The disclosure relates to transgenic plants over-expressing a unique light-regulated transcription factor, Z-box binding factor involving in plant growth and development, found in plant. Overexpression of the Z-box binding factor in plant results in early flowering, lateral root development and increased tolerance to environmental and abiotic stresses compared to wild type and mutant plants. The disclosure further provides identification and functional characterization of Z-box binding factor. The disclosure also provides a method for modifying a plant's traits, such as enhanced productivity and increased tolerance to environmental and abiotic stresses.

Plant development and metabolic activity are regulated by several environmental factors. Light is one of the most important environmental stimuli for plant growth and development. Light is perceived by several photoreceptors: far-red and red light by phytochromes (phyA to phyE) and blue and UV-A light by cryptochromes (cry1 and cry2). Whereas cytosolic phytochromes are translocated into the nucleus upon light-mediated activation, cryptochromes are localized in the nucleus (Curr Opin Plant Biol. (2004) 7, 564-9). Significant progress has been made in understanding the functions of photoreceptors and in the identification and characterization of downstream components of light signaling pathways (Science (2000) 288, 859-863; Annu Rev Plant Biol. (2002) 53, 329-55.). Light signaling pathways likely to have strong impact by cross-talk on other signaling pathway for optimum growth and development of plant. Light is perceived by a variety of photoreceptors and transmitted by several downstream signaling components through central regulator that control developmental as well as metabolic processes including photosynthesis and assimilate allocation. It has been very recently shown that productivity of crop plants might be enhanced by overexpressing one of the central regulators of light signaling pathway (Plant Physiology (1999) 120:73-81; Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (2004) 101: 9897-9902).
Arabidopsis thaliana seedling development follows two distinct pathways: skotomorphogenesis or etiolation in the dark and photomorphogenesis or deetiolation in the light. The shift from skotomorphogenic to photomorphogenic development leads to a change in expression of approximately one-third of the total genes in Arabidopsis (Plant Cell (2001) 13, 2589-2607; Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (2001) 98, 9437-9442).
Regulation of transcription of specific genes is an important mechanism by which light regulates plant growth and development. CAB, RBCS, and CHS are well-studied genes that are upregulated by light. Investigations of the promoters of the light-inducible genes, including CAB, RBCS, and CHS, have led to identification of four commonly found light-responsive elements (LREs): G, GATA, GT1, and Z-box, which have been demonstrated to be essential for light-mediated transcriptional activity (Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. (1995) 46, 445-474; EMBO J. (1996) 15, 3732-3743; Plant J. (2002) 31, 741-753). Several LRE-specific transacting factors have been identified, and in some cases, their functions in light signaling pathways have been investigated (Semin. Cell Biol. (1994) 5, 335-346; Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. (1995) 46, 445-474; Plant Cell 9, 491-507).

Stress responsive transcription factor involved in plant growth and development and methods thereof

National Centre for Plant Genome Research


Disclosed are methods, systems and articles of manufacture for creating and authenticating self-verifying articles. Self-verifying articles include, for example, commercial instruments (i.e., notes, drafts, checks, bearer paper, etc.), transaction cards (i.e., ATM cards, calling cards, credit cards, etc.), personal identification documents (i.e., driver's licenses, passports, personal identification papers, etc.) and labels affixed to package surfaces for identification of the package owner or sender, which, for example, may be used for verifying imported goods by customs agents. Self-verifying article creation includes receiving recipient-specific data, encoding a first selected subset of the recipient-specific data and fixing the encoded subset along with other human-recognizable data on a surface of an article. Self-verifying article authentication includes scanning a surface to locate an encoded first data set, decoding the first data set and comparing the decoded first data set with a control data set, which may also be fixed upon the surface, to determine the authenticity of the received self-verifying article.

Modern life requires that individual identification and document authenticity be quickly, conveniently and reliably verified. The necessity for both individual and document verification arises in almost every commercial transaction. Additionally, the necessity for individual identification arises in both social and governmental settings with ever increasing frequency.
Commercial transactions requiring both document verification and individual identification include credit card, calling card, automatic teller machine ("ATM") and similar transactions, as well as other daily commercial transactions such as check cashing. For example, when a check is presented to a bank for payment, the bank is required to verify the authenticity of the check writer's signature (called the endorsement) and that there is enough money in the checking account to cover the check. Authenticity of the endorsement is determined by comparing the signature appearing upon the check with a signature sample of the check writer on file with the bank. A reasonably good forgery of the endorsement might enable an unauthorized person to illegally cash the check.
Alternatively, in non-commercial settings, identification issues often arise in the context of security. For example, common apartment and office building security systems require that anyone wishing to enter the building "sign in" in front of a security guard, and often, to present the guard with a previously issued personal identification document which authorizes access to the building. The security guard is required to exercise his best personal judgment to determine that the identification document is authentic and that the person presenting it is the person identified on the identification document. In such circumstances, and understandably so, a security guard may be deceived by a person who is correctly identified on a forged or altered identification document. In the governmental context, it is a requirement in many countries that citizens carry personal identification papers in public to be produced for review upon request by appropriate authorities. For example, private individuals are required to present to the police personal identification, such as a driver's license, at the scene of a traffic accident or when stopped for a traffic violation. Additionally, personal identification documents are required for admittance to voting polls, and when crossing international boundaries and/or importing or exporting goods.
Accordingly, a pronounced need exists for unalterable self-verifying personal, commercial and governmental identification cards, papers, documents, labels, packaging and other similar articles. For the purposes of this patent document, an article shall be defined as any item having a surface, which may include a substrate, to which data may be fixed. As used herein, the term fixed shall mean one or more of the following, but is not limited to, attached, imprinted, adhered, etched, scratched, painted, printed, peened, embedded, machined, drilled, stamped, or otherwise imaged.
One current solution requires the use of biometric information that is stored in a memory device carried by an individual. The term biometric information refers to a characteristic personal to an individual, such as a signature, a finger print or a picture, for example. A sample of biometric information to be used is obtained from the person at an "encodation" site where the memory device is programmed under secure conditions. The sample is formed into a code by conventional encoding techniques. The sample may be obtained by having the person place a hand, eye, face or other unique physical feature upon a scanning input device. The scanned information is then encoded to form a code which is subsequently stored to an alterable, portable memory device (i.e., magnetic strips, electronic or optical memory cards, floppy disks, etc.). The portable memory device is issued to the person. When the person's identity needs to be verified, the person presents the portable memory device at a "remote access/decodation" site where identification verification is to occur, and the information contained within the portable memory device is read from memory. Another sample of biometric information is then obtained by the person again placing a particular physical feature upon the input scanning device. The read code and the just sampled biometric information are compared by a machine to determine authenticity. In this regard, the read code may be decoded, e.g., using a process that reverses the encodation performed previously, or the sample information encoded, e.g., using the same encoding process used at the encryption site, to make the comparison. Because this method requires a processing system for performing data encoding and/or decoding, complex opto-electric hardware at every encodation and remote access site, and a memory device for each person, this solution is exceedingly expensive.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an unalterable code, for use on an article, which contains biometric identification information personal to the authorized bearer of the article.
Another object of the present invention is to provide methods and systems for inexpensively, accurately and efficiently producing unalterable self-verifying personal and commercial articles.
A further object of the present invention is to provide methods and systems for accurately, efficiently and inexpensively authenticating presented self-verifying articles.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide methods and systems for verifying the authenticity of self-verifying articles presented at remote access sites which do not require expensive verification equipment, such as physical-trait-scanning input devices, or the inconvenience of a communication channel to a central location.


There is disclosed a recording apparatus having first and second recording modes for recording image signals of one frame in tracks, the numbers of which are different in the first and second recording modes. On the first recording mode, a still image is recorded for a first predetermined period. On the second recording mode, a still image is recorded for a second predetermined period. Lengths of these first and second predetermined periods are respectively set according to the first and second recording modes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and, more particularly, an apparatus for recording motion and still images.
2. Related Background Art
A digital VCR has hitherto been known for recording/reproducing an image signal as a digital signal on a magnetic tape. Recently, HD Digital VCR Council has presented a DV format as a format of a consumer digital VTR.
In the DV format, there are defined SD Specifications (SD mode, hereinafter) for recording an image signal of NTSC in ten tracks per one frame, and SD High Compression Specifications (SDL mode, hereinafter) for recording an image signal in five tracks per one frame. On the SDL mode, a quantity of data to be recorded is set to about ½ of that of the SD mode, a tape feeding speed is set to ½ of that of the SD mode, and data of one frame is recorded in five tracks. Accordingly, a recording period can be double as long as that of the SD mode with a tape length equal.
As a video camera integral VTR based on such a DV format, there is known one having a photomode for recording still image data of, for example 6 to 7 sec., on a tape for a predetermined period in addition to recording of normal motion image data.
As ID used to detect the still image data, photo picture ID (PPID) is defined in the DV format. The PPID must be recorded continuously for 5 sec.
In the above-described VTR capable of performing recording/reproducing on the SD mode and the SDL mode, the still image may be recorded on the SD mode and the SDL mode.
However, since the SDL mode has a smaller number of tracks per one frame compared with that of the SD mode, when the still image data is searched while the tape is fed at a speed higher than that during normal reproducing, even if the PPID data is detected and the searching operation is finished, a recording position of the target still image data is passed, making it impossible to perform accurate searching.
Furthermore, on the photomode, still image data is recorded for a period longer than that of the PPID, normally 6 to 7 sec. Accuracy during searching may vary depending on a recording position of PPID in the period of 6 to 7 sec. No ideas have been presented regarding an optimal recording position of the PPID in the photomode of the SDL mode.

