A system and method for accessing secured resources using a portable device. When a user with such a portable device is within close proximity to a locked door or other secured resource, a verification process can be automatically initiated on the device. The user verification could utilize all the input and sensor methods on the device. Once the identification process has successfully completed, an access code can be transmitted to the locked door or device via wired or wireless network. This allows for reduced electronics required at these locked doors and allows for more dynamic security measures.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method apparatus and system for enabling secure access to secured resources. More particularly, the present invention relates to identifying a level of access a device and/or user is entitled based on a security level of the device and the access available to a user.
2. Background Discussion
Typically, in a secured resource system such as doors, computers and other devices, the secured devices will be unlocked when a user's identity and access is verified at a card reader physically attached to the door, the computer or other devices. When there are a plurality of devices in the secured system, such an identification process is time consuming and inconvenient for the user, as it requires the user to perform the identification process at each of the secured device one by one, and the cost of the secured system is also increased because more electronics are required.

Method and system for access to secure resources


Method, system and device for assisting diagnosis of autism which enable assistance of early detection and early definite diagnosis of autism (especially in infants) based on objective evaluation, using a conventionally suggested “eye-gaze detection technique”. The method for assisting diagnosis of autism of a subject uses an eye-gaze detecting unit, the unit having at least an imaging camera portion. The method includes displaying, at the position in front of the subject along the direction of the eye gaze of the subject, an illusionary image contained in a plane of an illusion-causing image on a displaying device. The eye-gaze position information of the subject looking at the plane is detected, and the eye-gaze position information of the subject is input into an eye-gaze position information storage portion The eye-gaze positions of the subject can be evaluated using a algorithm for assisting diagnosis of autism.

Autism is one of development disorders with impairment in sociality (prevalence is supposedly 1%). If incorrect diagnosis or detection of autism of a child may result in serious trouble in daily life and school life of the child and, in the child, lowering of self-esteem and development of psychiatric symptoms (such as anxiety and dysphoria) are predicted.
However, established effective medication of autism with has not yet been found. Therefore, the only way to achieve improve prognosis of autism is early diagnosis and early (from the age younger than 3 years old) educational intervention based on the diagnosis.
Currently, it is not easy to surely make early diagnosis of autism with standard clinical technique. In conventional diagnosis of autism, evaluation and diagnosis are conducted by a pediatrician or child psychiatrist based on behavior of infants. However, the number of the experts (specialists) is small and early diagnosis is difficult. Further, objective evaluation is currently difficult since the evaluation result varies depending on evaluators.
In current diagnosis of autism by specialists, experiential determination is made in interview based on appearance, or components of collected blood are examined. However, there is a problem in that the appearance-based determination requires a great deal of experience of specialists and is difficult to quantify. The blood test is accompanied with complication of blood collection. Further, in the examination of infants, these examination means are currently not effective and sure. This is because it is almost impossible to communicate with an infant in an interview and application of the determination based on blood components to an infant of younger than 3 years old is still in the laboratory stage. Further, there is a serious problem of failure or delay in medical consultation because parents of an infant do not detect whether or not the infant is an individual with autism.
In view of current situation above, with respect to autism of not only adults but also children (especially infants), a method, device and assistance system which enable early detection and early definite diagnosis by experts (specialists) based on objective evaluation are desired.
In recent years, it is becoming clear that abnormality is found in the distribution of points of regard of undiagnosed infants with autism. That is, it is becoming clear that an infant with autism is characteristic in that he/she cannot correctly draw attention to an eye gaze of another person. This abnormality is regarded as derived from the essence of autism, impairment in sociality. Further, this abnormality is regarded as a symptom appearing in an extremely early stage.
By the use of a preferable eye-gaze detection technique, this abnormality can be correctly detected and utilized as an objective index for early diagnosis of autism. Based on this idea, the present inventors focused on this abnormality.
In the obtainment of such abnormality in the distribution of points of regard, as a conventional eye-gaze detection technique, for example, a method for detecting eve gaze of a subject, using:
a first imaging camera for measuring the position of a pupil relative to a coordinate system;
a second imaging camera having a light source arranged at a known position in the coordinate system and forming a corneal reflection center to obtain data of a distance r from the corneal reflection center to a pupil center and an angle φ of distance r relative to a coordinate axis of the coordinate system; and
a calculation means for calculating the direction of eye gaze based on information from each of the cameras.
Further, some techniques using this method (device, technique and the like for detecting eye gaze) are also suggested (for example, see PATENT LITERATURES 1 to 5).
PATENT LITERATURE 6 discloses, as another technique similar to the "eye-gaze detection technique" of above-mentioned patented invention, an eye detection installation comprising:
one or more light sources for emitting light in directions toward the head of a user,
a detector for receiving light from the head of a user and to repeatedly capture pictures thereof, and
an evaluation unit connected to the detector for determining the position and/or gaze direction of an eye,
wherein the evaluation unit is arranged to determine, in a picture captured by the detector, an area in which an image of an eye or images of eyes is/are located and, after determining the area, to control the detector to forward to the evaluation unit information about successive or following pictures that only corresponds to the determined area of the image captured by the detector.
PATENT LITERATURE 7 discloses a device for recognizing eye gaze in which:
an eye is irradiated with light,
an image is formed by an imaging camera, the image having 3 or more characteristic points on the cornea of the eye,
the center of curvature of the cornea of the eye is determined from the characteristic points of the cornea on the formed image, and
the eye-gaze direction is recognized from the information of the center of curvature of the cornea and position of the center of the pupil,
the device comprising:
a provisional eye-gaze direction calculating means which calculates a provisional eye-gaze direction from the positional relationship between the center of curvature of the cornea and the center of the pupil,
a corneal area determining means which determines a restricted corneal area from the provisional eye-gaze direction and the information of the position of the pupil,
a treating means which, when the characteristic points on the image are present within the restricted corneal area, regards the provisional eye-gaze direction as the result of the recognition of eye gaze and, when a portion of the characteristic points on the image is not present within the restricted corneal area, selects additional characteristic points on the image present within the restricted corneal area, determines additional center of curvature of the cornea of the eye from the additional characteristic points on the image selected, recognizes additional eye-gaze direction from the information of the additional center of curvature of the cornea and position of the center of the pupil, and regards the additional eye-gaze direction as the result of the recognition of eye gaze.
PATENT LITERATURE 8 discloses an eye tracking system for monitoring the movement of a user's eye, the system comprising:    (a) video data input means for receiving video data produced by eye imaging means (imaging camera) monitoring the user's eye;    (b) spot location means for determining, from the video data, the location of a reference spot formed on the user's eye by illumination of the user's eye by a point source of light, the spot location means including adaptive threshold means for providing an indication of parts of the image produced by the eye imaging means which have a brightness greater than a threshold value, and spot identification means for selecting a valid reference spot by comparing the parts of the image with predetermined validity criteria;    (c) pupil location means for determining, from the video data, the location of the centre of the pupil of the user's eye relative to the reference spot in order to determine the user's line of gaze,
the pupil location means comprising:
a selection means which selects a pupil tracking window comprising a portion of the image produced by the eye imaging means, the portion corresponding to the location of the valid reference spot;
an edge selecting means which selects the edge of the pupil by selection of those parts of the gradient of the image portion in the pupil tracking window which have a gradient greater than a threshold value; and
a centre determining means which determines the centre of the pupil by referring to the points selected for the edge of the pupil;
the centre determining means comprising:
a triad selection means for substantially randomly selecting three superthreshold pixels to form a triad for further processing, from among a plurality of pixels of pupil image data; and
a triad processing means for determining the centre and radius of a hypothetical circle passing through each of the selected pixels; and    (d) display means for indicating the user's point of regard from the user's line of gaze determined by the pupil and spot location means.
However, any prior art in which the above-mentioned "eye-gaze detection technique" and the like using at least an Imaging Camera Portion is applied to assistance of diagnosis of autism has not yet been found.
Incidentally, as described later, in the present invention, an infant is characterized as an individual to which such an "eye-gaze detection technique" can be applied. Especially, each of the techniques of the above-mentioned PATENT LITERATURES 1 to 5 is one of the techniques suitable for an infant who has small pupils, cannot understand what is spoken and might not stand still as instructed.

National University Corporation Hamamatsu University School of Medicine


A neck-entry wetsuit (10) with a closure loop panel (54), a collar panel (60), zipper panels (36, 38) and a back panel (26). Collar panel (60) forms an outer neck opening (80) with a cut out region that allows the outer neck opening to expand. Back panel (26) is form to ride against a person's back and itself forms part of an inner neck opening that expands to allow entry into and out of the wetsuit.

The aforementioned co-pending patent applications discuss the state of the art for neck-entry wetsuits, and include a discussion Japanese Utility Model 7-6097. This patent discloses a neck-entry wetsuit with an expandable collar formed by a gusset insert that folds in on itself, but which allows both the collar and the neck region to expand when unfolded. The '648 patent application discloses a neck-entry design with a shallow cut out region confined to the upper region of the trunk. The cut out region is closed by a Velcro-type fastener, rather than a zipper, in order to improve fit and comfort of the wetsuit. While this design provides a comfortable fitting wetsuit with minimal water leakage around the neck, the design requires reinforcement at the apex of the V-shaped cut out The present design reduces stress concentrations and improves upon the ingress into and egress out thru the neck opening. Even though these co-pending patent applications disclose zipperless wetsuits, their neck-entry designs are relevant to the zippered, neck-entry design of the present invention.


