rotating but, when the disk rotates, air is swirled by the rotating disk. When the slider rides on the air bearing, the write and read heads are employed for writing magnetic impressions to and reading magnetic impressions from the rotating disk. The read and write heads are connected to processing circuitry that operates according to a computer program to implement the writing and reading functions.
The write head is generally an inductive write element that includes an electrically conductive coil that generates a magnetic flux in a write pole. The read head includes a magnetoresistive sensor. In current read head designs a spin valve sensor, also referred to as a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) sensor, has been employed for sensing magnetic fields from the rotating magnetic disk. The sensor includes a nonmagnetic conductive layer, referred to as a spacer layer, sandwiched between first and second ferromagnetic layers, referred to as a pinned layer and a free layer.
Patterned magnetic recording media have been proposed to increase the bit density in magnetic recording data storage, such as hard disk drives. Patterned media can also be used for magnetic tape and other recording media such as compact disks. In magnetic patterned media, the magnetic material is patterned into small magnetically isolated blocks or islands such that there is a single magnetic domain in each island or "bit". The single magnetic domains can be a single grain or consist of a few strongly coupled grains that switch magnetic states in concert as a single magnetic volume. This is in contrast to conventional continuous media wherein a single "bit" may have multiple magnetic domains separated by domain walls. U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,769 is representative of various types of patterned media and their methods of fabrication. A description of magnetic recording systems with patterned media and their associated challenges is presented by R. L. White et al., "Patterned Media: A Viable Route to 50 Gbit/in2 and Up for Magnetic Recording", IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 33, No. 1, Jan 1997, 990-995.
In perpendicular patterned media applications, typically a magnetization in the up direction is considered North (N) and magnetization in the down direction is considered South (S). For longitudinal patterned media, magnetization in the left direction would be considered West (W) and magnetization in the right direction would be considered East (E).
Servo field are also typically used in hard disk drives to help the head stay aligned and to find the proper track. The servo field typically includes a sync field, an STM field, a cylinder ID field and a burst pattern. A sync field is generally used to synchronize data frequency. The STM field, otherwise called the servo start mark, is general used to mark the beginning of the servo information. The cylinder ID field is used to number the tracks and can also include the sector ID number. The burst pattern is used to properly position a head over a track.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


A method for displaying and transmitting images and an electronic device thereof are provided. The electronic device includes a first display, a second display separated from the first display, a transceiver, at least one processor electrically connected to the first display, the second display, and the transceiver, and a memory electrically connected to the at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to display a first screen image on the first display, provide a second screen image on the second display at least partially simultaneously with the displaying of the first screen image on the first display, provide data associated with one of the screen images to the transceiver, and control the transceiver to transmit the data to an external device such that a screen image at least partially identical to one of the screen images is output on a display of the external device.

With advances in mobile communication and processor technologies, electronic devices such as mobile terminals and smartphones can support not only conventional call functions but also various advanced functions. Such an electronic device may be equipped with a display including a touch panel to output images generated by various functions. The electronic device may output images associated with various applications, web browsers, and video content on the display.
An electronic device may exchange various data with an external device through various wired or wireless communication schemes. In particular, the image displayed on the electronic device may also be displayed on the external device by use of a mirroring technology. The mirroring technology enables multiple electronic devices each having a display to share screen data. The image output on the display of an electronic device may be sent to an external device in peer-to-peer (P2P) mode through wireless local area communication like Wi-Fi, and the external device may display the received image at the same time as the electronic device. As such, the mirroring technology may be very effective for a user who wishes to view images that are created by an electronic device with a small display by use of an external device with a large display.
However, the existing mirroring technology, which transmits the image output on the display of the electronic device to the external device as it is, may not be suitable for achieving multitasking. For example, while the user is viewing video content using the external device, when a popup window for a social networking service (SNS) message is output on the electronic device, the popup window may also be output on the display of the external device. Output of the popup window on the external device would not be in accord with the intent of the user wishing to view video content on a larger screen.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electronic device and method for displaying and transmitting images thereof


The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a manufacturing method thereof; the LCD comprises a backlight module and a display panel; an included angle ⊖pb is between a normal direction of a light emission surface of the backlight module and a normal direction of a light emission surface of the display panel. By changing the relative positions of the display panel and the backlight module, the LCD and the manufacturing method thereof of the present invention decrease the phenomenon of asymmetrical light field in the LCD.

With the development of technology, a variety of electronic products have become daily necessities, wherein the display is an important component of multimedia electronic products. Also, the LCD has advantages of energy saving, non-radiation, small volume, low power consumption, compactness, planar rectangularity, high definition (HD) and stable image quality, so as to gradually substitutes the traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) display and be widely applied to electronic products, such as cell phone, screen, digital television, laptop and so on.
According to the incident position of the light source, a backlight module can be classified into the side-light type and direct-light type. In order to meet requirements of energy saving and aesthetic (i.e. thinness and narrow frame) of the LCD, the side-light type gradually becomes the primary product in the market. However, the incident manner of the backlight module of this type has an inherent defect, as shown in FIG. 1, that the emitting light field of a light emission surface 101 of the light guide plate is asymmetrical to a normal direction A2 of the light emission surface 101, so that it causes that a light emission direction A1 corresponding to the maximum luminosity of the light emission surface 101 is not parallel to the normal direction A2 of the light emission surface. Thereby, it overextend the light emission angle ⊖max (i.e. the included angle between the light emission direction A1 corresponding to the maximum luminosity and the normal direction A2 to the light emission surface 101), so as to influence the display quality of the corresponding LCD.
In order to overcome the foregoing defect, the LCD manufacturer generally attaches an optical film which can change the light filed onto the side of the light emission surface of the light guide plate to rectify the biased light field back to the front view angle of the corresponding display panel. However, if wanting to achieve a better compensation effect, it has to attach the combination of various optical films, which results in increasing manufacturing costs of the backlight module.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide a LCD and a manufacturing method thereof to solve the problems of the traditional technique.

Liquid crystal display and manufacturing method thereof

SHENZHEN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO. LTD.


Provided is a fluid control device that achieves high sealing performance at full closure, and can suppress damage to a valve body or a valve seat surface even without mechanical accuracy improvements. The fluid control device includes: a fluid control valve provided in a flow path through which fluid flows: and a control mechanism that controls the fluid control valve. The fluid control valve includes: a valve seat surface; a valve body that contacts and separates from the valve seat surface; and an actuator that drives the valve body. Further, the control mechanism includes a speed adjustment part that when the valve body is brought close to the valve seat surface in order to fully close the fluid control valve, and the valve seat surface and the valve body reach a predetermined distance apart, reduces the moving speed of the valve body more than before reaching the predetermined distance.

In a fluid control device such as a mass flow controller, the opening level of a fluid control valve is feedback-controlled on the basis of the deviation between a setting flow rate set by a user and an actual flow rate measured by a flow rate sensor so that fluid flows at the setting flow rate.
In addition, a mass flow controller is required not only to keep a state where fluid keeps flowing at a setting flow rate, but also to be able to prevent the fluid from flowing toward the downstream side of the mass flow controller.
For example, fluid control valves used for a mass flow controller of a normally closed type include one configured such that, when a fully closing command is received, a valve body is pressed against a valve seat surface with predetermined pressing force by a spring (see Patent Literature 1).
Further, in order to make it possible to achieve higher sealing performance than the above-described fluid control valve, there is also one adapted to arrange a valve body above a valve seat surface and drive an actuator so as to, from a state where the valve body is in contact with the valve seat surface, further push the valve body against the valve seat surface side.
Meanwhile, when a fluid control valve configured to be able to achieve high sealing performance at the time of full closure continues to repeat the full closure and opening, the strong pressing force of the valve may cause, for example, the surface of a valve body to be damaged by a valve seat surface, thus reducing the sealing performance.
This may be because, for example, the valve body slightly tilts from a design attitude and only part of the valve body is strongly pressed against the valve seat surface.
However, the parallel accuracy of a valve body is currently reaching its limit, and therefore it is difficult to prevent a reduction in sealing performance due to secular change by improving the tilt of a valve body.

Fluid control device, recording medium recorded with control program, and control method


A system and method are provided for managing communication with a plurality of wireless client devices operating in a radio frequency band shared by other types of devices, comprising a step of controlling at least one parameter associated with radio communication with each of the plurality of wireless devices based on the radio frequency environment associated with each corresponding one of the plurality of wireless client devices. Spectrum profile information describing the radio frequency environment (activity in the frequency band) at a wireless client device is sent to the wireless base station device (where the parameter controls are made) from either a wireless client device or another radio device in the proximity of one or more wireless client devices that is capable of generating the spectrum profile information. The spectrum profile information may include information identifying signals that are occurring in the frequency band in the proximity of a wireless client device. Examples of parameters that may be controlled at the wireless base station device include packet fragmentation threshold (the length of a data packet), transmission data rate and transmission scheduling (synchronizing a transmission to quiescent intervals of one or more periodic interfering signals).