Recording apparatus for recording motion and still images


The present invention provides a solution for interleaving data frames, in a semiconductor device manufacturing system in which the processing apparatus for conducting a process on any one of a semiconductor substrate and a thin film on a surface thereof; a self-diagnostic system for diagnosing a state of the processing apparatus; and a parameter fitting apparatus for maintaining a parameter of the self-diagnostic system when an inspection result of the semiconductor substrate having undergone the process has been determined to be correct, and for changing the parameter of the self-diagnostic system when the inspection result has been determined to be incorrect.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device manufacturing system and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device. In particular, the present invention relates to methods for controlling manufacturing apparatuses, a method for simulating a semiconductor device manufacturing process in which the foregoing methods are used, and a simulation apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, using semiconductor device manufacturing apparatuses, semiconductor devices including DRAMs have been manufactured by repeating substrate step formation, well formation, isolation, transistor formation, bit line formation, capacitor formation, and wiring formation. Such a semiconductor manufacturing process has been constituted by appropriately combining a lithography process, an etching process, heat treatment (oxidation, anneal, diffusion), an ion implantation process, a thin film formation process (CVD, sputtering, deposition), a cleaning process (resist removal, cleaning with solvent), a testing process, and the like.
In general, substrates are carried in and out of processing rooms while the atmospheres of various processing rooms are maintained and controlled, thus conducting processing in the room. In a Know system, measurement testing data obtained by inspecting an in-process or processed substrate is transferred to a central control system, in which the histories of substrates and processing rooms are managed and recorded, and in which self-diagnosis of each processing room and manufacturing apparatus is performed to output appropriate instructions for the manufacturing process written in International Laid open WO96/25760 (from page 36, line 25 to page 37, line 2).
FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a known semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus 1. The semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus 1 has an oxidation heat element 4 for conducting a hot process, an oxidation heat element controller 2 for controlling this oxidation heat element 4, and an oxide film thickness controller 3 which is connected to the oxidation heat element 4 and the oxidation heat element controller 2 and which performs process control.
This oxide film thickness controller 3 has an oxide film thickness calculation section 6 for calculating an oxide film thickness, and a calculated film thickness judgment section 7 judging or determining a calculated film thickness. When a predetermined semiconductor manufacturing process utilizing a thermochemical reaction is performed, the oxide film thickness controller 3 initiates the semiconductor manufacturing process based on process execution initial settings previously set, measures and analyzes the state of the atmosphere of a predetermined system in which the thermochemical reaction is proceeding and the change in the atmosphere at predetermined time intervals, and transmits this analysis result back to the semiconductor manufacturing process written, in Japanese Patent Laid open No. 2002-299336 (column 11, lines 5 to 48, FIG. 1).

Semiconductor device manufacturing system and method for manufacturing semiconductor devices including calculating oxide film thickness using real time simulator


A plug and play device and an access control method, in which the plug and play device includes an access control device and a main function device. When the plug and play device is connected to a host, the access control device is first connected to the host to execute an authorization procedure. The user is not authorized if the authentication procedure rejects the user. In this case, the plug and play device denies the host control. Conversely, the user is authorized if the authentication procedure approves the user. In this case, the plug and play device connects the main function device to the host and accepts control by the host. After the host loads a proper driver, it may control the plug and play device.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a plug and play device and a control method therefor, and more particularly to a plug and play device and an access control method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
The computer industry has recently experienced amazing developments. Interfaces such as USB and IEEE 1394 that support hot plug-in functions have been developed, and this feature is partly responsible for a great increase in their popularity. The plug and play device is explained as follows. After the plug and play device is connected to the host, the host may automatically search a proper driver and then install the driver. After installation of the driver is finished, the user may use this device, thus increasing the convenience of the hardware apparatus. It should be noted that the above-mentioned host might be a personal computer (PC) or a server.
The installation of a plug and play device is quite easy, but user privacy and data protection is lowered accordingly. For example, if a user lost a hard disk with a USB interface, any person who obtains the hard disk may install the hard disk in his/her computer and freely access the data stored in the hard disk. Therefore, the privacy of personal data no longer exists. Consequently, it is very important to create limitations in the plug and play device to prevent unauthorized users from accessing the device.

Plug and play device and access control method therefor


A transducer device includes a pair of transducers in the form of a speaker element and a microphone element mounted in a common housing that may be positioned and retained in the external auditory canal of the human ear thereby allowing the user to interface with communications apparatus. The housing is structured to acoustically isolate the microphone and the speaker sufficiently to avoid feedback, i.e., audio coupling. In one embodiment, this isolation is accomplished by a layer of acoustical damping material interposed between the two transducers. In another embodiment, isolation is accomplished by using a separate guide structure for each transducer. In a third embodiment, isolation is accomplished by a ported metallic plate interposed between the two transducers.

Since the invention of communication systems in the 19th century, the use of communication equipment has expanded to touch nearly all aspects of modern day life. Most industrialized countries enjoy a wide variety of transmitted communications, including, for example, telephones, television, radio, etc. While some such systems are simply passive receivers, many communication devices are interactive, that is, they permit both the receipt and transmission of signals that are converted from a carrier signal to a receivable output. In all such systems, it is necessary to have one type of transducers that will convert perceivable data, such as visual images and audible sounds, into the carrier format, and a second type of transducers that will reconvert the carrier format into the perceivable visual or audio information.
In most two-way communication systems, a user is provided with a microphone which converts audible sounds into the carrier format and a speaker which converts the carrier format to reproduce the audible sound. In early communication systems, the microphone and speaker(s) were structured as separately housed components so that the microphone could be positioned immediately forward of the mouth while the speaker(s) were positioned proximate to the ears. For example, early telephones had a speaker connected to a cord so that the user could hold the speaker proximate to his/her ear while speaking directly into the microphone portion of the telephone. Radios commonly used earphones for speakers which were clamped over the head and ears while the user spoke into a separate microphone.
The physical structure of telephones, of course, developed further into the well-known hand-held receivers that are "dumb-bell" in shape and, of course, their more modern progeny. In these receivers, the speaker and microphone are housed in a common shell but are physically separated from each other a distance approximating the distance between the mouth and ear of an adult user. This physical spacing allowed the microphone to be placed forward of the mouth while the speaker, i.e., the earphone, was placed proximate to the ear. This physical separation reduced the likelihood of feedback wherein the audible signals produced by the speaker would be received by the microphone and retransmitted. Notwithstanding the improvements of such hand-held receivers, a problem still remained in that the user was required to hold the receiver in one hand against his/her head during use. Accordingly, the user only had one free hand which could be employed at other activities while utilizing the hand-held receiver. For this reason both "hands free" receivers and "speaker phones" were developed.
"Hands free" receivers have taken many forms. Prominent among these are those types of physical supports, such as brackets or cushions which were mounted to the receiver and which would allow the user to hold the receiver between his/her head and shoulder. A more recent "hands free" receiver employs a headset which positions a speaker earpiece in the ear and which includes a forward arcutately extending arm that supports a light-weight microphone forwardly of the mouth. The headset is held onto the head by means of a resilient bracket extending across the top of the head. While such headsets represent substantial improvement over prior receivers and are therefore quite popular, they nonetheless have the disadvantage of depending the microphone in front of the user's face which can be uncomfortable and distracting.
Speaker phones, of course, do not have the problem of speaker/microphone headsets. However, speaker phones suffer from transmitted sound quality due to the positioning of the microphone away from the user, usually by several feet. Furthermore, to prevent feedback, electronic cut-off circuitry may be employed so that activation of the microphone deactivates the speaker portion of the speaker phone. This naturally intrudes on the smoothness of any conversation and is an undesirable drawback of such systems.