In the proposed document retrieving apparatus, text feature data that bases upon text data included in a document and image feature data that bases upon a document image are stored in a memory. Image data of a search document is subjected to character recognition processing, text feature data is acquired based on the obtained text data, and image feature data (layout data) is acquired based on the image data of the search document. Using the text feature data and image feature data acquired with respect to the search document, a memory is searched, and a document corresponding to the search document is retrieved from plural documents.

Many document generation and editing systems for generating and editing, and document management systems for storing and managing generated or edited documents have conventionally been proposed. In such document management systems, a stored document can be retrieved, and the retrieved document can be printed by a printer.
Lately, as the computers and networks develop, a large amount of electronic documents are stored in a computer system. Along with this situation, the amount of data managed in the document management systems is enlarging. In view of this situation, there are increasing demands for a retrieving technique that can retrieve a target document from a document database holding a large amount of document data.
Many retrieving techniques have been proposed, including a simple retrieving method which performs a search by designating the name of a file or a document number, a keyword search which performs a search by using a keyword given to each document in advance, a full-text search which performs a search by using an arbitrary term included in contents of the document, a concept search which performs a search based on a conceptual feature of the content of the document, and so forth. Many of these retrieving techniques perform a search by using a text inputted from a keyboard as a query.
Besides these retrieving techniques using a text query, a technique that uses a paper-printed document as a search query has been proposed. In this technique, a paper-printed document is scanned for reading the document data, and the original electronic document of the printed document is searched using the read data (using the data as a query). In this specification, such retrieving technique will be referred to as an original document search.
For instance, according to the original document search disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 8-263512, a document printed on printing paper is read by a scanner, digitalized and subjected to character recognition, then a user designates as the scope of the search a character string from the character recognition result, and a document that finds a match in the content and its positional relation is retrieved.
Although the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 8-263512 is proposed for retrieving an electronic document based on a paper-printed document, a problem still remains in that the user must designate a character string to be used as a query after the document is scanned and subjected to character recognition, and that the user must bear the cumbersome operation of designating a scope of the search. It is of course possible to designate the entire document as the scope of the search, but in this case, character strings of the entire document must be subjected to matching. Taking a character recognition error into consideration, this matching ends up with an ambiguous matching and imposes an enormous processing load. Therefore, realistic response performance cannot be expected.

Document retrieving method and apparatus


A method for displaying video data. Video data are loaded from a data carrier in a car radio as a radio receiver and transmitted via an interface to an electronic assistant, which takes on the task of decoding and reproducing the video data. Accompanying audio data are then decoded and reproduced either by the car radio or the electronic assistant.

Today's car radios, used as radio receivers, often include a CD player (drive), and navigational devices also include a CD-ROM drive on which the audio CDs are able to be played.
European Patent Application No. 0 952 734 discusses a television assistant which receives signals from a television and displays them on a small display. Audio data may also be reproduced by the assistant. European Patent Application No. 0 648 045 discusses video glasses, which include display surfaces on which video data, which are received from a base station, are reproduced. PCT International Patent Application No. WO 00/41381 discusses a remote control for televisions which has its own display and acoustic playback. German Published Patent Application No. 109 01 733 discusses a video system which has a central television unit that transmits video data to display units of flat video screens. European Patent Application No. 0 967 797 discusses a television system which has a remote control that has its own display.


An integrated semiconductor structure containing at least one device formed upon a first crystallographic surface that is optimal for that device, while another device is formed upon a second different crystallographic surface that is optimal for the other device is provided. The method of forming the integrated structure includes providing a bonded substrate including at least a first semiconductor layer of a first crystallographic orientation and a second semiconductor layer of a second different crystallographic orientation. A portion of the bonded substrate is protected to define a first device area, while another portion of the bonded substrate is unprotected. The unprotected portion of the bonded substrate is then etched to expose a surface of the second semiconductor layer and a semiconductor material is regrown on the exposed surface. Following planarization, a first semiconductor device is formed in the first device region and a second semiconductor device is formed on the regrown material.

In present semiconductor technology, CMOS devices, such as NFETs or PFETs, are typically fabricated upon semiconductor wafers, such as Si, that have a single crystal orientation. In particular, most of today's semiconductor devices are built upon Si having a (100) crystal orientation.
Electrons are known to have a high mobility for a (100) Si surface orientation, but holes are known to have high mobility for a (110) surface orientation. That is, hole mobility values on (100) Si are roughly 2×-4× lower than the corresponding electron hole mobility for this crystallographic orientation. To compensate for this discrepancy, PFETs are typically designed with larger widths in order to balance pull-up currents against the NFET pull-down currents and achieve uniform circuit switching. NFETs having larger widths are undesirable since they take up a significant amount of chip area.
On the other hand, hole mobilities on (110) Si are 2× higher than on (100) Si; therefore, PFETs formed on a (110) surface will exhibit significantly higher drive currents than PFETs formed on a (100) surface. Unfortunately, electron mobilities on (110) Si surfaces are significantly degraded compared to (100) Si surfaces. The electron mobility degradation on a (110) Si surface is shown, for example, in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, the solid line represents electron mobility, while the dashed line represents hole mobility.
As can be deduced from the above discussion and FIG. 1, the (110) Si surface is optimal for PFET devices because of excellent hole mobility, yet such a crystal orientation is completely inappropriate for NFET devices. Instead, the (100) Si surface is optimal for NFET devices since that crystal orientation favors electron mobility.
In view of the above, there is a need for providing integrated semiconductor devices that are formed upon a substrate having different crystal orientations that provide optimal performance for a specific device. That is, there is an overwhelming need to create a substrate which allows one type of device, such as, for example, a PFET, to be formed on a certain crystallographic surface, e.g., a (110) surface, while forming another type of device, such as, for example, an NFET, on another crystallographic surface, e.g., a (100) surface.

High-performance CMOS SOI devices on hybrid crystal-oriented substrates

International Business Machines Corporation


Observation display method for dynamically changing on monitor screen an object symbol or image related to object information to be observed as observation object on a computer network which is specified by a push request and an observation display system using a computer network. In the present method and system, at a communication terminal for monitor, observation display information in which an object symbol or image related to object information to be observed is included is in advance prepared then the object information is specified by transmitting push request to a communication terminal for observation, while at a communication terminal for observation, the object information specified by the push request is observed then an event response notice, a reply about a change in the object information, is transmitted to the communication terminal for monitor every when an event occurs in conjunction with the object information specified by the push request and the object information is changed thereby.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an observation display method for displaying object information to be observed as an object symbol or image on a network in which the object symbol or image is dynamically changed on an observation display screen in response to change of event information in conjunction with the object information.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, many companies and the like have set up web pages on web servers in order to make information available to specific clients and to the general public as the Internet has come into wide use. Such web pages are constructed using page description language such as HTML and it has become possible to browse such web pages, constructed of a variety of object symbols or images such as text, images and graphics, by means of a web browser installed within a client terminal.
In addition, XML that a user can freely designate tags and dynamic HTML (DHTML) that functions of HTML are expanded so as to allow contents to be dynamically changed, have also been generally utilized as page description languages.
On the other hand, push technology has been developed wherein server information is retrieved by a client terminal without a client's initiated operation, however, such push technology is only generally used as so-called pseudo-push wherein a server does not send information in a one-way manner to a client but the client automatically accesses the server periodically so as to gain information.
The present invention is proposed as a novel user-customized observation display method and system that have been newly developed in view of the above described technical background and that are convenient for users and easy to use.

Observation display method for dynamically changing on monitor screen object information observed on computer network and observation display system using computer network


A rear discharge mower deck has at least two cutting blades mounted on vertical spindles in cutting chambers, a fan in a housing mounted on the deck over the cutting chambers, and an inlet opening between the cutting chambers and the fan housing. The surface area of the inlet opening may be between about 50% and about 80% of the surface area within the fan diameter. A stripper plate may be on one edge of the inlet opening, and each cutting chamber may have an upwardly sloping tunnel to the inlet opening.

