A balloon dilatation catheter having perfusion capabilities with an expanded helical support coil within the perfusion portion of the catheter shaft proximal to the balloon with the perfusion ports being defined by passageways through adjacent turns of the support coil. Elongated portions of an outer polymer jacket are removed, preferably by laser, to expose a plurality of turns of the support coil and define a number of perfusion ports between adjacent turns.

This invention generally relates to perfusion type dilatation catheters for use in percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA).
In typical PTCA procedures a balloon dilatation catheter is advanced over a guidewire to a desired location within the patient's coronary anatomy where the balloon of the dilatation catheter is properly positioned within the stenosis to be dilated. The balloon is then inflated to a predetermined size with radiopaque liquid at relatively high pressures (e.g. generally 4-12 atmospheres) to dilate the stenosed region of the diseased artery. One or more inflations may be needed to effectively dilate the stenosis. After the dilatation of the first stenosis the catheter may be advanced further into the patient's coronary anatomy to dilate additional stenoses.
A high number of angioplasty procedures result in a dissected arterial lining which can cause an acute closure of the arterial passageway. In the latter instances a perfusion device must be advanced over the in-place guidewire to ensure adequate blood blow distal to the dissected lining until the lining can be resecured to the artery wall, coronary or a by-pass procedure commenced. Preferably, a dilatation balloon catheter with perfusion capabilities is advanced over the in-place guidewire until the balloon crosses the dissection and the balloon is inflated to press the dissected lining back into place against the arterial wall. With the balloon inflated, blood is caused to pass through a perfusion passageway through the balloon to discharge the blood distal to the catheter. The balloon is maintained in an inflated condition for sufficiently long periods of time, e.g. from about 0.5 to about 6 hours, for the natural healing process to resecure the dissected lining to the arterial wall.
Balloon catheters with perfusion capabilities have been available from Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. for a number of years, including the RX Perfusion Coronary Dilatation Catheter and the Lifestream Dilation Catheter which has met with much commercial success. Such catheters are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,275 (Sirhan et al) and U.S. application Ser. No. 08/183,574, filed on Jan. 18, 1994 which are incorporated herein in their entirety. The perfusion catheters presently on the market are predominantly rapid exchange type dilatation catheters due to the frequent need to advance a perfusion catheter over an in-place guidewire when an acute occlusion occurs after the original dilatation catheter has been deflated and withdrawn from the stenotic region.

Perfusion dilatation catheter with expanded support coil


For obtaining a hose clamp which has a continuously smooth inner surface free of gaps and which requires an as short as possible length of band material, the inner band end portion is provided with a tongue the length of which is approximately half the amount by which the hose clamp is narrowed during tightening. During the first half of the tightening movement, the tongue is guided transversely to the band longitudinal direction by a projection which engages a slot provided in the outer band portion. The slot at its end is continued by a window which starts at a step, and the tongue, during the second half of the tightening movement, passes through the window which then takes over the guidance of the tongue.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,012 discloses a hose clamp which consists of an open band with overlapping band ends and which is adapted to be transferred from a closed condition in which the outer band end is connected to the inner band portion, to a tightened condition having a reduced inner dimension, comprising a tongue formed at the inner band end, an aperture provided in the outer band portion for receiving the tongue in the tightened condition, and a step which projects inwardly as seen from the outer band end, which extends transversely to the band longitudinal direction within the area of the end of the aperture nearer to the outer band end, and which has a height corresponding to the thickness of the band material. This hose clamp has proved suitable for fixing even thin, hard hoses to pipe nipples due to the fact that, in the tightened condition, the inner surface of the clamp is free of gaps and steps and therefore supports the hose at all circumferential positions.
For tightening the known hose clamp, a so-called "Oetiker ear" provided in the outer band section is narrowed by means of a pair of grippers. A tongue provided at the inner band end serves to bridge the gap remaining underneath the ear, the tongue cooperating with a tongue channel provided in the outer band portion. The channel is formed by two parallel cuts extending in the longitudinal direction of the band, wherein the two band portions outside these cuts are offset inwardly at their ends close to the outer band end, and the central portion situated between the cuts is offset inwardly at its end remote from the outer band end, each offset corresponding to the thickness of the band material.
In the closed but not yet tightened condition of the hose clamp, hooks provided at the inner band end are inserted in openings near the outer band end. The tongue and the tongue channel are so arranged and dimensioned in the circumferential direction of the hose clamp in such a way that, in this closed condition, the free end of the tongue just reaches the channel and the portion of full band width adjacent the tongue bridges the spacing between the legs of the ear.
In tightening, the tongue moves completely into the tongue channel until its end comes to lie close to the offset of the centre band portion between the two cuts, and the portion of full band width adjacent the tongue comes to lie close to the offset at the other end of the tongue channel. In this tightened condition, while gaps occur near the offsets, these gaps at no location extend across the full band width so that the hose is supported even in these regions by at least part of the band width, and tightness between the hose and the nipple is ensured over the entire circumference.
In the hose clamp known from EP 0 570 742 A1, the tongue during tightening enters a space between two beads formed in the inner surface of the outer band section, which beads project inwardly by an amount corresponding to the thickness of the band material and terminate in a step of the same height. In order to make sure that the tongue is laterally guided throughout the tightening process, the tongue and beads have such a length in the circumferential direction of the hose clamp that the tongue reaches the space between the beads already in the closed condition of the hose clamp.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,348 describes a hose clamp having a separate insert portion bridging the ear, with two tongue-type ends extending through windows provided in the outer band section.
The invention is based on the object to remove at least in part such disadvantages as occur with comparable hose clamps of the prior art. A more specific object may be seen in providing a hose clamp which requires an as small as possible length of band material at a given clamp diameter.
The solution of this object in accordance with the invention which consists of an open band with overlapping band ends and which is adapted to be transferred from a closed condition in which the outer band end is connected to the inner band portion, to a tightened condition having a reduced inner dimension, comprising a tongue formed at the inner band end, an aperture provided in the outer band portion for receiving the tongue in the tightened condition, and a step which projects inwardly as seen from the outer band end, which extends transversely to the band longitudinal direction within the area of the end of the aperture nearer to the outer band end, and which has a height corresponding to the thickness of the band material, that the length of the tongue is substantially shorter than the difference between the inner dimension of the hose clamp in its closed condition and that of the hose clamp in its tightened condition, and that the outer band portion in the region between its outer band end and the aperture has means for laterally guiding the tongue prior to its entry into the aperture. The tongue provided at the inner band end is guided during tightening of the hose clamp consecutively by two different measures wherein, during the first part of the tightening movement, the tongue is remote from the aperture and only in the second portion enters the aperture and is guided by it. The tongue can thus be shorter by roughly one half than in the prior art, which results in a corresponding saving in band material length.
The embodiment wherein the aperture is a window for the tongue to pass in the tightened condition of the hose clamp leads to a specifically safe guiding and retaining of the central band section transverse to the band.
An easily obtained possibility of guiding the tongue in the first part of the tightening movement is obtainable wherein the guiding means includes beads formed in the outer band portion on both sides of the tongue clamp of claim 3 and wherein the inner band end portion has two beads in the area adjacent the tongue in the band longitudinal direction, which beads are engaged, in the tightened condition of the hose clamp, by the two beads in the outer band portion and wherein the width of each bead is ¼ to 1/10 of the band width.
For reducing the friction which occurs between the tongue and the outer band portion during tightening of the hose clamp a point-shaped embossment facing the outer band portion is provided near the free end of the tongue.
A specifically safe guidance of the tongue transverse to the band longitudinal direction in the first part of the tightening movement is provided when the guiding means includes a slot continuous with the aperture in the outer band portion and a projection on the outer side of the tongue for engaging the slot and wherein the projection is a nose punched out of the tongue.
The invention is adapted for use with hose clamps with and without ear-like tightening means wherein an ear-type tightening means is provided between the guiding means and the outer band end and wherein an undulation is provided between the guiding means and the outer band end.
Advantageous embodiments will now be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings,

Hans Oetiker AG Maschinen- und Apparatefabrik


The present invention provides a small-sized preparation that is easy to take, containing 26% or more of nateglinide and 28% or more of at least one disintegrant selected from the group consisting of carmellose or salts thereof, sodium carboxymethyl starch, croscarmellose sodium, crospovidone, partly pregelatinized starch and low-substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose, based on the total mass of the preparation. The preparation of the present invention has high contents of nateglinide, which can be absorbed immediately to exhibit a hypoglycemic action.

