An endodontic obturator comprising a shaft section and a filler section fabricated of the same material and formed as a single unit. A handle section may be included and may be formed integrally with the shaft section and filler section as a single unit, or may be fabricated separately and attached to the single unit containing the shaft section and the filler section. An endodontic post is provided having a post section and a filler section fabricated of the same matrix material to provide a cohesive bond between the two sections.

Endodontics or root canal therapy is that branch of dentistry that deals with the diseases of the dental pulp and associated tissues. One aspect of endodontics comprises the treatment of infected root canals, the removal of diseased pulp tissues, followed by the biomechanical modification and the subsequent filling of the pulp canal (root canal). Root canal therapy is generally indicated for teeth having sound external structures but having diseased, dead or dying pulp tissues. Such teeth may or may not generally possess intact enamel and dentin and are satisfactorily engaged with bony tissue. In such teeth, the pulp tissue and excised portions of the root should be replaced by a biocompatible substitute.
One technique for the preparation of a root canal involves creating a coronal access opening with a conventional dental drill. A tool is used for gross removal of pulp material from the root canal through the coronal access opening. The void formed is enlarged with reamers and/or files to result in a fully excavated cavity. Debris is removed from this cavity by flushing and the cavity is cleansed to remove all diseased tissue. Following chemical antisepsis, the excavated canal is ready for filling.
A basic method involves inserting a filling cone into a root canal and cementing therein to obturate the canal. Lateral condensation is a method in which several filling cones, a primary cone and auxiliary cones, are inserted into a root canal. The primary cone is inserted and cemented to the seat of the root canal. Using a tapered spreader, the primary cone is then squeezed against the side of the root canal and a second cone is inserted and cemented into place. This process is continued until the root canal is completely obturated which can require up to 10 to 15 filling cones. Vertical condensation of warm or hot gutta percha is yet another method of sealing root canals. After cementing a primary cone short of the apex of the root canal, heat application is alternated with a series of smaller and smaller pluggers until the gutta percha is moved to the apex. This is often possible when the smallest plugger approaches the apex of the tooth within 3 to 5 millimeters. The space is then backfilled. Lateral canals are packed and sealed as a consequence of lateral expansion of a wave of heated gutta percha. Alternatively, small segments of gutta percha can be used in this method that are inserted into the root canal, heated in order they can adhere to one another and each backfilled one at a time until the root canal is filled. All three of these methods, the single filling cone, lateral condensation and vertical condensation apply root canal cement or sealer around the individual cones or in between segments as a binding agent.
Another method employs an injection gun that injects warm or hot gutta percha filling material into a root canal. The injector initially places heated gutta percha at the seat of the root canal which is then condensed with a plugger into the root tip. The injector then backfills the root canal by injecting additional gutta percha into the root canal until it is obturated. A similar method involves heating gutta percha on a flexible metal carrier used to insert the gutta percha into the root canal. The carrier may be a solid rod, or a hollow rod, situated in the center of a master cone. The rod is connected to a handle which may be removed by slipping it out of the hollow rod, or cutting it off if it is a solid rod. While these systems provide for convenient and quick obturation of the canal, they pose a removal problem for the dentist who has to place a post.
Of all the methods used for obturating a canal, there is no device currently available that will allow a doctor to simultaneously obturate a root canal and place an endodontic post. Currently, an endodontist will perform the root canal procedure and the obturation during one patient visit. After the canal is obturated and temporarily sealed, the patient is frequently treated by a second dentist who will place the post. To do so, the gutta percha has to be removed from the canal until only a portion 5 mm or so from the apex remains to act as an apical seal. The rods inside the current systems make gutta percha removal much more difficult since the coronal portion of the gutta percha rod has to be removed to allow for the placement of the endodontic post. One way to overcome this problem has been to notch the obturating rod with a bur. Then, when the obturator is placed in the canal it is twisted, snapping off the apical portion. The longer coronal portion is removed. It is then re-introduced into the canal and the gutta percha is stripped off by means of pulling the rod through an endodontic stop. Since the endodontic stop is extremely narrow, the gutta percha is pulled from the rod as it is withdrawn and the gutta percha remains in the canal. It is subsequently condensed. As a result of this technique, the restoring dentist does not have to deal with the rod and only has to remove the gutta percha to make room for the post. Some gutta percha may remain on the walls of the canal jeopardizing the bond strength of the post to the radicular dentin. Reinfection of the treated tooth can be a problem because the endodontist performing the root canal procedure will seal the coronal opening with a temporary stopping agent which can leak oral fluids carrying bacterial into the canal opening.
Currently, endodontic obturators are made of a shaft having a distal end covered with a filler material such as gutta percha. The shaft material is typically made of metal or plastic and may not be completely compatible with gutta percha. This can cause leakage at the interface of the shaft and the gutta percha material. Moreover, the gutta percha material tends to be brittle in nature and can cause failure of the filler material when the appliance exhibits a curvature. Appliances having curvatures are required when obturating root canals that are not straight.
It is desirable to reduce and/or eliminate the leakage problems associated with poor sealing at the coronal end of the canal. It would be preferable to provide an appliance that is compatible with the filler material. It would be beneficial to provide an appliance that would possess sufficient flexibility to minimize the risk of premature failiure when the canal exhibits a curvature.


A display substrate, a driving method thereof, and a display device. The display substrate includes: a first display sub-region including a plurality of first repeating regions each including a first pixel unit and a second pixel unit disposed adjacently, the first pixel unit including a first sub-pixel and a second sub-pixel, and the second pixel unit including a second sub-pixel and a third sub-pixel; and a second display sub-region including a plurality of second repeating regions each including a third pixel unit and a first transparent pixel, the third pixel unit including a first sub-pixel, a second sub-pixel and a third sub-pixel; the first transparent pixel is configured such that a pixel density of the second display sub-region is less than a pixel density of the first display sub-region, and a light transmittance of the second display sub-region is greater than a light transmittance of the first display sub-region.

With the development of electronic display products such as mobile phones, increasing the screen-to-body ratio of the display screen has become a product trend, and the necessary functional components of mobile phones such as front camera are bound to become a major factor restricting the increase of the screen-to-body ratio.

Display substrate and driving method thereof, and display device


A light-emitting structure for generating an annular illumination effect includes a light-guiding module, a cover module, and a first light-emitting module. The light-guiding module has a hollow light-guiding body and a reflecting layer formed on an inner surface of the hollow light-guiding body. The cover module has a first cover body disposed on one end side of the hollow light-guiding body and a second cover body disposed on the other opposite end side of the hollow light-guiding body. The first light-emitting module has a plurality of first light-emitting elements disposed between the hollow light-guiding body and the first cover body. Therefore, first light beams generated by the first light-emitting elements are projected onto the hollow light-guiding body, and the first light beams are guided by the hollow light-guiding body and are reflected by the reflecting layer in order to make the hollow light-guiding body generate the annular illumination effect.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light-emitting structure, and particularly relates to a light-emitting structure for generating an annular illumination effect.
2. Description of Related Art
The invention of the lamp greatly changed the style of building construction and the living style of human beings, allowing people to work during the night. Without the invention of the lamp, we may stay in the living conditions of ancient civilizations.
Various lamps such as incandescent bulbs, fluorescent bulbs, power-saving bulbs and etc. have been intensively used for indoor illumination. These lamps commonly have the disadvantages of quick attenuation, high power consumption, high heat generation, short working life, high fragility, and being not recyclable. Further, the rapid flow of electrons (about 120 per second) through the electrodes of a regular fluorescent bulb causes an unstable current at the onset of lighting a fluorescent bulb, resulting in a flash of light that is harmful to the sight of the eyes. In order to eliminate this problem, a high frequency electronic ballast may be used. When a fluorescent or power-saving bulb is used with high frequency electronic ballast, it saves about 20% of the consumption of power and eliminates the problem of flashing. However, the high frequency electronic ballast is not detachable when installed in a fluorescent or power-saving bulb, the whole lamp assembly becomes useless if the bulb is damaged. Furthermore, because a fluorescent bulb contains a mercury coating, it may cause pollution to the environment when thrown away after damage.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a lamp that eliminates the aforesaid problems.

Light-emitting structure for generating an annular illumination effect


Nucleic acid molecules are described which are useful in vectors, transformed or transfected host cells, and methods for the recombinant expression of hepatocyte growth-specific polypeptide members of the FGF family.

The fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family is now known to consist of at least fourteen members, namely, FGF-1to FGF-10 and homologous factors FHF-1 to FHF-4.
FGF-1(aFGF) and FGF-2 (bFGF), which were originally isolated as mitogens for fibroblasts from the brain and the pituitary gland, are widely expressed in developing and adult tissues. These polypeptides exhibit multiple biological activities, including angiogenesis, mitogenesis, cellular differentiation and wound healing; see Baird et al., Cancer Cells, Volume 3, pages 239-243 (1991) and Burgess et al., Annual Review of Biochemistry, Volume 58, pages 575-606 (1989). FGF-3 (also known as "int-2"), FGF-4 (also known as "hst/kFGF"), FGF-5 and FGF-6 were each identified originally as oncogene products: see Dickson et al., Annual Review of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 683, pages 18-26 (1991); Yoshida et al., Annual Review of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 683, pages 27-37 (1991); Goldfarb et al., Annual Review of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 683, pages 38-52 (1991); and Coulier et al., Annual Review of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 683, pages 53-61 (1991). FGF-7 (also referred to as "KGF") was isolated as a mitogenic factor for cultured keratinocytes; see Aaronson et al., Annual Review of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 683, pages 62-77 (1991). FGF-8 and FGF-9 were isolated as an androgen-induced growth factor and a glial-activating factor from mouse mammary carcinoma cells and human glioma cells, respectively; see Tanaka et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Volume 89, pages 8928-8932 (1991) and Miyamoto et al., Molecular Cell Biology, Volume 13, pages 4251-4259 (1993). FGF-10 was identified from rat embryos by homology-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR); see Yamasaki et al., Journal of Biological Chemistry, Volume 271, pages 15918-15921 (1996). These FGFs are expressed predominantly during embryonic development and in some adult tissues.
The four homologous factors (or "FHFs") were identified from the human retina by a combination of random cDNA sequencing, searches of existing sequence data bases and homology-based poylmerase chain reactions; see Smallwood et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Volume 93, pages 9850-9857 (1996). These FHFs are expressed predominantly in the developing and mature nervous systems. It has been proposed that FHF-1, FHF-2, FHF-3 and FHF-4 should be designated as FGF-11, FGF-12, FGF-13 and FGF-14, respectively, in accordance with the recommendation of the Nomenclature Committee; see Coulier et al., Journal of Molecular Evolution, Volume 44, pages 43-56 (1997).

Polynucleotides encoding hepatocyte-specific members of the FGF family


A fifth wheel mounting assembly for mounting a fifth wheel hitch plate to a frame of a tractor that includes a pair of first support members adapted to be fixedly coupled to a pair of rails of a tractor, and each having a plurality of first apertures, and a pair of first mounting brackets each including a plurality of apertures that receive mounting hardware therein, wherein the mounting hardware extends through the plurality of apertures of the first mounting bracket and through the plurality of first apertures of the support members, thereby fixedly coupling the mounting brackets with the support members. Each mounting bracket further includes an inwardly exposed aperture adapted to receive a mounting pin therein for pivotally coupling a fifth wheel hitch plate to the mounting brackets, and a recess. The fifth wheel mounting assembly further includes a structural cross member having ends received within the recesses of the mounting brackets, thereby torsionally coupling the pairs of support members and mounting brackets with one another.

The present invention relates to a fifth wheel coupling assembly, and in particular to a novel mounting and cross member assembly for coupling a fifth wheel hitch plate to an associated vehicle.
Fifth wheel coupling systems are used in wide variety of applications for coupling heavy duty trailers to associated tractors, as well as for coupling recreational vehicles with associated towing vehicles. FIG. 1 illustrates a typical prior construction of a tractor frame and a fifth wheel mounting system 10 for tractor/trailer applications. As illustrated, the tractor frame and mounting system 10 includes a pair of parallel frame rails 12 spaced apart and that support a suspension 14, a drive train (not shown) and a fifth wheel coupling apparatus 16 for connecting a trailer to the tractor. While the frame rails 12 are illustrated as ending under a deck 17 it should be noted that the rails 12 continue forwardly of the deck 17 and extend under a cab of the tractor and support the cab and an engine of the tractor.
The coupling apparatus 16 includes a fifth wheel hitch 20 and a mounting bracket and base plate assembly 18 configured to connect the fifth wheel hitch 20 to the frame rails 12. The mounting bracket and base plate assembly 18 includes a pair of brackets 22 connected to ends of a base plate 24. The base plate 24 is constructed of a planar sheet of steel that includes a pair of mounting brackets 26 extending upwardly from a top surface of the base plate 24. As illustrated, the mounting brackets 26 are fixedly welded to the base plate 24, while the base plate 24 is fixedly welded to the brackets 22. The coupling apparatus 16 is connected to the frame rails 12 by placing ends of the base plate 24 over the top surface of the frame rails 12 and by inserting fasteners (not shown) through the brackets 22 and into the frame rails 12. Therefore, the brackets 22 assist in connecting the coupling apparatus 16 to the frame rails 12 of the tractor. Each mounting bracket 26 of the mounting bracket and the base plate assembly 18 includes an elongated aperture 28 therein configured to accept conventional attachment structure (not shown) for connecting the fifth wheel hitch 20 to the base plate 24.
The fifth wheel hitch 20 is configured to accept a pin of a tractor trailer to connect the trailer to the tractor. Since the fifth wheel hitch 20 accepts the pin within a center opening 30, the primary load of the trailer rests on the top surface of the fifth wheel hitch 20. As a result, the primary load of the trailer is on the mounting bracket and the base plate 24 at the center of the base plate 24. The load from the trailer is transferred to the attachment points of the mounting bracket and base plate assembly 18 to the frame rails 12 through heavy ribs and other structure that act as a beam.
As illustrated, the fifth wheel hitch 20 (FIG. 2) includes a hitch plate 11 defining the throat 30 for receiving a kingpin (not shown). The hitch plate 11 has a bottom face 15, back ribs 27 that extend from the bottom base 15, a peripheral flange 19 that extends from a periphery of the bottom face 15 and is connected to ends of the back ribs 27, and a main rib 21 that extends from the bottom face 15 between the back ribs 27 and a portion of the peripheral flange 19, with the main rib 21 being connected at ends 23 to the peripheral flange 19. A pair of skirts 29 extend from the hitch plate 11 adjacent the back rib 27 and define a tapered mouth leading to the throat 30. A pair of skirt ribs 33 are positioned on the skirts 29. A mounting rib 35 is located inwardly of the peripheral flange 19 on each side of the throat 30. The mounting brackets 26 are connected to the fifth wheel hitch 20 by inserting the mounting brackets into a space 37 between the mounting rib 35 and the peripheral flange 19. A mounting pin (not shown) is inserted through the aligned apertures in the peripheral flange 19 and the mounting rib 13 to connect the fifth wheel hitch 20 to the mounting brackets 26 and the associated tractor.
The prior construction of the tractor frame and fifth wheel mounting system 10, as detailed above, requires a welded connection between the mounting brackets 26 and the base plate 24 as well as a welded connection between the base plate 24 and the brackets 22, thereby adding to the constructions costs associated with the assembly of the mounting system.
Further, the structural rigidity as provided by the base plate 24 extending between the mounting brackets 26 remains relatively constant as the base plate 24 extends entirely under the mounting brackets 26. Moreover, the prior constructions of the tractor frame and fifth wheel mounting systems allow forces developed during operation of the associated vehicle to degrade ride and control characteristics. Specifically, as illustrated in FIGS. 3–6, forces exerted on the vehicle frame may cause misalignment and/or deformation of the frame, including "racking" (FIG. 3), "bowing out" (FIG. 4), "bowing in" (FIG. 5), and "twisting" (FIG. 6).
Accordingly, a fifth wheel and mounting assembly providing decreased construction and assembly costs, while simultaneously providing a variable and dynamic structural rigidity is desired.

Fifth wheel mounting and cross member assembly


A user device receives audio data of a user reading aloud a displayed portion of an ebook, and converts a portion of the audio data to spoken-text data. The user device determines one or more similarity scores based on a comparison between the spoken-text data and text data associated with the displayed portion of the ebook, and ranks the one or more similarity scores to determine a reading location in the text data that corresponds to the spoken-text data. The user device determines a pronunciation score using the spoken-text data and pronunciation data associated with the text data at the reading location. The user device performs an action based in part on the reading location and the pronunciation score.

Field of Disclosure
This disclosure relates to the field of text processing generally, and specifically to interacting with ebooks using speech recognition.
Description of the Related Art
Many users utilize their digital devices to read material such as novels, news articles, short stories, etc., in an effort to learn how to read or teach others how to read. For example, when teaching a child to read by reading a book aloud, the child may have difficulty associating spoken words with written words. One method people use is to point to each word as it's read aloud. However, such a method generally obscures part of the page. Other methods may employ e-readers and/or tablet computers that read ebooks (i.e., are books in a digital format) to the child using a text-to-speech (TTS) capability that allows the device to speak text using a synthesized voice. However, these devices are somewhat impersonal, especially when compared to two people reading text aloud together (e.g., a parent teaching a child how to properly pronounce a word).
Moreover, in some cases people with disabilities are not able to utilize digital devices to read ebooks because they are not able to interface effectively with the digital devices. For example, some disabled people are physically unable to turn pages of an ebook on digital devices via traditional methods (e.g., finger swipe, selecting a button, etc.).