The explosive growth in wireless applications and devices over the past few years has produced tremendous public interest benefits. Wireless networks and devices have been deployed in millions of offices, homes, and more recently, in increasing numbers of public areas. These wireless deployments are forecast to continue at an exciting pace and offer the promise of increased convenience and productivity.
This growth, which is taking place mostly in the unlicensed bands, is not without its downsides. In the United States, the unlicensed bands established by the FCC consist of large portions of spectrum at 2.4 GHz and at 5 GHz, which are free to use. The FCC currently sets requirements for the unlicensed bands such as limits on transmit power spectral density and limits on antenna gain. It is well recognized that as unlicensed band devices become more popular and their density in a given area increases, a "tragedy of the commons" effect will often become apparent and overall wireless utility (and user satisfaction) will collapse. This phenomenon has already been observed in environments that have a high density of wireless devices.
The types of signaling protocols used by devices in the unlicensed bands are not designed to cooperate with signals of other types also operating in the bands. For example, a frequency hopping signal (e.g., a signal emitted from a device that uses the Bluetooth™ communication protocol or a signal emitted from certain cordless phones) may hop into the frequency channel of an IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN), causing interference with operation of the WLAN. Thus, technology is needed to exploit all of the benefits of the unlicensed band without degrading the level of service that users expect.
Historically, the wireless industry's general approach to solving "tragedy of the commons" problems has been for manufacturers to simply move to another commons further up the spectrum. This solution, however, is not workable for much longer, due to spectrum scarcity and to the less attractive technical characteristics of the higher bands (decreased signal propagation and the inability to penetrate surfaces).
Enterprise uses of the unlicensed band are focused on larger scale deployment of wireless networks (e.g., WLANs) and integration into wired networks. WLANs can complicate existing network management schemes because they introduce the additional requirement of efficiently managing radio spectrum. Current WLAN systems and management technology are focused on managing activity at the network level of the WLAN, but provide little of no capability to manage the frequency band where signals of multiple types (e.g., communication protocol/network types, device types, etc.) are present. What is needed is technology to obtain and use knowledge of what is happening in a shared radio frequency band, such as an unlicensed band, to enable devices to act intelligently with respect to their use of the frequency thereby maintaining the performance of devices and networks of devices operating in that frequency band.

System and method for management of a shared frequency band using client-specific management techniques


A dual function air pump has a compressor with an inlet connected to a first port and with a first outlet connected to a second port. The air to the compressor is directed by a first tube from the first port, such that a suction effect exists at the first port. The air pumped out of the compressor is directed to the second port by a second tube, such that an exhaust or blowing effect exists at the second port. A pressure gauge is connected by an auxiliary tube to the second tube. The compressor further has a second outlet connected to a control switch assembly by a third tube.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dual function air pump, and more particularly to an air pump having two nozzles mounted on the body of the air pump to function respectively as a suction nozzle and an exhaust nozzle, such that the user is able to have two different capabilities with a single air pump.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional air pump only has one nozzle for pumping air, which makes it necessary for a user to buy a suction device when suction is required. For a better understanding of the relationship between the air pump and the suction device, the air pump used to inflate the tire of a vehicle and the suction device used to suck the air out of a container are described.
With reference to FIG. 3, an air pump has a compressor (70) with a head cover (80) mounted on the discharge side of the compressor (70). The head cover (80) has two discharge ports (81, 82) with each port (81, 82) formed to connect to a tube. One of the tubes is connected to an outlet nozzle to inject the air into an object (for example a tire), and the other tube is connected to a pressure gauge so that the user is able to sense the air pressure inside the object.
A suction device is used to suck the air out of a container so that food inside the container will be preserved for a longer time. The suction device can also be used with a flexible storage container, wherein a quilt or the like is placed in the storage container. With the suction device, the air inside the container is sucked out, so that the size of the quilt and the container are reduced for easier storage.
From the two different embodiments, it is noted that the air pump inflates an object and the suction device sucks air out of an object, which shows two different air paths being employed. The user needs to have these two different devices so that air can be pumped into an object and sucked out of an object. However, having these two separate devices at the same time not only is a waste of money, but also is a waste of space when storage is an issue.
In order to overcome the foregoing problems, the invention intends to provide an improved air pump having the capability of pumping air into an object or sucking the air out of an object.
The primary objective of the invention is to provide an improved air pump having a port connected to an inlet and a port connected to an outlet of the compressor. With such an arrangement, the air pump in accordance with the present invention is able to pump air into an object or selectively suck the air out of an object
In order to accomplish the aforementioned objective, the compressor has an inlet, a first outlet and a second outlet. The inlet is connected to a first port by means of a first tube. The first outlet is connected to a second port by means of a second tube. The second outlet is connected to a control switch assembly by means of a third tube. With such an arrangement, the air to the compressor inside the air pump comes from the first port, which creates a suction effect to the surroundings. The air pumped out from the compressor is ejected out of the air pump from the second port, which enables the object receiving the pumped air to be inflated.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

No. 24, Lane 65, San Chun St., Shu Lin Chen


A cover for covering a recessed portion of the case of a computer monitor. The cover includes a cover strip, a first engaging protrusion and a second engaging protrusion. The first engaging protrusion and the second engaging protrusion can be engaged with a first aperture and a second aperture formed in the recessed portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a cover for covering a recessed portion of a case. In particular, it relates to a cover for covering a recessed portion in which a screw is used for mounting the case onto the front panel of a monitor. The cover can be easily mounted onto and detached from the case of the monitor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1a, which is a perspective view of a conventional monitor, as a heavy cathode-ray tube (not shown) is received in the monitor, two screws 5, 5 are used to firmly mount the case 2 of the monitor onto the front panel (bezel) 1. This design precludes the surface of the monitor from being smooth.
Referring to FIG. 1b, recently monitors have been designed to have the screws 5, 5 being hidden in two longitudinal recessed portions 4, 4 formed in the case 2. And then two cover strips (not shown) are used to cover the two longitudinal recessed portions 4, 4 to make the profile of the assembled monitor appear smooth. However, according to a conventional design, the cover strips can not be detached from the case easily. A tool such as a screwdriver must be used to detach the cover strips from the case 2. Thus, the conventional design is not convenient and the tool may scratch the surface of the case 2.

Cover for covering a recessed portion of a case


High throughput screening of catalyst libraries may be performed using spin resonance techniques, and an evanescent wave probe developed by the present inventors. The probe may operate using either nuclear magnetic resonance or electron spin resonance techniques. In one configuration, a scanning evanescent wave spin resonance probe is used in conjunction with a library of catalysts or other materials, and localized detection of spin resonance is carried out at each library address. In another configuration, the evanescent wave probe is used in a micro-reactor array assay.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to the use electron spin resonance (ESR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for high throughput catalyst screening assays. Catalysts may comprise individual members of a catalyst library. Embodiments of the present invention are also directed to the screening of members of an array of micro-reactors.
2. State of the Art
High throughput screening of catalysts presents tremendous opportunities to rapidly develop more efficient catalysts for a vast variety of catalytic reactions in the chemical industries, pharmaceutical industries, and bio-medical industries. Currently, infrared spectroscopy (IR), mass spectroscopy (MS), and gas chromatography (GC) in combination with micro-reactors or library assays have been developed for this purpose.
ESR spectroscopy has proven to be very useful for characterizing radical reactions. Most catalytic reactions involve intermediate radical reactions. Due to un-paired electrons present during radical reactions, electron spin resonance of those un-paired electrons give rise to intrinsic and rich information about catalytic reactions, such as reaction site, rate and detailed mechanism. In the past, however, ESR technology would only allow for the measurement of large amounts of samples, materials, or specimens, and only in a specific environment. What is needed is a high throughput screening assay capable of handling large numbers of specimens and samples in small quantities. To the inventors' knowledge, such an assay has not heretofore been possible, nor have any solutions to the problem even been proposed.
Such needed techniques are contemplated by the present inventors to encompass both ESR and NMR technologies.

High throughput screening of catalysts using spin resonance


A messaging system is provided that includes:                (a) an interface 206 for receiving a request to play a message audibly to a subscriber; and        (b) a message retrieval agent 224 for determining whether the message comprises marked information. When the message comprises marked information, the agent 224 performs one or more of the following operations:                    (b1) display the marked information to the subscriber;            (b2) alter an audio playback speed of the marked information to the subscriber, the playback speed of the marked information being different from a playback speed of unmarked information; and            (b3) audibly play only one of the marked information and unmarked information to the subscriber.