Rotary mowers may have two or more cutter blades mounted to generally vertical shafts, with the cutter blades positioned under a mower deck. Rear discharge mower decks may utilize the "cut and throw" approach in which the blades throw cut grass clippings into a discharge chute which may be connected to a rear mounted collection container or bag.
Mower decks generate noise for a number of reasons. Turbulent air coming off each blade as it passes through the air under the deck creates a broadband sound. As each blade passes by geometric changes of the deck shell, it creates a tonal noise typically referred to as blade pass noise. The size of the "wing" or "lift" component of each blade is a large contributor to both turbulent and blade pass noise. The blade wings help lift the grass or vegetation off the ground surface to provide an even cut, and also help material flow (i.e., grass clippings) into a mower's material collection system. A large wing may improve the quality of cut and material flow, but also may create more noise. In recent years, there has been a greater need to reduce noise generated by grass mowing equipment. A rear discharge mower deck is needed that will provide an effective quality of cut and material flow, without increasing noise emissions.
Discharge chutes of rear discharge mower decks tend to plug up with grass clippings, especially while cutting heavy or thick grass. Additionally, grass clippings that are too small, and/or have sufficient mass, tend to accumulate in discharge chutes instead of being propelled through the chute into a collection container. A rear discharge mower deck is needed that has a discharge chute that is less likely to fill with grass clippings during use.
To help propel grass clippings through a discharge chute, fans or blowers have been proposed for use on grass mowing equipment. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,114,353, 5,224,327, 5,542,243, 6,192,666 and 6,675,566 relate to lawn mowers with fans to help blow clippings through a discharge chute into a hopper or grass catcher. Additionally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,873,225 and 5,960,616 relate to rear discharge decks positioned extremely close to the ground, with a radial fan formed integrally with the spindle of the cutting blade and opening near a discharge chute. U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,430 relates to a rotary mower having a fan chamber concentrically positioned over a cutting chamber to provide additional suction and to exhaust clippings through an exhaust passage over the deck.


The invention describes a method of curing a polymerizable material containing ethylenically unsaturated bonds at a temperature of 60° C. or less, comprising the steps of (a) providing a curative comprising an effective amount of a light-stable isomer of a 2,4,5-triarylimidazolyl dimer, such as bilophine; (b) activating said curative by application of an activator selected from the group consisting of solvent and friction; and (c) combining the activated curative with the polymerizable material.

Photosensitive bilophine isomers are known. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,479,185 and 3,549,367 describe photopolymerizable compositions that include a 2,4,5-triphenylimidazolyl dimer consisting of two lophine radicals bound together by a single covalent bond. Upon irradiation, the dimer is dissociated into free radicals that react with a free radical-producing agent included in the composition. These materials are useful in image-forming systems. U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,349 describes a photopolymerizable resin composition that is highly sensitive to ultraviolet rays yet is thermally stable. The photopolymerization initiation system includes a 2-polycyclic -aryl-4,5-diphenylimidazolyl dimer. British Patent No. 997,396 describes 2,4,5-triphenylimidazole dimers that change color upon exposure to light. British Patent No. 1,047,569 describes light-sensitive compositions including a leuco dye and a 2,4,5-triarylimidazolyl radical. The compositions change from colored to clear upon irradiation with ultraviolet light, and are useful in image-forming systems. Photoimaging compositions containing leuco dyes and triarylimidazoles are also described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,445,234 (2,2′,4,4′,5,5′-hexaarylbiimidazole) and in EP 0 024 629 B1 (2,4,5-triphenylimidazolyl dimer).
Polyarylimidazoles are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,707,475 and 3,772,441 to inhibit inflammation in mammals. Triphenylimidazolyl compositions are included in Example X of '475 and in Example V of '441.
Various methods of detackification are known. U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,950 describes a process of detackifying rubber using a substituted phenyl group having a sulfenyl chloride substituent. U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,372 describes a graphic composition that includes a thermally detackifiable adhesive premask tape. A diaziridine compound is described to provide initial crosslinking in this premask tape, while a melamine compound extensively crosslinks the tape to detackify it during a later exposure to elevated temperatures, such as encountered during an automotive paint baking cycle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,696 describes a method of removing surface tack from a cured resin such as used in photorelief-type printing plates by treating the resin with specific carbonyl compounds such as benzophenones and anthraquinones. The surface layer of the cured resin is impregnated with the compound, then the impregnated layer is irradiated with specific actinic rays. U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,047 describes an adhesive system containing an oxirane ring-bearing component and a photoinitiator. When this pressure-sensitive adhesive is exposed to ultraviolet light, the adhesion is reduced.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,312 discloses a film backed, normally tacky and pressure-sensitive adhesive tape that is highly extensible and highly elastic. The tape can be easily removed from a surface to which it has been applied by stretching it lengthwise in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the surface. The film backing is formed from elastomeric and thermoplastic block copolymers. A preferred use for this tape is in a bandage. U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,708 describes an adhesive tape that is removable from a substrate by stretching it in a direction substantially parallel to the surface of the substrate. The tape backing is described as highly extensible and substantially inelastic.

Abstract: Articles comprising an adhesive having a detackified surface, such as adhesive bandages, a detackifying solution, a two-part adhesive system, and a fastening system are also provided.


Pulp prepared from post-consumer used or recycled paper may be employed in the preparation of substrates which are blended with a vapor phase corrosion inhibitor for preparation and fabrication of packaging enclosures or containers. The present invention permits substrates prepared in this fashion to be employed in such applications for which they are rendered highly suitable. Because of the unknown history of the post-consumer recycled materials forming the pulp, the utility of enclosures and/or packages prepared from such pulp is expanded. Vapor phase corrosion inhibitors useful in the present invention preferably include quantities of amine salts, alkali metal molybdates, including ammonium molybdates, or mixtures of molybdates with a second component such as benzotriazole.

The present invention relates generally to a composite paper-resin packaging material, and more particularly to such a material which incorporates post-consumer recycled paper along with a vapor phase corrosion inhibitor for protection of the product or components being packaged.
Post-consumer recycled paper represents an important and significant material which is useful in preparing packaging materials. Post-consumer recycled paper is, of course, commercially available from a wide variety of sources including newsprint, documents of various types and packaging materials. The term "post-consumer recycled paper" is hereinafter sometimes referred to as "recycled paper".
Typically, recycled paper is defined as a paper product generated by a business or consumer which has served its intended end use, and which has been diverted from solid waste collection for purposes of recycling and ultimate re-use. Upon being collected, used paper is processed to yield a useful pulp or other product which may again be used in the preparation of a different end use product, including recycled paper. Recycling of paper as well as other resources is beneficial to the environment and acts to conserve natural resources and energy.
Because the overall history of a given piece of recycled paper is unknown, it is always possible that this material may have become contaminated so as to possess corrosive or other properties deleterious to metals. Any article which is susceptible to deterioration due to corrosion and which is subsequently packaged within a package prepared from or containing a recycled component, must be protected so as not to be subjected to damage when and if exposure to corrosive or contaminating compounds occurs. It is recognized that migration of impurities proceeds rapidly in paper, and because of its generally highly porous nature, paper acts as a hospitable host for most impurities. Because of this, the presence and location of any impurities within recycled paper is impossible to determine and the identity of the contaminants and the various sources of contamination are impossible to predict. In accordance with the present invention, the characteristics and properties of post-consumer recycled paper may be tolerated for use in many packaging applications, with paper from a recycled source being suitably employed for the packaging of products which are normally susceptible to corrosion damage. In addition, recycled paper may be used for the formation of porous hosts such as in the manufacture of packing nuggets or cardboard of various configurations, with solutions or slurries of vapor phase corrosion inhibitor (VCI) materials being coated upon or impregnated into the host material. These host materials may themselves be recycled for further use if appropriate.

Vapor phase corrosion inhibitors on post-consumer used or recycled paper


The invention refers to an injectable composition for a bone mineral substitute material, which comprises a dry powder mixed with an aqueous liquid. The powder comprises a first reaction component comprising a calcium sulphate hemihydrate with the capability of being hardened to calcium sulphate dihydrate when reacting with said aqueous liquid; a second reaction component, which comprise a calcium phosphate with the capability of being hardened to a calcium phosphate cement when reacting with said aqueous liquid; and at least one accelerator for the reaction of said first and/or second reaction component with said aqueous liquid. A method of producing an injectable bone mineral substitute material is also provided, wherein the composition is mixed in a closed mixing and delivery system for delivery.