Ebook interaction using speech recognition


The present invention provides methods for diagnosing or identifying susceptibility of a subject to an anxiety or mood disorder. One method involves testing a sample obtained from the subject for the presence of a polymorphism in Intron 10 of the SLC1A1 gene. The presence of allele G or allele A of the A/G polymorphism rs301434 indicates that the patient is susceptible to an anxiety disorder. An alternate method involves testing a sample obtained from the subject for the presence of a polymorphism in the 3′ untranslated region of the SLC1A1 gene. The presence of allele C of C/G polymorphism rs3087879 indicates that the patient is susceptible to an anxiety disorder. Furthermore, a method is provided that involves testing a sample obtained from the subject for the presence of a haplotype in the SLC1A1 gene, wherein the combined presence allele G of the A/G polymorphism rs301434 and allele C of C/G polymorphism rs3087879 indicates that the patient is susceptible to a mood disorder.

Anxiety disorders are typically characterized by an exaggerated, recurrent or inappropriate apprehension, uncertainty, anxiety, or fear. They are classified according to the severity and duration of their symptoms and specific affective characteristics. Some categories are: (1) generalized anxiety disorder (GAD); (2) obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); (3) panic disorder; (4) post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); (5) social anxiety disorder (social phobia); (6) specific phobia; and (7) separation anxiety disorder. Current treatment for most anxiety disorders may involve a combination of psyco-social treatment with antidepressant medication. Psycho-social treatments used in the treatment of anxiety disorders include, for example, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure therapy, anxiety management and relaxation therapies, or psychotherapy. Drugs used to treat anxiety disorders include, for example, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines, beta blockers, or monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs).
Anxiety disorders may develop from a complex set of risk factors, including genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and life events. A combination of factors may underlie a given anxiety disorder. For example, while trauma itself acts as a trigger for post traumatic stress disorder, genetic factors may predispose some individuals toward being more or less susceptible to developing the full-blown disorder. Genetic factors have been suggested to play a role in several other anxiety disorders, including for example, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
OCD is a neuropsychiatric condition affecting an estimated 1 to 3% of the population worldwide. It is associated with significant morbidity, as reflected in its ranking by the World Health Organization as one of the 10 most disabling medical conditions. Large, controlled family studies have indicated significant familial aggregation of OCD, with a meta-analysis indicating an aggregate risk of 8.3% compared with the general population prevalence of approximately 2%, resulting in an odds ratio of 4 for first degree relatives of OCD probands. Twin studies in OCD suggest increased concordance in monozygotic twin pairs (80-87%) compared with dizygotic twin pairs (47-50%). Taken together, the family studies and twin studies indicate that genetic determinants may play a significant role in the etiology of OCD.
Molecular genetic studies in OCD have been largely based on a candidate gene approach, in which variants (polymorphisms) of candidate genes are genotyped in a population of affected probands and either population or family-based controls. Candidate genes may be selected based either on location within a linkage region identified in a whole genome scan, or the presumed role of the gene in pathogenesis. In the only published genome scan based on OCD probands, a region of suggestive linkage (LOD=2.25) was found in chromosome 9p24 based on seven multigenerational large pedigrees in which there was a pediatric proband with OCD (Hanna G L, Veenstra-VanderWeele J, Cox N.J. et al. Genome-wide linkage analysis of families with obsessive-compulsive disorder ascertained through pediatric probands. Am J Med Genet 2002;114:541-52), a linkage finding which was subsequently replicated in a study by Willour and colleagues (Willour V L, Yao Shugart Y, Samuels J et al. Replication study supports evidence for linkage to 9p24 in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Am J Hum Genet 2004;75:508-13).
Within the 9p24 region of 7.5 MB only one gene has been shown to be expressed in brain, the neuronal glutamate transporter gene SLC1A1 (OMIM #133550), which codes for the neuronal glutamate transporter excitatory amino acid carrier 1 (EAAT3/EAAC1). This gene is highly expressed within cerebral cortex, striatum, and thalamus, brain regions which are connected in functional cortico-striatal-thalamic circuits (CSTC's) implicated in OCD (Bronstein Y, Cummings J. Neurochemistry of frontal-subcortical circuits. In: Lichter D, Cummings J, eds. Frontal-subcortical circuits in psychiatric and neurological disorders. New York: Guilford Press; 2001:59-91).
SLC1A1 is a strong functional candidate gene for OCD given the mounting evidence for a role of altered glutamate neurotransmission within CSTC's in the pathogenesis of OCD. However, genetic association studies between OCD and SLC1A1 and the surrounding genetic region have produced mixed findings. Veenstra-Vanderweele and colleagues (Veenstra-VanderWeele J, Kim S J, Gonen D, Hanna G L, Leventhal B L, Cook E H, Jr. Genomic organization of the SLC1A1/EAAC1 gene and mutation screening in early-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder. Mol Psychiatry 2001;6:160-7) failed to find any evidence for biased transmission in a family-based association analysis of a haplotype consisting of two intronic SNPs in intron 3 of SLC1A1 (p=0.42). Willour and colleagues (Willour et al, supra.) found modest associations between two microsatellite markers flanking SLC1A1, GATA62F03 (p=0.02) and D9S288 (p=0.05). Accordingly, association between SLC1A1 and OCD is still not clear.
Similarly, genetic markers for other anxiety disorders have yet to be clearly established.
According to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA; www.adaa.org) anxiety disorders may be the most common psychiatric illnesses affecting both children and adults. 19 million adult Americans are estimated suffer from anxiety disorders. However, only about one-third of those suffering from an anxiety disorder are properly diagnosed and receive treatment.
Accordingly, there is a need for diagnostics or treatments pertaining to anxiety disorders. Furthermore, there is a need to further clarify an association between anxiety disorders and SCLA1A or SCLA1A variants.


Disclosed is a new method suitable for making highly integrated quantum wire arrays, quantum dot arrays in a single crystal compound semiconductor and FETs of less than 0.1 micron gate length. This makes it possible to construct a high-performance electronic device with high speed and low power consumption, using a combination of low-temperature-growth molecular beam epitaxy (LTG-MBE) and focused ion beam (FIB) implantation. The compound semiconductor (GaAs) epitaxial layers, which are made by LTG-MBE, are used as targets of Ga FIB implantation to make Ga wire or dot arrays. Precipitation of arsenic microcrystals, which are initially embedded in a single crystal GaAs layer and act as Schottky barriers, are typically observed in an LTG GaAs layer. A thermal annealing process, after implantation, changes the arsenic microcrystals to GaAs crystals if the arsenic microcrystals are in the region in which the Ga ions are implanted. A wire-like shape free of As microcrystals then acts as a quantum wire for electrons or holes whereas a dot-like shape free of As microcrystals acts as a quantum dot. The co-existence of Ga ions and dopant ions, which provides conductivity type carriers opposite to the conductivity type of the majority carriers of a channel region of an FET, provides the fabrication of very narrow junction gate region for any FET.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method for fabricating semiconductor structures which contain at least a doped region in a compound semiconductor layer of III-V or II-VI elements with Group V or Group VI elements introduced therein, in excess amount, to form either microcrystals or point defects in the doped region and, more particularly, it relates to the fabrication of quantum structures in III-V compound layer such as GaAs. This invention is also directed to the fabrication of an improved FET structure which has a gate length less than 0.1 micron.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electrons confined in a potential well whose size is comparable to that of the de Broglic wavelength of an electron behave quite differently from those in free space. This special behavior is called the quantum confined effect. One-dimensional plane. Two-dimensional confinement allows only one-dimensional motion of carriers: a structure with this feature is called a quantum wire or quantum well wire. Three-dimensional confinement does not allow kinetic motion of electrons, for example, in any direction. This electronic state is similar to those in atoms. An electron in this state is called a zero-dimensional electron and a structure that gives rise to this state is called a quantum dot or quantum box.
The difference in the dimensionality of these electrons causes quite a big difference in their density of states and electronic energy levels. Moreover, a remarkable improvement can be expected in the performance of devices that use the feature of electron kinematics in quantum structures of less than three dimensions. For example, an electron's mobility is related to the speed of an electronic feature of electron kinematics in quantum structures of less than three-dimensions. For example, an electron's mobility is related to the speed of an electronic device and its power consumption. This mobility is subject to electron scattering processes in semiconductors.
A quantum wire in which an electron has only one-dimensional freedom of kinetic motion allows only forward and backward scattering. Only backscattering reduces the mobility, but the probability of such scattering can be expected to be very low. Extraordinarily high mobility (10.sup.7 -10.sup.8 sqcm/Vs) is predicted in the Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol.19, No.12, December, 1980, pp.L735-L738 in an article entitled "Scattering Suppression and High-Mobility Effect of Size-Quantized Electrons in Ultrafine Semiconductor Wire Structures" by H. Sakaki. It is easy to understand the improvement, if we compare this value with that of bulk GaAs (10.sup.3 sqcm/Vs).
There have been many attempts to make quantum wires and quantum boxes, in the hope of effecting a remarkable improvement in the device performance of electronic devices. However, these attempts have hitherto resulted only in rather large quantum wires whose quantum size effect is insufficient for practical purpose. These quantum wires also present many problems: lack of uniformity, low packing density and difficulty in obtaining a multi-layered structure and cleanliness in the fabrication process, which is important for subsequent crystal growth. Even if a quantum wire has high electron mobility, the current per quantum wire is so small that a large bundle of quantum wires is required to operate an actual electron device. This means that the size uniformity, high packing density, and multi-layered structure are indispensable for quantum wires.
Prior methods of fabricating quantum wires can be classified into four types, as summarized below. Except for molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), or metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MO-CVD), described at 4 below, grown quantum wells or superlattices are used for one-dimensional quantum confinement. Many different methods are used for additional confinement.