The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical preparation containing as the active substance nateglinide which is known as a hypoglycemic agent.
It is known (as disclosed in Japanese Patent Examined Publication (JP Kokoku) No. 4-15221) that nateglinide (chemical name: N-(trans-4-isopropylcyclohexanecarbonyl)-D-phenylalanine, which will be hereinafter referred to as "nateglinide") shows excellent hypoglycemic action when orally administrated and is useful as an agent for the treatment of diabetes.
Nateglinide has the excellent properties of controlling postprandial hyperglycemia, and tablets containing 30, 60, 90, 120 or 180 mg of nateglinide per tablet are clinically used in practice. The tablets containing 60, 90, 120 or 180 mg of nateglinide per tablet are advantageous in that a relatively large amount of active substance can be ingested in a single administration. However, with respect to the current pharmaceutical preparations containing an optimum dose (90 mg) of nateglinide, for example, in the form of concave shaped tablet (i.e., round-shaped tablet), 25 mass % of nateglinide and 30 mass % of hydroxypropyl cellulose with a low substitution degree as a disintegrant are contained based on the total mass of the preparation, and the tablet is designed to have a diameter of about 10.1 mm, a thickness of about 5.2 mm and a mass of 366 mg. In light of this, there is a need for a smaller-sized nateglinide-containing pharmaceutical preparation that is easier to take (for example, refer to WO98/22105, WO01/21159, WO01/47557, WO02/34254 and WO02/40010).


A modulated reflectance well telemetry apparatus having an electrically conductive pipe extending from above a surface to a point below the surface inside a casing. An electrical conductor is located at a position a distance from the electrically conductive pipe and extending from above the surface to a point below the surface. Modulated reflectance apparatus is located below the surface for modulating well data into a RF carrier transmitted from the surface and reflecting the modulated carrier back to the surface. A RF transceiver is located at the surface and is connected between the electrically conductive pipe and the electrical conductor for transmitting a RF signal that is confined between the electrically conductive well pipe and the electrical conductor to the modulated reflectance apparatus, and for receiving reflected data on the well from the modulated reflectance apparatus.

As the world's supply of petroleum continues to diminish, it is ever more important that the maximum amount of petroleum be recovered from well sites. An important part of this effort involves improving telemetering relevant information from the subterranean environment to the surface, so that the petroleum industry can more efficiently drill wells and manage the production from those wells. In this invention, the word "communication" is used interchangeably with the word "telemetry," and the word "data" is used interchangeably with the word "information."
Currently, most down-hole telemetry is accomplished through systems based on mechanically pulsing the drilling fluid, or alternatively, wire or optical fiber circuits that are subject to abrasion and frequent breaks in the deleterious environment encountered in the well bore. Wire systems are subject to abrasion and cutting in the well bore environment, which can lead to communication failures due to inter-wire contact or an interruption of the communication circuit. Either failure condition may require that the communication circuit and assembly must be brought back to the surface for repair. Unreliability in down hole data is unfortunate for several reasons. Primarily, it is the high cost and loss of productive time associated with having the to raise a pipe string to fix a broken communication circuit. Additionally, reliable, real-time telemetry of data from the drill head can lead to increased efficiency of drilling and production operations.
The present invention presents apparatus and method for accomplishing reliable down hole communication. This is accomplished with minimal alteration of normal drilling equipment and procedures.

RF transmission line and drill/pipe string switching technology for down-hole telemetry


The present invention provides a probe for detecting a V600 polymorphism in the BRAF gene, which is (P1) a fluorescently labeled oligonucleotide which has an identity of at least 80% to a base sequence having a length of 10 to 50 bases including the 228th to the 237th bases of the base sequence indicated in SEQ ID NO: 1, wherein the base corresponding to the 237th base is cytosine labeled with a fluorescent dye, the oligonucleotide recognizing a polymorphism in at least one of the 228th to the 230th bases of the base sequence indicated in SEQ ID NO: 1 (with the proviso that the oligonucleotide is not the one indicated in SEQ ID NO: 7 or 19).

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a probe for detecting a polymorphism, a method of detecting a polymorphism, a method of evaluating the efficacy of a drug, and a reagent kit for detecting a polymorphism.
2. Related Art
The BRAF gene encodes the BRAF protein which is involved in intracellular signaling and cell growth. It is known that the intracellular signaling pathway becomes constitutively activated when the BRAF gene undergoes mutation such that the 600th amino acid of the BRAF protein is mutated from valine (V) to glutamic acid (E). Such a BRAF-activated mutant is called "V600E" and is observed in about 7% of human malignant tumors and about 60% of malignant melanomas (see, for example, Nature. (2010) Dec. 16; 468(7326): 973-7). Further, it has also been reported that advanced melanoma having a V600E mutation is effectively treated with, for example, the BRAF kinase inhibitor vemurafenib. When administering the BRAF kinase inhibitor vemurafenib, from the standpoints of the effectiveness and safety, it is necessary to detect the presence or absence of the V600E mutation in advance.
Methods have been developed by which the V600E mutation is measured accurately in a short time in an inexpensive and simple manner (see, for example, WO2011/071046 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) 2009-77712). In addition, methods of detecting a mutation in the BRAF gene using a PCR-RFLP method, a direct sequencing method, an HRMA method or the like are also known (see, for example, Endocr J. (2007) June 54(3): p. 399-405; Yonsei Med. J. (2009) April 30, 50(2): p. 266-'72; Am. J. Clin. Pathol. (2008) August, 130(2): p247-53).
At present, in addition to the V600E mutation, V600K, V600R and V600D mutations in which the 600th amino acid is mutated from valine to lysine (K), arginine (R) and aspartic acid (D), respectively, are known (see, for example, J. Transl. Med. (2010) Jul. 14, 8: p67). Further, V600G and V600M mutations in which the 600th amino acid is mutated to glycine (G) and methionine (M), respectively, are also known.

Probe, and polymorphism detection method using the same


A radio controlled timepiece movement includes a carrier structure and a wheel train mounted thereon. The wheel train includes a plurality of rotatable wheels each having a wheel aperture formed therein. The apertures are alignable with one another. A printed circuit board is mounted on the carrier structure and has a board aperture formed therethrough. An end of the board aperture disposed farthest from the wheels is covered by a portion of a conductor of the circuit board. A light beam transmitter is mounted on that conductor and disposed in the board aperture. A wire extends from the element to the second conductor. The transmitter and wire are embedded within a radiation-permeable material which fills the board aperture.

The invention concerns a radio-controlled timepiece movement and method of assembly.
A radio-controlled timepiece movement is known from Allgaier et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,357 (corresponding to DE 35 10 861). That movement includes a light-barrier for detecting the displayed time in order to implement an automatic correction either at the beginning of operation or during operation. The movement is distinguished by virtue of a compact structure and a high level of operational reliability because the light-barrier is integrated into the gear train of the movement itself. For the construction of a transmission-type light barrier arrangement, the 1ight barrier elements, i.e., a radiation transmitter and an opposing radiation receiver, are secured in through bores formed in a printed circuit board and a front housing wall of the movement, respectively.
Non-encased radiation transmitters in the form, for example, of diodes (in the form of chips) emitting infra-red light can also be glued in electrically conducting relationship directly onto a conductor track lining of the printed circuit board and electrically connected to another conductor track of the same printed circuit board by means of a bond wire which extends downwardly in an arc shape.
Then however that structure must be embedded in a radiation permeable plastic material, to provide for mechanical protection for same. It will be noted that overall this takes up a really large amount of space as the plastic material has to cover the high arc of the bond wire above the free surface of the chip down into the plane of the conductor track, and that results in both a wide and also a high mound of casting material. That is a nuisance, in particular, if the radio-controlled timepiece movement is to be of an extremely compact design configuration, for example so that it can be disposed in a wristwatch casing. The smaller the movement becomes, the correspondingly more complicated is the adjustment of the wheels which project into the light barrier arrangement, in terms of their respective angular position for transmitting light therethrough.
Therefore an object of the present invention is to develop a radio-controlled movement of the general kind set forth, that can be of a smaller design and more easily assembled.