Voice messaging systems are in widespread use in businesses of every size around the world. A typical voice messaging system includes a database or other data repository for voice mail messages and a voice messaging server, such as Avaya Inc.'s Aria™, Serenade™, and Intuity Audix™ products. The voice messaging server controls storage and retrieval of voice messages to/from the data repository.
With the advent of text messaging, traditional voice messaging systems are being replaced by unified messaging systems. Such systems have the ability to create and respond to multimedia messages with fidelity to the originator from either a telephone or Personal Computer (PC)/laptop. Personal call control further permits realtime control of incoming calls and call rebound with message processing. Examples of unified messaging systems are Avaya Inc.'s Unified Messenger™ and Modular Messaging™ products. Unified messaging systems commonly reside in a server that attaches to a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) and converses across a Local Area Network (LAN) with other messaging servers and clients.
A recurring problem in voice and unified messaging systems is having to play a voice message repeatedly to record important message information, such as names, street addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, and the like. Some messaging systems permit a user to manually slow or accelerate the replay speed of a voice message by pressing an actuator or manipulating an icon in a graphical user interface. Such systems, however, can be frustrating to use as a user may not be able to reduce the speed until a portion of the important message information is already played, thereby requiring him or her to replay the message again and fast forward to the missed information.

Change speed of voicemail playback depending on context


A sensing system includes a wireless sensor configured to detect a current sensed value of an environmental condition, the wireless sensor programmed with a delta threshold; a thermostat in communication with the wireless sensor; wherein, when the current sensed value differs from a prior transmitted sensed value by more than the delta threshold, the wireless sensor transmits the current sensed value to the thermostat; wherein, when the current sensed value differs from the prior transmitted sensed value by less than the delta threshold, the wireless sensor stores the current sensed value as a stored sensed value.

The embodiments described herein relate generally to sensing systems including wireless sensors, and more particularly to power savings for wireless sensors in a sensing system.
Wireless sensors may be used to sense environmental parameters, such as temperature and humidity, and report the sensor data to a sync node or master over an RF protocol. The wireless sensors are typically battery operated and power conservation is an important factor. Of all the components in the wireless sensor, typically RF communication takes more power as compared to sampling and processing of data.


In order to provide a termite detection apparatus that is capable of detecting an infestation of termites in a reliable manner and a termite alarm unit that employs this termite detection apparatus, the termite detection apparatus according to the present invention comprises a sensor section. The sensor section comprises a case, an attractant member provided inside the case and a detection portion provided with a for detection mechanism where the attractant member is provided to detect termites that have entered, attracted by the attractant member. The termite detection apparatus also includes a sensor cover enclosing an area around the sensor section. In addition, the termite alarm unit gathers termite detection signals sent from a plurality of such termite detection apparatuses at a relay device, sends the termite detection signals gathered at the relay device to an alarm section as a termite presence signal so that a warning can be issued to the resident with a voice produced at an audio alarm section and with a visual indication made at a visual alarm section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a termite detection apparatus that detects termite activity in a building and issues an alarm to the outside, and a termite alarm unit that employs this termite detection apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an investigation as to whether or not a house is infested with termites is performed through visual inspection by an inspector who crawls under the floor at the request of a home owner. In addition, since such an investigation is normally requested by the home owner after termites have been discovered at a portion of the house that has already been damaged, by the time the actual investigation for termites occurs, damage by termites will have been in progress for a considerable time.
To deal with the problem discussed above, the applicant of the present invention disclosed a termite alarm unit in Patent Application No. H6-170134 dated Jun. 29, 1994 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H8-9860). The termite alarm unit disclosed in this application comprises a sensor section constituted with a cellulose containing member that is provided with a plurality of through holes extending transversely, each hole having one opening end provided with an emitting element and the other opening end provided with a receiving element, a judgment section for detecting an infestation of termites to provide an output signal in response to the obstruction of an output wave from the emitting element to be received by the corresponding receiving element and an alarm display section for issuing an alarm in response to output from the judgment section.
Also, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H6-205632 (Declaration of Priority No. 941460, priority date: Sep. 8, 1992, Declaration of Priority filed in: USA) discloses a unit that monitors for termite activity, determines the degree of infestation and arrests the infestation when termite activity is detected. The unit disclosed in this publication comprises an external housing 2, which is permanently buried underground at a specific depth, and a cartridge 12 provided inside the housing in such a manner that it can be removed, with a hole 4 formed in the external housing 2 and a hole 14 formed in the cartridge 12 positioned so as to become aligned with each other when the cartridge 12 is mounted inside the external housing 2. In addition, this publication discloses that initially, the cartridge 12 containing a non-toxic bait material, is mounted inside the external housing 2 in order to diagnose the level of the infestation of termites and is regularly taken out to check for termite activity and that when termite activity is detected, the cartridge 12 mounted inside the external housing 2 is charged with a toxic bait material instead of the non-toxic bait material in order to prevent the infestation from spreading.
The unit disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H7-23684, which detects an infestation of termites in a house at an early stage and enables prompt countermeasures to be taken by sending the results of the detection to the manager of a center via a telephone line, comprises a detection terminal 2 and a detection sample 1 to which the detection terminal 2 applies a specific level of pressure. When the detection sample 1 begins to disintegrate from being eaten away by termites, the displacement of the detection terminal 2, which occurs as the detection terminal 2 caves in toward the detection sample 1, is detected. In particular, the displacement of the detection terminal 2 is detected by a magnetic sensor 7.
The invention disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H7-115887, which was filed by the same applicant as that of the invention disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H7-23684 described above, is characterized, in addition to the basic structure disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H7-23684, by the following: a gap provided in the fitting area between the woody portion for detection and the case; the woody portion for detection is in the form of a plate with pressure applied in a direction that is at a right angle to the cross grain surface; pheromones employed as the attractant for termites; and in particular, in regard to the magnetic sensor: a 52 alloy or the like, with a high magnetic permeability and low level of residual magnetism is employed for the metal plate which constitutes the magnetic circuit and a structure for shielding magnetism provided at the external circumference of the magnetic circuit.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H7-255344 discloses a unit which detect vibrations that occur when termites eat a substance such as a piece of wood for detection. This unit is provided with, in the sensor main body, a means for placing a substance that constitutes a desired food for termites near the path of infestation of termites and a means for detecting vibrations that occur when the termites eat the substance or the vibrations that occur as a result of termite activity. To be more specific, the termite sensor disclosed in this publication comprises a sensor external frame; a battery to function as a power source; a vibration sensor for detecting vibrations; a signal processing circuit for amplifying and processing signals sent from the vibration sensor; a lever that communicates vibrations to the vibration sensor; woody material as bait for termites; a spring for holding the woody material in contact with the lever; a bait table and a sensor bottom portion.
In addition to the structural features disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H7-23684 described above, the unit disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H7-274792 is further provided with a means for supplying moisture to the woody material which is used as a detection sample, in order to increase the effectiveness of detection by taking advantage of the termites' affinity for moist wood.
A termite detection apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H7-143837 comprises two acoustic sensors which convert the sound of termite activity to electrical signals, a subtraction processing device which performs subtraction processing for signals provided by these acoustic sensors and a comparator which outputs signals upon which the subtraction processing has been performed and which are at a level higher than a specific threshold value, as termite detection signals, in order to enable accurate detection of termites without being affected by noise from the outside.

Termite detection apparatus and termite alarm unit employing this termite detection apparatus


A method of assessing the suitability of a metered dose inhaler actuator A test canister equipped with a valve and containing a pressurized propellant is provided. One or more actuators manufactured for use in a metered dose inhaler is provided and tested, wherein each actuator is tested by coupling the canister to the actuator, positioning the actuator with respect to an electrostatic measurement device and firing the canister such that electrostatic charge from an aerosol emitted by the canister is measured by the electrostatic measurement device. The measured electrostatic charge is compared to a predetermined specification range to make a determination whether the measured electrostatic charge is within or outside the predetermined specification range and accordingly whether the actuator is or is not acceptable.

Metered dose inhalers (MDIs) are commonly used to treat a number of medical conditions. Typical medicinal formulations, i.e., solutions or suspensions of drug in a propellant, are housed within a pressurized canister and emitted as an aerosol in controlled amounts by a metering valve acting in conjunction with an actuator. The actuator will generally have a mouthpiece, through which the emitted aerosol may be inhaled by a patient. It is important that the amount of drug reaching a patient with each actuation of the metering valve be a consistent amount, so as to avoid over- or under-dosing of a patient. The form in which the drug is released may also play an important role in providing consistent dosing to a patient. That is, characteristics of the aerosol plume delivered by an MDI, such as the average particle size, the particle size distribution, or the distribution of drug within the particles in the plume, may influence the ultimate effective dose that a patient receives.