Fabrication method for quantum devices in compound semiconductor layers

International Business Machines Corporation


A temperature control unit for an electronic component and a handler apparatus, which are excellent in responsibility during cooling and heating, is obtained. The temperature control unit for an electronic component includes a cooling cycle device having a refrigerant passage circulating through a compressor, a condenser, an expander, and an evaporator; a thermally conductive block having an outer surface capable of coming in contact with the electronic component that is an object to be temperature-controlled, where an inner surface corresponding to the outer surface is placed opposite to the outer surface so as to be brought in contact with or apart from the evaporator; at least one first heater for heating the thermally conductive block; and a compressed air feeding circuit for feeding compressed air between facing surfaces of the evaporator and the thermally conductive block to part them.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a temperature control unit for an electronic component which is used for characteristic inspection of the electronic component, and a handler apparatus including the temperature control unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In characteristic inspection of the electronic component such as an IC, there is a temperature loading test where the electronic component is inspected while being maintained at a predetermined temperature. In the temperature loading test, it is required to inspect the electronic component under a correct temperature loading while compensating the temperature change due to self-heating of the electronic component. Especially, in recent years, as represented by a CPU of a personal computer, there is a tendency that as the electronic component becomes faster, more highly integrated and miniaturized, an amount of heat generation in the electronic component is increased. Therefore, a high level temperature controlling technology is required during inspecting the electronic component. Consequently, heretofore, various kinds of temperature controlling technologies have been developed (for example, Patent documents 1 to 3).
[Documents 1] JP-T-2001-526837
[Documents 2] JP-T-2002-520622
[Documents 3] JP-T-2004-527764
In a method as in Patent document 1 or Patent document 2, where a cooling liquid is circulated, a liquid cooling device (chiller) with a large tank is required to make the cooling liquid circulate, thereby, requiring much time for cooling the cooling liquid in the tank before the operation for cooling the electronic component.
Moreover, in a cooling system as in Patent document 3, including a compressor and a condenser, responsibility of heating during switching from cooling to heating was not always satisfactory.
Moreover, as for such a kind of conventional temperature control unit, there was a problem in that dew condensation occurred at a pipe of a movable area due to cooling.
Further, in a measuring hand of a handler apparatus integrally a having a function for transferring the electronic component and a function for cooling the electronic component being measured, there was also a problem in that a suction pad for sucking the electronic component may sucks in a thermally conductive liquid coated on the upper surface of the electronic component in order to improve thermal conductivity thereof.

Temperature control unit for electronic component and handler apparatus


A sink or similar fluid retaining vessel drain system employs a unique linkage assembly to control the opening and closing of a ball type valve mechanism. The system is to be utilized in a small section of pipe as a tailpiece add-on which is connected to the bottom of any standard basket drain, configured to replace the existing straight section of tailpiece pipe below the drain. The system can also be utilized as an originally installed assembly connected directly beneath the drain.

Sinks in general, whether kitchen, commercial, bar, utility (slop), etc. and other fluid holding vessels such as bathtubs and tanks, all use some type of drain assembly to maintain fluid and then discharge the fluid. For instance, a basket drain is commonly installed in the bottom of a sink because it is the least expensive way of stopping water from draining. In some commercial applications, a lever or twist drain is used in lieu of the simple basket drain. This not only works better (water does not leak as fast as with a basket drain), but also allows an individual to control the drain mechanism from under the sink, rather than reaching down into the water to allow it to drain. However, this is quite costly and sometimes cumbersome in comparison to the simple basket drain. Other systems require the user to stick his or her hand into a sink of hot or dirty water to allow drainage. Oft times an unsightly strainer lying sideways in the bottom of a sink is the only way to prevent accidental stoppage of the drain during normal use of the sink.
There are also numerous drain assembly designs which are controlled remotely from the drain, i.e. from above the sink, bathtub, etc. Such systems are usually unduly complicated or they are unreliable in preventing unwanted leakage through the drain or under the sink itself.

Tailpiece and sink drain assembly system


A laser marking apparatus includes at least one laser beam source, a multichannel acoustic modulator defining a plurality of at least partially overlapping modulation regions, apparatus for directing at least one laser beam from the at least one laser beam source through the multichannel acoustic modulator such that each laser beam extends across at least two of the at least partially overlapping modulation regions, and imaging apparatus for directing light from the modulator to a laser marking image plane.

Laser imaging using acoustic modulators has been proposed in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,578 describes a method for recording a plurality of reproduction picture images of an original picture in which multiple laser beams are modulated by an acoustic-optical modulator according to picture signals obtained by scanning an original picture. U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,472 describes an optical record and playback system for use in a multi-channel data processing system. An optical head, which includes a laser diode array, and optics which collects the laser beams emitted by the diode array, expands the beam cross section to form circular beams and focuses the beams to diffraction limited spots.
U.S Pat. No. 4,506,275 describes an image scanning and recording device employing an acousto-optic modulator associated with a plurality of optical fibers which couple light from individual channels of the modulator output to a recording medium.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,838 describes an acousto-optic modulator having an overlapping electrode structure. Although possible color plotter applications are mentioned, no suggestion is provided as to how to overcome problems of optical interference resulting from the overlap.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,091 describes a two dimensional laser diode array which is imaged down onto an optical recording medium which is moving relative to the image of the array.
Generally in the prior art of scanners, multi-channel modulators are employed in a manner such that each beam is modulated separately. The various beams are isolated in order to avoid mutual interference, thus complicating the system.

Laser marking apparatus including an acoustic modulator


A watercraft propulsion system includes a normal watercraft operating unit, a joy stick watercraft operating unit, a control unit, a control mode switching unit, and a detection unit. The normal watercraft operating unit includes throttle levers and a steering wheel. The throttle levers are used to adjust outputs of at least two propulsion machines mounted to a hull. The steering wheel is used to adjust rudder turning angles of the at least two propulsion machines. The joy stick watercraft operating unit includes a joy stick. The joy stick is used to move the hull in at least each of front, rear, left, and right directions. The control unit is configured and programmed to control the outputs and the rudder turning angles of the at least two propulsion machines in a normal mode in accordance with an operation of the normal watercraft operating unit or a joy stick mode in accordance with an operation of the joy stick watercraft operating unit. The control mode switching unit is configured to output a control mode switching instruction to the control unit when the control mode switching unit has received a switching operation of the control mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a watercraft propulsion system and a propulsion machine controlling method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional art, a watercraft includes a plurality of propulsion machines, a normal watercraft operating unit, and a joy stick watercraft operating unit. The normal watercraft operating unit includes throttle levers, which adjust the outputs of the plurality of propulsion machines; and a steering wheel, which adjusts the rudder turning angle of the plurality of propulsion machines. The joy stick watercraft operating unit includes a joy stick, which causes the hull to move in at least each of the front, rear, left, and right directions. A watercraft operator can operate the watercraft in any of the following control modes: a normal mode, which corresponds to the operation of the normal watercraft operating unit, and a joy stick mode, which corresponds to the operation of the joy stick watercraft operating unit.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2010-132127 discloses a technique that limits the transition from the normal mode to the joy stick mode in the case where the velocity of the hull (hereinbelow, referred to as the watercraft velocity) is a prescribed velocity or greater. According to this technique, it is possible to reduce a large load, which is produced by the water current, that is applied to the propulsion machines, which turn with the transition to the joy stick mode.
Nevertheless, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2010-132127, it is necessary to provide the hull with a watercraft velocity detecting device (e.g., a velocity sensor, a GPS receiver, and the like); consequently, if the watercraft velocity detecting device is not provided, then the technique cannot be used, which causes a problem.