During the last decade, the number of fractures related to osteoporosis, i.e. reduced bone mass and changes in microstructure leading to an increased risk of bone fractures, has almost doubled. Due to the continuously increasing average life time it is estimated that by 2020 people over 60 years of age will represent 25% of Europe's population and that 40% of all women over 50 years of age will suffer from an osteoporotic fracture.
With the aim to reduce or eliminate the need for bone grafting, research has been made to find a suitable artificial bone mineral substitute. Presently, at least the following bone mineral substitutes are used for the healing of bone defects and bone fractures, namely calcium sulphates, as for instance Plaster of Paris, calcium phosphates, as for instance hydroxylapatite, and polymers, as for instance polymethylmetacrylate (PMMA).
Calcium sulphate (Plaster of Paris), CaSO4.½H2O, was one of the first materials investigated as a substitute for bone grafts. Studies have been undertaken since 1892 to demonstrate its acceptance by the tissues and rapid rate of resorbtion It has been concluded that Plaster of Paris implanted in areas of subperiosteal bone produces no further untoward reaction in the tissue than normally is present in a fracture. Regeneration of bone in the area of subperiosteal resection occurs earlier than when an autogenous graft is used. Plaster of Paris does not stimulate osteogenesis in the absence of bone periosteum. The new bone growing into Plaster of Paris is normal bone. No side effects attributable to the implantation of Plaster of Paris have been noted in adjacent tissues or in distant organs. However, Plaster of Paris has the drawback of very long setting times, which constitutes problems at surgery.
Another group of materials for substituting bone tissue in fracture sites and other bone defects is calcium phosphate cements. Due to their biocompatibility and their osteoconductivity they can be used for bone replacement and augmentation.
Hydroxylapatite, a crystalline substance which is the primary component of bone, is mainly used as a bone substitute, but is not strong enough for use under weight bearing conditions. Experiments have shown that hydroxy-lapatite cement forms a stable implant in respect of shape and volume over 12 months and has the same excellent tissue compatibility as exhibited by commercial ceramic hydroxylapatite preparations. Microscopic examination clearly demonstrated that hydroxylapatite cement was progressively ingrown by new bone over time.
Although the ideal is to achieve hydroxylapatite, there are also apatite-like calcium phosphates which can be obtained as potential bone substitutes. In Table 1 calcium phosphates are presented which are formed by a spontaneous precipitation at room or body temperature, as well as the pH range, within which these components are stable.
TABLE 1Calcium phosphates obtained byprecipitation at room or body temperatureCa/PFormulaNamepH0.5Ca(H2PO4)•H2OMCPM0.0-2.01CaHPO4•2H2ODCPD2.0-6.01.33Ca8(HPO4)2(PO4)4•5H2OOCP5.5-7.01.5Ca9(HPO4) (PO4)5OHCDHA6.5-9.51.67Ca5(PO4)3OHPHA9.5-12
Other calcium phosphates can be obtained by means of sintering at high temperatures, above 1000° C. (Table 2). These calcium phosphates can not be obtained by precipitation in room or body temperature. However, they can be mixed with an aqueous solution alone or in combinations with other calcium phosphates to form a cement-like paste which will set with time.
TABLE 2Components forming calcium phosphate cementsCa/PCompoundFormulaName1.5α-tricalciumα-Ca3(PO4)2α-TCPphosphate1.5β-tricalciumβ-Ca3(PO4)2β-TCPphosphate1.67SinteredCa10(PO4)6(OH)2SHAhydroxylapatite2.0TetracalciumCa4(PO4)2OTTCPphosphate
Bone mineral substitute materials can be used for preparing a paste which can be injected directly into a fracture site. The paste is injected into the void in the bone and, upon hardening, an implant is obtained which conforms to the contours of the gap and supports the cancellous bone. Both calcium sulphate and hydroxylapatite materials have been extensively investigated as a possible alternative to autogenous bone grafts to help restore osseous defects of bone and fixation of bone fracture.
In this connection it is important that a complete stability is obtained as quickly as possible during or after surgery in order to prevent motions at site of healing. This especially applies to fractures, but also when filling of a bone cavity or replacing bone lost during tumor removal the healing is inhibited by movements and the ingrowth of new bone is prevented. Thus, the injected material must cure fast and adhere firmly to the bone tissue.
It is also of importance that the hardened material is so similar in structure to the bone so that it can be gradually resorbed by the body and replaced by new bone growth. This process can be facilitated if the hardened cement is provided with pores, which can transport nutrients and provide growth sites for new bone formation.
M. Bohner et al. disclosed at the Sixth World Bio-materials Congress Transactions (May 15-20, 2000) a method to obtain an open macroporous calcium phosphate block by using an emulsion of a hydrophobic lipid (oil) in an aqueous calcium phosphate cement paste or an emulsion of an aqueous calcium phosphate cement paste in oil. After setting, the cement block was sintered at 1250° C. for 4 hours. Likewise, CN 1193614 shows a porous calcium phosphate bone cement for repairing human hard tissue. The cement contains pore-forming agent which may be a non-toxic surfactant, or a non-toxic slightly soluble salt, acidic salt and alkaline salt.
Studies have also been made on mixtures of the above mentioned bone mineral substitute materials. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,655 is disclosed a bone mineral substitute material comprising a mixture of Plaster of Paris, i.e. calcium sulphate hemihydrate, and calcium phosphate ceramic particles, preferably composed of hydroxylapatite, or tricalcium phosphate or mixtures thereof. According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,619, 655 tests show that when alloplasts composed of 50/50 mixtures of hydroxylapatite/Plaster of Paris were implanted into experimentally created defects in rat mandible, the Plaster of Paris was completely resorbed within a few weeks and replaced by connective tissue. The hydroxylapatite was not resorbed and some particles were eventually completely surrounded by bone. It was therefore concluded that the Plaster of Paris acted as a scaffold for the incorporation of hydroxylapatite into bone.
A recent study presented on the "Combined Orthopaedic Research Societies Meetings", Sep. 28-30, 1998, Hamamatsu, Japan, also shows additional tests relating to mixtures of Plaster of Paris and hydroxylapatite. According to this study a combination of hydroxylapatite particles and Plaster of Paris had a viscosity which allowed an easy placement of the implant material and prevented migration of hydroxylapatite particles into surrounding tissues during and after implantation. The experiments showed that Plaster of Paris was absorbed in relatively short time, was easily manipulated with hydroxylapatite particles, and did not interfere with the process of bone healing.
WO 9100252 shows a composition which is capable of hardening in blood within about 10-45 min. The composition comprises essentially calcium sulphate hemihydrate with small amounts of calcium sulphate dihydrate. Organic and inorganic materials, such as hydroxylapatite, can also be included in the composition. After hardening, particles of hydroxylapatite are obtained within a calcium sulphate cement. The calcium sulphate cement is dissolved rapidly by aqueous body fluids within four weeks, leaving solid particles of hydroxylapatite.
Likewise, such particles of hydroxylapatite within a calcium sulphate cement are obtained by the method of WO 9117722. The composition for use as an animal implant comprises calcium sulphate hemihydrate, calcium phosphate, and sodium sulphate. The calcium phosphate is hydroxylapatite and the sodium sulphate enables the composition to be used in the presence of blood or other body fluids.

Composition for an injectable bone mineral substitute material


Provided are a method, apparatus, system, and article of manufacture for interfacing a device to a host, wherein in certain embodiments a device interface in the device receives a request generated by a device driver in the host. The device interface processes the request, wherein a plurality of device interfaces corresponding to a plurality of devices are capable of processing the request. An operation associated with the device is executed, by the device interface, in response to processing the request.

1. Field
The disclosure relates to a method, apparatus, system, and article of manufacture for interfacing a device.
2. Background
A device driver is a program that controls a hardware device, such as, a printer, a disk drive, a keyboard, a network adapter, etc. The device driver may act as a translator between the hardware device and programs that use the hardware device. A hardware device may have a set of specialized commands that can be accessed by the device driver corresponding to the hardware device, where the specialized commands may exploit features of the hardware device. However, programs may access the hardware device by using generic commands that are independent of the hardware device. The device driver, corresponding to the hardware device, may accept the generic commands from the programs and then translate the generic commands into specialized commands for the hardware device.
Hardware devices that are coupled to a computational platform may use device drivers to operate compatibly with the computational platform. For example, a network adapter that is coupled to a personal computer may use a network adapter device driver to operate compatibly with the personal computer. If no device driver corresponding to a hardware device is available on a computational platform, then the hardware device may not operate when the hardware device is coupled to the computational platform.
The device driver corresponding to a hardware device may be distributed with the hardware device or downloaded from a network, such as, the Internet. The device driver corresponding to a hardware device may also be distributed with operating system installs. If a new revision of the hardware device becomes available, then a new device driver corresponding to the new revision of the hardware device may have to be installed in the computational platform. Installing the new device driver may allow the new revision of the hardware device to operate compatibly with the computational platform.

Method, apparatus, system, and article of manufacture for interfacing a device


A lock assembly for use in automotive and industrial transmission systems comprises: an actuator (2) having an impeller (6) movable between two rest positions by energizing the actuator, wherein the impeller is retained in each of the two rest positions by passive magnetic forces generated by the actuator; a locking arrangement (10, 22; 42, 52; 62, 64; 70, 74; 80, 96) switchable between a first configuration in which rotation of a shaft is unimpeded by the locking arrangement and a second configuration in which rotation of said shaft is blocked by the locking arrangement; and a linkage (14, 16; 44, 46, 61, 88) between the impeller and the locking arrangement, wherein the assembly is arranged such that in one of the impeller rest positions, the locking arrangement is in its first configuration and said shaft is freely rotatable, and in the other of the impeller rest positions, the locking arrangement is urged towards and into its second configuration.

Lock mechanisms, such as the park lock of a vehicle, are often manually operated. However, this means that they may be subject to abusive treatment by an operator. For example, if engagement is attempted at high vehicle speeds, the loads through the lock components and their mountings can be excessive. Also, manually-operated locks tend to require detailed dynamic analysis, testing and development to ensure that the components are sufficiently durable.
Electrically-operated park locks can significantly reduce the requirement for detailed analysis and testing of their components, as their abusive operation can be prevented by their electrical control system. They must though be configured in such a way that the park lock is engaged and the associated shaft locked when power to the vehicle is disconnected. In the case of a system actuated by a solenoid, it must therefore be configured so that the lock is engaged when the solenoid is de-energised. This means that electrical power is required at all times during normal vehicle operation in order to keep the park lock disengaged. Constant operation of the electrical system of the lock is a constant drain on the vehicle power source and can also compromise the durability of the brake owing to the associated heat generation.
An electrically-operated system may also be powered by a motor. This may avoid the need for constant power for the lock to remain disengaged during vehicle use. However, the size of the motor may cause packaging issues and additional cost may be involved in adapting a motor to the vehicle's mechanical system.