Radio-controlled timepiece movement and method of assembly


A method for manufacturing a panel of a thin film transistor liquid crystal display device with three mask processes is disclosed. The method includes following steps: forming a transparent conductive layer, a first insulating layer, and a second metal layer on a transparent substrate in sequence; forming a source area, a drain area, a transparent electrode area, and data signal lines through a halftone photolithography and an etching; forming a semiconducting layer and a second insulating layer on the substrate in sequence; forming a semiconducting channel area in a thin film transistor area and contacts on the source area, the drain area, and the data signal lines through a photolithography and an etching; forming a third metal layer and a third insulating layer on the substrate in sequence; forming scanning signal lines and gate lines through a photolithography and an etching.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a panel of a thin film transistor liquid crystal display device and, more particularly, to a method for manufacturing a panel of a thin film transistor liquid crystal display device with three mask processes.
2. Description of Related Art
Comparing with the cathode ray tube display, the liquid crystal display (LCD) has advantages on low power consumption, small occupied space, and free of irradiation. Depending on the liquid crystal operating principle, LCD device includes various specifications, which mainly classify to a passive matrix liquid crystal display (PM LCD) and a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD), wherein PM LCD further comprises twisted nematic (TN), super twisted nematic (STN), double layer twisted nematic (DSTN). The difference between these two specifications, the PM LCD and the TFT LCD, is about the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules affected by an electric field in the liquid crystal. The arrangement of liquid crystal molecules for the PM LCD automatically returns to the original direction while current off and then is rotated to other direction in the next recharge, so the PM LCD lacks of memory. But the arrangement of liquid crystal molecules for the TFT LCD doesn't return to the original direction while current off, so the TFT LCD can keep the memory.
When applied to a LCD TV, PM LCD, even a STN LCD, has disadvantages on low response speed and high limitation of colors. However, the TFT LCD can control the arrangement of liquid crystal molecules to induce the lights with various refractions while passing through therein. Furthermore, with combination of an orientation layer, a polarizer, or a color filter, an image can be generated with high resolution, wide view angle, high response speed, and high contrast. As a result, the TFT LCD can be applied in a field of a high-definition television (HDTV).
But the TFT LCD is still not popular in a consumer market due to the chief disadvantage on the high cost, especially the photolithography step for manufacturing a panel thereof. So how to reduce the photolithography process steps becomes the main research recently.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved speech recognition method to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.

Method for manufacturing a panel of TFT LCD having particular TFT structure above pixel electrode


The present invention relates to a user interface system that is acoustically operated for the control of connected devices. Through the interface, acoustic sounds, such as tap, can be distinguished from less than 10 cm apart.

Taps, or knocks, are commonly used to attract attention. It is one form of informal communication. In different cultures, tapping or knocking can share the same meaning. For instance, both in Eastern or Western countries, it is polite for one to tap on the door to seek approval before entering a room. The taps signify the person's intention of entering the room and also arouse attention amongst those inside the room to address this intent.
In Chinese culture over meals, there is a convention for one to gently tap on the table with his knuckles continuously when another person is filing his/her cup with tea. This knuckling gesture conveys appreciation and gratitude to the other person, and is believed to have come from a legend that once there was a King disguised in peasant wear to informally cruise his country, and who was at meal with his liegeman, serving tea to one of them. The liegeman should have knelt on the ground and bowed his head to receive this divine treatment from the King. In order not to reveal his royal status, the King signaled the liegeman to tap on the table with knuckles of his bent fingers in place of the kneeling and bowing. In addition to common causal communication, tapping could also be used to communicate more specific information. In particular, a tapping sequence specifically constructed (e.g. with specific intervals in between taps) could be used to represent or "encode" a particular piece of information or message. For example, children in particular, like to create secret codes by special knocking patterns on the door to identify friends from strangers. This code is simply composed by a sequence of knocks that follows some kind of rhythm. In principle, this can also be explained as the distribution of knocks within a certain time. By varying the time intervals in between knocks, different rhythms of knock sequences can be created.
Finally, tapping is also one form of physical externalization of thoughts and emotions. Since taps already exist as an informal form of communication, it offers good potentials in building upon on this common and natural human gesture to developing intuitive interfaces to digital devices. There is the possibility of exploiting both the rhythm ("time-based") and/or the path ("position-based") of a tap sequence for system manipulation. Tangible User Interface (TUI) that makes use of tapping as an input method can simplify the control of many existing systems. It offers an elegant, simple, and natural form of interaction.
In order to maximize the diversity in application as well as the interactivity between the system and user, the interactive system would be desirable to be able to recognize both the rhythm ("time-based") and the path ("position-based") of knock sequence efficiently and precisely.
The prior art has shown sound-sensitive interactive surface. The Passive Acoustic Tap Tracking Across Large Interactive Surface is a system that locates the position of knocks and taps atop a large sheet of glass surface. Microphones embedded at four corners of the sheet glass are used to find the position of knocks of the surface. By calculating and comparing the time that sound waves travel from where the knock occurs to the four microphones on the surface, position of the knock on the surface can be measured. Unfortunately, this method of tracking position of taps on a surface has an accuracy problem. It has been shown that such a system is not able to resolve knocks that are spaced less that 10 cm apart, and so the system was inaccurate in tracking the path ("position based") of knocks with this range.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages and problems in the prior art by providing a new acoustic sensitive interactive surface.

User interface containing acoustic sensing modules


A method is provided for allocating bits for quantifying spatial information parameters by frequency sub-band for parametric encoding/decoding of a multichannel audio stream representative of a soundstage consisting of a plurality of sound sources. The method includes a step of quantifying or inversely quantifying, by frequency sub-band, spatial information parameters for the sound sources of the soundscape. The method further includes: assessing a spatial resolution of the current sub-band on the basis of the spectral properties of the sub-band; and determining a number of bits to be allocated to the current sub-band, the number of bits to be allocated being inversely proportional to the estimated spatial resolution. Also provided is a device for allocating quantification bits implementing the above-described method.

To code these spatial information parameters, the bit budget available, depending on the coders, is not always sufficient. In the case of frequency sub-band coding, this budget is divided per sub-band.
There exist techniques which make it possible to reduce the number of bits to be allocated per sub-band. One of these techniques consists in coding only the parameters of one frequency band out of two for each temporal frame. Thus the sub-bands not coded in the current frame are allotted the corresponding values of the previous frame.
Another technique is to perform an intra or inter-frame differential coding.
Most of the time, these allocation techniques are not based on criteria of auditory perception that a listener may have of the sound signal. Therefore, these parameters are quantized in a uniform manner.
A quantization based on psycho-acoustic criteria is proposed by Breebaart in the document by Breebaart, J; Van de Par, S; Kohlrausch, A & Schuijers, E, "Parametric Coding of stereo Audio" in EURASIP Journal on Applied Signal Processing, 2005, 9, pp 1305-1322. The scheme described in this document is based on the perception that a listener may have on certain frequency bands for particular parameters of inter-channel difference type, or on the sensitivity to a variation of these parameters as a function of the relevant span of values. It is for example described that certain parameters are coded only on the frequency bands below 1 kHz. Beyond this frequency, the parameters are indeed no longer useful to the auditory system to locate a source. Thus, the psycho-acoustic criterion used here relates to a sensitivity to the coded parameters and not to a sensitivity of spatial displacements of the sound sources.
Now, auditory perception or sensitivity with respect to a spatial resolution in the sub-bands may vary at each instant from one sub-band to another, independently of the parameter to be coded.

Allocation, by sub-bands, of bits for quantifying spatial information parameters for parametric encoding


Techniques for selectably providing either constant voltage or constant current stimulation are described. A programming device provides a user interface by which a user selects either constant voltage or constant current stimulation, and selects either a voltage or current amplitude based on the selected stimulation mode. The programming device configures a medical device to provide the selected mode of stimulation at the selected amplitude. For example, when a medical device has constant voltage stimulation circuitry, e.g., circuitry including a voltage source, and the user selects constant current stimulation, the programming device configures the medical device to adjust the voltage amplitude based on a measured impedance to provide substantially constant current amplitude.

Medical devices deliver electrical stimulation in order treat a variety of ailments or symptoms of patients, such as pain, epilepsy, and movement disorders. Often, the medical devices used to treat such ailments or symptoms are implantable. Further, whether implanted or not, the medical devices often deliver stimulation to tissue via one or more conductors within a lead, which may include one or more lead extensions, and the electrodes associated with these conductors that are carried by the lead.
Over the life of the medical device, the impedance presented to the medical device by the conductors, electrodes, and tissue proximate to the electrodes, e.g., the impedance of the conductors, electrodes, and tissue, may vary. This variation in presented impedance may be due to a variety of factors, such as lead material degradation, changes in patient hydration, and changes in the type of tissue proximate to the electrodes, which may be due to, for example, movement of the electrodes relative to the tissue intended to be stimulated, or growth of tissue at the stimulation site. When the patient is active, e.g., moving and/or changing postures, the electrodes may move relative to the tissue intended to be stimulated.
Medical devices that deliver electrical stimulation generally fall into one of two categories. Constant voltage devices include a voltage source, such as a voltage regulator, that outputs the stimulation at a specified voltage amplitude, while constant current devices include a current source, such as a current mirror, that outputs the stimulation at a specified current amplitude. These voltage and current sources hold their stimulation at a constant voltage or current amplitude, respectively. However, due to changes in the presented impedance over time, the current output by a constant voltage device, and the voltage output by a constant current device, will vary.
Clinicians may prefer either a constant voltage or constant current device for any of a variety reasons. For example, some clinicians prefer one of these types of devices for a particular therapy. Others may prefer one of these types of devices due to familiarity, or for other idiosyncratic reasons.