Watercraft propulsion system and propulsion machine controlling method


A method is provided for triggering migration of call session state information. The method includes determining whether to migrate a network access agent associated with an access terminal in a wireless communication system based on at least one of mobility information associated with the access terminal and status information associated with the wireless communication system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a communication system, and, more particularly, to a wireless communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional wireless telecommunications, one or more access terminals may establish a wireless link to a Radio Access Network (RAN). The RAN architecture is typically hierarchical and call state information associated with each access terminal call session is stored in a central repository, such as a Radio Network Controller (RNC), a Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN), and the like. One alternative to the conventional hierarchical network architecture is a distributed architecture including a network of base station routers. For example, each base station router may combine RNC and/or PDSN functions in a single entity that manages radio links between one or more access terminals and an outside network, such as the Internet. Compared to hierarchical networks, distributed architectures have the potential to reduce the cost and/or complexity of deploying the network, as well as the cost and/or complexity of adding additional wireless access points, e.g. base station routers, to expand the coverage of an existing network. Distributed networks may also reduce (relative to hierarchical networks) the delays experienced by users because packet queuing delays at the RNC and PDSN of hierarchical networks may be reduced or removed.
In a distributed architecture, the base station router incorporates the RNC and PDSN functionality. One or more network access agents associated with access terminals in the service area of the base station router may implement Mobile IP (MIP). The network access agents are typically a part of the PDSN protocol suite and are responsible for providing connectivity between the access terminal and the distributed network. For example, the network access agent may be a foreign agent that provides Point of Attachment (PoA) and/or Care of Address (CoA) functionality for the access terminal. The access terminal also registers with a home agent (HA) that provides a permanent/semi-permanent attachment to an Internet Protocol (IP) network and maintains information that identifies the foreign agent that is serving the access terminal. Accordingly, information transmitted by the access terminal may travel over an air interface to the base station router and then be directed to the IP network via the home agent. Information intended for the access terminal may travel from the IP network to the base station router via the home agent and then to the access terminal over the air interface.
The base station router that provides the air interface to the access terminal may change if the access terminal moves through the wireless network. For example, if an access terminal having an active call session moves from a geographic area served by a first base station router to a different geographic area that is served by a second base station router, then the network access agent associated with the access terminal may be migrated or transferred from the first base station router to the second base station router, and the second base station router then becomes the serving base station router. The home agent typically remains the same as the access terminal roams throughout the network. If the access terminal moves frequently, then the additional overhead associated with repeatedly transferring the network access agent may undesirably consume scarce network resources.
When an access terminal becomes idle or dormant, the air interface with the serving base station router and any data paths in the radio access network are torn down to conserve scarce network resources. Migrating the network access agent associated with a roaming idle access terminal also consumes scarce network resources. For example, a foreign agent may relay traffic between the home agent and the access terminal according to Mobile IP techniques, in which case the foreign agent may be referred to as a layer 3 anchor. Transferring a layer 3 anchor from one base station router to another base station router requires forming a new radio connection to the access terminal, which adds signaling overhead and brings the access terminal back to the active mode. If the idle access terminal moves frequently, then the additional overhead associated with repeatedly transferring the layer 3 anchor may consume scarce network resources, potentially defeating the purpose of placing the access terminal in the idle mode. Consequently, conventional distributed networks do not typically migrate foreign agents associated with idle access terminals until the access terminal is activated in response to incoming or outgoing communications.
However, failing to migrate the foreign agent associated with idle access terminals may also have a number of drawbacks. Depending on the circumstances, the idle access terminal may roam to a geographic area associated with a base station router that is distant from the previous serving base station router. Thus, when the access terminal wakes up and attempts to resume the idle or dormant call session, the foreign agent may need to be migrated to the new base station router. For example, the access terminal may need to re-register with the network and may need to perform a foreign agent relocation to the new base station router before an active communication link can be established with the base station router. The foreign agent relocation procedure may increase the session reactivation delay for the access terminal. The session reactivation delay may be particularly troublesome if the call session associated with the access terminal is designed to respond rapidly to incoming and/or outgoing information. For example, Push-to-Talk applications are designed to respond substantially immediately to incoming and/or outgoing information and so may not operate in the desired manner when the session reactivation delay is significant.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Triggering migration of a network access agent associated with an access terminal


The present invention relates to optical bio-disc systems and related methods and to immobilizing receptor molecules. When a sample is injected into a fluidic circuit, the target agent binds to a capture probe bound in a capture zone. A signal is generated from tags attached to a reporter probe that has specific affinity to the target agent. The assays and methods of the present invention are implemented on an optical bio-disc. The optical bio-disc includes a flow channel having capture zones and in fluid communications with a mixing chamber, and a peripheral waste reservoir. The optical bio-disc is implemented on an optical bio-disc that has information encoding format such as CD. An disc drive assembly is employed to rotate the optical bio-disc, read and process any encoded information, and analyze the samples in the flow channel of the optical bio-disc.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to methods and design of optical bio-discs for the detection, and for quantitative and qualitative analysis of bindable substances. More specifically, this invention is directed to methods and apparatus for detection and quantification of bindable substances through affinity reaction with a solid phase linked binding substance. The solid phase is preferably provided by the surface of an optical bio-disc, which carries the immobilized binding reagent and encoded information for performing the analysis. The analyte of interest is carried within fluidic circuits of the optical bio-disc. Separation of bound analyte from free analytes may be performed using centrifugal force imparted by rotating the optical bio-disc.
2. Optical Bio-Discussion of the Related Art
The detection and quantification of analytes in the blood or other body fluids are essential for diagnosis of diseases, elucidation of the pathogenesis, and for monitoring the response to drug treatment. Traditionally, diagnostic assays are performed in laboratories by trained technicians using complex apparatus. Performing these assays is usually time-consuming and costly. Thus, there is a significant need to make diagnostic assays and forensic assays of all types faster and more local to the end-user. Ideally, clinicians, patients, investigators, the military, other health care personnel, and consumers should be able to test themselves for the presence of certain risk factors or disease indicators in their systems, and to test for the presence of certain biological material at a crime scene or on a battlefield. At present, there are a number of medical diagnostic, silicon-based, devices with nucleic acids and/or proteins attached thereto that are commercially available or under development. These chips are not for use by the end-user, or for use by persons or entities lacking very specialized expertise and expensive equipment.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,581 entitled "Laboratory in a Disk" issued Feb. 29, 2000 (the '581 patent) is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The '581 patent optical bio-discloses an apparatus that includes an optical bio-disc, adapted to be read by an optical reader, which has a sector having a substantially self-contained assay system useful for localizing and detecting an analyte suspected of being in a sample.

Multi-purpose optical analysis optical bio-disc for conducting assays and various reporting agents for use therewith


The present invention relates to a method of processing meat such as, but not limited to, turkey breast meat. The meat is vacuum tumbled prior to coagulation of blood within the meat, and the blood is withdrawn from the meat. The meat is then injected with a brine solution, tumbled, and further processed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of processing meat, more particularly, a method of processing poultry meat using vacuum tumbling prior to injecting the meat with a brine solution.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Consumers typically purchase meat products after making judgments about the quality of the meat and the price of the meat. Among other things, the aesthetic appearance, including the color of the meat and the texture of meat, contributes to the perceived quality of the meat. When meat contains blood spots and/or is pale, soft, and exudative ("PSE") meat, this negatively affects the perceived quality of the meat.
It is known that when the pH in meat is low and the temperature of the meat remains high, protein denaturation results and the meat becomes pale and exudative. To prevent/limit the occurrence of PSE meat, either the temperature of the meat must be lowered rapidly or the pH decline must be slowed. PSE meat results in a tremendous economic loss for the meat. Blood spots in the meat and/or PSE meat tend to be seasonal issues in processing meat such as turkey meat. Therefore, it is desirous to process meat in such a way to, prevent the appearance of blood spots and/or to discourage the onset of PSE meat.
Although there are processes that include the use of vacuum tumbling for various reasons, these processes do not result in the same effect or address the issues of concern. U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,704 discloses a process for treating meat to raise myosin protein to the surface of the meat and to increase the absorption of fluid or additives by first crushing and mashing the meat and then simultaneously shaking and tumbling the meat while keeping the meat refrigerated and under a vacuum.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,053 discloses a process for treating meat, preferably the muscles of swine having water contained within themselves. The muscles are placed in a container, and a vacuum is applied within the container to lower the temperature at which water boils so that the water within the muscles boils. The vacuum also results in raising myosin protein to the surface of the meat, which improves the product moisture retention, muscle surface cohesion, and ultimately the finished product quality. The meat is also agitated by tumbling within the container. The vapor inside the cavity from the boiled water is exhausted, and both cooling and massaging of the meat by the vacuum is created.

Method of vacuum tumbling for processing meat


A potential region of interest segmentation device segments an image data into regions of potential interest. From the regions of potential interest, an identifying device identifies a region of interest including an object of interest based on a set of rules. A recognizing device differentiates among the identified objects of interest and selects at least one particular object of interest.