Transducer device for use with communication apparatus


A floating dock and raft system utilizing a non-skid structural surface or deck plate walking surface, without substructure, and which is attached directly to all other components of the dock system such as floats, hinges, splice plates, gangways, etc. A U-shaped rub rail is attached to the edge of the surface plate. The dock surface or deck plate is supported by floats which are attached to the surface plate by bolts or by adhesive materials. The deck plate has the strength and stiffness to meet accepted design standards for docks, which includes the capability of resisting tear-out of fasteners used for assembly. Materials which may be fabricated as a sheet or strip may be utilized as the deck or surface plate, and such includes fiberglass reinforced plastic, aluminum, plastic, and laminated or honeycomb composite panels. Also, galvanized steel may be utilized since it can be formed in a sheet, but the weight is considerably greater than the other types of materials. Since the above-identified materials can be fabricated in sheets of up to five (5) foot widths and up to and beyond forth (40) foot lengths, the as fabricated materials can be put in place by simple bolted strap-type connections or hinges or, depending on the materials involved, adhesive bonding, doweling, splining or welding.

The present invention relates to a floating dock or raft system, particularly to a non-skid structural plate walking surface, and more particularly to deck or plate walking surfaces, without substructure, which is attached directly to floats and other components of a dock system.
Over the years various types of floating dock and raft systems have been built, generally of wooden members supported by a substructure, which deteriorates in time due to exposure to water and weather. These prior dock and raft: systems have been composed of strips of material bolted, nailed, or welded to a substructure, all of which increases the weight. While metal materials have been utilized in many floating dock systems, metal is generally of a heavier weight than wood, and has a tendency to rust or corrode due to chemical reaction with the environment in which the dock or raft is located, as well as due to the chemical reaction with the water in which the dock or raft is floated. Also, floating docks must be movable due to the rise and fall of any wave motion of the water, as well as due to a decrease or increase of the size of the body of water to enable a continuous access from the land surrounding the water.
The present invention provides a new approach to the construction and composition of a floating dock and raft system, and is particularly concerned with reducing the overall weight and eliminating substructures. In the floating dock and raft system of the invention, a non-skid, light weight structural or deck plate walking surface, without substructures, is utilized and is directly connected (attached) to all other components of the dock system. The deck or surface walking structure is composed of interconnected lengths of material which can be fabricated to both the desired lengths and widths, thus eliminating the splicing and securing of the numerous deck or surface material strips previously utilized. The deck or surface walking structure is composed of materials compatible with the environment and the water composition in which it is floated.

Floatable system utilizing structural deck plates


The present disclosure is to provide a charged particle beam device capable of achieving both high resolution by setting of a short WD and improvement of detection efficiency when setting a long WD. According to an aspect for achieving the above-described object, there is suggested a charged particle beam device including: an objective lens for converging a charged particle beam emitted from a charged particle source; a sample stage having a first driving mechanism for moving a sample to be irradiated with the charged particle beam between a first position and a second position more separated from the objective lens than the first position; a detection surface for detecting charged particles emitted from the sample; and a second driving mechanism for moving the detection surface between within a movable range of the sample between the first position and the second position and out of the movable range of the sample.

A scanning electron microscope, which is an aspect of charged particle beam device, is a device that generates an image by irradiating a sample with an electron beam and detecting signal electrons emitted from the sample. The signal electrons emitted from the sample are distinguished as signal electrons with a low energy of several eV are referred to as secondary electrons, and signal electrons with the same energy as the irradiated electron beam (several keV) are referred to as backscattered electrons (reflected electrons).
It is known that the electrons are different in generation principle and have different information on the sample. A scanning electron microscope obtains various types of information by selectively detecting the signal electrons. Patent Literature 1 discloses an electron microscope in which a detector having a driving mechanism is disposed between an objective lens magnetic path and a sample in order to detect the reflected electrons that radially spread from the sample with high efficiency. Further, Patent Literature 2 discloses a configuration in which a detection surface is provided on a lower surface of the objective lens magnetic path in order to improve resolution by shortening a focal length (WD) of the objective lens.


Methods and software for selecting seed products or other agricultural inputs for planting within an associated land base include classifying the land base with an environmental classification, determining at least one seed product to plant within the land base based on the environmental classification, and providing an output comprising identification of the at least one seed product to plant within the land base.

The present invention provides for computer-implemented methods and related methods to assist a crop producer or other in selecting agricultural inputs, such as seed products to use in one or more fields, or to predict or describe relative performance of one or more seed products.
The problem is generally described in the context where the seed products are corn hybrids. The current industry-wide approach to delivering product performance information for use in hybrid selection by producers is to use numerous comparative yield measurements from recent years (primarily the most recent year) and the geography considered relevant to the producer. Use of recent product performance data in selection of hybrids is not completely indicative of future hybrid performance as environmental and biotic factors vary from year to year, including extreme weather events, such as drought or flooding and pest or disease prevalence. Moreover, this approach does not fully take into account environmental and biotic factors important to a hybrid's performance. Furthermore, this approach lacks the full assessment of the relevance of the information generated by the trials to the relative performance of cultivars (genotype by environment interaction), for example genetic correlations. It assumes recent experience is the best predictor of future relative hybrid performance, regardless of how representative the recent experience may or may not be of the long-term environmental profile of the producer's land base.
In addition, this selection approach does not take into account a producer's objectives for productivity, nor does it allow for objective and specific recommendations of seed products or other crop product considerations, for example, fertilizer types or irrigation needs, for a particular land base so that producers may minimize their risk of unexpected performance occurrences. Although risk is uncertain, it is manageable.
What is needed is a method for product selection that is useful in characterizing relative performance of different seed products so that risk can be managed.

Method for use of environmental classification in product selection


In the oil industry, the acoustic sounding method is a well-known technique for taking the depth measurements of particular attributes of an oil well or borehole. The method involves sending a short, sharp, clear, loud bang sound down a borehole, normally between the inside wall of the borehole casing, commonly referred to as the annulus and the outside of the production tubing string, and recording the echoes generated. One device for generating the sound needed in the acoustic sounding method is an air or gas pressurized chamber which is discharged at or near the wellhead of the borehole. The sound being generated by this device, commonly known as an acoustic generator, comes from the energy released by the equilibration of the different gas pressures. The current invention is an acoustic generator and its control unit that uses several new and novel features to improve the quality of the sound generated and echoes detected in the acoustic sounding method such as a firing mechanism that is not dependent on the force created by the gas pressure difference between the pressure chamber and the wellhead.

Since the late 1930s the so-called acoustic sounding, or echometering, method has been used in the oil industry for taking distance measurements in an oil well or borehole, see U.S. Pat. No. 2,927,301, Booth, Measurement of liquid levels in wells. The acoustic sounding method involves sending a short, sharp, clear, loud bang sound down an oil well or borehole and using a transducer to "listen" to the echoes reflected back. The signal from the transducer is usually recorded for analysis which is usually performed by a separate device: see U.S. Pat. No. 2,209,944, Walker, Method of measuring location of obstructions in deep wells, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,232,476, Ritzmann, Method and apparatus for measuring depth in wells.
As explained in these patents and other literature, the acoustic sounding method not only determines the distances between the source of the sound and the causes of the echoes, but also determines the physical nature of the causes of the echoes based on the frequency, amplitude, and other attributes of the sound being reflected back. For example, in its application in oil wells the acoustic sounding method can not only determine the distance to the "bottom" of the well, i.e. the fluid level of the well, but it can also determine other attributes and anomalies, such as wax, scale, or gas build-up and other obstructions, encountered down the well based on the nature of the echoes received at the wellhead by the transducer.
Further the acoustic sounding method itself has other distance measuring and obstruction analysis applications beyond its use in oil wells. As an example, an early application of the acoustic sounding method was used by the postal service in New York City in the early 1900s to locate mail bags stuck in mail transportation tubes.
One common method for generating the sound needed for the acoustic sounding method is to use an air or gas pressurized chamber which is discharged at or near the wellhead or the void to be analyzed. As described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,750,583 and 4,646,871, Wolf, Gas-Gun for Acoustic Well Sounding (hereinafter "Wolf") the sound generated by the pressurized chamber comes from the energy released by the equilibration of the different pressures between the chamber and the wellhead or the void. A different, earlier method for generating the sound needed for the acoustic sounding method was to fire a blank cartridge from a firearm at the wellhead. Accordingly the oil industry has coined the term "sound gun", "echo gun", "acoustic gun", or simply "gun" to generally describe devices that produce the sound needed for the acoustic sounding method.
Although acoustic generators, acoustic guns using a pressurized gas chamber, have been used for many years, these acoustic generators have failed to address a number of issues in their use and have failed to yield the full benefits of the acoustic sounding method as an analytical tool for measuring distances and analyzing physical attributes.