A blind hole (3) is formed on a substrate (1) from a first side of the substrate toward a second side of the substrate (1). A conductor (11) is filled in the blind hole (3). The substrate (1) is removed from the opposite side to expose the conductor (13) filled in the blind hole (3).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for fabricating a through-hole interconnection substrate and a through-hole interconnection substrate. More specifically, the present invention is adapted for a high-density three-dimensional packaging of stacking a silicon IC chip and the like or to a contact thereof. The present invention is also adapted for a silicon optical bench for implementing an optical device such as a laser diode, a photodiode and an optical waveguide.
According to the present invention, a metal for a conductor is filled in micro-holes for through-hole electrodes. The through hole electrodes are utilized for interconnecting wiring patterns formed on front and back surfaces of a silicon substrate, to be employed as electrodes or contacts, and to form bumps.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of a related art technology for filling metal in micro-holes is a molten-metal suction method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-158191. According to this method, a molten metal is filled in the holes by means of a pressure difference. An example of a method for forming bumps on one surface of a substrate simultaneously with this filling work, is one in which metal layers are formed in the peripheries of openings of the micro-holes, followed by the metal filling by the molten-metal suction method.
In the molten-metal suction method, heat sometimes deteriorates adhesion of a heat-resistant sheet, thus making it impossible to fill the metal fully in the ends of the micro-holes.
Specifically, when the melting temperature of the metal material in use exceeds 350° C. (degrees centigrade) during the filling work, such high temperature is beyond a tolerance of the heat-resistant sheet.

Method for fabricating a through-hole interconnection substrate and a through-hole interconnection substrate


A software library using a 3D graphics engine to produce a real time 3D particle explosion effect is provided. The particle explosion effect creation tool allows users to create their own particle explosion effect by defining their own shapes in a graphics image data file and allows to graphically define a plurality of explosion parameters of the video particle explosion effect in the graphics image data file. Particles are driven by a particle system algorithm that is controlled by real-world attributes such as gravity, direction and dispersion. These attributes can be keyframed by the users within a video editing application to produce specific 3D Particle explosion effects such as transitions and filters on video or graphics.

The hardware solutions currently proposed on the market for a particle explosion effect are based on dedicated chips that perform fixed functions at a fixed resolution. This approach requires that all effects be programmed in the chip which includes only a limited set of attributes that can be applied by the user. Drawbacks to such an approach include:
1) Coding and validating every transformation of the effect in the chip is a lengthy process, so typically only a small set of parameters is provided. As a result, the editor has limited creative freedom.
2) To keep the cost of DVE (Digital Video Effects) products as low as possible, manufacturers often use simplified algorithms to minimize the complexity of their chips. Quality is therefore compromised.
3) Particle shapes are simple and hard coded. Users have no possibility of defining their own shapes.
The traditional software solutions for particle explosion effects give the user many parameters to change the behavior of the particles. However, the shapes are quite simple (triangles, squares, etc.) and the user does not have the ability to modify them. Furthermore, the CPU computations required are too important to perform such effect in real time.
The current approach to using 3D graphics technology for video effects is based on rendering. A combination of an effects algorithm, CPU power, and graphics acceleration, processes the video as quickly as possible, yet this approach does not produce a real time Particle Explosion engine. The processing might be slower than real time and is therefore not reliable for streaming video at exactly 60 fields/sec (50 fields/sec in PAL).
The main problems of all the previous approaches are:
1) No possibility for the users to define their own particle shapes;
2) Lack of flexibility in the effect parameters;
3) Fully programmable effect does not run in real time.

Method and apparatus for graphically defining a video particle explosion effect


The present invention relates to monitoring septal wall motion of the atrial and/or ventricular chambers of a heart for optimizing cardiac pacing intervals based on signals derived from the monitored wall motion. At least one lead of medical device is equipped with a motion sensor adapted to couple to septal tissue. The device receives and may post-process (e.g., suitably filter, rectify and/or integrate) motion signals to determine acceleration, velocity and/or displacement. During pacing interval optimization the wall motion is measured for those pacing intervals and the pacing interval setting(s) that produce minimal wall motion for chronic therapy delivery. In addition, methods for periodically determining whether to cease or resume delivery of a bi-ventricular pacing therapy to a patient that may have experienced beneficial reverse remodeling of the heart.

Those skilled in the art of diagnosing cardiac ailments have long understood that certain patients, in particular heart failure (HF) patients, suffer uncoordinated mechanical activity wherein the myocardial depolarization and contraction of the right and left ventricle do not occur simultaneously. Such uncoordinated motion causes a decrease in cardiac output (CO), among other detrimental effects. Recently a variety of techniques have been proposed and practiced for minimizing such uncoordinated motion and increasing CO.
These prior art techniques for minimizing ventricular uncoordinated motion include CRT. In some forms of CRT, pressure-based measurements in one or both ventricles have been known and used for some time. In such methods, a pressure transducer is typically coupled to the distal end of a medical electrical lead used to measure intraventricular pressure variations. Such measured variations (maximum, minimum, calculated first derivatives thereof, etc.) provide feedback to an implantable pulse generator (IPG) programmed to deliver CRT. Such an IPG typically includes at least three medical electrical leads coupled to cardiac tissue. A first lead typically coupled to the right atrium, a second lead typically coupled to the right ventricle, and a third lead typically coupled to the left ventricle (often via the coronary sinus or great vein). That is, the third lead often couples to a location on the free wall of the left ventricle.
Thus, as is known in the art, based at least in part on the pressure-based measurements the IPG provides electrical cardiac pacing stimulus to the left ventricle (LV) and the right ventricle (RV) in an effort to suitably increase the measured pressure(s) and/or derivatives thereof.
When successfully delivered, CRT is known to increase CO and may, over time, cause a phenomenon known in the art as "reverse remodeling" of the LV and RV (and/or other beneficial) physiologic changes to the patient's heart.
The inventors are also aware of another technique for CRT for HF patients; namely, using an accelerometer disposed in the apex of the right ventricle to measure endocardial acceleration of the apical portion of the right ventricle. From this measurement in the right ventricle a left ventricular activity is inferred. However, to the best knowledge of the inventors such technique has not been used to directly measure deflection of the ventricular or atrial septal wall in patients afflicted with uncoordinated ventricular motion and the like.

Method of optimizing cardiac resynchronization therapy using sensor signals of septal wall motion


A recommender system uses an activity decision tree to model the changes in a user's behavior according to a plurality of time-related features. The system determines historical activities for the user, and generates a decision tree for the user's historical activities. Each leaf node of the decision tree is associated with an activity-prediction model that computes a probability for a corresponding activity. The system selects a path of the decision tree from a root node to a leaf node of the decision tree based on a target time. The selected path traverses two or more non-leaf nodes that are each associated with a temporal decision model that compares the target time against a temporal classifier. The system then determines a probability for a user activity based on an activity-prediction model of the selected path.

1. Field
This disclosure is generally related to activity-based recommender systems. More specifically, this disclosure is related to using an activity decision tree to model the changes in a user's behavior according to a plurality of time-related features.
2. Related Art
Advances in mobile computing have allowed people to consume digital information at any place and any time. It is common for laptops to boast a sufficiently long battery life to allow a user to complete a near full day of work on a single charge. If the user needs an Internet connection, the user is oftentimes able to find a public Wi-Fi hot spot at a local coffee shop or a public venue such as a park. As another example, the capabilities of smartphones have increased drastically to rival the computing abilities of laptops, while also providing steady access to the Internet through a cellular network. These advances have allowed users to perform their computing tasks at a coffee shop, on a park bench, or virtually anywhere. Oftentimes, a user may take his mobile phone out from his pocket for brief moments at a time to play a quick game while riding in a bus, to read the news while waiting in line at a store, or to search for information as necessary.
However, this mobile nature of modern computing has made it difficult to provide targeted recommendations to a user. Previous recommender systems expected a user to be using a computer at home or at work, with an open mind to consider recommendations. A modern computer user is constantly on the go, and may look at his mobile device for short periods at a time. The user may accept a recommendation if it matches his current activity, and may ignore a recommendation that isn't appealing or convenient considering his current activity.
For example, a typical recommender system may analyze behavior patterns for many individual users to make a recommendation that is targeted to a certain user. The recommender system may group multiple users that have a similar behavior pattern into a group, and may recommend a product or a service to an individual user based on purchases made by other users in his group. One example of this recommender system includes the movie recommendation system used by Netflix, Inc. to recommend movies to a viewer based on the movie ratings of other similar users. Another example is the product recommendation system used by Amazon, Inc. to recommend products to the user as the user browses Amazon's online catalog. However, these recommendations may not appeal to the user if they don't reach the user at an appropriate time or date. A user may be receptive to a coupon or advertisement for a pizzeria if he is with friends on a weekend afternoon, but may ignore the coupon if he receives it a short time after eating dinner.