A binocular includes a right and left lens barrels respectively having a right and left telescope optical systems. The right and left telescope optical systems include focus arrangement structures in which both eyepiece lenses are simultaneously moved the same distance with respect to each objective lenses. There are provided two diopter correction structures independently and separately in the right and left telescope optical systems. In one diopter correction structure, a left objective lens is adjusted with respect to a right objective lens to correct a diopter difference between the two telescope optical systems on a manufacture process. In the other diopter correction structure, the location of the right objective lens is adjusted along the optical axis direction on an usual operation by an observer.

Binocular
The present invention relates to a binocular, and more particularly, to a binocular including diopter correction mechanisms.
Conventionally, a binocular includes two telescope systems, left and right. Each telescope system has, respectively, a plurality of optical systems. The plurality of optical systems includes an objective optical system, an eyepiece optical system and other optical systems.
In a focusing process, some of the optical systems provided in the two telescope systems cooperate laterally, and are simultaneously moved along an optical axis. For example, the right and left eyepiece optical systems are made to approach to/move away from the respective objective optical systems.
On the other hand, a diopter correction, upon the usual (user-adjusted) operation, is performed by moving some part of the optical systems of only one of the two telescope systems along the optical axis. For example, one of the objective optical systems is moved along the optical axis to correct for diopter variation from left to right in a user""s eyesight.
In such a binocular, the optical system for the diopter correction (in the above example, in the objective optical system) has additional correction length (the objective additionally movable along the optical axis) for the side upon which diopter correction is implemented(left or right) . Therefore, the optical system on one side, left or right, is longer than the other optical system by the additional correction length.
Moreover, fine adjustment of a diopter difference between left and right sides in a manufacturing process (before shipment of the binocular) requires still more movable length along the axis. Therefore, in the conventional binocular having such correction, the optical system for assembly-time or manufacturing diopter correction requires even more additional movable length than the adjustable length for the diopter correction on the usual (user adjusted) operation.
As mentioned above, if only one optical system has one diopter correction mechanism, the movable length necessary for diopter correction becomes longer, so that the size of the binocular can not be reduced.
It is therefore an object of the invention to reduce the size of a binocular by reducing a length of a telescope system along an optical axis direction.
A binocular according to the invention includes two parallel telescope optical systems, each of the two telescope optical systems having a plurality of optical systems in parallel to an optical axis. Each of the two telescope optical systems includes a first optical system in which a portion of the plurality of optical systems are moved along the optical axis for a diopter correction. Two diopter correction structures for the diopter correction are separately and independently provided in each of the two telescope optical systems by means of moving the first optical systems along the optical axis direction. Only one of the diopter correction structure includes a manually operable member exposed outward of an outer body housing of the binocular for the diopter correction.
Optionally, the first optical system of the other diopter correction structure is fixed to be unmovable along the optical axis after the diopter correction is finished.
Further, each of the two telescope optical systems may include a second optical system independent from the first optical system, which moves together with the first along the optical axis for focusing.
The first optical system may be an objective optical system, in which case the second optical system is an eyepiece optical system.
Still further optionally, the one of the diopter correction structures includes a first eccentric member integrally provided with a first shaft portion, and a first eccentric portion, eccentric to the first shaft portion. In this case, the first eccentric member may be rotatable about the axis of the first shaft portion, and engages with the first optical system. The first optical system is moved along the optical axis direction while engaging with the first eccentric member by the eccentric rotation of the first eccentric member about the axis of the first shaft portion. Optionally, the operable member includes the first eccentric member.
The other or second diopter correction structures may include a second eccentric member integrally provided with a second shaft portion, and a second eccentric portion, eccentric to the second shaft portion. In this case, the second eccentric member is rotatable about the axis of the second shaft portion, and is engaged with the other first optical system. The other first optical system is moved along the optical axis direction while engaging the second eccentric member, by the eccentric rotation of the second eccentric member about the axis of the second shaft portion.
Additionally, the binocular may include a supporting member, movably supporting the first optical system of the other telescope optical system along the optical axis direction. A shaft receiving hole is provided in the supporting member to rotatably support the second shaft portion, and the second eccentric member is rotated while the second shaft portion is supported in the shaft receiving hole.
The second shaft portion of the second eccentric member may be removable from the shaft receiving hole.


An ink for jet printer is disclosed, which contains an oil soluble dye, a synthetic resin, and an organic solvent, wherein the synthetic resin contains a terpene-phenol copolymer resin and a styrene-acrylic copolymer resin.

Printing by a jet printer is a system of jetting an ink from nozzles and attaching the ink onto a recording material and since the nozzles are in a non-contact state with the recording material, good printing can be applied onto a curved surface or a surface having an uneven irregular form.
Various kinds of inks have been proposed as an ink for the jet printer. For example, JP-A-56-49772 proposes an ink containing a styrene-acrylic copolymer resin, a plasticizer, a dye, and a solvent composed of water and an alcohol and having a pH in the range of from 7.5 to 10.5 as an ink having a good adhesion to the surfaces of polyolefins or copolymers thereof, JP-A-60-110770 proposes an ink containing a styrene-acrylic acid copolymer resin having a mol ratio of the styrene monomer to the acrylic acid monomer of from 1 to 4, a dye, an evaporation retardant, and a solvent composed of an alcohol and a ketone. JP-A-62-109870 proposes an ink containing a quaternary ammonium salt as an electrically conductivity imparting agent as an ink which does not erode the metals of coating apparatus and has an excellent adhesion to a recording material attached with a wax (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined Japanese patent application").
Also, JP-A-2-276870 proposes an ink containing a resin having a good compatibility with a wax as an ink having an excellent adhesion to a surface containing a wax.
However, the inks disclosed in foregoing JP-A-56-49772 and JP-A-60-110770 show an excellent adhesion to various recording materials but have a problem that spreading of the ink dots and the adhesion thereof are inferior to a recording material attached with a wax and a recording material coated with a coating composition containing a wax.
Also, the ink described in the foregoing JP-A-62-109870 shows an improved adhesion to a recording material attached with a wax but the adhesion is yet insufficient.
Furthermore, the ink described in the foregoing JP-A-2-276870 shows an improved adhesion to a surface containing a wax but has a problem that the adhesion and the abrasion resistance to the untreated surface of glass, a metal, a plastic, etc., are insufficient.


A thermoplastic composition includes the product of melt kneading a composition including a poly(arylene ether), a polyolefin, an acid-functionalized hydrogenated block copolymer of an alkenyl aromatic compound and a conjugated diene, and a polyamine compound. The composition exhibits substantially improved chemical resistance compared to a corresponding composition lacking the polyamine compound. Methods of preparing the composition and articles prepared for the composition are also described. The composition is particularly useful for fabricating halogen-free tubes for sheathing automotive wiring harnesses.

Poly(arylene ether) resin is a type of plastic known for its excellent water resistance, dimensional stability, and inherent flame retardancy. Properties such as strength, stiffness, chemical resistance, and heat resistance can be tailored by blending it with various other plastics in order to meet the requirements of a wide variety of consumer products, for example, plumbing fixtures, electrical boxes, automotive parts, and coated wire.
Common plastics blended with poly(arylene ether) include polystyrenes, nylons, and polyolefins. Although polyolefins often exhibit good resistance to solvents and oils, poly(arylene ether)s tend to be less resistant to these chemicals. Therefore, blends of polyolefins and poly(arylene ether)s are often unsuitable to make plastic parts that are routinely exposed to solvents and oils. This is particularly true for underhood automotive parts, which can be exposed to gasoline, motor oil, brake fluid, and transmission fluid. Such automotive parts are often made from the halogenated resin polyvinyl chloride. There is an increasing desire to reduce or eliminate the use of halogenated resins in insulating layers due to their negative impact on the environment. In fact, many countries are beginning to mandate a decrease in the use of halogenated materials.
There is therefore an urgent need for halogen-free plastics that exhibit the physical properties and chemical resistance required for flexible underhood automotive parts.

Poly(arylene ether)/polyolefin composition, method, and article


An outlet cover with barrier wall, the cover for an outlet box mounted in a building wall including an outer wall with an outer opening formed in the outer wall; a surrounding wall integrally joined to an outer periphery of the outer wall and extending substantially normal to the outer wall; a barrier wall integrally joined to an inner periphery of the outer wall at an edge of the outer opening and extending substantially normal to the outer wall, the barrier wall forming an inner opening opposite the outer opening to meet the outlet box; and an attaching flange integrally joined to an inner end of the surrounding wall for being placed against the building wall, the attaching flange being a continuous flange about an exterior periphery of the surrounding wall.