Method for assessing the suitability of metered dose inhaler actuators


A precast concrete column supports a building. In one exemplary embodiment, the precast concrete column includes a connector for securing a wooden column to the precast concrete column such that no portion of the connector extends beyond the cross-section of the wooden column. In an alternative embodiment, a jack screw extends from the distal end of the precast concrete column to provide height adjustment for the precast concrete column. In certain embodiments, an insert or tube is cast into the precast concrete column body to allow a fastener to traverse the precast concrete column body so that structural components of the building may be secured thereto.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a foundation column for use in supporting a structure such as a post-frame building.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typical post-frame buildings include a series of wooden columns set into the earth and positioned in a geometric configuration generally corresponding to the desired perimeter of a post-frame building. A distal end of each column is set into the earth, while a proximal end is affixed to a truss. Note that for the purposes of this document, the reference point with respect to the use of the words "distal" and "proximal" is taken as the highest point on the post-frame building in question.
The body of each column is joined to an adjacent column via a number of generally horizontally placed planks. Such a horizontally placed plank positioned adjacent the earth is generally referred to as a skirt board or a splash board, while a horizontal plank joining adjacent columns and positioned a distance from the earth is generally referred to as a girt. After the skirt board and girts are affixed to the columns, a siding member is attached to the skirt board and girts to define an exterior of the post-frame building. Similarly, adjacent trusses are joined together by wooden planks referred to as purlins. Generally, purlins are positioned substantially transverse to the trusses. A roofing member can be affixed to the trusses via the purlin to form an exterior roof of the post-frame building.
Typically, to construct a post-frame building, a series of holes are bored into the earth about the perimeter of the building. The depth of these holes can be, e.g., three to five feet, with adjacent holes being placed on, e.g. four to ten foot centers. After the holes are formed, a concrete pad can be positioned in the distal most (i.e., bottom) portion of the hole. Generally, the concrete pad comprises a precast concrete pad having a generally cylindrical shape. In situ poured concrete pads may also be utilized. After each hole receives a concrete pad, a column is set into each hole and the holes are back-filled with, e.g., gravel to maintain the columns in a vertical orientation. Generally, either solid wood columns or laminated wood columns are utilized in post-frame construction. Laminated columns are typically formed of three or more 2×6-inch boards or 2×8-inch boards positioned side by side to form the column. Both the solid and laminated wood columns which are set into the earth must be treated with a wood preservative to prevent degradation thereof due to, e.g., insect damage, and/or damage from the elements, e.g., moisture. Planting treated wood columns in the ground can, potentially, have an adverse impact on the environment.
Alternatives to wood support columns set into the earth are known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,964,139, filed on Feb. 28, 2002, issued on Nov. 15, 2005 and entitled "PRECAST CONCRETE COLUMN FOR USE IN POST-FRAME CONSTRUCTION", the entire disclosure of which is hereby explicitly incorporated by reference herein. Additional support columns are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,980,034, filed Mar. 21, 2006, issued Jul. 19, 2012 and entitled "STRUCTURAL COLUMN WITH FOOTING STILT", the entire disclosure of which is hereby explicitly incorporated by reference herein; U.S. Pat. No. 7,574,841, filed Sep. 26, 2007, issued Aug. 18, 2009 and entitled "METHOD OF ERECTING A WALL HAVING A VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE HINGED SUPPORT COLUMN", the entire disclosure of which is hereby explicitly incorporated by reference herein; U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,713, filed Aug. 13, 2004, issued Mar. 18, 2008 and entitled "HINGED SUPPORT COLUMN", the entire disclosure of which is hereby explicitly incorporated by reference herein; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,275,351, filed Mar. 5, 2004, issued Oct. 2, 2007 and entitled "HINGED SUPPORT COLUMN", the entire disclosure of which is hereby explicitly incorporated by reference herein.


A water adding control apparatus includes a microwave detecting unit which enables the detection of microwave value proportional to the water content amount of the water added grain and which makes it unnecessary to make calculations for an estimated water content value of the water added grains. The water adding process is started by inputting initial water adding amount, the microwave value of the raw grain after the addition of water is measured, the measured microwave value is set as the target microwave value which serves as control reference, and the water adding amount is feed-back controlled for the actually measured microwave value to constantly match the target microwave value.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for adding water to grains such as wheat grains for adapting the grains to subsequent processes, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for making a precise control of an amount of water addition to the grains.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Conventionally it has been well known to irradiate microwaves to an object and to measure water content values from microwave values obtained from their absorption characteristics based on the magnitude of water contents of the object. Particularly for adding water to wheat grains or tea leaves, use of the water content measurement by means of microwave detection has been known. In such a case, the water contained in the grain itself and the water attached to a peripheral portion of the grain immediately after the water addition are simultaneously measured and, on the consideration that the water on the peripheral portion of the grain is absorbed thereinto with a lapse of time, the water content is calculated by making various corrections in factors such as a temperature, a thickness of each grain and a density of the grains.
That is, at a time immediately after the water addition to the grains, since the water is in a state in which it is attached to a surface of each grain and also since such water attached is necessarily included when the water content of the grain immediately after the water addition is measured, the water content value obtained then is only an estimated water content value on the estimation that the water attached to the periphery of grain will be absorbed into the inside of the grain with a lapse of time. Since the water content value measured at this stage includes an element of estimating the water absorption to the grain after the water addition, it is difficult in practice to carry out the measurement of water content with a high precision. That is, in carrying out such measurement, the measured microwave value is converted into the water content value by using a calibration curve which is determined by water content value obtained in advance and the microwave value. In the case where the water content is thus obtained from the calibration curve, the corrections are made in factors such as a temperature, a grain thickness and a grain density, and the measurement is made for the estimated water content value as a substitute for the absolute water content value. However, the precision of the water content value obtained in this way can be expected to have a precision only in the order of 1%. Depending on purposes or uses, the precision demanded for the water content value may be lower in some exceptional cases, but under the current practice a value of low precision cannot be utilized as reference for control particularly in the case of water addition to wheat grains.
The water addition to the wheat grains is very important for purposes of obtaining wheat flour in its best property and enhancing the yield of the flour. For the flour-milling industry, it is important from the aspect of the weight of the end flour product that, within the limit in which the property of the flour is not caused to be deteriorated, the water content value be controlled to as high as possible, for example, up to about 17%. It is known that, in wheat grains (for example, hard wheat grains), the grinding thereof results in 2% of water loss from the water content value (for example, 16%) of the water added raw grains. The water addition to the raw grains is made with the above matters taken into consideration. However, since the water content of the wheat grains after being ground is proportional to the magnitude of the water content of the water added wheat grains and also since no water can be added to the wheat grains after being ground, it is to be noted that a stable and uniform water adjustment during the water adding stage to the raw wheat grains is very important.
Generally the amount of the grains processed during the milling process is very large so that a difference in the water content even in the order of 1% in weight largely affects the magnitude of the total weight of the end products, which in turn largely affects the sales price of the final end products. Thus, it is necessary that the difference of the water adding amount during the water adding stage be made as small as possible. The conventional water addition control using microwave values is based on the estimated water content value whose precision can be only up to about 1% as already explained, and this is far from meeting the requirements.
In the case of wheat flour, the difference in the water content has a direct bearing and a large influence on the magnitude in weight of the end products so that the error in the order of 1% means that, if the error is assumed to be 1% in weight of the water content and the processing amount is assumed to be 200 tons per day, the difference per day amounts to 2 tons which is 1% of the processing amount of 200 tons per day. Thus, assuming that there are 200 operating days in a year, the total loss per year results in 400 tons. Conversely, if this difference of 1% is controlled advantageously, an annual profit of 400 tons results under the same condition. Naturally, this trend will be more significant with an installation having a capacity of processing a larger amount of grains. Assuming that the price of the wheat flour is JP.Yen.140/Kg., the difference of 1% in weight results either in a loss or a profit of JP.Yen.56,000,000 annually.
Incidentally, for the grains having a variety of water content values, in order to apply an appropriate amount of water thereto in such a way that their water content values become constant, a feedback control method has generally been carried out. In the feedback control method in which the water content is detected by a microwave detection device, the estimated water content value of the water added grains is measured, and then this estimated water content value and the target water content value are compared, whereby the water to be added is feedback-controlled in accordance with the difference resulting from the comparison. The resulting difference may be large because the measurement error in the estimated water content value may eventually be enlarged to as large a value as several percents by calculation, so that the value involving a large error has heretofore been used only as an error admitted yard stick, and in practice the tempering process to follow is relied upon for correcting the error. With respect to wheat flour, etc., it is said that the presence of unevenness in water in the raw wheat grains to be ground is detrimental to the flour milling so that the quality of the end product depends very largely on the water adding step or process.
Further, the fact that the raw grains in the same lot does not necessarily mean that the water content values thereof are the same, so that it is necessary to take the variations therein into account. However, as already explained, since it is not possible in practice to make a precise measurement of the water content values of the grains after the water addition thereto, it is not possible to make an exact judgment as to whether the water content value adjusted in accordance with the water content of the grains before the water addition thereto is accurate or not.
A further method to be considered is one in which the water content of the raw grains is measured by a resistance type water content meter having a comparatively high precision and to control the amount of water content by a feed-forward control method. However, this resistance type is unsuited for the continuous control of a large amount of grains because the measurement intervals are long, the time required for the measurement is long, and the amount of sample is small.