Performance-efficient system for predicting user activities based on time-related features


A ceramic powder containing at least one of a nitride and a carbonitride of a metal element as a major component, the metal element being one or more elements selected from the group consisting of a group 4 element, a group 5 element and a group 6 element, the ceramic powder having particles having an average particle size of 5 μm or less, and an oxygen content of 0.3% by mass or less.

Powders of a nitride and a carbonitride of a metal element of a group 4 element, a group 5 element or a group 6 element are used as materials for conductive materials, raw materials for hard materials for cutting tools and anti-abrasive parts, etc. The nitride is exemplified by titanium nitride, and the carbonitride is exemplified by titanium carbonitride.
Titanium nitride powder is produced generally by: heating a high-purity metallic titanium powder in a nitrogen-containing atmosphere to produce titanium nitride powder through a nitriding reaction; mixing a source of carbon into titanium oxide as a reducing agent and heating the mixture in a nitrogen-containing atmosphere to produce titanium nitride powder by reduction and nitriding, as described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 58-213606 (Patent Document 1); or the like.

Ceramic powder and boron nitride sintered material


Embodiments of the invention provide methods and systems to deform a computer-generated three-dimensional surface using a lattice of rigid bone segments driven by an interpolation algorithm to define a muscle. Such embodiments allow a realistic presentation of subdermal muscle mass. In one embodiment, each end of a curve, created by an interpolation function, is attached to a corresponding bone. One or more muscle segments are attached along the curve. The curve along with the attached muscle segments defines a muscle. As the bones move and rotate the curve is expanded or contracted due to the endpoints of the curve being fixed to distinct bones. The attached muscle segments will experience corresponding expansion and contraction thus providing a realistic presentation of skin deformation. For one embodiment, the position of each muscle segment is determined in reference to a standard Bezier interpolation function.

A prevalent conventional technique for presenting three-dimensional surfaces is to approximate the surface with polygons. For this technique a polygon mesh (mesh) is created comprised of a number of polygons connected by vertices. The vertices connecting each polygon of the mesh define the presentation of the polygon (i.e., the vertices define the polygon's shape and location). The surfaces of some objects, for example, computer-generated animated characters (characters), are not rigid. To effect the movement of a character, a mesh is laid over the character and the configuration of the mesh is changed, over time, to represent the movement of the character.
Typically the surface of the character is underlaid with bones, which are objects used to represent the skeletal structure of the character. A skinning algorithm is used to determine and control the deformation of the mesh based upon the movements of the bones. The skinning algorithm is responsible for calculating new positions for the vertices of the mesh for each frame of an animation. A surface that is deformed through use of a skinning algorithm is referred to as a skin.
Two typical skinning techniques are muscle simulation and bone matrices.
Muscle simulation effects deformation of skin meshes by accurately defining and modelling the skeletal structure of a character. Each bone is then replicated in detail and each muscle is modelled and attached to the appropriate bones. The skin of the character is then calculated to slide over the top of the bones and muscles. Movement and rotation of the bones causes stretching and compression of the attached muscles.
The muscle simulation technique has distinct disadvantages for many applications. For example, because the skeletal and muscular structure of the character is modelled in detail, an extensive knowledge of the character's anatomy is required. This is especially true if the physical properties of the muscles are also simulated to create secondary movement such as wobble and jiggle. Moreover, such modelling requires a great deal of set-up time and resources. That is, because collisions between the bones and muscles must be calculated, when many muscles are involved (for example, for a human character), the process requires a tremendous amount of computational resources.
Due to these limitations, muscle simulation is typically used in applications where time, costs, and computational resources are not restrictive (e.g., motion pictures). For other applications in which time, costs, and computational resources are relatively scarcer, including real-time applications such as computer games, skin deformation is effected using a bone matrix skinning technique. Bone matrix skinning (BMS) is a skinning technique in which the skin is deformed based upon transformation matrices (TMs) of the bones.
BMS uses bones to represent the skeletal structure of the character. For the purposes of this document, the term 'bone' refers to the object that drives the skinning solution. Thus, the term 'bone' does not describe the appearance of an object, but rather, its application.
The TM of a bone is used by the skinning algorithm to drive the deformation of the skin. TMs can be used to represent the position, rotation, and scaling of computer-generated three-dimensional objects or characters. TMs provide an efficient method for computers to handle hierarchies of objects. TMs can be scaled non-uniformly and distorted allowing the represented object to be squashed, stretched and skewed, thus presenting the deformation of the object's skin caused by the TM.
Typical BMS techniques use hierarchies of bones that define a skeleton. Each bone's TM is used by the skin system to move the vertices of the polygonal mesh around. As the bone moves around, the movement is transferred, via the TM, onto vertices that make up the skin of the character. This allows the use of a few bone objects to move many vertices.
FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate the deformation of a character's skin through the use of a bone TM to control the movement of the vertices of a mesh comprising the skin in accordance with the prior art. Mesh 100, shown in FIG. 1A is comprised of six vertices a, b, c, d, ab, and cd, which are connected by four polygons, A, B, C, and D forming the mesh. Each vertex may be attached to one or more bones that influence the vertex. For example, as shown in FIG. 1A, vertices a and ab are attached to bone 105, vertices d and cd are attached to bone 110, and vertices c and b are each attached to both bone 105 and bone 110. FIG. 1B illustrates the rotation of bones 105 and 110 about a pivot point 115. As shown in FIG. 1B, if a vertex (e.g., vertices a and ab) is attached to one bone (i.e., bone 105), the vertex will move with the bone. For example, as bone 105 rotates about pivot point 115, vertices a and ab move in a simple circular arc around pivot point 115 also. As shown in FIG. 1B, as the bone is stretched or skewed, the attached vertices will be stretched and skewed in the same manner.
For typical applications, there will be many areas of a mesh in which multiple bones influence the same vertex. Such areas include, for example, the knee, shoulder, and elbow of a human character. As illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, vertices c and d are each influenced by bones 105 and 110. In such cases, the vertices are influenced by a weighting (e.g., average) of the positions and orientations of each of the multiple bones. That is, the position of each vertex is the result of multiple bone TMs.
BMS techniques are relatively simple, fast, and computationally inexpensive, and are therefore widely used in many areas of three-dimensional animation. However, such methods are not without drawbacks. For example, when BMS techniques are applied to areas of a mesh where a large amount of deformation is required such as areas requiring a wide range of movement, the movements are impossible to simulate with typical skinning techniques. For example, the shoulder of a human character has a wide range of movement and yet simulation of movements easily performed by a real shoulder are problematic or impossible using a conventional BMS technique. Moreover, such techniques employ a rigid hierarchical movement of bones that is useful in defining the bone structure of a character, but limit skin movement about the bone joints and do not produce a realistic presentation of skin deformation in circumstances in which the shape of a character's skin is better defined by sub-surface fat and muscle. That is, typical techniques present a character as a bone covered with skin and have limited ability to depict the accompanying muscle movement.
FIG. 2 illustrates the unrealistic distortion inherent in conventional BMS techniques in accordance with the prior art. As shown in FIG. 2, mesh 201 is influenced by rectangular boxes (bones) 205 and 210. As deformation is effected, the area of the mesh 201 corresponding to the pivot point 215 of bones 205 and 210 is irregularly distorted resulting in an unrealistic deformation of the mesh 201. Presentation of such deformation is that of a bone covered with skin, lacking the appearance of the underlying muscle.

Methods and apparatuses to effect deformation of computer-generated three-dimensional surfaces


A veneer panel may comprise a face veneer, a thermally conductive layer, and a backing layer bonded to the thermally conductive layer. The thermally conductive layer may comprise a chemically treated thermally conductive layer. The chemically treated thermally conductive layer may comprise a plurality of first vinyl groups chemically bonded to a first surface of the chemically treated thermally conductive layer.

Current veneer panels may include paper-backed veneer panels, fleece-backed veneer panels, and two-ply veneer panels. These veneer panels may be susceptible to tearing, wrinkling, and curling. Further, each of the existing veneer panels may experience delamination in some applications. In other instances, the veneer panels may not be useable in vehicular applications due to other limitations such as conformance with flammability regulations.

Veneer panel with thin thermally conductive layer


A modular server design includes a server chassis, a cooling module within the server chassis housing at least one cooling unit, an electronics module within the server chassis holding a motherboard, and a cooling connecting panel. The cooling connecting panel includes a number of cooling channels to fluidly connect the at least one cooling unit of the cooling module with a cooling device on the motherboard. The cooling module includes components to enable proper heat and fluid transfer.

Existing server cooling solutions often require installing cooling devices, such as cold plates or heat sinks, on most of the electronic components. For a lower power density heat sink solution, the heat sink devices may be implemented directly onto the electronics. However, for high density cold plate and heat sink solutions, especially heat sink solutions using heat pipes or vapor chambers, additional cooling hardware may be needed, such as a manifold, condenser, radiator etc. For example, for a high density heat sink design, a heat pipe and remote heat sink solution may occupy additional space on a motherboard. This raises challenges for the electrical design and layout of the motherboard, increases the design complexity, and decreases the design efficiency and reliability.