This invention relates generally to outlet covers, and more specifically to outlet covers with a barrier wall.
Electric outlet boxes are provided in buildings to permit connection of decorative light fixtures and exterior outlets on the outside of the buildings. The outlet boxes are often installed in the building wall before siding or other exterior covering is installed. The electrician typically installs the outlet box with its outer edge flush with the building wall and the decorative light fixture is installed later, usually after the siding has been installed. An outlet cover is required to make the transition between the decorative light fixture and the outlet box and to seal around the outlet box.
The present designs of outlet covers fail to solve a number of problems. The outlet cover must provide a weather seal around the outlet box to avoid water leakage into the building and energy loss from the building. The outlet cover must provide electrical isolation for the wiring passing through the outlet box to the decorative light fixture or exterior outlet, so that a spark or hot wire is contained. The outlet cover must be suitable for the shape of the outlet box, i.e., the outlet cover must be tailored for or suitable for use with rectangular or round outlet boxes. The outlet cover must provide a secure platform for mounting the decorative light fixture or exterior outlet, so that the decorative light fixture or exterior outlet does not shift or twist.
It would be desirable to have an outlet cover with a barrier wall that overcomes the above disadvantages.


An assembly for the rapid removal of trace levels of ionic species from fast-moving flows of water employs a compressed stack of layers of batting containing ion-absorbing granules, and a confining cage for holding the stack in a rectangular configuration.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to water purification, and more particularly concerns apparatus and compositions for the selective removal of trace levels of dissolved metals from rapidly flowing water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Undesirable pollutant species such as dissolved toxic metals can occur regularly or periodically in natural bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, streams, groundwater and stormwater, and in industrial waters such as landfill leachate, municipal sewage systems and wastewater discharges. The toxic metals are primarily multivalent "heavy" metals, and can be caused to form insoluble compounds with anionic additives. The most prevalent technique for the removal of toxic heavy metals is to add to the water a sufficient amount of an anionic precipitating agent. The resultant precipitate is then allowed to settle or is removed by filtration or other methods.
Although precipitative techniques are effective, they require that the water undergoing remediation be accumulated in tanks and held there for considerable periods of time with agitation while the treatment agents are added and dispersed, causing the heavy metals to form precipitates of sufficiently large particle size to facilitate settling and/or filtration. Operations of this nature require large, expensive equipment installation and high operating expense. The high cost of such installations is justifiable only where extremely large volumes of water must be treated on a long term basis, such as in municipal waste water treatment facilities and operations involving large industrial facilities.
Another general technique for removing dissolved metal species from water involves the passage of a stream of the water undergoing remediation through a stationary bed of absorbent material. Suitable absorbent materials for such on-the-run treatments include ion exchange resins having affinity for species in either cationic or anionic form. The advantage of such technique is that the water can be treated while flowing through a confined bed of the resins, thereby avoiding the need for large holding and processing tanks. However, such beds impose an impedance to the flow of water therethrough, necessitating pumping pressures of 10 to 30 psi to achieve reasonable flow, and are adversely affected by accumulated suspended matter derived from the inflow water.
Said absorbent materials must have the ability to selectively remove the heavy metals at "trace" levels of 1-10 parts per million (ppm) amidst vastly greater concentrations of commonly abundant innocuous species. An exemplary absorbent having adequate selective affinity for trace levels of heavy metal ions is hydrogel granular material having 30% to 70% by weight of water, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,715,339 and 7,041,222. However, such hydrogel granules have irregular shapes, causing beds of the granules to produce very high impedance to the flow of water. In an effort to overcome the high impedance to flow, said hydrogel polymers have been deposited upon pieces of porous sponge, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,540. However, when the sponge pieces are employed as a stationary bed, a long bed length is needed for efficient removal of dissolved ionic species. Another shortcoming of the sponge pieces is that they cannot be blended with granular absorbent materials.
The most prevalent need for water treatments at fast flow rates is in stormwater catch basins which receive a rapid, gravity induced flow of water, and treat the water with minimal flow impedance within a very confined space.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide means for selectively removing trace levels of dissolved metals from fast flowing water.
It is another object of this invention to provide means as in the foregoing object which occupies relatively little space.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide apparatus which will accommodate granular absorbent materials.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide apparatus of the aforesaid nature which is relatively unaffected by suspended matter within the water undergoing treatment.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide apparatus of the aforesaid nature which is inexpensive to produce and maintain.
These objects and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A process is described for transferring a photoresist pattern into a substrate. In one embodiment a stack comprised of a top photoresist layer, a middle ARC layer, and a bottom hardmask is formed over a gate electrode layer. A line in the photoresist pattern is anisotropically transferred through the ARC and hardmask. Then an isotropic etch to trim the linewidth by 0 to 50 nm per edge is performed simultaneously on the photoresist, ARC and hardmask. This method minimizes the amount of line end shortening to less than three times the dimension trimmed from one line edge. Since a majority of the photoresist layer is retained, the starting photoresist thickness can be reduced by 1000 Angstroms or more to increase process window. The pattern is then etched through the underlying layer to form a gate electrode. The method can also be used to form STI features in a substrate.

There is a constant demand to improve the performance of a Metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) which typically involves faster speeds and higher reliability. The speed of the device is usually governed by the width of the gate electrode that is also referred to as the gate length and which is typically one of the smallest dimensions in the device. The critical dimension (CD) or gate length is being reduced in each successive technology generation. The 130 nm technology node has gate lengths from about 100 nm to about 130 nm. For the 100 nm node that is currently being implemented in manufacturing, gate lengths as small as 60 or 70 nm are being produced. One shortcoming in state of the art lithography processes is that they are incapable of controllably printing features in photoresist smaller than about 100 nm. Many semiconductor manufacturers have overcome this problem using a trimming process which laterally shrinks the photoresist line with an etch step.
MOSFETs are typically made by first defining active areas in a substrate 10 by forming isolation regions 12 consisting of insulating material like silicon dioxide as shown in FIG. 1a. Isolation regions can be generated by local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) or by a shallow trench isolation (STI) technique that was used to form isolation regions 12 depicted in the drawing. A thin gate oxide layer 14 is grown over the substrate between the isolation regions 12 and then a gate electrode material 15 such as polysilicon is deposited on the gate oxide. Next a hardmask 16 is deposited on gate electrode layer 15. Optionally, an anti-reflective coating (ARC) 17 is coated on the hardmask 16 in order to improve process latitude during a subsequent photoresist patterning step. A photoresist is spin coated to provide a photoresist layer 18 and is patterned using conventional methods to form a line having a width L1 in FIG. 1a. Photoresist 18 then serves as an etch mask for etching the pattern through ARC 17.
Frequently, L1 is not narrow enough to meet the requirements for a fast transistor speed. Therefore, prior art methods usually include a resist trimming step in which a plasma etch is used to laterally shrink dimension L1 to a smaller size L2 shown in FIG. 1b. The height H1 of photoresist layer 18 decreases to a thickness H2 in the etched photoresist film 18b. Linewidth L2 is transferred into hardmask 16 to give an etched hardmask layer 16a shown in FIG. 1c.
Referring to FIG. 1d, photoresist 18b and ARC 17a are stripped and linewidth L2 in hardmask 16a is etch transferred through polysilicon 15 and oxide layer 14 to form layers 14a, 15a. Additional processing to fabricate the MOSFET includes forming spacers 24 on the sides of etched polysilicon layer 15a, forming source/drain regions 22 and source/drain extensions 28 to define a channel 30, and forming silicide contact regions 32 as illustrated in FIG. 1e.
One problem associated with trimming photoresist 18 is that shortening occurs at line ends which can degrade device performance. A cross sectional view in FIG. 2a is of a line end from an angle perpendicular to a long side of the line. Because of imperfections in the lithography process to form photoresist line 18, the line is tapered near the end represented by 18a. There is a region with length S1 near line end 18a where the thickness is less than H1. During the photoresist trimming step that shrinks L1 to L2 and H1 to H2 in FIG. 1b, the region having length S1 near line end 18a does not offer as much resistance to the etch as the remainder of line 18 and therefore the line 18 is shortened by a distance S2 as depicted in FIG. 2b. Although the specification is for line end shortening (LES) to be less than three times the distance (L1−L2/2) trimmed from one long side of the line 18b, LES or S2 is often as large as 7 times the trimmed amount, especially for linewidths L1 that are sub-200 nm in size.
Furthermore, the height H2 in FIG. 1b is considerably shorter than the original thickness H1 in line 18 and may not be a good etch mask for pattern transfer into hardmask 16. In some cases as shown in FIG. 2c, only 10 nm or less of photoresist height H3 remains after the hardmask 16 etch. As a result, rough edges at the top of line 18b in FIG. 2b can easily generate grooves in the sidewalls of line 18 that are transferred through ARC 17a into hardmask 16a which is detrimental to device performance. Generally, a 50 to 100 nm thickness H3 in photoresist 18b is desirable in FIG. 1c but for prior art methods this might require coating a thicker photoresist 18 that could dramatically reduce process latitude for forming line 18 in FIGS. 1a and 2a. Therefore, an improved method is needed that enables a larger H2 and H3 and simultaneously reduces the amount of LES (S2).
The top down view in FIG. 3a shows another problem associated with LES. The design in this example which might occur in an SRAM cell calls for a pattern in photoresist line 40 having a width W1 and a line end 40a to be transferred into an underlying polysilicon layer (not shown) that overlaps a contact 42. Because of line end shortening during an etch to trim photoresist line 40 to line 40b having a width W2 and a line end 40c as illustrated in FIG. 3b, line 40b does not overlap contact 42 and an "open" circuit defect is produced after a subsequent etch transfer into the polysilicon layer. Note that the LES distance W3 which is the difference between line end 40a and line end 40c is significantly longer than the dimension (W1−W2/2) that was trimmed from one side of the line 40 to form line 40b. In some cases, mask designers might be able to intentionally add extensions to the line on the mask that will print a longer photoresist line 40. However, in most instances, this correction is not possible because there is not enough room in the mask design to compensate for LES.
Prior art patents offer improvements for trimming photoresist patterns to provide a smaller gate length than can be generated by lithography methods. U.S. Pat. No. 6,121,155 describes a trim etch process whereby a critical dimension (CD) loss saturation point is reached that limits further lateral loss in a photoresist line.
In. U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,687, a photoactive layer is coated above a photoresist layer and both are patterned to provide a gate length that is reduced by a trim etch involving HBr, oxygen, and argon. Since the photoactive layer has an etch rate equal to or less than the photoresist layer, the entire height of the photoresist is retained during the trim etch.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,131, a trim etch, a hardmask etch, a photoresist strip, a cleaning operation, and a gate etch are all performed in the same etch chamber to reduce wafer handling and decrease cycle time. In this case, when a photoresist trimming is required, the trim occurs before etching the hardmask layer. The trim etch employs a gas mixture including HBr, O2, and Ar while the etch through the oxynitride hardmask uses CF4 and Ar.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,204,133 describes a reduced gate length in which spacers are formed on the walls of an opening in a phosphosilicate glass (PPG) layer that has been deposited on a substrate. The spacers are formed by an anisotropic etch of a conformal dielectric layer. A heat treatment diffuses ions from the PPG into the substrate to form lightly doped source/drain regions. Oxide and polysilicon layers are then deposited and patterned by conventional means to form a gate electrode. Although LES is an important issue in fabricating integrated circuits, there is no prior art that mentions how to minimize the problem through a controllable etch process. A workable method should be readily implemented in manufacturing and should be versatile so that it can be applied to the manufacture of a variety of features including trenches, lines, islands and elongated holes.