Acoustic generator for distance sounding with a firing mechanism independent of the pressure equilibration force


A vehicle includes a traction battery having cells and at least one controller. The controller is programmed to charge and discharge the traction battery according to a net current for the traction battery derived from sets of temperature-based current values, each of the sets corresponding to a different one of the cells, and each of the values for a given one of the sets corresponding to a different zone of the cell.

Hybrid-electric and pure-electric vehicles include a traction battery for providing power for propulsion. The traction battery typically includes a number of battery cells connected in various configurations. Various properties of the traction battery may be monitored to ensure optimal operation of the vehicle. For example, battery state of charge (SOC), which indicates the amount of charge stored in the battery, may be monitored. The state of charge may be calculated for the traction battery as a whole and for each of the cells. The state of charge of the traction battery provides a useful indication of the charge remaining. The state of charge for each individual cell provides information that is useful for balancing the state of charge between the cells. Balancing of the cells is useful as differences in the state of charge between cells may cause some cells to be overcharged or undercharged relative to the other cells.

Traction battery with cell zone monitoring


A hierarchically structured electronic document includes a parent node, a first and a second child of the parent node. The first child is configured as a named role child, the named role child having a first child component, the named role child specifying a relationship between the first child component and the parent node. The second child is configured as an index role child and has a plurality of second child components. The index role child specifies that all second child components are index children. The second child components collectively define and are configured to be rendered in the order in which the second child components appear under the second child. Collisions between named role and index children are avoided as the document includes a role (either a name role or an index role) between the parent and each child of the parent that is at the same hierarchical level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to methods and systems for providing documents structured as hierarchies of information. In particular, the present invention relates to methods and systems to avoid collisions between index role children and named role children in such structured documents.
2. Description of the Related Art
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a standard for creating languages that meet the XML criteria. It is extensible, because data represented according to the XML standard may be marked up in any manner desired. For example, unlike Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), the developer is free to add previously undefined tags to an XML document and an XML parser will be able to read the document. An XML document is a structured file. More particularly, XML documents are structured as hierarchies of information. That is, the elements (which must adhere to a limited set of rules) of an XML document may be thought as being organized in parent-child and sibling relationships (children that are at a same hierarchical level). FIG. 1 shows an example of such parent-child relationships. As shown, the hierarchy includes a root node 102 identified by the <doc> tag. The root node 102 has two children, namely Parent 1 112 and Parent 2 104. In turn, Parent 1 112 has two children: child 11 and child 12. Similarly, Parent 2 104 has a child 21 identified by the tag <child 21> and a text child "text2" 110. Continuing, <child 21> contains the text "text 1", as shown at 108. Such a hierarchical nodal relationship lends itself well to user interfaces (UI), for example, in which the nested relationship of the displayed windows, menus and the like are readily represented in such a hierarchical format.
The relationship of a child node with its parent may be characterized by means of a named role. Named children are associated with a specific role such as, for example, the placement of an element of a document on a Web page. Children may also be organized as indexed children, Indexed children have an inherent order, and the order of the indexed elements defines this inherent order.
FIG. 2 shows an example of a structured file illustrating an indexed relationship of the children of a parent node. The root node parent is bounded by a start tag <parent> 202 and an end tag </parent> 212. The parent node 202 may be said to contain the child nodes A, B, C and D, as shown at 204, 206, 208 and 210, respectively. A, B, C and D may be characterized as index children, and the order in which the children are listed defines the order of the index: first node A, then node B, followed by node C and lastly node D.
FIG. 3 shows another example of a structured file or document, illustrating named role children. The document of FIG. 3 includes a root node having a start tag <Parent> as shown at 302 and an end tag </Parent> referenced at 320. The Parent node 302 includes four named role children; namely Top 304, Bottom 308, Left 312 and Right 316. The named role children Top, Bottom, Left and Right 304, 308, 312 qualify the parent-child relationship; that is, they specify how the children are used by the parent. The roles may be specified within a Schema; that is, a model document that defines the structure of, for example, an XML document. XML Schemas, for example, are defined at www.w3.org.
In this case, the named role children Top, Bottom, Left and Right specify the placement of their respective children components A, B, C and D within the parent 302 and have no presence on the user interface but merely serve as positional indicators. To achieve the same functionality (i.e., specifying the placement of the components A, B, C and D within the structured document) using only indexed children requires respecting an arbitrary convention that specifies that, for example, the first indexed child A is to be rendered on top of the document, the second indexed child B is to be rendered on the bottom, the third indexed child C is to be rendered is to be rendered on the left and the fourth indexed child D is to be rendered on the right. This is because the order of the index children does not inherently imply their position or order on a user interface representation or within the structured hierarchical document. Such conventions are not flexible or practical. Moreover, it also not practical to insert a named role tag between each parent and each of its children. For instance, there are occasions where an indexed relationship (as shown in FIG. 2) is better suited to define the parent-child relationship and the relationship between children than is a named role relationship. For example, when the number of children becomes large, it becomes impractical to insert a role tag between each child and its parent. In other words, is unworkable to define a role for an arbitrary and unbounded indexed relationship. There are occasions, however, when a same parent requires (or would benefit from inclusion of) both indexed and named role children. For example, a Web page may include several predefined portions in which it is desired to put advertisements. Such predefined portions may readily be defined as named role children. The central portion of the page, however, may be reserved for content that changes from page to page. Indexed children may then be the most efficient manner of representing such content. Therefore, some manner of enabling both indexed and role children to co-exist under the same element is needed. However, merely placing indexed children directly under its parent (without a role tag between them) is not optimal, as collisions may occur between the tags of index children and that of the pre-defined named roles. Indeed, as the page is parsed and validated, each child may be examined to determine if its tag is listed as one of the predefined role tags. If the tag is listed, the child is a role child and if the tag is not listed, it is an indexed child. There could be instances, however, in which the tag for an intended index component is also listed among the predefined role tags. A collision of the names of the component and the roles occurs and the representation thereof in the UI is often unpredictable.
FIG. 4, which is a diagram of a conventional hierarchically structured document, illustrating just such a collision between a named role child and indexed components. As shown therein, the parent node is bounded by a start tag at 402 and an end tag at 424. The end tags of the children are not shown in FIG. 4, for clarity of illustration purposes only. The parent has a number of children, whose relationship therewith is specified by named roles 404, 412 and 416. Indeed, component A 406 may be rendered on top of the document, as the role child 404, in this illustrative example, specifies that the component A is to be rendered at a predetermined position at the top of the document. Likewise, the components C 414 and D 418 may be rendered to the left and right, respectively, of the document. These positional relationships are defined by the named roles, such as shown at 412 and 416. Components 408 and 410 are not preceded by a recognized named role and are, therefore, considered to be indexed children, and are to be rendered in the order in which they appear. Likewise, component 420 may be intended as the component child of a named role child, or may be intended as the first component of a set of index children 420, 422. However, there is an ambiguity here, as the tag of the child 420 is identical to that of a predefined named role, such as shown at 416. Therefore, a collision occurs and the document may not render as intended. The tag <Right2> 422, in this example, has no counterpart in the definition and list of the named roles and may be correctly interpreted as an index child.
What are needed, therefore, are methods and mechanisms to enable role children and index children to co-exist under a same parent without running the risk of collisions between the names assigned to index components and the names assigned to the predefined role children. What are also needed are methods and mechanisms to achieve this functionality in XML and/or other markup languages or standards.

Methods and systems for naming and indexing children in a hierarchical nodal structure


The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition for improving penile rigidity and/or preventing erectile dysfunction, including premature ejaculation, of a male mammal patient which comprises at least one of seeds from Aframomum species, its closely related species and remote ancestors thereof, mixture thereof and extracts thereof. The pharmaceutical composition may further comprise a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier for topical or oral administration.