A dash mat assembly (10) for installation in a vehicle includes an acoustic barrier layer (12) attached to an absorber layer (14). The acoustic barrier layer (12) is formed of relatively stiff material while the absorber layer (14) is formed of relatively flexible material. The inner surface of the acoustic, barrier layer (12) is in direct contact with the outer surface of the absorber layer. Fasteners (16) are provided for attaching the layers together. Each fastener has an elongate pin (22) with opposite ends and a flexible holding flange (24, 26) integrally molded at each end of the pin (22). The flanges (24, 26) normally extend generally transverse to a central axis of the pin and the length of each flange is greater than a cross-sectional dimension of the pin. The fasteners (16) extend completely through the acoustic barrier layer (12) and can, extend either partially or completely through the absorber layer (14). The length of the pin (22) is shorter than the combined thickness of the layers such that the layers are held together under compression. A method of attaching the layers together is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sound insulation and to the attachment of an insulating layer to a sheet material, for example, dash mats for automobiles.
2. Description of the Related Art
In most contemporary automobiles, a steel fire wall separates the engine compartment from the passenger compartment. To reduce the transmission of sound from the engine compartment through the fire wall and into the passenger compartment, a sound barrier mat (otherwise known as a dash mat) is typically constructed of an elastomeric material and is mounted to and substantially overlies the fire wall. An absorber layer, typically constructed of an open cell foam material, is attached to the sound barrier mat and interfaces between the sound barrier mat and the firewall. An outer surface of the sound barrier mat is typically in contact with a bottom surface of the vehicle carpet and extends beyond the carpet to an upper portion of the fire wall behind the instrument panel. It is common to attach the absorber material to the sound barrier mat through the application of hot melt glue or spray adhesive. Adhesives that are capable of bonding the foam material to the elastomeric mat are dissolved in solvents which are typically ozone depleting and must be handled with extreme care. Many of these types of adhesives are no longer being manufactured due to environmental concerns and new industrial standards. A technique known as heat staking has been used as an alternative to ozone-depleting adhesives. However, the layers must be properly aligned and temporarily fastened together before heat staking. It would be advantageous to attach the absorber layer to the sound insulating layer without the difficulties encountered with adhesives or temporary fasteners.

System and method for fastening insulating layer to sheet material


The present invention is directed towards methods and systems for performance monitoring for mobile applications. In an embodiment, a method of monitoring performance of a mobile application is provided. A mobile application is operated on a wireless mobile device. A progress indicator being displayed on a display screen of the mobile device during operation of the mobile application on the wireless mobile device is automatically detected. Data indicative of a time duration of the progress indicator is obtained. The data indicative of the time duration is communicated to a centralized server.

The present invention relates to the field of wireless mobile devices and software applications installed thereon. More particularly, the present invention relates to monitoring performance of such devices and software applications.
According to a study by Equation Research, slow performance is the top complaint users have with mobile device applications.
Performance of a website can be analyzed by monitoring the network delay associated with loading web pages and comparing the average delay to that of other websites. A percentile can then be reported that helps website developers determine how their website performs compared to other websites. Companies such as New Relic provide website monitoring services. Such website performance monitoring services, however, are not readily applicable to monitoring performance of mobile applications.
In an attempt to address the issue of slow performance of mobile applications, Compuware offers a solution that allows mobile application developers to manually configure their mobile applications to measure wait times by manually indicating the beginning and end of sections of mobile application code for which wait time is to be measured. Reporting the wait time helps mobile application developers identify portions of their application code that require optimization. It can, however, be time-consuming and cumbersome to initially configure an application to obtain these measurements and to maintain the application on an ongoing basis as changes are made to the application.
What is needed, therefore, are improved techniques for monitoring performance of mobile applications.

Methods and systems for performance monitoring for mobile applications


A method, computer program product, and computer system for determining a magnitude and phase of a spurious-free dynamic range component. A first signal and a second signal may be received from a first source operatively connected to a differential component. A first output associated with the first signal and a second output associated with the second signal may be nulled. The first signal and the second signal may be shorted. A second source operatively connected to the differential component may be disconnected. The first signal of the first source may be applied at a same phase as the second source with an additional phase delta, +Y∘. A first differential residual signal may be measured using the first signal at the same phase as the second source with the additional phase delta, +Y∘. The second signal of the first source may be applied at the same phase as the second source with an additional phase delta, −Y∘. A second differential residual signal may be measured using the second signal at the same phase as the second source with the additional phase delta, −Y∘. The magnitude and phase of the distortion component of the first source may be determined based upon, at least in part, the first and second differential residual signal.

To perform distortion correction of a given resource, one may take care when measuring, isolating, and determining the magnitude and phase of each distortion component. This may be to adequately "pre-distort" the source tone accordingly, as to cancel out or correct for the respective distortion products. An example method, in conjunction with, e.g., the DCTM (LTX-Credence) design architecture, may be capable of industry performance levels of better than −140 dBc THD across the effective bandwidth (BW) of the dynamic source, 50 kHz. The process and method has been leveraged across other signal source resources as well, such as the HSB (LTX-Credence instrumentation), to provide equivalent performance improvements over a wider frequency range. Unfortunately, as is the case in the past, the need for a notch filter is generally required, since, e.g., the distortion products of the measurement system may ultimately corrupt the ability to determine the true content of the distortion components of the dynamic source itself. While still effective, the use of the notch filter and its design may limit the capability to that frequency.

Distortion measurement and correction system and method


The invention relates to a rollable container for storing, transporting and distributing a mass having little or no cohesion, for instances; liquids incorporating possibly solid constituents, such as liquid manure or fertilizer; or solid substances consisting of granules and/or powder. A container is provided in which the contact pressure with the ground is considerably reduced. The container is embodied as a hollow wheel, which is mounted via rotation bearings for rotation in a frame which is coupled or can be coupled by a coupling device to a motor vehicle, for instance a tractor, the space in the wheel being sealingly connected via a rotation bearing to a conduit which is stationary relative to the frame or at least occupies a substantially fixed position relative to the frame for supplying and discharging mass to and from the space, which wheel can roll over the ground during movement of the frame caused by the motor vehicle.

The invention relates to a rollable container for storing, transporting and distributing a mass having little or no cohesion, for instance
liquids incorporating possibly solid constituents, such as liquid manure or fertilizer, or
solid substances consisting of granules and/or powder. Such a container is known in various embodiments.
In order for instance to apply and distribute liquid manure in or on farmland, use is made according to the prior art of a tank truck or tanker supported by a number of wheels with pneumatic tires to transport this manure on the road and over the land. The contact pressure between the pneumatic tires and the terrain driven over is often so high in this prior art that driving over agricultural land can result in structural decomposition of this land. Another possibility is that on particular terrains it is very difficult or even impossible to use liquid manure within the framework of statutory provisions. Understood by the designation "structural decomposition" is that the soil is compacted such that this adversely affects the growth of crops.
The invention has for its object to provide a container wherein the contact pressure with the ground is considerably reduced or can, at least in some conditions, be reduced to harmless proportions.


An adjustable wrench utilizes a drive member housed in a wrench body. The drive member has a cylindrical drive element having external male threads formed thereon, onto which a guide block is mounted by means of a bore, within which female threads, complementary to the male threads, are formed extending longitudinally through the guide block, so that the drive element extends through the bore with the male and female threads in engagement with one another, whereby rotation of the drive element is operable to move the guide block longitudinally along the drive element. A drive knob is fixed to and manually operable for selectively rotating the drive element. A pair of alignment arms connect a movable jaw element to the guide block so that the movable jaw element faces and is displaced from the drive block in longitudinal alignment with the bore and is separated from the drive knob by the drive block. The drive knob is rotated to move the movable jaw toward and away from a fixed jaw element formed on the wrench body so as to be in longitudinal alignment with the movable jaw element and fixed in position in the wrench housing between the movable jaw and the guide block.