Method of forming trenches in a substrate by etching and trimming both hard mask and a photosensitive layers

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


An illumination apparatus having a first illumination unit and a second illumination unit is provided. Each illumination unit has an LED arrangement and a supply device. Each LED arrangement has at least one LED group having a multiplicity of LEDs. A control device for driving the at least two illumination units with a common nominal dim drive value is included. The nominal dim drive value drives the illumination units in such a way that the similar LED groups of the illumination units are operated in a dim mode. The apparatus also has an offset device, which is formed to derive an absolute dim drive value for each of the similar LED groups from the nominal dim drive value with an offset value. The offset value is selectively assigned to the LED group and selected, such that the LED group is activated by the absolute dim drive value.

The invention relates to an illumination apparatus having at least a first and a second illumination unit, wherein each of the illumination units comprises an LED arrangement and a supply device for supplying the LED arrangement, each of the LED arrangements comprising at least one LED group having a multiplicity of LEDs and the LED groups of the LED arrangements being similar, and having a control device for driving the at least two illumination units with a common nominal dim drive value, the nominal dim drive value driving the illumination units in such a way that the similar LED groups of the illumination units are operated in a dim mode. The invention also relates to a method for operating the illumination apparatus in the dim mode.

Illumination apparatus and method for operating the illumination apparatus in a dim mode


A video processing system includes a video encoder that encodes a video signal into a contiguous video stream having an independent portion and a dependent portion that requires the independent portion for decoding. A scrambling module scrambles the contiguous video stream to produce a scrambled video stream by scrambling the independent video portion and leaving the dependent portion unscrambled.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to coding used in the transmission and processing of video signals and devices that use such coding.
2. Description of Related Art
Communication systems provide several options for obtaining access to broadcast video content. Consumers can receive broadcast standard definition and high definition television broadcasts from the air with an antenna. Analog and digital cable television networks distribute a variety of television stations in most communities on a subscription basis. In addition, satellite television and new internet protocol (IP) television services provide other subscription alternatives for consumers. Analog video signals can be coded in accordance with a number of video standards including NTSC, PAL and SECAM. Digital video signals can be encoded in accordance with standards such as Quicktime, (motion picture expert group) MPEG-2, MPEG-4, or H.264. In addition to digital coding, some video signals are scrambled to provide access to these signals, only to the subscribers that have paid to access the particular content.
The desire for video content has driven cellular telephone networks to begin offering video programs to their subscribers as streaming video. In this fashion, users of mobile devices can have access to video programming on the go. Some of the techniques used in providing broadcast video content to stationary devices are not suitable for adaptation to the viewing environment associated with a handheld mobile device.
The limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art through comparison of such systems with the present invention.

Video processing system for scrambling video streams with dependent portions and methods for use therewith


A smart controlling method applied to a smart home system for controlling a number of home appliances of the smart home system is able to learn the habits of the user in relation to the home appliances, deeming a control operation a habit when a certain controlling command is repeated for more than a predetermined number of times in a predetermined period. When the current certain condition value matches one of the habit certain conditions, the smart home system calls the corresponding habit controlling command to control the relative home appliance to execute the habitual operation. A smart gateway and a smart home system are also provided.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to smart home technology, and particularly to a smart gateway, a smart home system, and a smart controlling method for controlling home appliances and devices of the smart home system.
2. Description of Related Art
Smart home technology is popular. With this technology, all home devices in a house are connected to a smart home network system, so as to be controlled in unison, allowing a user to easily control the home devices from anywhere in the house. Most home appliances or devices need to be coupled to a special controller, which is complicated. However, it is problematic for the smart home network system to automatically control the home devices according to the changing habits and preferences of the user.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

Smart gateway, smart home system and smart controlling method thereof

Shenzhen Airdrawing Technology Service Co., Ltd


A PTC composition comprises crystalline polymer and conductive ceramic filler dispersed therein. The crystalline polymer has a melting point less than 90° C. and comprises 5%-30% by weight of the PTC composition. The crystalline polymer comprises ethylene, vinyl copolymer or the mixture thereof. The vinyl copolymer comprises at least one of the functional group selected from the group consisting of ester, ether, organic acid, anhydride, imide or amide. The conductive ceramic filler comprises a resistivity less than 500 μΩ-cm and comprises 70%-95% by weight of the PTC composition. The PTC composition has a resistivity about 0.01-5 Ω-cm and its resistance at 85° C. is about 103 to 108 times that at 25° C.

1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates to a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) composition, and a resistive device and an LED illumination apparatus using the PTC composition.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98
Because the resistance of conductive composite materials having PTC characteristic is very sensitive to temperature variation, it can be used as the material for current sensing devices, and has been widely applied to over-current protection devices or circuit devices. The resistance of the PTC conductive composite material remains extremely low at normal temperature, so that the circuit or cell can operate normally. However, when an over-current or an over-temperature event, occurs in the circuit or cell, the resistance instantaneously increases to a high resistance state (i.e., trip) to decrease the current.
The conductivity of the PTC conductive composition depends on the content and type of the conductive fillers dispersed therein. In general, carbon black having rough surfaces can be well adhered to polyolefin, so it provides better resistance repeatability. The over-current protection devices applied to computing, communication or consumer products give weight to resistance repeatability performance, and therefore the conductive ceramic filler in the polymer often uses carbon black. Because the interacting forces among carbon black particles are strong, high density polyethylene (HDPE) is usually used as polymer matrix. However. HDPE has high melting point, resulting in that the PTC composition does not easily trip at a low temperature, and therefore it is not suitable for low-temperature trip applications. Moreover, even if using low-temperature trip polymeric material, the resistance increase after trip may be not sufficient in the case of the use of carbon black. For example, the resistance after trip may be only 100 times the initial resistance, and therefore the PTC composition still needs to be improved.

PTC composition and resistive device and LED illumination apparatus using the same


An enhanced peripheral component interconnect (PCI) architecture for a data-processing system is described. In accordance with the method and system of the present invention, a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) architecture for a data-processing system comprises a PCI host bus, a number of PCI local buses, and a PCI hot-plug bridge. Each of the local PCI buses has an adapter card slot. The PCI hot-plug bridge, connected between the PCI host bus and the PCI local buses, is utilized for controlling power to each of the PCI local buses, such that a PCI adapter card may be removed from or added to any one of the adapter card slots during power up while there is processing ongoing within adapter card(s) situated in other adapter card slot(s).