(a) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions based on the use of "Aframomum" seeds to solve the problem of male erectile dysfunction as well as premature ejaculation in men.
(b) Description of Prior Art
Mechanisms of erection
The penis is composed of a mass of erectile tissue enclosed in three cylindrical fibrous compartments. Penile erection is a haemodynamic event under autonomic nervous control. During the change from the flaccid condition of the organ to its erect state, there is increased blood flow filling the vascular spaces which results in tumescence. It is generally accepted that vasodilatation of the penile arteries rapidly followed by relaxation of the cavernous smooth muscle are primarily responsible for the initiation of erection (Newman and Northup, 1981, Urol., 17:399-408).
There has been considerable progress in the understanding of the nervous control of the penile vasculature. Many neuropeptides including noradrenaline (NA), acetylcholine (ACh), adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP), serotonin 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), as well as vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), neuropeptide Y (NPY), and substance P (SP), have been localized in perivascular nerves and considered as neurotransmitter candidates.
Causes of erectile dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction or impotence is common, affecting an estimated one in ten men, with prevalence much higher in certain subgroups: diabetics, smokers (Kaiser, 1988, Am. J. Med., 85:147-152). It appears to be an age-related disorder with an incidence of 1.9% at the age of 40 and 25% at the age of 65 (Krane et al, 1989, N. Engl. J. Med., 321:1648-1659).
The most common causes of impotence are generally classified as being of vascular, endocrine, neurological and psychogenic nature, but most often the exact mechanisms involved are not known. There is frequently an overlap between aetiologies, such as in diabetic patients who have both vascular and neurological complications contributing to impotence. Furthermore, there is often a psychogenic component in patients with a distinct organic cause of impotence.
Drug therapy of erectile dysfunction
Endocrinal causes of impotence, constituting less than 10% of total causes of impotence, can be successfully treated by medical therapy. In all other causes, drug therapy has not been satisfactory and a few drugs and/or drug combinations have gained clinical acceptance. These drugs are vasodilators, they include yohimbine, papaverine, papaverine and phentolamine in combination and prostaglandin El.
Yohimbine and phentolamine are known to be an alpha-adrenoreceptor blocker. Yohimbine is available for oral use. It has first appeared to have promising value but recently, several studies revealed a marginal and non significant effect (Morales et al., 1987, J. Urol., 137:1168-72; Susset et al., 1989, J. Urol., 141:1360-1363). Furthermore, yohimbine may induce hypertension, rashes and panic attacks. It is important to note that yohimbine is not licensed in the United Kingdom and has never been approved by the United States FDA (January 1995, In La Lettre Medicale, Vol. 18, No. 20:89).
Papaverine is often characterized as a non-specific vasodilator, and its cellular mechanism of action is unclear. It is an intracorporeally administered drug and its efficiency is better than yohimbine. However, it is well known that an intracavernosal injection of papaverine can produce major side effects such as prolonged painful erection. Other side effects include fibrosis and bruising at the site of injection and liver function abnormalities among others (Virag, 1982, Lancet, vol. ii:938). Moreover, many patients are disenchanted with the long-term injection involved in intracavernosal pharmacotherapy, finding the technique artificial, lacking in spontaneity and being time consuming.
Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) is also administered intracavernosally. Some studies have shown PGE1 to be as effective as papaverine or the papaverine/phentolamine combination (Earle et al, 1990, J. Urol., 143:57-59), but like papaverine and yohimbine it also causes undesirable effects including local pain and prolonged erection.
It would be highly desirable to be provided with a painless therapy for male erectile dysfunction as well as for premature ejaculation in male without the drawbacks of the prior art techniques.

Aframonum seeds for improving penile activity


An assembly for magnetic field generation in a magnetic resonance tomography apparatus has a device for generation of a basic magnetic field, a vacuum vessel surrounding the basic field device and a device for generation of at least one gradient magnetic field. The assembly has a volume with a reduced magnetic field strength in a region between windings of at least one superconducting coil of the basic field device and a non-conductive wall of the vacuum vessel. The gradient field device is fashioned as a superconductor and is at least partially accommodated in this volume.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns an assembly for magnetic field generation in a magnetic resonance tomography apparatus including a device for generation of a basic magnetic field, a vacuum vessel surrounding the basic field device and a device for generation of at least one gradient magnetic field.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In contemporary magnetic resonance systems, the opening for acceptance of the patient bed typically exhibits a diameter of 60 cm, and the opening of the basic field magnet itself (this being the inner magnet diameter) is 90 cm. These dimensions represent a compromise for the usable and noise field magnitudes as well as with regard to the space requirement and the power requirement of the components involved in the field generation (such as the basic field magnet and the coils for generation of the gradient field).
Doctors and patients, however, prefer a greater openness of the systems. For example, from computed tomography systems it is known to make the diameter for the acceptance of the patient in the range of over 80 cm for a system longitudinal length below one meter. A larger opening for acceptance of the patient offers the advantage that the feeling of anxiety that often occurs in magnetic resonance tomography can be reduced for the patient, and thus negative influences therefrom on the image quality (for instance the patient moving due to the constricted feeling or the examination being aborted or shortened) are avoided.
Attempts have been made to enlarge the opening for acceptance of the patient bed such that newer magnetic field resonance apparatuses exhibit a system length of approximately 1.2 m with a diameter of 70 cm for acceptance of the patient. The larger radii (which are therewith disadvantageous for the field generation), cause a reduction in the usable or noise field magnitudes and/or increase the power requirement of the gradient device and of the system of radio-frequency transmission and reception coils that are normally used in spatial proximity to the gradient device since a compromise for both components must be made from the geometric requirements for an optimal field generation. The gradient strength for a system with a 70 cm-large bore is, for example, reduced maximally and nominally by 30 to 50%.
Furthermore, it has been attempted to integrate the gradient coil and a radio-frequency transmission coil into a common unit. This is possible up to a diameter of 70 cm for the patient opening, but the requirements for the material and the production are high. The power loss is additionally increased and the occurrence of disturbing excessive noises must be accepted. Given such a design the specific absorption (SAR) is more disadvantageous (primarily due to local field strength super-elevations) than in the case of a conventional concentric design.
Alternatively, the available volume for the gradient coil and an RF coil known as a body coil can be reduced in the body proximity, allowing diameters up to 70 cm to be achieved. Here as well, however, the problem arises of an increased power loss and a heightened noise generation.

Assembly for generating magnetic fields in a magnetic resonance tomography apparatus that allows use of a superconducting gradient field device


A control module comprising a cylinder torque determination module that determines an indicated torque for a cylinder in an engine based on a pressure in the cylinder, a cylinder torque balancing module that determines a derivative term for the cylinder based on rotation of a crankshaft, and a cylinder pressure error detection module that detects a pressure error for the cylinder based on the indicated torque and the derivative term. A method comprising determining an indicated torque for a cylinder in an engine based on a pressure in the cylinder, determining a derivative term for the cylinder based on rotation of a crankshaft, and detecting a pressure error for the cylinder based on the indicated torque and the derivative term.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Internal combustion engines create drive torque that is transferred to a drivetrain via a crankshaft. More specifically, air is drawn into an engine and is mixed with fuel therein. The air and fuel mixture is combusted within cylinders to drive pistons. The pistons drive the crankshaft, which generates drive torque.
A cylinder pressure sensor generates a cylinder pressure signal based on the pressure in the cylinder. A control module determines a cylinder pressure from the cylinder pressure signal. Cylinder pressure is used to control one or more subsystems within the vehicle. Cylinder pressure sensors may lose accuracy due to contamination from combustion byproducts. Errors in the cylinder pressure can cause inaccurate cylinder pressure computations and therefore may cause one or more vehicle subsystems to operate inefficiently.

Cylinder pressure sensor diagnostic system and method


A vibration damper assembly is provided which includes a first attachment element or bracket for securing the damping mechanism to a first component, the vibrations of which are to be damped. A visco-elastic spacer is secured to the element or bracket at one end, and to a cylinder of a piston/cylinder assembly at its other end. A piston is slidably received in the cylinder with a predetermined clearance between the peripheral surface of the piston and the cylinder wall. A piston rod extending from the piston and the opposite end of the cylinder is received within a housing of a viscous damping device, the piston rod having a plurality of discs mounted thereon in predetermined, spaced relationship. An interior wall of the housing is also formed with a plurality of disc-like surfaces projecting toward the radial center of the housing, with aligned apertures therein to accommodate the piston rod. The other or remote end of the viscous damper housing is secured to a second attachment element or bracket by which the damper is secured to a second component. The assembly is designed especially to damp extremely low amplitude vibrations, to accommodate long term displacement or creep between the components, and to withstand dynamic shock.