Controlling water addition to grains using feedback to match a target microwave value


A filler head for a storage system includes a body to be mounted inclined according to a predetermined angle regarding the gravity direction, called the filling direction, and including a main part closed by a cover part so as to form a cavity in which a separating device is received, the filler head being configured to receive, in a cylindrical wall of the separating device extending around the filling direction, a distribution nozzle of a fluid with an automatic stop sensor to prevent overfilling of the filler head, the separating device being arranged to improve the partitioning of a flow coming from a venting line and the flow going to the filling line. The separating device further includes a flange, protruding transversally from the outside surface of the cylindrical wall and mounted in the cavity upstream of the sensor of the nozzle when received in the cylindrical wall.

Legislation on vehicle and truck emissions stipulates, amongst other things, a reduction in the release of nitrogen oxides NOx into the atmosphere. One known way to achieve this objective is to use the "SCR" (shortening from terms "Selective Catalytic Reduction") process which enables the reduction of nitrogen oxides by injection of a reducing agent, such as ammonia, into the exhaust line. Generally, a SCR system comprises a tank for the storage of an aqueous additive, such as a urea solution, a pump for conveying the aqueous additive in the feed line, and a device for metering the desired amount of aqueous additive and injecting it into the exhaust line. The aqueous additive is thus accurately metered and injected into the exhaust gas stream where it is hydrolysed before converting the nitrogen oxide (NOx) to nitrogen (N2) and water (H2O).
The distribution of urea solution, sometimes called adblue®, is known for trucks for many years. The tank volume being important in the range of trucks, it has been developed distribution system apart from fuel delivery with a filling rate of 40 l·min−1 and urea tanks with large inlet diameter.
Regarding passenger cars, initial market demand was to design filler heads compatible for manual filling with a screw-on bottle. The filling was done by gravity and was usually slow around 3 l·min−1. However, due to the urea solution consumption increasing because of stricter depollution levels, it becomes more common to regularly fill the urea solution tank. However, consumers have noticed that they could already be supplied with the dispensers for trucks and thus have imposed a unique delivery rate in contrast to what was contemplated.
As a result, carmakers now request to design SCR systems compatible with automatic filling technology initially designed for heavy duty application as well as with manual filling. Known filler heads are disclosed in documents WO 2019/149750, US 2013/306665 and US 2017/036533.
Moreover, at this moment, three kinds of automatic filling technologies are mainly used depending on the sensor included in the nozzle (ZVA nozzle sensor, Horn nozzle sensor or PIUSI nozzle sensor). Each sensor is not mounted at the tip of the nozzle (as ZVA nozzle) but may also be mounted in the upstream direction of the nozzle (as Horn and PIUSI nozzle sensors) up to 16 mm from the tip.
Consequently, a lot of conflicting specifications have to be met such as a small diameter of the existing screw-on bottles with a high rate of filling up to 40 l·min−1 whatever the kind of sensor used in the nozzle.

Filler head allowing a reliable refilling without spitting

Plastic Omnium Advanced Innovation and Research


Provided is an apparatus for generating an image, the apparatus including a processor configured to detect at least one object near a vehicle by using a result of sensing a surrounding area of the vehicle, determine a direction and a distance from the vehicle to the detected at least one object, and generate an image of the surrounding area of the vehicle based on the determined direction and distance. Therefore, the apparatus may accurately express a shape of the object and a relative location between the vehicle and the object on a three-dimensional (3D) image of the surrounding area of a vehicle.

Due to the development of technologies applied to vehicles, various methods of displaying information related to driving of a vehicle, on a window of the vehicle or the like are being developed.
In some cases, a driver and a passenger in the vehicle may not accurately identify, for example, a pedestrian, a building, or another vehicle near the vehicle due to a limited viewing angle. In this regard, a technology for displaying an image accurately expressing locations and shapes of objects near a vehicle, on a display device of the vehicle is increasingly demanded.

Method and device for generating image for indicating object on periphery of vehicle


A new Aconitum plant particularly distinguished by several medium sized violet-blue flowers situated above the foliage, uniform green foliage with large palmate leaves, a tall, narrow, upright habit and hardiness to at least USDA zone 4, is disclosed.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Aconitum, botanically known as Aconitum interspecific hybrid, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Blue Lagoon'. The new cultivar originated as a seedling from a cross between the female parent Aconitum cammarum 'Bicolor' (unpatented), while the male parent was the Aconitum henryi 'Spark's Variety' (unpatented).
The new cultivar was created as a seedling and originated in the breeder's nursery in De Hoef, The Netherlands and has been asexually reproduced repeatedly by tissue culture and softwood cuttings in De Hoef, The Netherlands. The present invention has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations.
Plant Breeder's Rights for this cultivar were applied for with the European Union on Oct. 6, 2006.


The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a fabric-integrated cross-linked foamed product, comprising the steps: preparing a mold having a cavity; filling the cavity of the mold with a molding material in an amount greater than the volume of the cavity of the mold; pressurizing and heating the mold; releasing pressure before the molding material of the mold begins to be cross-linked after having reached the softening point by the applied heat, and opening the mold; completely removing the molding material other than the molding material charged in the cavity of the mold, of the molten molding material in the opened mold; placing fabric on the upper surface of the mold the cavity of which is filled with the molding material; pressurizing and heating the mold to cross-link the molding material in contact with the fabric; and releasing pressure and rapidly opening the mold to foam the cross-linked molding material in contact with the fabric.

Anti-shock cushioning products having various shapes are used in sports and a variety of safety fields. In order to recently cope with the increasing demand for wearability, bendability and breathability of cushioning products, the designs of materials and structures thereof are variously changed. In the production of cushioning products, cross-linked foams resulting from a series of chemical pressurizing, cross-linking and foaming are receiving more and more attention from the related manufacturers with regard to their material use. Methods of manufacturing a variety of personnel protection products using such cross-linked foams are variously proposed, and examples thereof include Korean Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-0017382, U.S. Pat. No. 6,743,325, and US Publication No. 2008-0113143.
Specifically, Korean Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-0017382 discloses a method of manufacturing a shin guard, by sequentially stacking fabric, an EVA cross-linked foam, and non-woven fabric, adhering them using an adhesive, and pressing them to form a molded body having a predetermined shape, which is then formed to have a variety of irregular shapes, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,743,325 discloses a method of manufacturing a guard in such a manner that closed cell polyethylene foam is attached at a predetermined size and interval to the upper surface of resiliently stretchable knitted fabric using a rolling cutter acting as a cutting knife and a jig by means of a heat-resistant hot-melt adhesive.
US Publication No. 2008-0113143 discloses an attachment method comprising subjecting two kinds of cross-linked foams having different properties to flame lamination at 370° C. or higher thus preparing a cross-linked foam having composite properties, which is then attached to the upper surface of resiliently 2- or 4-way stretchable knitted fabric using a rolling cutter acting as a cutting knife and a jig and a heat-resistant hot-melt adhesive under conditions of predetermined shape, size, and interval of the cross-linked foam being maintained.
Such conventional techniques are common in that the cross-linked foam in a single sheet shape having a predetermined size or in a sheet roll shape having a predetermined thickness is prepared, and then subjected to a series of subsequent processes, thus producing a variety of cushioning products such as cushioning pads, etc. However, in the case where the cushioning product is manufactured from the cross-linked foam in a sheet shape or a sheet roll shape, many limitations are imposed on the structures or numbers of the products because of use of a plurality of foams having an arbitrary shape obtained by cutting the foam in a planar sheet shape or a sheet roll shape using any cutting means.
Also, when these foams are used by being attached to fabric or being embedded in fabric, they cannot appropriately correspond to a variety of bending areas (or a variety of operations) of the human body. Even in the case where they are applied to specific products having a three-dimensional shape to form inherent bending at a specific portion, many problems must be overcome to thoroughly solve the above problem. Thus, the conventional techniques are limited in terms of stretchability, bendability and curved fitting to a target as composite characteristics required of cushioning products, and may also obstruct the flexible activity of the human body, and thus there are needs for fundamental alternatives therefor.
According to conventional methods proposed to improve bending flexibility and air permeability of products to which the cross-linked foams in a sheet or sheet roll shape are individually cut and attached, a plurality of individual cross-linked foams separated using a cutting process may be attached to one surface of fabric by predetermined intervals. Thus, cushioning products may be maximally improved in bendability, and because only fabric is provided in spaces between the foams which are individually cut and attached to the upper surface of fabric, air may naturally flow through the protection pad, ultimately increasing air permeability of products.
However, this method is problematic because a large number of processes are required to uniformly attach (or adhere) the plurality of cross-linked foams to a predetermined portion of one surface of fabric, and thereby additional costs are incurred, and thus this method cannot be actually applied to general-purpose products. When these products are used for a long period of time in a state of being worn by a user or they are washed, the individual cross-linked foams attached to the surface of the fabric using the adhesive may be partially detached from the adhesion surface of the fabric, and thus they may be limitedly used only for products in which durability is ensured in a predetermined range.
Furthermore, because practical limitation factors are accompanied by the process of firmly attaching individually discrete cross-linked foams to the surface of fabric, the outer surface of the cushioning product formed by combining the plurality of cross-linked foams becomes typically planar. Thus, to make a cushioning product the outer surface of which is formed to have three-dimensional designs in various shapes, a plurality of individual cross-linked foams having a variety of three-dimensional shapes and dimensions is prepared and then attached to the surface of fabric using an adhesive. In this case, a plurality of molds is prepared so as to be adapted for individual foams having intended designs in three-dimensional shapes, as well as the complicated processes, after which individual foams are formed and then effectively attached to the upper surface of fabric. However, this case has many processing limitations and increased manufacturing costs, making it difficult to achieve the desired products.
Furthermore, in the conventional techniques, the cross-linked foams and the fabric are mainly bonded to each other using a sewing process or an adhesive. Particularly in the case of using an adhesive, a large number of processes should be conducted, including washing the adhesion surface, and applying a primer and an adhesive thereon, followed by performing drying and then compressing or heating the adhesive before compression, etc. Moreover, when a liquid adhesive is excessively used, it may penetrate into the fabric. The case where an adhesive is used in a minimum amount needs an industrial adhesive containing an organic solvent, as necessary, in order to ensure strong adhesion between the fabric and the cross-linked foam, undesirably causing many environmental problems.