The present invention relates to the diagnostic imaging systems and methods. It finds particular application in conjunction with the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Single Photon Emission Tomography (SPECT) systems and will be described with particular reference thereto. It will be appreciated that the invention may also be applicable to other imaging modalities.
Nuclear medicine imaging employs a source of radioactivity to image a patient. Typically, a radiopharmaceutical is injected into the patient. Radiopharmaceutical compounds contain a radioisotope that undergoes gamma-ray decay at a predictable rate and characteristic energy. One or more radiation detectors are placed adjacent to the patient to monitor and record emitted radiation. Sometimes, the detector is rotated or indexed around the patient to monitor the emitted radiation from a plurality of directions. Based on information such as detected position and energy, the radiopharmaceutical distribution in the body is determined and an image of the distribution is reconstructed to study the circulatory system, radiopharmaceutical uptake in selected organs or tissue, and the like.
Nuclear medicine imaging has been increasingly used in cancer imaging due to the success of the tracer [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). Focal areas of abnormally increased FDG uptake are typical for many types of cancer. The main areas of interest are the diagnosis, staging, and monitoring of response to the treatment. A metabolic change can be established by comparing uptake values from pre-treatment and post-treatment scans. The FDG-PET imaging is also important for therapy planning, e.g. for dose planning. For such applications, the accurate localization and quantization of metabolic activity is essential. Often, the PET images are combined with the CT images of the same anatomical region. Typically, after the registration, the images are manually evaluated for localization and quantization of metabolic activity. Although, the hot spots are typically easily identified in the PET images, marking and delineation of the hot spots, however, are tedious tasks which slow down the overall workflow.
Another important area of the PET/SPECT imaging is myocardial perfusion imaging, where uptake of a tracer substance that contains a suitable radionuclide, such as Tc-99m, indicates the health condition of cardiac regions. Typically, the transaxial images, reconstructed from projection data, are reoriented into short-axis images. Short-axis images, which are perpendicular to the long axis of the left ventricle (LV), allow standardization of display and interpretation of images, and also make it possible to present 3D information in 2D polar maps, which is the current standard for quantification.
Current methods for determining the long axis of the left ventricle are based on models. Typically, such methods require the initial identification of the heart and initial model placement, which is followed by a model fitting procedure. The heart is typically segmented based on a global threshold. However, since the separation of different regions and the occurrence of noise spots strongly depend on the threshold setting, this methodology is often inaccurate. Another problem with automated thresholding procedures is that other organs with a high intensity, e.g. liver, might be selected instead of the heart. On the other hand, if the threshold is set high, the connectedness of the heart regions might disappear for infarcted cases.
The accurate initial placement is crucial for the model fitting algorithms. Initial misalignments can lead to invalid model positions. Besides, some additional constraints, for example, the approximate area and the shape of the heart, need to be incorporated in order to successfully fit the model. These constraints are camera dependent, and the parameters need to be adjusted for different cameras.
The present application provides new and improved methods and apparatuses which overcome the above-referenced problems and others.

Hot spot detection, segmentation and identification in pet and spect images


A female connector having a locking mechanism which can be selectively applied to permit the removal or insertion of the blades of a male plug into the female connector or retain such blades within the female connector. The female connector has two pairs of contacts each having a first end at which two contact arms are located. A projection on one of the arms is dimensioned and positioned to engage a mating hole in a plug blade. The position of the one arm with projection is controlled by an actuator assembly which is accessible from outside the female connector. When the push button of the actuator assembly is pushed, the projection is removed from the associated contact arm to permit a plug blade to be removed or enter between the contact arms. In the reset position the projections grip the plug blades making withdrawal from the female connector of the male blades difficult.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to the joining together of two electrical cords and, more particularly, to a mechanism which can be incorporated into female electrical connectors to lock an inserted male connector to such female connector.
2. Description of the Prior Art
By the use of electrical extension cords, electrical devices, such as tools, lamps, appliances and the like can be used at a distance from the source of electrical power, such as a wall outlet. The electrical device has a male connector or plug which is plugged into a female connector or socket at one end of the extension cord while the male connector at the other end of the extension cord is plugged into the outlet. If the tool or appliance being used is moved during such use the device plug may be pulled free of the extension cord and thus prevent further use until the plug and socket are rejoined. Such plug/socket separation can be a major problem if the user is remote from the plug/socket joint as on a ladder, a roof or similar place.
One approach to prevent the unwanted separation of male plugs from female sockets is the use of external, mechanically operated plug and socket clamps of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,463 issued May 12, 1987 for "Plug and Connector Clamp" by Robert A. Carmo and U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,243 issued Feb. 28, 1995 for "Releasable Cord Connecting Lock" by Robert A. Carmo, both assigned to the instant assignee. Although these devices work well, they do require that an extra mechanism be used and that the user remember to take it along to the end of the extension cord.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,129,836 issued Jul. 14, 1992 and 5,281,162 issued Jan. 25, 1994, both directed to "Self-Locking Female Receptor For Electrical Cord" by Nels E. Ursich show a mechanism for locking the blades of a male plug in a housing. However, there is no disclosure as to how to use the mechanism to join a plug and socket. Further, the devices use locking balls which must be properly placed with respect to the male plug blades to lock or release such blades from the female receptor.

Locking mechanism for an electrical connector


A memory system in embodiments includes a nonvolatile semiconductor memory that stores user data, a forward lookup address translation table and a reverse lookup address translation table, and a controller. The controller is configured to determine that the user data stored in the nonvolatile semiconductor memory is valid or invalid based on these two tables. The controller may perform data organizing of selecting data determined valid and rewriting the data in a new block. The controller may perform write processing and rewriting processing to the new block alternately at a predetermined ratio. The controller may determine whether a predetermined condition is satisfied on a basis of addresses included in write requests and write data in the MLC mode when the condition is satisfied and write data in the SLC mode when the condition is not satisfied.

In SSDs (solid state drive), when a data erasing unit (block) is different from a data management unit, according to the progress of rewriting of a flash memory, blocks are made porous by invalid (non-latest) data. When blocks in such a porous state increase, substantially usable blocks decrease and a storage area of the flash memory cannot be effectively used. Therefore, for example, when the number of free blocks (unused blocks which do not include valid data therein and for which a use is not allocated) of the flash memory becomes less than a predetermined threshold, the flash memory is organized, for example, by performing compaction of collecting valid data in blocks and rewriting the data in a different block, thereby reserving a free block for which a use is not allocated.
That means that a block having a small amount of valid data that is a target for the compaction can be released after moving the data, therefore, the number of free blocks can be increased by the compaction. In the compaction processing, it is needed to determine whether data in a movement source block is valid data or invalid data. Thus, it is needed to prepare a reverse lookup address translation table (translation table from NAND address into host address: Reverse Lookup Table) in a memory. A translation table from a host address into a NAND address is a forward lookup address translation table (Lookup Table).
If the compaction continues to be performed when a write request is input from a host device to an SSD, the response to the write request is delayed. If the compaction is not performed, for example, free blocks cannot be reserved, therefore, the compaction needs to be performed in some cases. However, when free blocks are present even if the compaction is not performed, it is desirable to prioritize the response to a write request.
Moreover, a recording method in a NAND flash memory includes a multi-value recording (MLC: Multi-Level Cell) method and a binary recording (SLC: Single-Level Cell) method. Whereas the SLC method (hereinafter, SLC mode) records 1 bit in one cell that is one unit for recording, the MLC method (hereinafter, MLC mode) can record N bits (N>1) in one cell. Therefore, for example, in a MLC flash memory that records 2 bits per cell, one cell can express four values, and, in a MLC flash memory that records 3 bits per cell, one cell can express eight values.
Thus, in the recording in the MLC mode, the recording capacity per volume can be increased compared with that in the recording in the SLC mode, and there is a merit that the cost per recording capacity can be suppressed. On the other hand, in the recording in the SLC mode, there is a merit that the access time in writing and reading is short and the reliability is high compared with the recording in the MLC mode.

Memory system and control method of memory system


Provision of, in a process of producing a hydrogenated polymer, which comprises steps of sequentially performing, in the presence of a ruthenium carbene complex, a ring-opening metathesis polymerization reaction of a cyclic olefin and a hydrogenation reaction of a ring-opening metathesis polymer produced by the polymerization reaction to give a hydrogenated polymer, a simple and economic process of obtaining a hydrogenated polymer having an extremely small content of residual ruthenium derived from the ruthenium carbene complex.

Conventionally, redistribution of an ethylenic double bond (metathesis reaction) using a carbene complex represented by the following formula 4
wherein M is selected from the group consisting of Os and Ru, X1 and X2 are each independently selected from anion ligands, L1 and L2 are each independently selected from neutral electron donors, R23 is selected from a hydrogen atom, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group and a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group is widely known (e.g., patent document 1). Furthermore, a method comprising using a carbene complex for a polymerization reaction, and directly using the complex as a catalyst for a hydrogenation reaction is also known (e.g., patent documents 2-5 and non-patent document 1).
A polymer obtained by hydrogenation of a polymer obtained by a metathesis reaction contains a large amount of a heavy metal derived from a catalyst used for the metathesis reaction or hydrogenation reaction. The presence of a large amount of a heavy metal in the hydrogenated polymer gives rise to the problems of coloring of resin and decreased heat resistance. Therefore, various methods for removing the residual catalyst have heretofore been studied. As such example, a method of removing a residual catalyst by the use of an adsorbent such as activated carbon, activated clay and the like is known (see patent document 6). This method, however, requires treatment of a polymer solution with the adsorbent, which increases the amount of the adsorbent to be used, and is economically disadvantageous. Moreover, the method is associated with the problems of easily deteriorated operability as evidenced by abnormal increase in the fluid pressure during the treatment step and the like, and easy contamination of polymer with adsorbent fine particles due to pulverization thereof. As a method of removing a residual catalyst, moreover, a method comprising repeating an operation to treat the resultant polymer with a poor solvent to allow precipitation is known (see non-patent document 1). Nevertheless, such method is hardly an industrial one since the operation is troublesome.    patent document 1: National Publication of International Patent Application No. H11-510807    patent document 2: JP-A-10-195182    patent document 3: JP-A-2002-348360    patent document 4: National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2002-509961    patent document 5: National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2002-525397    patent document 6: JP-A-2001-163958    non-patent document 1: Journal of Molecular Catalysis A; Chemical Vol. 190 (2002) pages 177-184

Process for production of hydrogenated polymers and hydrogenated polymers

Abstract: A process of producing a hydrogenated polymer, which comprises, in the presence of a ruthenium carbene complex, subjecting a cyclic monoolefin and/or a cyclic diolefin to a ring-opening metathesis polymerization, hydrogenating the resulting ring-opening metathesis polymer to give a hydrogenated polymer, and bringing the hydrogenated polymer in contact with a poor solvent of the hydrogenated polymer in the presence of dissolved hydrogen to allow precipitation. As the poor solvent of the hydrogenated polymer, alcohol having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, ketone having 3 to 6 carbon atoms and the like are preferable.