It is a well known practice in certain engineering design developments to devote substantial efforts toward eliminating or at least minimizing structural vibration, or noise as it is commonly called, in mechanical components. Such developments range from rotating machine components such as those in turbine engines to sensitive electronic components. A solution to such vibration problems is often achieved with the use of carefully placed discrete vibration dampers.
A common class of discrete vibration dampers serve to dissipate vibrational energy by transforming kinetic vibration energy into thermal energy, which in turn is harmlessly dissipated into the surroundings. Some such devices reduce the transmission of noise by utilizing a shearing action of a highly viscous fluid. Viable fluid based damper designs employ pressure differentials to force the damper fluid through a confined area where the viscous shearing takes place (such as through an orifice). These designs are effective at damping relatively large amplitudes of vibration, but are less effective and oftentimes wholly ineffective with extremely low amplitude vibrations such as those associated with stringent vibration specifications. In the event of small vibration amplitudes, such existing designs are unable to force the damping fluid through the internal energy dissipation paths because they are unable to produce the required internal pressure differentials. Discrete dampers of this type often require several visco-elastic seals to contain the fluid within the damper fixture. Consequently, in the event of extremely low vibration amplitudes, the visco-elastic seals yield before sufficient internal pressures can be developed to initiate viscous shearing action.
The present invention was developed in accordance with certain specific requirements discussed below and by meeting these requirements, problems associated with prior techniques have been overcome.
One requirement is that the damper be capable of successful operation in the event that the two structures or components connected by the damper have long term relative displacement or creep between them. This essentially requires the damper to be capable of repositioning its inner damping mechanism during long term (months and possibly years) fluctuations in the relative distance between the two components or structures.
A second requirement is that the damper assembly dissipate not only medium-to-high amplitude vibrations, but also and especially extremely low amplitude vibrations.
A third requirement is that the damper be capable of maintaining its structural integrity during a dynamic shock event, for example of the type experienced by naval shipboard equipment. Such an event could invoke excessive impulse forces on the damper. Existing damper designs, in addition to their inability to satisfactorily dissipate low amplitude vibration, are not likely to survive large impulsive forces characteristic of dynamic shock.
The present invention provides a damper assembly that meets all of the above requirements. Specifically, the damper assembly of this invention is a tunable design, capable of dissipating high but especially extremely low amplitude vibration while also having both the ability to reposition itself in the event of long term relative displacement, between connected structures, and to withstand dynamic shock.
In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the damper assembly of this invention is comprised of three components: (1) a tuned visco-elastic spacer; (2) a sealed piston/cylinder assembly; and (3) a viscous damping mechanism.
More specifically, the damping assembly according to this invention includes a first attachment element or bracket for securing the damping mechanism to a structure, the vibration of which is to be damped. A tuned visco-elastic spacer block is secured to the element or bracket at one end, and to a cylinder of a piston/cylinder assembly at its other end. A piston is slidably received in the cylinder with a predetermined clearance between the peripheral surface of the piston and the cylinder wall. A fluid line extends from the cylinder to connect cylinder chambers above and below the piston. This fluid line is also provided with a pressure relief valve for a purpose described further herein. A piston rod extending from the piston and through the opposite end of the cylinder is received within a housing of a viscous damping device, the piston rod having a plurality of discs mounted thereon in a predetermined, spaced relationship. An interior wall of the housing is also formed with a plurality of disc-like surfaces projecting toward the radial center of the housing, with aligned apertures therein to accommodate the piston rod.
The other or remote end of the viscous damping housing is secured to a second attachment element or bracket by which the damper is secured to a stationary supporting (relative to the vibrating structure) surface or substrate.
The arrangement of piston rod discs, and housing discs, is such that the respective groups of discs are interdigitated, with a close axial spacing between adjacent piston and housing discs. It is well understood that relative axial movement between the groups of discs causes the viscous fluid to be compressed between the discs, resulting in a high velocity viscous shearing of the fluid, and hence energy dissipation through the generation of heat.
The above described elements or components of the damper are thus connected in series and dissipate energy as described below. For the occurrence of long term creep and/or extremely low frequency vibrations, the piston and cylinder move relative to each other with minimal force transmitted to the lower portions of the structure, i.e., to the viscous damping mechanism. Thus, equilibrium is substantially maintained between the fluid in the upper and lower chambers of the piston/cylinder assembly because of the slow relative motion of the cylinder relative to the piston permitted by reason of the predetermined clearance between the piston and the cylinder side wall. Springs located in upper and lower portions of the viscous damping housing tend to bring the discs back to their original equilibrium position to insure consistent damping performance.
For low (and high) frequency vibration, the piston/cylinder side wall clearance is sufficiently small to restrict increased fluid velocity within the clearance. Thus, alternating high and low pressures will be developed in the upper and lower chambers of the cylinder, thereby transferring force between the piston and the surrounding cylinder, so that they act as a substantially rigid unit. This force transmission will ultimately result in axial movement of the piston rod and consequent fluid shearing action in the viscous damping mechanism below the piston/cylinder assembly to thereby dissipate the kinetic vibration energy.
The dynamic shock requirements of the damper are addressed by incorporating the relief valve in the fluid line arrangement into the cylinder walls on either side of the piston. For a severe shock event, large pressures would develop in either the upper or lower piston chamber. The valve within the line located in the side of the cylinder would be adjusted to open at a certain predetermined pressure, thus allowing rapid fluid flow between the upper and lower chambers of the piston/cylinder assembly. This would eliminate any force build-up within the damper which could otherwise adversely effect the damping mechanism.
The above described assembly is tunable in two ways. First, the viscous damping device can be designed to deliver a level of damping dictated by the specific application. This may be achieved by providing appropriate spacing between the discs of the damping device, since this controls the level of damping.
Second, the assembly as a whole may be designed to have a certain natural frequency which eliminates the possibility of a "short" for high frequency vibration between the two structures interconnected by the damper assembly. The natural frequency of the assembly can be varied by careful selection and design of the visco-elastic spacer. In other words, it is possible to match the stiffness of the spacer with the mass of the piston/cylinder and viscous damping device to create the natural frequency in accordance with specific applications so that energy at frequencies above the natural frequency is not transmitted through the damper assembly. Thus, the assembly has the characteristics of a low pass filter.
The device does not damp extremely low frequency vibrations, which are, in fact, accommodated as long term creep by the assembly. The device also does not dissipate high frequency vibrations, i.e., vibrations at a frequency higher than the natural frequency of the assembly as discussed previously.
Thus, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the invention, therefore, there is provided a tunable vibration damper assembly comprising (a) a visco-elastic spacer; (b) a piston and cylinder assembly including a piston rod attached at one end to the piston and having a free end extending out of one end of the cylinder, wherein the visco-elastic spacer is attached to the other end of said cylinder; and (c) a viscous damping device operatively attached to the end of the piston rod.
In another aspect, the invention provides a vibration damper assembly adapted to dissipate kinetic energy from at least extremely low amplitude vibrations comprising: an elastic spacer connected at one end to a structure whose vibrations are to be damped, and at the other end to a cylinder of a piston/cylinder assembly; the cylinder enclosing a piston therein defining variable volume chambers in said cylinder above and below said piston; a piston rod extending from said piston, through said cylinder and into a viscous damper housing, wherein said piston rod and an interior surface of said viscous damper housing are provided with interdigitated damping means.
Other objects and advantages of the subject invention will become apparent from the detailed description which follows.


A lithium mixed metal oxide, shown by the following formula (A):Lix(Mn1−y−z−dNiyFezMd)O2  (A)wherein M is one or more elements selected from the group consisting of Al, Mg, Ti, Ca, Cu, Zn, Co, Cr, Mo, Si, Sn, Nb and V; x is 0.9 or more and 1.3 or less; y is 0.3 or more and 0.7 or less; z is more than 0 and 0.1 or less, and d is more than 0 and 0.1 or less. A positive electrode active material, including the lithium mixed metal oxide. A positive electrode, including the positive electrode active material. A nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery, including the positive electrode.

A lithium mixed metal oxide is used as a positive electrode active material in a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery, such as a lithium secondary battery. The lithium secondary battery has already been put into practical use as a power source for portable telephones, notebook-sized personal computers, and the like, and also attempted to be used in medium and large size applications, such as applications of use for automobiles or electric power storages.
JP-A-2000-195516 specifically discloses Li (Mn0.1Ni0.45Fe0.45) O2 as the conventional lithium mixed metal oxide.

Lithium composite metal oxide and positive electrode active material


Thermal interface materials are essential for proper operation of electronic assemblies. They are used between surface mount components and printed wiring boards and between printed wiring boards and metal heat sinks. Their function is to bond the components together and allow good heat transfer between the parts being bonded. The approach disclosed in this invention is a fully-cured, flexible, filled elastomer that is coated on both sides with a partially cured, filled adhesive, which can be conveniently made by a low cost tape casting process. This unique approach offers a combination of good adhesion to both bonding surfaces, good heat transfer, compliance to accommodate mismatched coefficient of thermal expansion, rework capability, control of flow of the adhesive during cure, and easy handling of uncured material.