Method for preparing fabric-integrated cross-linked foamed product


A fabrication process for a semiconductor device including a plurality of semiconductor layers, the plurality of semiconductor layers including at least a nitrogen-containing alloy semiconductor AlaGabIn1-a-bNxPyAszSb1-x-y-z (0≦a≦1, 0≦b≦1, 0<x<1, 0≦y<1, 0≦z<1), and a method of making the semiconductor device and apparatus. For at least two semiconductor layers out of the plurality of semiconductor layers, a value of lattice strain of said at least two semiconductor layers is set at less than a critical strain at which misfit dislocations are generated at an interface between said two adjacent semiconductor layers. In a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, Al, Ga, In, N, P, As and Sb as materials are prepared as materials for a semiconductor device, and a plurality of semiconductor layers are epitaxially grown by using said materials, including a layer of a nitrogen-containing alloy semiconductor AlaGabIn1-a-bNxPyAszSb1-x-y-z (0≦a≦1, 0≦b≦1, 0<x<1, 0≦y<1, 0≦z<1) using nitrogen radical as nitrogen material, in a vacuum of substantially 10−2 Torr or higher.

The semiconductor technology has advanced centering around silicon. The scale of integration has increased from transistor devices to IC (integrated circuit) and VLSI (very large scale integrated circuit), and the increase in scale of integration is expected to continue in the future. With an increase in scale of integration, however, it is feared that corresponding increases in the operation speed is limited by the delay of electric signal through wiring. As the counter-measure for this, optical interconnections are drawing attention, and the monolithic integration of silicon based electronic devices with III-V compound semiconductor optical devices is considered the important basic technique whereby to realize optical interconnections.
For use in forming the III-V compound semiconductor optical devices on a Si substrate, the following two methods are being studied. One is the so-called super-heteroepitaxial method for epitaxially growing a III-V compound semiconductor, such as a GaAs or InP, which differs in lattice constant from Si, on a Si substrate, and forming an optical semiconductor of an AlGaAs, InGaAs or other system formed on top of the grown III-V compound semiconductor. An example of this method is disclosed in "Gallium arsenide and other compound semiconductors on silicon" by S. F. Fang, K. Adomi, S. Iyer, H. Morkoc, and H. Zabel in J. Appl. Phys. 68(7), Oct. 1, 1990.
The other is a direct bonding method in which optical semiconductors are first grown on a GaAs or InP substrate and then bonded to a Si substrate, and then the GaAs or InP substrate is removed. Such direct bonding method is disclosed in "Semiconductor lasers on Si substrate using the technology of bonding by atomic rearrangement" by Y. H. Lo et al., Appl. Phys. lett. Vol. 62, pp 1038-1040, 1993.
Regarding the materials used to date for the III-V compound semiconductors, as written in H. C. Casey, Jr. and M. B. Panish, "Heterostructure Lasers—Part B", Academic Press, New York, 1978, pp. 8-9, binary compound semiconductors made up of Al, Ga or In as a group III element and P, As or Sb as a group V element, and alloy semiconductors including those elements have long been used. With progress of the crystal growth techniques, N-containing alloy semiconductors have recently come to be formed, such as GaNP (J. N. Baillargeon, K. Y. Cheng, G. E. Holfer, P. J. Pearch, and K. C. Hsieh, Appl. Phys. Lett. Vol. 60 pp. 2540-2542, 1992) and GaNAs (M. Weyers, M. Sato and H. Ando, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. Vol. 31, 1992, pp. L853-L855). This has widened the range of choice of materials. In addition, a case where the N-containing alloy semiconductors are grown epitaxially on Si substrates is disclosed in JP-A-1-211912. When an N-containing alloy semiconductor is actually applied to form a semiconductor device like a laser diode, it is necessary to design a multi-layer structure by calculating the band gap and the amount of lattice strain. Because the N-containing alloy semiconductors show a huge bowing occurring in the band gap owing to N's extremely high electro-negativity, which will be described later, such special consideration which is not needed for the conventional alloy semiconductors is required in designing the band gap of the multi-layer structure of the N-containing alloy semiconductors. However, in all the cases of the N-containing alloy semiconductors grown to date, only an epitaxial monolayer is grown on the substrate crystal and, therefore, there has never been a case where N-containing alloy semiconductors are deposited in a multi-structure and applied to form semiconductor devices.
Both in the super-heteroepitaxial method and the direct bonding method, the lattice constant of the materials constituting the optical semiconductor device differs greatly (more than 4%) from that of the Si substrate, so that there is a problem that a misfit dislocation occurs in the crystal near the interface between the Si substrate and the III-V compound semiconductor. Another problem is that due to the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the Si substrate and the III-V compound semiconductor, the dislocations, which have been generated in the cooling process after a heating process in the epitaxial growth or the bonding, move and increase. As a result, there are problems regarding the characteristics and the device lifetime of the optical semiconductor device produced. Therefore, the monolithic integration of silicon based electronic devices with the III-V compound semiconductor optical devices has not been put into practical application.

Fabrication method for algainnpassb based devices


An information processing apparatus according to an embodiment includes an aligner that aligns, with reference to a reference data set that is a sequential data set, another sequential data set; and a target data extractor that extracts a portion of the another sequential data set corresponding to the reference data set as a target data set.

In a known technology, a determination model is generated by performing machine learning on training data sets, and labels of determination target data sets are determined using the determination model. Such a technology is used, for example, to detect a failure of a device based on sensor data obtained by a sensor provided on the device.
Generally, when a determination model is generated, preprocessing (normalization, size adjustment, etc.) is performed on the training data sets. Similarly, when the labels of determination target data sets are determined, preprocessing is performed on the determination target data sets. Preprocessing of data makes it possible to improve the determination accuracy of the determination model itself and the determination accuracy in actually performing determination using the determination model.

Information processing apparatus and storage medium


The present invention provides an agent for treating or preventing a disease, a disorder or a condition of a corneal endothelium, said agent comprising a corneal endothelial cell and a myosin II-specific inhibitor. More specifically, the myosin II-specific inhibitor is blebbistatin. The disease, the disorder or the condition is typically a disorder associated with Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy or corneal endothelial dysfunction (bullous keratopathy). Also provided is a method for treating or preventing a corneal endothelial disease, said method comprising a step of administering an effective amount of a myosin II-specific inhibitor together with a corneal endothelial cell to a subject.

Visual information is recognized when light transmitted into the cornea, which is a transparent tissue at the front-most part of an eyeball, reaches the retina and excites nerve cells of the retina, and a generated electric signal is transmitted through the optic nerve to the visual cortex of the cerebrum. To attain good vision, it is necessary that the cornea is transparent. The transparency of the cornea is maintained by holding the water content constant with pumping and barrier functions of corneal endothelial cells.
Human corneal endothelial cells are present at a density of about 3000 cells per 1 mm2 at birth. Once damaged, human corneal endothelial cells have very limited ability to regenerate. For example, Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy is a disease causing abnormality in endothelial cells inside the cornea, resulting in edema of the cornea. The cause thereof is unknown. In Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy, extracellular matrix such as collagen is deposited on a part of the back surface of a Descemet's membrane at the back of the cornea, resulting in hypertrophy of a corneal guttae and Descemet's membrane. Hypertrophy of the corneal guttae and Descemet's membrane is a cause of photophobia or blurred vision in Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy patients, which significantly compromises the QOL of the patients. It is understood that there is no effective therapeutic method other than corneal transplantation for Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy. However, there is a shortage in cornea donation in Japan, where the number of patients waiting for corneal transplantation is about 2600 whereas the number of corneal transplantations performed in Japan is approximately 1700 annually.
Development of a therapeutic drug for Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy is limited. There is no therapeutic drug that is currently in clinical use. Hence, therapy must rely on corneal transplantation.
Non Patent Literatures 1-6 describe research on ROCK inhibitors.