The present invention relates to an adjustable wrench which is adapted to engage a variety of non-circular fasteners, and in particular hex nuts and hex bolt heads.
Adjustable wrenches of the general type with which the present invention is concerned are well known. Examples of such adjustable wrenches are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,912,891, issued Nov. 17, 1959, to T. Neff, U.S. Pat. No. 3,204,497, issued Sep. 7, 1965, to L. R. Dinkler, U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,699, issued Jun. 4, 1985, to M. Jeremic, U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,613, issued Nov. 6, 1990 to R. E. Cone, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,064, issued May 16, 1995 to C-H. Chang.
The standard arrangement for such adjustable wrenches is to have two jaws, one fixed with respect to the wrench handle and the other movable with respect to the fixed jaw. Typically, as is illustrated in the aforesaid patents, the movable jaw has an actuator element onto which an external male thread is formed, the movable jaw being attached to the actuator element by any one of a variety of means. The handle includes a knurled knob which has a complementary female threaded aperture extending therethrough, through which the male threaded actuator element extends so as to engage the female threads. Manual rotation of the knob, as by a user's thumb, causes the rotary motion of the knob to be translated into linear motion of the movable jaw, so as to selectively either tighten the jaws onto the element to which torque is to be applied or to loosen the jaws therefrom.
Among the principal objectives of the prior art adjustable wrenches, including those configurations shown in the aforementioned patents, are to produce an adjustable wrench which is strong, easy to use, can be used in close quarters, and fully grips the object to which torque is to be applied by at least half of its torquing surfaces. While all of these wrenches have been successful in achieving some or all of these objectives to a greater or lesser degree, they all suffer from a deficiency inherent in the utilization of the male-female thread relationship referred to above, in which the male thread is externally formed on the element which must pass through the interior of the knurled knob which is rotated in order to make the jaw adjustments. Because of the tolerances required in the assembly line manufacture of such adjustable wrenches, the "play" between these two element is sufficient to carry over into the gripping of the fastener to permit some "play" in the handle in use when the jaws grip the hex nut or bolt or other object to which torque is to be applied.
Even U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,613, referred to above, is not entirely successful in solving this problem, even though the adjustable wrench of this patent utilizes dovetail supports for alignment purposes for the moving elements, an obviously expensive structure. The use of dovetail supports would appear to be a satisfactory solution to this problem. However, because of the comparatively short length of the dovetail surfaces in contact at any one time in the design illustrated in Pat. No. 4,967,613, and the tolerances necessarily involved in the mass production of such a device, the device has not entirely solved the problem of "play" referred to above.
Consequently, a need still exists for an improved adjustable wrench which will be strong, easy to use, can be used in close quarters, and can fully grip the object to which torque is to be applied on at least half of its torquing surfaces without excessive play while avoiding the design deficiencies inherent in the prior art structure of a movable jaw with an actuator element onto which an external male thread is formed as the driven element, a handle having a knurled knob with a complementary female threaded aperture extending therethrough as the drive element, through which the male threaded actuator element extends so as to engage the female threads.


A method of forming a poly pattern for minimizing a change in a storage value in the R-string pattern of the LCD panel drive IC (LDI) that includes depositing a poly silicon layer used as a resistor in a R-string structure over a semiconductor substrate; and then forming a poly silicon layer pattern having interconnected H-shaped cross-sections; and then forming a silicide-anti blocking area (SAB) layer over the poly silicon layer pattern and then patterning the SAB layer to thereby form SAB layer patterns over portions of the poly silicon layer pattern while exposing other portions of the poly silicon layer pattern; and then forming a silicide layer over the exposed portions of the poly silicon layer pattern. Therefore, although the size of the SAB pattern is reduced due to problems caused in processing steps, the poly line that occupies most of the resistance does not change so that a change in the resistance is entirely reduced.

A liquid crystal display (LCD) controls light transmittance of liquid crystal in accordance with an image signal to display an image. An LCD may include an LCD panel, a driving circuit unit and a back light unit. LCDs may be used as a display device such as a notebook computer, a computer monitor and various home appliances such as televisions. In an LCD panel, a thin film transistor array and a color filter substrate are separated from each other at uniform intervals, liquid crystal is implanted between the thin film transistor array and the color filter substrate, and polarizing plates are attached to both sides of the panel. A multi-channel output LCD drive integrated circuit (LDI) is used as the signal wiring line of the LCD panel so that a signal can be easily supplied.
As illustrated in example FIG. 1, a plurality of LDI chips 100 are formed on and/or over LCD panel 102 and are in charge of various parts of a screen. Some LDI chips may be used in the panel. LDI chip 100 has an R-string structure in which a plurality of resistors are connected, a power source voltage is reduced by the plurality of resistors, and a voltage corresponding to the bit value of digital image information is selected to be applied to a pixel.
As illustrated in example FIG. 2, in the R-string structure, the area of silicide formed on and/or over a poly pattern 200 is controlled by the size of silicide-anti blocking area (hereinafter, referred to as SAB) pattern 202 in wide poly pattern 200 so that resistance and an output voltage are controlled. However, in a patterning process, a change in the critical dimension (CD) of a pattern may occur in an exposure process, which results in changing the value of the resistance. For example, if the CD of SAB pattern 202 formed in an upper portion becomes smaller than the CD of SAB pattern 202 formed in a lower portion in the course of the exposure process, an un-silicide poly area that occupies most of the resistance is reduced so that the resistance is reduced. Therefore, the magnitudes of resistance are different from each other in the LDI chips where the sizes of SAB patterns are different from each other. As a result, a difference in an output voltage is generated in the R-string structure so that the operation characteristics of the LDI chips are different from each other.

Method of forming poly pattern in R-string of LCD drive IC and structure of the same


A dental curing light system is configured to include a dental curing light (100) having a device body (102) with a proximal handle portion (106) and a distal head portion (104). One or more light sources (120) for generating light are disposed on or within the device body (102). Generated light is emitted from the distal head portion (104) and includes wavelengths greater than about 420 nm and wavelengths less than 420 nm. A separate head attachment member or device (160) is coupleable over the distal head (110) of the device body (102) so as to receive substantially all light emitted from the distal head portion (104) of the device body (102).

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of dental curing light devices and systems.
2. The Relevant Technology
In the field of dentistry, dental cavities or preparations are often filled and/or sealed with photosensitive polymerizable compositions that are cured by exposure to radiant energy, such as visible or UV light. These compositions, commonly referred to as light-curable compositions, are placed within dental cavity preparations or onto dental surfaces where they are subsequently irradiated by light. The radiated light causes photosensitive components within the compositions to initiate polymerization of polymerizable components, thereby hardening the light-curable composition within the dental cavity preparation or other dental surface.
Light-curing devices are typically configured with an activating light source, such as a quartz-tungsten-halogen (QTH) bulb or light emitting diodes (LEDs). QTH bulbs generate a broad spectrum of light that can be used to cure a broad range of polymerizable compositions. QTH bulbs generate substantial waste heat and require bulky surrounding structure to draw waste heat away from the bulb and to dissipate the waste heat.
Use of LED light sources has been a significant improvement in dental curing devices. LEDs are smaller than QTH bulbs and generally radiate light at a narrow range surrounding a specific peak wavelength. They often require significantly less input power to generate a desired output of radiation. In addition, LED light sources provide a longer life (e.g., tens of thousands of hours or more) than QTH bulbs.

Low pass filter attachments for use with dental curing lights


Cumulative movement animation techniques are described. In one or more implementations, an output a first animation is initiated that involves a display of movement in a user interface of a computing device. An input is received by the computing device during the output of the first animation, the input configured to cause a second display of movement in the user interface. Responsive to the receipt of the input, a remaining portion of the movement of the first animation is output along with the movement of the second animation by the computing device.

Users have a variety of different ways with which to navigate through a user interface. For example, a user may interact with keys of a keyboard such as "page up" or "page down" to navigate up and down through a user interface, respectively. A user may also utilize a cursor control device, such as scroll wheel of a "mouse," to move up and down or left and right in the user interface. A variety of other examples are also available to the user, such as gestures and so on.
However, conventional techniques that were utilized to display movement corresponding to this navigation could be unpredictable. Therefore, these conventional techniques may make it difficult for a user to readily determine point at which the navigation would "end up" given a particular input. For example, conventional techniques that were used to address interruptions in animations that were used to display the movement could be confusing and unpredictable. Thus, these conventional techniques could force a user to provide corrective inputs to arrive at a desired point in the user interface.


Fine grained access barring of aggressive cellular devices is provided. A method can include detecting, by a system comprising a processor, a frequency of signaling events transmitted by network equipment operating as part of a communication network; in response to the frequency of the signaling events transmitted by the network equipment being determined to be greater than a frequency threshold, altering, by the system, an access class of the network equipment from a first access class to a second access class that is different from the first access class, wherein the second access class is reserved via the communication network; and in response to the access class of the network equipment being altered to the second access class, causing, by the system, a base station serving the network equipment to deny at least a portion of network access requests transmitted by the network equipment to the base station.

Advancements in mobility network technology, such as the introduction of Fifth Generation (5G) wireless networks, have enabled support for an increasing number of devices as well as an increasing variety of device types. As the number and variety of devices utilizing a network increases, the probability that one or more network devices may act aggressively toward the network, e.g., due to bugs or faults in the hardware, software, and/or configuration of the devices, can similarly increase. By way of example, a faulty device can initiate a large number of signaling events that may overload the network. Additionally, these faults could be exploited by malicious users to create the effect of a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the network and/or otherwise disrupt normal network service.