Thermal interface adhesives are essential for proper operation of electronic assemblies. They are often used between surface mount components and printed wiring boards, and between printed wiring boards and metal heat sinks. Their main function is to bond the components together, and allow good heat transfer between the parts that are bonded. Typically, they should exhibit a combination of good adhesion, good heat transfer, compliance to accommodate any mismatch in coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the parts being bonded, flow control to obviate adhesive contamination onto adjacent sensitive hardware features, and rework capability. In certain cases an electrically insulating, thermally conducting interface material is needed, whereas in other cases an electrically and thermally conducting material is required. The appropriate filler material in the interface adhesive layer must be selected.
Materials normally used for this application include thermosetting resins filled with a thermally conductive filler. For example, epoxies filled with silver or aluminum oxide. One presently available material is a thermoplastic film coated on both sides with a filled thermosetting adhesive. This system is typically very rigid after curing, and does not accommodate materials having widely different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE). This approach also does not permit removal of the cured adhesive. Moreover, the thermal conductivity of the bond layer is not very high because the thermoplastic does not include a thermally conductive filler.
In order to apply these materials, it is important to control the flow characteristics of the material during cure. Generally, the material will go through a period of very low viscosity while it is being heated to the final cure temperature, but before it is fully cured. At this time there may be excessive flow of the material into undesired areas, and/or separation of the conductive filler from the resin phase. Neither outcome is desirable.
Thus, there is a need in the art for adhesive systems that offer rework capability in combination with good adhesion, good heat transfer, and that maintain good performance over a wide temperature range.

Thermal interface material for electronic assemblies


A magnetic medium has permanently defined boundaries between tracks and a consistent surface smoothness. The crystallographic structure of the magnetic medium is modified at the track boundaries, so the grains of the magnetic thin film permanently take on a relatively non-magnetic structure as compared to the grains of the magnetic thin film within the tracks. Servo patterns on the magnetic medium may be permanently defined at the same time the track boundaries are permanently defined. Laser ablation, laser heating to an amorphous structure, photolithography, perpendicular deposition, ion milling, reverse sputtering, and ion implantation can be used individually or in combination, with either the magnetic layer or the underlayer, to create the relatively non-magnetic areas.

The present invention relates generally to magnetic media for recording information, and, more particularly, to disc drives with magnetic head assemblies which record information in tracks on thin film discs.
The computer industry continually seeks to reduce the size of computer components and to increase the speed at which computer components operate. To this end, it is desired to reduce the size required to magnetically record bits of information. It is concomitantly important to maintain the integrity of the information as size is decreased, and magnetic storage of information must be virtually 100% error free. The present invention seeks to address these goals in a disc drive.
Disc drives which magnetically record, store and retrieve information on disc-shaped media are widely used in the computer industry. A write transducer is used to record information on the disc, and a read transducer is used to retrieve information from the disc. The reading and writing processes may be performed by a single structure, i.e., a read-write transducer, or alternatively may be performed by separate structures. In either case, the read transducer and the write transducer are generally both located on a single magnetic head assembly.
The disc is rotated at relatively high speed, and the magnetic head assembly is mounted on the end of a support or actuator arm, which positions the head radially on the disc surface. If the actuator arm is held stationary, the magnetic head assembly will pass over a circular path on the disc known as a track, and information can be read from or written to that track. Each concentric track has a unique radius, and reading and writing information from or to a specific track requires the magnetic head to be located above the track. By moving the actuator arm, the magnetic head assembly is moved radially on the disc surface between tracks. Many actuator arms are rotary, wherein the magnetic head assembly is moved between tracks by activating a servomotor which pivots the actuator arm. A linear actuator may alternatively be used to move a magnetic head assembly inward or outward on the disc along a straight line.
Each magnetic head assembly is typically connected to its respective actuator arm by a flexure or "suspension" arm. The suspension arm functions as a bending spring to bias the magnetic head assembly toward the disc surface. The magnetic head assembly includes a portion known as a "slider". As the disc pack rotates at high speed, the aerodynamic properties of the slider cause the magnetic head assembly to "fly" above its respective disc surface. During use of the disc drive, the magnetic head is designed to fly over the disc surface without contacting the disc, although occasional contacts do happen.
Magnetic thin films are a particular type of magnetic media which are commonly used in computer applications. Thin film media typically consist of a layer or film of a magnetic substance deposited over a substrate. The magnetic substance may be a cobalt based alloy, and the substrate may be a nickel-phosphored aluminum or may be silicon or glass based. A relatively non-magnetic underlayer such as chromium may be used between the magnetic film and the substrate.
To enhance the durability of the disc, a protective layer of a very hard material is applied over the cobalt alloy film. A typical protective layer is an overcoat of sputtered amorphous carbon. The overcoat surface is usually lubricated to further reduce wear of the disc due to contact with the magnetic head assembly. Perfluoropolyethers (PFPEs) are currently the lubricant of choice for thin film recording media. The overcoat and lubricant, while not performing a magnetic function, greatly affect the tribology between the disc and the read-write head, and are very useful in resisting wear of the disc surface which might otherwise be caused by the read-write head. The overcoat and lubricant also help the disc to resist corrosion. While the tribology between a slider and a disc is a function of the properties of the substrate and all the deposited layers, the overcoat and the lubricant are of primary importance. The slider structure also greatly affects the tribology, and sliders are usually formed of a fairly hard ceramic. To record information on the disc, the write transducer creates a highly concentrated magnetic field. During writing, the strength of the concentrated magnetic field directly under the write transducer is greater than the coercivity of the recording medium (known as "saturating" the medium), and grains of the recording medium at that location are magnetized with a direction which matches the direction of the applied magnetic field. The grains of the recording medium retain their magnetization after the saturating magnetic field is removed. As the disc rotates, the direction of the writing magnetic field is alternated based on bits of the information being stored, thereby recording a magnetic pattern on the track directly under the write transducer.
Several parameters of the disc drive system are critical for higher storage densities. Higher coercivity and smaller transition size in the magnetic media lead to higher storage densities. The space necessary to record information in magnetic media is dependent upon the size of transitions between oppositely magnetized areas. The transition size narrows as coercivity is increased, because with high coercivity, the medium can resist the transition broadening due to the neighboring fields.
In thin films, crystalline anisotropy is the primary means of magnetization. Grains are more easily magnetized along the plane of the disc because the grains have a preferred crystalline orientation for magnetization lying along the plane. When applied as a thin film, the crystal structure of the magnetic layer depends firstly on the composition of the magnetic layer, but also depends on the deposition conditions and processes. Cobalt based alloys have been sputtered onto substrates with chromium underlayers to produce media with coercivities in the range of 1800-2900 Oersteds. The coercivities and media noise can be affected significantly by optimizing the deposition processes.
Coercivities and media noise can also be affected significantly by the composition and microstructure of the underlayer. The initial grain growth of the magnetic layer is dependent on the underlying grain structure of the underlayer. Chromium underlayers have often been used to foster a microstructure in a Cobalt-based magnetic layer with high coercivity and low noise. Underlayers of other materials have also been tried, such as NiAl, Mo, W, Ti, NiP, CrV and Cr alloyed with other substitional elements. However, only a few of the underlayers actually perform well, and the most successful underlayer has been pure chromium. The chromium underlayer can be deposited with any of several types of consistent crystalline structure, and most often is deposited with a BCC structure. It is believed that the crystalline structure of the underlayer, and particularly a BCC structure of a Cr underlayer, promotes grainto-grain epitaxial growth of the HCP microstructure of cobalt-based thin films, thereby providing a magnetic layer with beneficial magnetic properties.
Another parameter affecting storage density is head to media spacing. A decrease in head to media spacing allows increased storage density. Present flying altitudes of magnetic head assemblies over the disc surface are usually in the 100-500 Angstrom range. Still lower flying altitudes are anticipated in the future. As flying altitudes are decreased however, the tribology between the slider and disc surface becomes more and more important.
Yet another parameter affecting storage density is the width or minimum separation between adjacent tracks on the disc. Track spacing is dependant upon the minimum size of recorded transition, and also is dependant upon cross-talk from adjacent tracks. Each track must be readable by the magnetic head assembly without interference or cross-talk from adjacent tracks. Each track must also be able retain its recorded information without alteration during writing of adjacent tracks. Present track spacing of commercially available discs is in the range of 5,000 to 10,000 tracks per radial inch, e.g., each track has a width of about 2.5 to 5 microns (25,000 to 50,000 Angstroms).
As storage density is increased, noise in the signal output from the media becomes more problematic. Excessive noise must be avoided to reliably maintain integrity of the stored information. One cause of media noise is cross-talk due to the magnetic field created by adjacent locations on the disc. The magnetic field of each magnetized location on the disc is strongest directly over that disc location, but also emanates outwardly from that disc location in all directions. The magnetic field sensed by a read transducer thus includes not only effects from the magnetization of the disc location directly under the read transducer, but also effects from the magnetization of other adjacent locations. When a read transducer is centered over a track, the tracks are adequately spaced for the head to medium spacing, and the magnetic medium supports sharp transitions, then the track directly underneath the read transducer will dominate the sensed magnetic field, and cross-talk will be minimal. If the read transducer is not centered over the track where the information was written, the distance to the track being read is larger and the distance to adjacent tracks is smaller. Accordingly, inaccurate centering will cause an increase in cross-talk. Similarly, as track spacing decreases, adjacent tracks contribute a greater and greater portion to the sensed magnetic field, and cross-talk increases.
The disc drive must be able to differentiate between tracks on the disc and to center the magnetic head over any particular track. Most disc drives use embedded "servo patterns" of recorded information on the disc. The servo patterns are read by the magnetic head assembly to inform the disc drive of track location. Tracks typically include both data sectors and servo patterns. Each servo pattern typically includes radial indexing information, as well as a "servo burst". A servo burst is a centering pattern to precisely position the head over the center of the track. Because of the locational precision needed, writing of servo patterns requires expensive servo-pattern writing equipment and is somewhat of a time consuming process.
One approach to reduce cross-talk while maintaining increased storage density has been to permanently define tracks by injection molding or stamping a track pattern on a plastic substrate disc. The track pattern includes mechanical voids or depressions in the magnetic layer between tracks. The stamped pattern also includes depressions for servo patterns. The magnetic material layer is then applied at a consistent thickness over the entire disc surface.
After the disc is mechanically fabricated, the servo patterns must be magnetically initialized so they may be magnetically sensed. The entire disc is magnetically initialized with a unidirectional DC magnetic bias. The resulting disc produces a difference in signal intensity in the servo patterns between the relatively strong signal received from the protrusions to the significantly weaker signal received from the depressions.
When this type of disc is used, the distance from the magnetic head to magnetic material in the depressions is further than the distance from the magnetic head to magnetic material in the track. The increased distance both reduces the strength of the signal recorded in the depressions and reduces the contribution from the depressions to the magnetic field sensed by the read head. The depressions accordingly create a barrier between tracks to reduce cross-talk, and higher track density can theoretically be achieved. This approach, referred to as a PERM disc, is being marketed by Sony Corp. The depressions used have a depth of about 0.2 microns (2000 Angstroms) and a width of about 0.2 microns, and track densities of 20,000 tracks per inch (e.g, track widths of 1.25 microns) are reported as being possible.
While the depressions stamped in the disc are helpful in increasing track density, they have a detrimental effect on the tribology of the air bearing slider. The slider no longer travels over a smooth surface, causing several mechanical performance drawbacks. The drawbacks include modulation of fly height when encountering servo patterns, fly height perturbations due to topography changes from the track width definition, glide defects from the stamping process, and disc distortion due to lack of rigidity and yield strength of the plastic substrate material. Other methods to increase track density without the mechanical performance penalties of the Perm disc are needed.