Combined agent for cell therapy of corneal endothelial cell

KYOTO PREFECTURAL PUBLIC UNIVERSITY CORPORATION


The invention concerns a method for deboning fish of the mackerel family such as the Thunnus genus, the scomboid type and the like, and an apparatus for performing this method. Fish of this family have belly spokes extending along the full length of the backbone into the area of the belly cavity, so that conventional cutting free of the back and belly spokes will lead to a separation of the ribs from the remaining bone structure. To allow an accurate filetting of mackerel fish with their specific bone structure in the ventral cavity region, the invention suggests a slice of fish meat including the ribs to be cut free automatically by providing a computer controlled tool including a knife with a cutting edge diverging with respect to the conveying path of the fish, and a supporting element, which in combination with the knife allows the ribs to be cut away progressively while respecting the anatomical characteristics of the fish.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a method for deboning fish, specifically fish of the mackerel and tuna family, by cutting out a slice of the fish containing the back spokes, the belly spokes and the vertebral column and cutting away slices of the fish containing the ribs. The invention also relates to an apparatus for carrying out such, method, the apparatus including a conveyor for advancing the fish in the direction of extension of their vertebral column, with the vertebral column being aligned with the plane of symmetry of the, fish, tool are arranged, respectively, on both sides of the conveying path for cutting out the back spokes, the belly spokes, the vertebral column and the ribs the tools for cutting out the ribs comprise, respectively, a knife having a point directed against the conveying direction of the fish and a cutting edge starting from the point and diverging with respect to the conveying path.
2. Prior Art
Fish of the tuna and mackerel family including mackerel (scomber scombrus, scomber japonicus) and tunny (thunnus thynnus) as such, but also types varying throughout different waters such as pelamid, bonito, sea bass and the like have a particular anatomical characteristic associated with the belly cavity, which is enclosed by ribs, namely the dorsal side of the cavity is not delimited by the vertebral column as is the case for fish of the gadus family but is spaced from the vertebral column over a substantial portion of the cavity length. Thus the fish of this family possess belly spokes in the region of the belly cavity, as well, which extend from the vertebral column towards the ribs enclosing the cavity. The belly spokes located in the region of the gill cavity are the shortest so that the dorsal side delimitation of the belly cavity against the vertebral column diverges towards the tail end of the fish. In other words, when viewed in cross-section of the fish, the belly spokes and the ribs together form a structure similar to an inverted Y, with the ribs forming the two arms and the foot being formed by the belly spokes. Towards the gills, the Y-shape increasingly changes to a V-shape as the belly spokes become progressively shorter and the ribs finally extend directly from the flanks of the vertebral column.
In a device for separating fillets from fish known from DE 29 46 942, the tool for cutting free the ribs consists of a scraping tool having scraping knives arranged on both sides of the fish conveying path with a counter support in the form of a support element. Each scraping knife has a cutting edge which starts at a point and diverges away from the conveying path in the conveying direction. The counter support is arranged adjacent the cutting edge to yield resiliently. After the belly and back spokes have been cut free at the tail-end of the fish! and the belly cavity and of the fish approaches the scraping knife, the point of the latter is guided into the trough formed between the back spokes and the start of the ribs on the vertebral column while the counter support supports the ribs from within the belly cavity. As the fish is advanced, the ribs are progressively separated from the fillet meat along their length.
The described function of the apparatus requires that the ribs remain connected to the fish bone structure throughout the separation operation so that the considerable clamping and separation forces applied to the ribs can be absorbed by the whole bone structure.
However, for the family of fish in question, the use of this known apparatus inevitably results in the ribs becoming detached from the bone structure when the belly spokes are being cut free. Consequently if bone-free fillets are required, the ribs must subsequently be cut away manually in a timeconsuming and costly manner.

Method for removing the bones from fish and an apparatus for carrying out the method

Nordischer Maschinenbau Rud. Baader GmbH & Co KG


This disclosure relates to the minimally invasive medical technical field, and specifically, to a device of anti-fogging endoscope system including a beam of a near-infrared light for anti-fogging, which is coupled into an endoscope imaging optical channel in combination coaxially and is transmitted to the front optical window sheet, the visible light passes through the front optical window sheet, and the near-infrared light is absorbed by the absorption characteristics of the front optical window sheet to raise the temperature of the front optical window sheet. The device is also provided with a cut filter for eliminating the impact on image quality caused by the near-infrared stray light, so that the illumination light source of the prior-art endoscope is not necessary to be changed. It is suitable to integrate the coaxial coupling module with a camera handle or adapter and is more convenient to operate the device.

In the minimally invasive surgery using a rigid endoscope system, especially in the laparoscopic surgery, fogging on the protective window at the front end of the endoscope will lead to blurred images due to the temperature difference between the internal and external of the human body and the humid environment inside the human body. The problem has existed for decades, and there are no good solutions to solve the aforementioned problem.
In order to achieve anti-fogging and defogging, the most popular method is to reduce the temperature difference between the front end of the endoscope and the human body, for example, the front-end optical window sheet and the human body. To this end, the electric heating method is used to raise the temperature of the protective window of the endoscope. However, this method has not been widely used, because the product safety cannot be assured when the endoscope is provided with the current.
As a safe way, the light having a predetermined wavelength may be used to irradiate the protective window of the endoscope to raise the temperature for the purpose of anti-fogging or defogging, based on the absorption characteristics of the material of protective window of the endoscope. In the Chinese patent publication No. 201210324982.0 titled "AN ANTI-FOGGING ENDOSCOPE SYSTEM DEVICE AND METHOD", the disclosed device and method using light heating have an effective anti-fogging function, but the image is affected by the surface reflection of the protection window and thus the application is limited.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Qingdao O-Mec Medical Technology Co., Ltd.


The present invention relates generally to gene therapy for treating ailments that can affect vision such as retinal degeneration, retinal dystrophy, macular degeneration, macular dystrophy, ischemic retinopathies, and glaucoma. Embodiments include systems and treatments that use AAV-mediated gene therapy or non AAV-mediated DNA, mRNA, or protein therapy to target all retinal cells. An AAV virion can be introduced (e.g., via intravitreal or subretinal injection) into an eye of an individual, or systemically, to express a heterologous gene product such as BMI1 protein (B lymphoma Mo-MLV insertion region 1 homolog).