A method and system for measuring end-to-end processing delay of the RE between an input interface and a transmit port in the downlink direction and a receive port and an output interface on the uplink direction is disclosed. The method and system if for use in a radio equipment node (RE) connected to a radio equipment control node (REC). Once the downlink and uplink radio channels are activated at a predetermined carrier frequency, a chirp sine wave is added at the input interface and the receive port such that the chirp sine wave becomes mixed with the carrier frequency. Sampling of a received downlink mixed signal is done at the transmit port and of the received uplink mixed signal at the output interface. The sampled mixed signals are then cross-correlated with a reference chirped sine wave to obtain a signal phase shift which is then converted to obtain a time delay associated with the end-to-end processing delay of the RE.

In wireless, or cellular, communication networks, it is important that the downlink and uplink frame timing be synchronized between a base station and mobile devices served by the base station. The mobile devices connected to the base station use the same transmit and receive frequencies.
To ensure that there is no interference between the mobile devices, the mobile devices are assigned time slots or sub-channel frequencies depending on the type of multiplexing (e.g., Time Division Duplex (TDD) or Frequency Division Duplex (FDD)). In either case, frame timing must be precisely maintained over radio links between the base station and the mobile devices.
As shown in FIG. 1, timing must be aligned between the radio equipment controller (REC)10 and the radio equipment (RE) 12 such that the first sample of downlink (DL) radio frame is transmitted into the air, i.e. reach the Antenna Reference Point (ARP) 14, at the same time as the REC's transmit reference point (BFN@TRP)16. The allowed timing error in the radio is typically 20 nsec. This means that the first sample may reach the ARP 14 at BFN@TRP 16 with ±20 ns delay.
On the uplink (UL) the first sample of the UL radio frame is the one received at the ARP 14 at BFN@TRP. The allowed timing error in the radio is also 20 nsec. This means that the sample marked by the radio as the first in the UL radio frame must have entered the ARP 14 at BFN@TRP±20 ns.
For downlink path delay compensation, the REC advances the downlink baseband data such that it arrives at the radio's antenna reference (ARP)14 point precisely when it starts out at the REC's transmit reference point 16 (BFN@TRP). The REC computes the compensation using the measured downlink delay to the radio and the radio downlink processing delay it receives from the radio during CPRI path setup.
For the uplink path delay compensation, the radio uses path delay information, it receives from the REC, and it's internal uplink processing delay to advance the CPRI data such that the arrival time of this uplink data is aligned with the outbound data. It is up to the radio to provide further internal timing compensation for each carrier and account for variations due to frequency, operating temperature and component age on both the uplink and downlink data paths.
During radio production both the downlink and uplink data paths must be precisely calibrated for timing alignment. The in-equipment delay or Toffset obtained at production and stored at each radio is then used for the synchronization process. For this to work, a large amount of delay calibration data must be stored in non-volatile memory. A radio must be re-calibrated after factory repairs and this process is complex and time consuming. In addition, with change in frequency, temperature and component aging, the stored in-equipment delay can change which results in timing errors. Although the equipment is designed to allow certain timing errors, wide variations can still occur. If such large variations occur, further calibration is required in the field, which is expensive, time consuming, and introduces maintenance problems.
As such, there is a need for an automatic delay calibration technique which eliminates the need to store calibration data with each radio.

Automatic calibration of processing delay of radio equipment


A lighting apparatus including a light guiding plate, and a light source including a plurality of light-emitting elements which emit light at a plurality of brightness levels. The light emitting elements is provided opposite to a side edge of the light guiding plate and arranged along the side edge of the light guiding plate. The light-emitting elements are divided into a plurality of sets according to the brightness levels, and light-emitting elements in each of the sets are connected in series.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a lighting apparatus and a liquid crystal display apparatus having the lighting apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, liquid crystal display apparatuses used for car navigation systems and the like are required to have display property with high brightness. Such liquid crystal display apparatuses have a liquid crystal display panel and a back light unit. The liquid crystal display panel has an array substrate, an opposed substrate which is arranged opposed to the array substrate with a gap therebetween, and a liquid crystal layer held therebetween. The array substrate and the opposed substrate are adhered to each other by a sealing member provided on edge portions of the substrates.
The back light unit is provided on a back side of a display surface of the liquid crystal display panel, that is, on an external side of the array substrate. The back light unit has a light guiding plate including a light emission surface, and a light source arranged opposite to a side edge of the light guiding plate. Generally, a cathode-ray tube is used as the light source. Recently, light-emitting diodes (referred to as "LED" hereinafter) with high brightness have been developed, and an LED can be used as the light source.
A liquid crystal display device having a display screen with a size of 6 to 7 inches uses 20 or more LEDs to obtain display property with high brightness, and these LEDs are arranged along a side edge of the light guiding plate. An IC for driving an LED does not have a capacity to drive 20 LEDs connected in series. Therefore, as disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Pub. No. 2001-76525, for example, LEDs are connected in parallel to form two or more circuits and driven. This enables a liquid crystal display apparatus to have display property with high brightness.
The above LEDs vary in brightness level due to error in manufacturing, and are classified into three types, that is, high-brightness LEDs, normal-brightness LEDs, and low-brightness LEDs. If the back light unit is formed by using LEDs having variations in brightness, a display image may have uneven brightness. Therefore, it is necessary to select LEDs having a brightness level of one of the above three types for the back light unit, to prevent unevenness in brightness.
However, if the back light unit is formed by using only LEDs having a brightness level of one type, use efficiency of the LEDs reduces since LEDs having brightness levels of the other two types are not used. Further, since the manufacturing cost of the LEDs is expensive, the price of the product rises.
The present invention has been made in view of the above. The object of the present invention is to provide a lighting apparatus and a liquid crystal display apparatus having the lighting apparatus, which can reduce the manufacturing cost and suppress unevenness in brightness.

Lighting apparatus and liquid crystal display apparatus

Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd.


The present invention provides an energy storage system (10) for a use with a boiler (20). The energy storage system (10) comprises a plurality of thermal energy storage banks (101, 102, 103, 104). Each thermal energy storage bank (101, 102, 103, 104) comprises phase changeable material having a predetermined phase transformation temperature. The energy storage system (10) also includes an extraction device (105; 1 15) configured to recover waste energy from the boiler (20). The extraction device (105, 1 15) is operable to extract waste energy from the boiler (20) and feed that energy to at least one (101) of the thermal energy storage banks (101, 102, 103, 104). A controller (106) is arranged, in use, to activate the extraction device (105, 115) in response to operation of the boiler (20).

Storage combination or combi boilers combine central heating and domestic hot water (DHW) in one device.
The storage-type device includes an internal water store, typically having capacity for storage in the region of 42 to 54 litres. This corresponds to an average energy storage capacity of approximately 2.70 kWh per charge of the device. Examples of such storage combination boilers are listed in the following table together with their main characteristics:
TABLE 1Storage combination boilersThermal ratingHWCHStoreHW flowEnergyHeightWidthDepthModeModeCapacityRateStorageMake & model[mm][mm][mm][kW][kW][L][L/min][kWh]Alpha NEW In Tec 50CS FS85065060032.028.053.614.43.08Alpha CD50 WM90060045032.029.752.014.02.99Glowworm Ultracom 2 - 3599047057035.730.042.014.52.42Vaillant ecoTEC plus72044059737.028.042.015.22.42Viessmann Vitidens 111-W90060048029.323.746.017.52.65(26 kW)Viessmann Vitidens 111-W90060048035.031.746.017.52.65(35 kW)Average87756053033.528.546.915.52.70
The hot water flow rate defined in the above table is based on a temperature increase of 35 degrees Kelvin, i.e. nominal hot water flow temperature of 45 degrees centigrade.
Flow rates from such devices range from 14.0 to 17.5 litres per minute.
Hot water storage within such combination boiler devices is used primarily to increase efficiency of the device, in use, and to improve customer satisfaction when using a combination boiler. This is achieved because energy wastage is reduced by reducing boiler cycling, switching on at high power even for small draw offs. Water and energy wastage is reduced because hot water is supplied instantly from the hot water store compared with a delay of approximately 15 seconds for a conventional combination boiler to produce water at a usable temperature above 40 degrees centigrade. A conventional combination boiler does not include water storage facility, but instead heats water as it flows through the boiler. In some cases a conventional combination boiler includes a keep hot facility to provide instant hot water, but this feature is known to waste up to 900 kWh of heat energy per year.
Combination boilers have many moving parts that can lead to break down, and so can be considered less reliable than boilers such as system boilers, heat only boilers etc. which are generally associated with a storage tank.
It is desirable to provide an improved boiler based heating system.
It is further desirable to provide an improved energy storage system that provides an improved alternative to a conventional storage means for boiler use.