Formation of an intramolecular cross-link in enzyme donor polypeptide fragments of .beta.-galactosidase, thereby forming a cyclic enzyme donor which is hindered from complementation with an enzyme acceptor fragment to form active of .beta.-galactosidase. The cyclic enzyme donor can be linearized by cleaving to restore complementation ability. Assays in which such cyclic enzyme donors are linearized by specific analytes are disclosed, as well as novel homobifunctional bis-maleimido cross-linking agents of the formula ##STR1## wherein R is hydroxy or acetate.

This invention relates to compounds, compositions and methods useful for the detection of analytes by complementation of polypeptide fragments of .beta.-galactosidase. Specifically, the invention relates to cross-linking agents, formation of an intramolecular cross-link in enzyme donor polypeptides of .beta.-galactosidase, and the use of such compositions in the detection and quantitation of analytes in samples.
In the past, various synthetic and natural antigenic polypeptides and polypeptide fragments have been conjugated to high molecular weight protein carriers such as latex functionalized SEPHAROSE (Pharmacia, Inc.), tetanus toxoid, keyhole limpet hemocyanin, agarose and cellulose to detectable labels such as fluorophores, and to chemotherapeutic agents using bifunctional cross-linking agents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,493,795 and PCT publication WO 90/05749 (published May 31, 1990) are exemplary. Such cross-linking agents have also been used to attach bioactive or cytotoxic agents, dyes, radioactive compounds and the like to antibody molecules. U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,958 is exemplary. Antibodies have been linked together using such agents. See Chen, Res. Virol. 141:337-42 (1990). Cross-linking agents have also found use for modifying bioactive and therapeutically useful polypeptides by conjugation with polymers such as polyethylene glycol to enhance pharmacokinetic properties. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,166,322, 4,179,337 and 4,766,106 are exemplary.
.beta.-Galactosidase is a tetrameric protein with a monomer molecular weight of approximately 116,000 Daltons. The monomer is composed of 1023 amino acids. Intracistronic complementation is the known phenomenon whereby individually inactive peptide fragments of the enzyme spontaneously associate to form an active .beta.-galactosidase protein. Among the first .beta.-galactosidase complementation pairs investigated in depth was the M15/CNBr2 system described by Langley and Zabin, Biochemistry 15:4866 (1976). M15 is a deletion mutant of .beta.-galactosidase lacking amino acids 11-41. The CNBr2 peptide consists of amino acids 3-92 of .beta.-galactosidase and is prepared from cyanogen bromide cleavage of the intact enzyme. When M15 and CNBr2, which are individually inactive, are incubated together under appropriate conditions, the two peptides complement or associate with eachother to form fully active, tetrameric .beta.-galactosidase. In this system, CNBr2, the N-terminal peptide, is referred to as the .alpha.-enzyme donor. M15, which has the N-terminal deletion, is referred to as the .alpha.-enzyme acceptor. The general phenomenon which uses the reassociation of the domains of .beta.-galactosidase to form active .beta.-galactosidase from inactive fragments is referred to as complementation. Other combinations of .alpha.-enzyme donors and .alpha.-enzyme acceptors have been described. See Zabin, Mol. and Cellular Biochem 49:84 (1982). Each is a variant derived from the natural .beta.-galactosidase sequence.
Complementation of a C-terminal peptide and corresponding C-terminal deletion protein has also been described. An example of this phenomenon, known as omega-complementation, is X-90, a .beta.-galactosidase deletion variant lacking 10 amino acids at the C-terminus and CNBr24, a peptide comprising amino acids 990-1021 of .beta.-galactosidase. As in the case of .alpha.-complementation, .omega.-enzyme donor polypeptides and .omega.-enzyme acceptor proteins are inactive but reassociate to form enzymatically active tetramer. See Welphy, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 93:223 (1980).
.beta.-Galactosidase complementation activity has been exploited to produce sensitive quantitative assays for both high and low molecular weight analytes. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,362,625 and 4,708,929 disclose, inter alia, a variety of enzyme donor and enzyme acceptor polypeptide compositions for use in antibody and receptor binding assays. The enzyme donors and enzyme acceptors are generated by means of recombinant DNA or polypeptide synthesis techniques familiar to skilled artisans.
These approaches allow great flexibility and control over the design of enzyme donor and enzyme acceptor molecules. The use of genetic engineering techniques allows the sequence and length of the enzyme donor and enzyme acceptor polypeptides to be modified to maximize assay performance and reagent stability. Enzyme donors optimized for chemical coupling to analyte and enzyme donors genetically fused to analyte peptides or proteins have been described, and immunoassays using these compositions are commercially available. See Henderson, Clin. Chem. 32:1637 (1986); Khanna, Amer. Clin. Lab 8:14 (1989) and Coty, J. Clin. Immunoassay 17:144 (1994).
One problem not addressed by the art in this area involves the reduction of background interference in these complementation assays. Because the enzyme donor and enzyme acceptor molecules spontaneously combine to form active enzyme, antibody or receptor binding to the unmodified enzyme donor or enzyme acceptor fragments has been relied upon in the past to inhibit such undesirable complementation. This approach has not fully succeeded.

Cross-linked polypeptide fragments of .beta.-galactosidase


Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A user equipment (UE) may be configured to perform positioning determination procedures, such as angle-based positioning procedures, with a base station to determine the position of the UE relative to the base station. To avoid positioning ambiguities that may result from antenna element spacing of an antenna module of the UE at some frequencies, such as mutual coupling or grating lobes, a UE may transmit a capability message indicating the capability of the UE related to the positioning procedures. In some cases, the UE may de-activate one or more antenna elements to increase the spacing between the antenna elements so as to mitigate mutual coupling when transmitting or receiving positioning reference signals. In some cases, the UE may request that the positioning reference signals be scheduled on some frequencies, not scheduled on other frequencies, or both.

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communications system may include one or more base stations or one or more network access nodes, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).
In some wireless communications systems, a UE and a base station may perform positioning determination procedures, such as angle-based positioning determination procedures, to determine a position of the UE relative to the base station. Such angle-based positioning determination procedures may include angle of departure (AoD) measurements, angle of arrival (AoA) measurements, or both. In some cases, such as at some frequencies, mutual coupling, or grating lobes, or both may occur that may impact the ability of the UE and the base station to determine the position of the UE relative to the base station.

Techniques for improving angle-based positioning procedures in ultra-wide bandwidth systems