A video-on-demand (VOD) system and method which efficiently enables a user to resume viewing of a video program from an interrupted position is disclosed. The present invention allows the user to resume viewing of a video program even if the user requests a resumption of the interrupted video program several times or through different video servers. Particularly, the video viewing characteristic information of a user terminal is not managed by a video server of the VOD system, but is managed by the user terminal. Accordingly, when a user interrupts viewing of a video program, the video server transmits to the user terminal user profile information which includes the characteristic information related to the viewing of the video program. Thereafter, if the user requests resumption of the interrupted video program using the user profile information, the video server re-transmits the video program from the interrupted position of the video program.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video-on-demand (VOD) system, and more particularly to a user oriented VOD system which enables a user to resume viewing of a specific video program after an interruption.
2. Background of the Related Art
Generally, a video-on-demand service stores programs such as movies, sports and educational programs in a main computer to allow a user to freely select and view a program at any time period. Particularly, the VOD service provides multimedia data including text, audio and video data. For example, character data is transmitted with a transmission speed of 28.8 Kbps, audio data is transmitted with a transmission speed of 64 Kbps based on telephone lines, and video data is transmitted with a transmission speed of 1.5 Mbps based on MPEG-1 standard. Thus, the VOD service enables a user to view a program selected according to the individual taste, regardless of the time, as well as allow users to play, rewind, pause and record the program as in a video cassette recorder (VCR) FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a general VOD system.
Referring to FIG. 1A, a video server 22 provides general VCR functions such as play, rewind, and fast forward, when requested by users. The video server 22 can be implemented by developing a dedicated hardware for extracting video streams from a hard disk drive, independent from the performance of a central processing unit (CPU). A multimedia database 21 allows the storage and access to extensive multimedia data of various sizes such as text, image, animation, audio, and video. Also, the database 21 includes data to support a search of a particular data. Thus, the database 21 has an index structure and search algorithm for searching the media.
An asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) exchange or switch 23 connects the video server 22 to a subscriber loop through the digital transmitting unit 24. The digital transmitting unit 24 may be an asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) type using the existing telephone lines, a hybrid network type using a coaxial cable and optical fiber, or an ADSL type capable of transmitting compressed information using the existing 2-line subscriber lines. Because a service can be provided using the existing telephone lines, an ADSL digital transmitting unit 24 is more advantageous.
A set-top box (STB) 100 is a repeater which restores the original digital video signal from a compressed digital video signal transmitted from the server. The STB 100 also converts the restored digital video signal into an analog video signal and transfers the analog video signal to a subscriber device. Thereafter, the STB 100 processes a signal from a subscriber through an input device such as a remote control and performs a network connection function.
To provide the VOD service as described above, a communication network of a high-speed and a large-capacity optical fiber are necessary. However, in regions or countries where a foundation has not been built, a video-dial-tone (VDT) service, as shown in FIG. 1B, using telephone lines has been established as a phase prior to a complete VOD service. The VOD service may also be provided under the existing local area network (LAN) environment.
Generally, when a user wishes to a certain program, the user can view the program by connecting to the VOD system and selecting the program. If the user cannot view the whole program at one time, the VOD allows the user to view the program in multiple sittings. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,818,439 discloses a VOD system including a video server that manages users as subscribers and stores a position at which a user stops viewing a program. Thereafter, if the same user requests viewing of the same program, the video server displays the program from the position at which the viewing of the program has been interrupted. At this time, the VOD system may also display the contents of the previously viewed portion of the program by a summary using still images.
Therefore, according to the VOD system in the related art, when the user resumes viewing of a program after an interruption, the user must connect to the same video server that previously provided the VOD service, because only the same video server stores the position at which the viewing was stopped. However, if the same video server is being used by another subscriber, the video server cannot provide the interrupted program to the user until there are enough resources. In such case, the user may use a different server to view another program or the interrupted program by manually forwarding to the position at which the viewing was stopped. This causes the user inconvenience.
Also, when many users stops viewing programs in the middle of the program, the corresponding server must continuously maintain and manage the position information of the interrupted programs, regardless of whether the users will resume viewing the interrupting program. Thus, the load of the video servers increase while the maintenance and management of the whole system become more complicated. Moreover, because the system provides users with contents of the previous viewing based on still images, when a user resumes viewing an interrupted program, the contents may not be clearly comprehensive.

Video-on-demand system and video viewing assisting method


An epicardial defibrillation electrode device having small conductive dirks extending therefrom to lodge into the myocardium to lower the electrode impedence. The electrode device utilizes a flexible, translucent support member to aid in the positioning of the dirks during electrode implantation. Switchable dirks extending from separate conductive members mounted to the support member are provided for pacing, sensing and defibrillation.

The invention relates generally to defibrillation electrodes and particularly to epicardial defibrillation electrodes having conductive dirk members to penetrate the epicardium.
To perform defibrillation with the voltages and energies that are available from present implantable devices it is critical that the resistance of the defibrillation electrodes be as low as possible. Although various types and configurations of electrodes have been proposed and used for defibrillation, epicardial patch electrodes continue to be the most effective defibrillation electrode structures. However, a shortcoming of the epicardial patch is that a large portion of the voltage may not effectively penetrate into the myocardium. For example, animal studies have shown that up to 70% of the electrode potential is lost in the first few millimeters of the heart.
One prior art approach at lowering the electrode impedance is the use of relatively large electrode structures which are contoured to the shape of the heart and stitched in place. A drawback of these structures is that with sufficiently large patches they may be positioned too close to each other. As a result, the defibrillation current may take the shortest route from the edge of one patch to that of the adjacent patch causing the beneficial defibrillation current to the heart to be shunted away.
Although various epicardial defibrillation electrode configurations have been utilized and proposed, they have generally been designed to be positioned against the epicardium or to be implanted subcutaneously a distance from the heart. The object of the present invention is to provide an epicardial defibrillation electrode having outwardly extending dirks which penetrate the epicardium and contact the myocardium.
A further object is to provide dirk based epicardial electrode devices which utilize support members which aid in the positioning and implantation of the electrodes. Another object of the invention is to provide epicardial electrode devices having a plurality of outwardly extending dirk members and circuitry in communication therewith and which may be utilized for pacing, sensing and defibrillation.

Dirk-based epicardial defibrillation electrode