In a normal eye, photoreceptors form the outermost layer of the retina. They convert light into electrical signals, which are sent to neurons in the retina's middle layer known as bipolar cells. Bipolar cells send visual information to the inner layer, made up of ganglion cells, which then connect to the brain via the optic nerve.
Retinopathy is any damage to the retina of the eyes which may cause vision impairment. Retinopathy often refers to retinal vascular disease, or damage to the retina caused by abnormal blood flow. Retinopathy is often secondary to diseases such as diabetes or hypertension. Other conditions that affect the retina and can impact vision include retinal degeneration, retinal dystrophy, macular degeneration and macular dystrophy.
Retinal Degeneration
Retinal degeneration is a retinopathy that includes deterioration of the retina caused by the progressive death of its cells. There are several reasons for retinal degeneration, including artery or vein occlusion, diabetic retinopathy, R.L.F./R.O.P. (retrolental fibroplasia/retinopathy of prematurity), or disease (usually hereditary). Retinal degeneration can lead to impaired vision, night blindness, retinal detachment, light sensitivity, tunnel vision, and loss of central or peripheral vision to total loss of vision.
Advanced retinal degeneration can lead to photoreceptor cell death. Without proper function of the photoreceptor cells, vision is not possible. Irreversible loss of these cells has been attributed as a cause of blindness in many retinal degenerative disorders, including retinitis pigmentosa (RP).
Retinal Dystrophy
Retinal dystrophies are chronic and progressive disorders of visual function. "Dystrophy" refers to a condition that a person is born with, "Retinal" refers to the retina. The retinal dystrophies are a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of eye disorders that are characterized by degeneration of different cell types within the retina. Retinal cell types involved in retinal dystrophies include the rods and cones. In general, retinal dystrophies are classified according to the types of cells within the retina that are primarily affected, the age of onset of first symptoms, the progression of visual impairment over time and the presence or absence of other medical features. Specific subtypes of retinal dystrophy include rod-cone dystrophies such as retinitis pigmentosa (RT), cone-rod or cone dystrophies such as achromatopsia, and macular dystrophies such as Stargardt disease.
Macular Degeneration
Macular degeneration is typically classified as dry or wet. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss in people over the age of 50 years old. It occurs when a part of the retina called the macula is damaged and can lead to the loss of central vision.
The wet form of macular degeneration is less common but more serious. Wet AMD occurs when new, abnormal blood vessels grow under the retina. These vessels may leak blood or other fluids, causing scarring of the macula. Vision loss occurs faster with wet AMD and patients may not realize they have AMD until their vision is very blurry. If detected early, wet AMD can be treated with intraocular injections of anti-VEGF medications.
Macular Dystrophy
Macular dystrophy is a relatively rare eye condition. It is linked to inherited genetic mutations rather than age. Macular dystrophy causes deterioration of the most sensitive part of the central retina (macula), which has the highest concentration of light-sensitive cells (photoreceptors). It is caused by a pigment that builds up in the macula's cells. Over time, this substance can damage cells that play a key role in clear central vision.
Conventional treatment options for patients affected by degenerative ocular conditions are limited. There are no treatments that are currently available to treat retinal degeneration and dystrophy. Intravitreal anti-angiogenic therapies can temporarily inactivate actively growing abnormal blood vessels from AMD. Similarly, there is no cure or known treatment to stop the progression of macular degeneration or dystrophies. Management usually includes regular eye exams to monitor progression of the disease and for complications such as choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Patients can lose all their central vision from advanced dry AMD when geographic atrophy develops. There is no treatment or cure for this condition. Wet AMD can be treated with regular injections into the eyes. Patients can partially recover vision as the blood vessels shrink and the fluid under the retina absorbs, allowing retinal cells to regain some function. Because of the limited options to treat retinopathies, a need exists for an improved treatments and therapies.
Gene transfer has become recognized as a promising tool for treatment of diseases at both the cellular and molecular levels. Recently, the application of gene therapy for the treatment of human diseases, either inherited (e.g., adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency) or acquired (e.g., cancer or infectious disease), has received considerable attention. With the advent of improved gene transfer techniques and the identification of an expanding library of defective gene-related diseases, gene therapy has rapidly evolved from a treatment theory to a practical reality.
Viral vectors are tools commonly used by molecular biologists to deliver genetic material into cells. This process can be performed inside a living organism (in vivo) or in cell culture (in vitro). Viruses have evolved specialized molecular mechanisms to efficiently transport their genomes inside the cells they infect. Delivery of genes, or other genetic material, by a vector is termed transduction and the infected cells are described as transduced.
The present invention discloses systems and treatments that use AAV-mediated gene therapy to target retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells and photoreceptor cells. For instance, AAV1, AAV2, AAV4, AAV5 and AAV8 serotypes are known to have specificity for RPE cells, while AAV2, AAV5 and AAV8 have specificity for photoreceptor cells in the eye. An AAV virion can be introduced (e.g., via intravitreal, subretinal, sub-internal limiting membrane, or suprachoroidal injection) into an eye of an individual to express a heterologous gene product such as BMI1 protein (B lymphoma Mo-MLV insertion region 1 homolog). Also provided are methods of treating pharmaceutical compositions thereof, and articles of manufacture.

AAV-mediated BMI1 gene transfer for treating macular degeneration


An LED lamp includes at least one LED chip mounted on the principal surface of a substrate and an optical wavelength converting portion, which includes a phosphor for converting the emission of the LED chip into light having a longer wavelength than that of the emission and which covers at least a portion of the LED chip. The side surface of the optical wavelength converting portion has at least one concave curved surface portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an LED lamp in which at least a portion of the radiation produced by an LED chip is subjected to a wavelength conversion with a phosphor.
2. Description of the Related Art
White LED lamps are recently under vigorous research and development. When LED chips are used as a lamp, blue-emitting LED chips are sometimes coated with a yellow-emitting phosphor to obtain color white that is suitable for illumination purposes (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 2998696, for example). In this manner, white light can be extracted as synthesized light by subjecting a portion of the radiation produced by the LED chips to a wavelength conversion with the phosphor. More specifically, a blue LED chip, made of gallium nitride (GaN), is coated with a phosphor such as YAG. In such an LED lamp, the blue LED chip produces an emission with a wavelength of about 450 nm, and the phosphor produces yellow fluorescence with a peak wavelength of about 550 nm on receiving that emission. Eventually, the emission and fluorescence mix with each other, thereby providing white light.
The present inventors completed an invention of dissipating the heat, generated by an LED chip, into a substrate by directly mounting the LED chip on the substrate and disclosed the invention in Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-172586. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the LED lamp 300 disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-172586. In this LED lamp 300, an LED chip 12 provided on a substrate 11 is covered with a cylindrical resin portion 60 containing a phosphor. The cylindrical resin portion 60 is further covered with a second resin portion 61. The cylindrical resin portion 60 functions as an optical wavelength converting portion. And the light 62 is radiated outward through the second resin portion 61.
However, the present inventors discovered, as a result of further researches, that the luminous flux of the LED lamp changed significantly when the shape of the cylindrical resin portion 60, containing the phosphor, was changed.

LED lamp and method for manufacturing the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A disposable cassette that is configured as a replaceable component of an analysis instrument has integrated therein a sample inlet and fluid paths. At least one container with a liquid, for example a calibration fluid, and at least one waste container are integrated in the disposable cassette.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a disposable cassette that is configured as a replaceable component of an analysis instrument.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Disposable plastic articles with fluid carrying passages are frequently used in medical equipment. Corresponding cassette systems have proven their worth here as alternatives to conventional hose systems. The corresponding fluid paths are formed in these cassette systems. The fluid flowing through the fluid paths is introduced by means of corresponding actuators. For instance, valves are, for example, used via which the fluid paths are switched open or are closed. On the other hand, pumps for the transport of the fluid are integrated in such cassette systems. In the field of medical application, disposable cassettes are already known in which a rigid part is provided in which passages and chambers are let in. This rigid part is covered by a continuously flexible film. In accordance with DE 102 39 597, this flexible film is formed by flexibly formed regions in the rigid part, with the rigid and flexible regions being able to be manufactured in one piece using a two-component injection molding technology.
The aforesaid cassette systems can also be used to advantage in the field of analysis technology.


A method for forming asymmetric spacer structures for a semiconductor device includes forming a spacer layer over at least a pair of adjacently spaced gate structures disposed over a semiconductor substrate. The gate structures are spaced such that the spacer layer is formed at a first thickness in a region between the gate structures and at a second thickness elsewhere, the second thickness being greater than said first thickness. The spacer layer is etched so as to form asymmetric spacer structures for the pair of adjacently spaced gate structures.

The present invention relates generally to semiconductor device processing techniques, and, more particularly, to a structure and method for forming asymmetrical overlap capacitance in field effect transistors (FETs).
In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, there is a constant drive to increase the operating speed of certain integrated circuit devices such as microprocessors, memory devices, and the like. This drive is fueled by consumer demand for computers and other electronic devices that operate at increasingly greater speeds. As a result of the demand for increased speed, there has been a continual reduction in the size of semiconductor devices, such as transistors. For example, in a device such as a field effect transistor (FET), device parameters such as channel length, junction depth and gate dielectric thickness, to name a few, all continue to be scaled downward.
Generally speaking, the smaller the channel length of the FET, the faster the transistor will operate. Moreover, by reducing the size and/or scale of the components of a typical transistor, there is also an increase in the density and number of the transistors that may be produced on a given amount of wafer real estate, thus lowering the overall cost per transistor as well as the cost of integrated circuit devices incorporating such transistors.
Unfortunately, reducing the channel length of a transistor also increases "short channel" effects, as well as "edge effects" that are relatively unimportant in long channel transistors. One example of a short channel effect includes, among other aspects, an increased drain to source leakage current when the transistor is supposed to be in the "off" or non-conductive state, due to an enlarged depletion region relative to the shorter channel length. In addition, one of the edge effects that may also adversely influence transistor performance is what is known as Miller capacitance. The Miller capacitance is a parasitic overlap capacitance (Cov) that arises as a result of the doped polycrystalline silicon gate electrode and gate dielectric that (almost invariably) overlaps with a conductive portion of the more heavily doped source/drain regions and/or the less heavily doped source/drain extension (SDE) regions (if present) of the FET.
Moreover, as transistor dimensions continue to scale down, the gate to source/drain extension overlap needs to be kept relatively constant so that drive current can be maintained. For example, a minimum of about 20 nm/side of overlap is necessary to prevent transistor drive current (Idsat) degradation. When an overlap is too small, a high resistance region will be created between the extension and the channel. As devices become smaller, the source extension to drain extension distance becomes narrower, resulting in a severe punch through problem.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to be able to fabricate an FET device that maintains a low series resistance between the gate and the source of the device, while at the same time minimizing adverse consequences such as short channel effects, hot carrier effects, punch through and parasitic Miller capacitance formed by excessive gate to drain overlap.

Structure and method for forming asymmetrical overlap capacitance in field effect transistors

International Business Machines Corporation