A color display device is disclosed. The color display device includes an illumination lens system, a diffractive light modulation system, a combining system, a Fourier filter system, and a projection system. The illumination lens system converts a plurality of light beams into linear parallel light beams. The diffractive light modulation system produces a plurality of diffracted light beams having a plurality of diffraction orders by modulating each of the plurality of parallel light beams that are almost perpendicularly incident from the illumination lens system, The combining system focuses the plurality of diffracted light beams having the plurality of diffraction orders. The Fourier filter system selects diffracted light beams having desired diffraction orders using a dichroic filter. The projection system focuses the diffracted light beams on an object, and allowing the focused diffracted light beams to scan the object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a color display device and, more particularly, to a color display device, which improves diffraction efficiency by causing light to be almost perpendicularly incident on diffractive light modulators, and which uses a dichroic filter to select diffracted light beams having desired orders from among a plurality of diffracted light beams having a plurality of orders.
2. Description of the Related Art
A light beam scanning apparatus is an apparatus for producing an image by causing a light beam to form spots on a photosensitive medium through scanning in an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, a display device, a Light Emitting Diode (LED) printer, an electrophoto copying machine or a word processor.
As image forming apparatuses develop toward compactness, high speed and high resolution, light beam scanning apparatuses have been accordingly researched and developed to have the characteristics of compactness, high speed and high resolution.
Light beam scanning apparatuses for image forming apparatuses may be mainly classified into laser scanning type apparatuses using an f•θ lens, and image head printer type apparatuses, according to the light beam scanning method and the construction of a light beam scanning apparatus.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a conventional laser scanning apparatus using an f•θ lens.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional laser scanning apparatus includes a Laser Diode (LD) 10 that radiates a light beam in response to a video signal, a collimator lens 11 that converts the light beam, which is radiated from the LD 10, into parallel light, a cylinder lens 12 that converts the parallel light, which is passed through the collimator lens 11, into linear light coplanar with a scanning direction, a polygon mirror 13 that reflects the linear light, which is passed through the cylinder lens 12, while moving it at a constant linear velocity, a polygon mirror driving motor 14 that rotates the polygon mirror 13 at a constant velocity, an f•θ lens 15 that has a constant refractive index with respect to an optical axis, deflects the light, which is reflected by the polygon mirror 13 and which has a constant angular velocity, in a principal scanning direction, corrects aberrations of the light and focuses the corrected light on an illumination surface, a reflection mirror 16 that reflects the light beam, which is passed through the f•θ lens 15, in a predetermined direction and forms a dot-shaped image on the surface of a photosensitive drum 17, that is, an image plane, a horizontal sync mirror 18 that reflects the laser beam, which is passed through the f•θ lens 15, in a horizontal direction, and an optical sensor 19 that receives the laser beam, which is reflected by the horizontal sync mirror 18, and performs synchronization.
It is difficult for the above-described laser scanning type light beam scanning apparatus to achieve high-speed printing, due to the low switching speed of the laser diode 10 and the speed problem of the polygon mirror 13.
That is, to increase the scanning speed of the light beam, the polygon mirror 13 must be rotated using a high-speed motor. However, the high-speed motor is expensive, and the motor operating at high speed generates heat, vibration and noise, thus degrading operational reliability, so that a significant improvement in scanning speed cannot be expected.
Another scheme for improving the speed of the light beam scanning apparatus relates to an image head printing type light beam scanning apparatus using a multi-beam type beam formation apparatus.
Such a multi-beam optical scanning apparatus has a plurality of light emitting parts (laser heads) as light sources. The multi-beam optical scanning apparatus optically scans the surface of a recording medium using a plurality of light spots formed on the surface of the recording medium in such a way that a plurality of light beams radiated from the plurality of light emitting parts is focused by an imaging lens through an optical reflector.
In order to accomplish high-speed printing using only a single light spot, the number of times the surface of the recording medium is optically scanned per unit time must be significantly large. Meanwhile, the rotational speed of the optical reflector and the image clock cannot comply with the large number of optical scans. Accordingly, if the number of beam spots that simultaneously scan the surface of the recording medium increases, the rotational speed of the optical reflector and the image clock may be reduced in proportion to the number of beam spots.
In order to form a plurality of beam spots in the most effective manner, a laser element that functions as a light source has a plurality of light emitting points (light emitting parts) that can be independently operated.
Such a laser element having a plurality of light emitting points is commonly called a "monolithic multi-beam laser element." When the monolithic multi-beam laser element is used, most of optical elements disposed behind the light source can be used for a plurality of light beams, so that the monolithic multi-beam laser element provides significant advantages in terms of cost, process and control.
FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a conventional laser scanning scheme in which laser scanning is performed by a plurality of beams produced by an LED array disposed in an image head.
Referring to FIG. 2, an LED array 21 is disposed in an image head 20 to have LEDs that can cover the width of printing paper, and generates a plurality of beams. Unlike the laser scanning scheme, printing can be performed on a line-at-a-time basis without using a polygon mirror or an f•θ lens, thus significantly improving printing speed.
This monolithic multi-beam laser element includes a so-called surface emitting laser (surface emitting type semiconductor laser).
The surface emitting laser emits light beams parallel to the thickness direction of a silicon layer, whereas a conventional semiconductor laser emits light beams perpendicular to the thickness direction of a silicon layer.
Furthermore, the surface emitting laser has the following characteristics. That is, the conventional semiconductor laser emits divergent light that has an elliptical cross section and considerably varied divergence angles, whereas the surface emitting laser can emit a circular beam that has a stabilized divergence angle.
However, the surface emitting laser has a problem in that an output light beam has an unstable polarization direction. Although the polarization direction can be controlled by the manufacturing method to some degree, it varies depending upon a light emitting point, ambient temperature and output.
The reflectance, transmittance and angle characteristics of the optical elements of an optical scanning apparatus, such as a polygonal mirror like an optical reflector, the scanning lens (f•θ lens) of an optical imaging system, and an echo mirror for changing an optical path, vary depending upon the polarization direction of an input light beam.
For this reason, when the monolithic multi-beam laser element including a surface emitting laser is used as the light source of an optical scanning apparatus, a plurality of beam spots that optically scans the surface of a recording medium have different intensities due to the different polarization directions of light emitting points. Further, the difference in intensity results in irregular pitch in an image, thus considerably degrading image quality.

Color display device using dichroic filter


A lamp fixing structure is arranged with a lamp which has an electrode and a wire electrically connected to the electrode. The lamp fixing structure includes a lamp holder and at least one lamp protecting member. The lamp holder has at least one pressing part. The lamp protecting member has a first hole. The lamp is inserted into the lamp protecting member. The wire passes through the lamp protecting member from the first hole. The pressing part presses the lamp protecting member so that the first hole is fitted to the wire tightly.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a fixing structure, a backlight module and a liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to a lamp fixing structure capable of fixing/interconnecting a wire, a backlight module and an LCD apparatus including the lamp fixing structure.
2. Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus has been widely used in various electronic products and gradually replaced the conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) display apparatus because the LCD apparatus advantageously has the low power consumption, low generated heat, light weight and non-radiative property.
In general, the LCD apparatus mainly includes an LCD panel and a backlight module. The LCD panel mainly has two substrates and one liquid crystal layer interposed between the two substrates. The backlight module is arranged to uniformly distribute light from a light source over the LCD panel.
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration showing a conventional backlight module, which is a direct type backlight module 1. Referring to FIG. 1, the backlight module 1 includes a backplate 11, a plurality of lamps 12, two lamp holders 13, a plurality of lamp protecting members 14, a plurality of optical films 15 and a frame body 16.
The lamps 12 are cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) and are separately arranged on the backplate 11. Two ends of the lamp 12 pass through the lamp protecting member 14. A wire 121 passes through the lamp protecting member 14 via a small hole of the lamp protecting member 14, and is electrically connected to the electrode of the lamp 12 by way of hook-soldering. The lamp holders 13 arranged to press the lamp protecting members 14 onto the backplate 11, and the lamp holders 13 are disposed on two lateral sides of the backplate 11. The optical films 15 are disposed on the lamp holders 13 and over the backplate 11 and then combined with the backplate 11 through the frame body 16 so that the lamps 12 and the optical films 15 are fixed between the frame body 16 and the backplate 11.
FIG. 2 is a partially schematic illustration showing a dashed-line portion of the backlight module 1 of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the lamp protecting member 14 is disposed in a hollow chamber 131 of the lamp holder 13. An electrode 122 of the lamp 12 is electrically connected to the wire 121 by way of hook-soldering. The lamp 12 is inserted into the lamp protecting member 14. The wire 121 passes through a small hole 141 of the lamp protecting member 14. Because the lamp 12 is connected to the wire 121, both of the lamp 12 and the wire 121 are inserted into the lamp protecting member 14 through a slit (not shown) of the lamp protecting member 14.
Although the lamp 12 is connected to the wire 121 by way of soldering, the solder between the wire 121 and the lamp 12 may crack (i.e., undergo so called solder crack) due to the human carelessness or the application of improper external force when the operator is assembling or transporting the backlight module 1. Thus, the signal cannot be transferred to the lamp 12 through the wire 121 and accordingly the lamp 12 cannot illuminate. In addition, the structural design of the lamp protecting member 14 is disadvantageous to the soldering operator who is conducting the hook-soldering process directly in the lamp protecting member 14. That is to say, the operator has to first execute the hook-soldering process and then insert the lamp 12 and the wire 121, which are connected together, into the lamp protecting member 14 through the slit of the lamp protecting member 14. However, the diameter of the lamp 12 is larger than the width of the slit, so the connected parts tends to be damaged when the lamp 12 and the wire 121 are being inserted.
In addition, although not shown in the drawing, the wire 121 can be wound around the circumference of the lamp protecting member 14 in accordance with another know technique. In this particular arrangement the wire 121 is tightly attached to the lamp protecting member 14 by a relatively complicated manual winding process so that the solder crack does not easily occur under the twitching due to the application of an external force. However, this method greatly increases the production time, and increases production cost undesirably.
Therefore, it is an important subject to provide a lamp fixing structure and a backlight module of an LCD apparatus, in which the wire can be conveniently bonded and effectively fixed so that the solder crack caused by the twitching due to the application of an external force can be avoided and the yield and the reliability of the product an be enhanced.

Lamp fixing structure and backlight module