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an architecture for data processing in general, and in particular to a peripheral component interconnect architecture within a data-processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to an enhanced peripheral component interconnect architecture having hot-plugging capability for a data-processing system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A computer system or data-processing system typically includes a system bus. Attached to the system bus are various devices that may communicate locally with each other over the system bus. For example, a typical computer system includes a system bus to which a central processing unit (CPU) is attached and over which the CPU communicates directly with a system memory that is also attached to the system bus.
In addition, the computer system may include a local bus for connecting certain highly integrated peripheral components on the same bus as the CPU. One such local bus is known as the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus. Under the PCI local bus standard, peripheral components can directly connect to a PCI local bus without the need for "glue" logic. Thus, PCI provides a bus standard on which high-performance peripheral devices, such as graphics displaying devices and motion video displaying devices, can be coupled to the CPU, thereby permitting these high-performance peripheral devices to avoid the general access latency and the bandwidth constraints that would have occurred if these peripheral devices were connected to a standard peripheral bus.
PCI local bus is a high performance, 32-bit or 64-bit bus with multiplexed address and data lines. Any PCI component and add-in card interface is processor independent, enabling an efficient transition to future processor generations and usage with multiple processor architectures. Processor independence also allows the PCI local bus to be optimized for I/O functions, enables concurrent operation of the local bus with the processor/memory subsystem, and accommodates multiple high performance peripheral devices. In addition, a transparent 64-bit extension of the 32-bit data and address buses under the PCI local bus allows the bus bandwidth to be doubled and offers forward and backward compatibility of 32-bit and 64-bit PCI local bus peripherals.
Most computer buses are generally not designed to handle any unexpected removal of peripheral devices from the bus itself. Suffice to say, inserting or removing an adapter card from an adapter slot that is attached to a computer bus without following the proper sequence may lead to unpredictable results, including data corruption, abnormal termination of operating system, or damage to adapter card or platform hardware.
There is a provision for hot-plugging capability under the PCI local bus, and the hot-plugging standard for PCI local bus is defined under the PCI Hot-Plug Specification, Revision 0.9, promulgated by the PCI Special Interest Group, which is hereby incorporated by reference. While the PCI hot-plug standard is generally defined in the above-mentioned publication, the detailed implementation is not specified. The present disclosure describes the electronics and service indicators of an enhanced PCI architecture that are necessary to enable such hot-plugging capability.

Peripheral component interconnect (PCI) architecture having hot-plugging capability for a data-processing system

International Business Machines Corporation


A blow molding device includes a blow nozzle to be inserted tightly into a mouth tube section of preform when the preform is inserted in a mold. The blow molding device also includes a pressurized liquid feeding unit and feeds a pressurized liquid from the pressurized liquid feeding unit into the preform through the blow nozzle to form a container into an expanded shape along a cavity of the mold. A valve mechanism, provided at a downstream end of a feed channel for the liquid in the blow nozzle, can open and close the feed channel so that when the valve mechanism is in a closed state, the liquid circulates between the feed channel and the pressurized liquid feeding unit, and when the valve mechanism is in an open state, the pressurized liquid is fed through the feed channel into the preform.

Blow molding bottles made of polyethylene naphthalate (PET) resin (i.e. plastic bottles) have many excellent characteristics and therefore are widely used as bottle containers. Such containers are typically molded by injection molding a preform into a bottomed cylindrical shape and then stretch molding the preform to an expanded shape after heating to a temperature at which an expansion effect can be achieved.
In other words, as illustrated in FIG. 12 (corresponding to FIG. 12 of Patent Literature 1), preform 31 heated to a temperature at which an expansion effect is achieved is inserted into a blow mold 101, with a mouth tube section 32 of the preform 31 projecting upwards and with a neck ring 33, circumferentially provided integrally at the lower edge of the outer peripheral surface of the mouth tube section 32, engaged with a neck support flange 103. With a guide tube 110, which is the tip of a blow nozzle 104, being loosely inserted into the mouth tube section 32 of the preform 31, the preform 31 is stretched in the axial direction by a stretching rod 108 inserted through an insertion hole 111 formed by penetrating through the center of the blow nozzle 104 and is stretched in the radial direction by air, which is a pressurized fluid, blown through the insertion hole 111. A bottle 41 is thus molded.
Patent Literature 2 discloses an invention related to a method for blow molding preform using liquid instead of blown air as the pressurized fluid. If the content fluid that is ultimately filled into the product, such as a drink, cosmetic, medicine, or the like, is used as the liquid, then this method for molding allows for omission of the filling step and thus simplifies the production line.


A system and method for handling file system quotas are disclosed. In one implementation, a processing device receives a first command to disable a quota capability of a file system. In response, one or more instructions are initiated to delete a first association of a quota attribute with a directory, where the first association assigns a first value to a first string comprising a combination (e.g., concatenation, etc.) of an attribute name and a first symbol. Prior to completion of the execution of the one or more instructions, one or more commands are received to enable the quota capability and assign a second value of the quota attribute to the directory. In response, a second association of the quota attribute with the directory is generated, the second association assigning a second value of the quota attribute to a second string comprising a combination of the attribute name and a second symbol.

A file system quota (also referred to as a "disk quota" or "storage quota") is a limit set by a system administrator that restricts certain aspects of file system usage on modern operating systems. A first type of quota, known as a usage quota or block quota, limits the amount of storage space that can be used. A second type of quota, known as a file quota or inode quota, limits the number of files and directories that can be created. File system quotas may be implemented on a per-directory basis.


An in situ inspection system and method to inspect a honeycomb body skin in a skinning system. The inspection system includes a line illuminator to generate a line illumination on the skin perpendicular to an axial direction of the honeycomb body travel, and a detector to detect the line illumination scattered from the skin and generate a signal based on the detected line illumination. A controller is configured to receive the signal generated by the detector, compare the received signal to a previously stored defect free signal in real-time, and control at least one skinning process parameter based on the comparison. The method includes in situ inspecting the skin and controlling at least one skinning process parameter based on the inspection. In the method, the in situ inspection includes illuminating a line of the skin perpendicular to the axial direction and detecting the illuminated line scattered from the skin.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to skinning of honeycomb bodies and, more particularly, to inspection of skinned honeycomb bodies and control of skinning honeycomb bodies.
2. Discussion of the Background
After-treatment of exhaust gas from internal combustion engines may use catalysts supported on high-surface area substrates and, in the case of diesel engines and some gasoline direct injection engines, a catalyzed filter for the removal of carbon soot particles. Filters and catalyst supports in these applications may be refractory, thermal shock resistant, stable under a range of pO2 conditions, non-reactive with the catalyst system, and offer low resistance to exhaust gas flow. Porous ceramic flow-through honeycomb substrates and wall-flow honeycomb filters (generically referred to herein as honeycomb bodies) may be used in these applications.
Particulate filters and substrates may be difficult to manufacture to external dimensional requirements set by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the supply chain due to drying and firing shrinkage during manufacturing. Consequently, ceramic cement may be used to form an exterior skin of a honeycomb body which has been machined or "contoured" to a desired dimension. As used herein, the term "honeycomb body" includes single honeycomb monoliths and honeycomb bodies formed by multiple honeycomb segments that are secured together, such as by using a ceramic cement to form a monolith. Ceramic cement may be mixed and applied to a fired, contoured or segmented honeycomb body and the wet skin allowed to dry. The act or process of applying ceramic cement to the exterior of the honeycomb body is referred to herein as "skinning" the honeycomb body. A honeycomb body having skin disposed thereon is referred to herein as a "skinned" honeycomb body.
Once the wet skin on the honeycomb body has dried an inspection of the skin can be conducted requiring labor, cost, and time. When a defect is found it may be too late to correct a skinning process that caused the defect in sequential parts skinned in the same production run. The defects may be corrected requiring additional labor, time, and cost, or the production run may have to be scrapped if the defects are not repairable causing lost production and manufacturing inefficiencies.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the disclosure and therefore it may contain information that does not form any part of the prior art nor what the prior art may suggest to a person of ordinary skill in the art.


A method and apparatus for enhancing the accuracy of spectroscopic measurements using a cavity ringdown spectrometer (CRDS) is provided. A first aspect of the invention consists of a novel algorithm for the processing of ring-down data that significantly reduces the amplitude of an exponential fitting artifact, and thereby gives a better estimate of the actual loss. The primary cause of the artifact is the presence of an unwanted backwards-traveling wave that counter-propagates within the ringdown cavity. Scattering due to small imperfections at the cavity mirrors produces this wave and its intensity may be minimized by adjustment of the mirror positions during cavity construction. A second aspect of the invention consists of an apparatus for measuring the backscattered wave within a cavity to allow such cavity mirror adjustments to be made.

CRDS is known to be a highly accurate spectroscopic technique. In the most advantageous implementation of CRDS, a three or four mirror ring cavity is used. The cavity mirrors must have very high reflectivity and low loss in order to achieve a high cavity finesse.
Light is coupled into the cavity to excite a forward-propagating wave that decays when the light source is interrupted. If one assumes that light only travels in one direction around the cavity, the intensity of the light exiting the cavity after the light source is interrupted decays exponentially with time. The time constant (τ) of the exponential decay gives an absolute measurement of the total loss suffered by the light as it traverses the cavity. By measuring the variation in the time constant for a number of ringdown events obtained as the input light is tuned over a range of wavelengths, a spectrum of the absorption of the analyte species present in the optical cavity is obtained. From such an absorption spectrum, the concentrations of the analyte(s) contained within the gas inside the cavity may be determined via a spectral-fitting procedure.

Method and apparatus for enhancing the accuracy of CRDS measurements